Architectural Scene Research Articles

Architectures and Spaces for Care: Recent Contributions to Spanish Postmodern Architectural Culture Led by Women Architects

Nowadays we observe how many of our cities and other inhabited spaces have been conceived by and for a subject that represents an androcentric model that focusses on the productive, with the result that aspects of architecture such as assistance and care have been underestimated. Faced with this neglect of issues that are considered by society as feminine, a series of feminist struggles have, over the course of decades, been demanding more equitable, inclusive spaces and cities that take into consideration tasks relating to care and reproduction in architectural practice. With regard to the Spanish architectural scene, since the end of the 20th century it has been possible to observe the emergence of a series of professional practices led by women architects that have used the concept of femininity as a creative argument in an effort to approach the profession from different perspectives and open up new areas of activity and debate within which they are free to develop their professional careers. These are based around a critique of modern architectural positions associated with an idealistic vision of society that takes as a reference a neutral gender far from all complexity and excludes the differences between people to establish a paradigm shift from and with feminisms. In this regard, this article aims to present a series of recent professional practices led by Spanish women architects during the period 1978-2008 who, from architecture and urban planning, as well as other peripheral positions such as the arts and social action, have worked around women’s experiences and lent prominence to day-to-day life and care. Its purpose is to determine some of the singular aspects of the contributions made by women to Spanish postmodern architectural culture. This study will allow us to observe how many of these contributions take shape in a series of actions, attitudes and ways of working that envisage the beginning of a shift in how the profession is practised; a shift that departs from the predominant canon to define new strategies and ways of approaching architectural practice that are more in line with the needs of women and non-normative subjects.

PUBLIC SPACES: DIFFERENT SCALES AND EMPHASES IN YURI SEROGIN'S PROJECTS

In today's world, public projects are becoming not only an important component of the architectural landscape, but also a key factor in shaping living spaces and communities. They play a significant role in promoting social interaction, cultural exchange, and stimulate the development of social ties. Thoughtful design of public spaces involves not only ensuring functionality and aesthetic appeal, but also an in-depth analysis of the needs of local communities, taking into account historical and cultural features and unique requirements. Ukraine, as a country with a rich cultural heritage and diverse communities, has great potential for the development of public projects. Their existence is reflected in a variety of forms: from city squares and parks to culture and sports centers. The grateful synergy between architects, local authorities, and the public contributes to the creation of innovative and socially significant projects that contribute to the rapprochement and development of communities. This article explores the public projects of the architect Yuri Seryogin, which reflect his contribution to the development of the architectural scene and public space. Using the analysis and evaluation of projects, the article offers coverage of key aspects of the architect's work, his approaches to solving architectural problems, and his impact on society.

The impact of globalization on the revival of innovative housing models in Doha, Qatar

After the oil and economic boom of the 20th century, Doha experienced significant development in terms of the architectural scene, design, function, and sociocultural transformations. The advancements in global architecture have facilitated innovative and streamlined construction processes, while creating a paradigm shift in the overall architecture of dwellings and how people navigate around the house. In this context, this research aims to study the impact of globalization on housing typologies and the factors influencing their evolution, focusing on the city of Doha as a case study. This study is based on a qualitative research approach that centers its investigation on Doha while exploring strategies for preserving Arabic-Islamic identity. The research investigation used a content analysis methodology to analyze three additional case studies within the MENA region. The results indicate that new housing typologies have emerged in cities due to globalization and changes in physical and sociocultural dimensions. In addition, preserving older neighborhoods and housing typologies through a bottom-up approach is essential for design creativity and climatic and sociocultural sensitivity while exchanging knowledge and sharing experiences between generations. Furthermore, this article promotes heritage awareness and encourages local authorities to preserve Doha’s surviving historic neighborhoods and architectural language to restore the city’s urban identity. The findings of this research can provide helpful guidance to architects and urban planners on how Doha’s housing has developed until the contemporary period.

Cloud Architectures for Distributed Multi-Cloud Computing: A Review of Hybrid and Federated Cloud Environment

The concept of several clouds has greatly extended the use of cloud computing and gained popularity in academic and business circles. The use of multi-cloud techniques has increased as businesses use cloud computing more and more to meet their computational demands. A thorough analysis of cloud architectures intended for distributed multi-cloud computing is presented in this study, with an emphasis on federated and hybrid cloud systems. The study looks at the opportunities and difficulties of adopting and overseeing a variety of cloud resources from several providers. The review starts out by going over the basic ideas and reasons for using multi-cloud strategies, emphasizing how important flexibility, scalability, and resilience are in contemporary computing settings. The study then explores the nuances of hybrid cloud architectures, with a focus on how private and public cloud resources can be seamlessly combined. In the context of hybrid cloud installations, important factors including data sovereignty, security, and workload orchestration are covered. In addition, the research delves into federated cloud architectures, clarifying how enterprises can coordinate and oversee workloads across several cloud providers. An examination of resource identification, policy enforcement, and interoperability procedures sheds light on the intricacies of federated cloud computing. The review delves into new developments in standards, best practices, and technology that help multi-cloud ecosystems mature. The study analyses the state of research and industry practices now, pointing out gaps and possible directions for future development. The intention is to provide decision-makers, researchers, and practitioners with a comprehensive grasp of the changing cloud architectural scene so they can plan and execute distributed multi-cloud solutions with knowledge. In conclusion, this article provides a thorough overview of hybrid and federated cloud architectures by combining information from many sources. Through a comprehensive analysis of the difficulties and possibilities associated with multi-cloud computing, the study hopes to add to the current conversation on cloud environment design and optimization in the rapidly changing technological landscape.

Qingdao Modern Church Contrast and Analyzing Based on Religious Influences Perspective: Examples from Qingdao Catholic Church and Qingdao Christian Church

Qingdao, as a city with a colonial history, has numerous architectures that combine traditional Chinese architectural style and Western architectural style. One of the most distinctive types of architecture is the church. Churches have significant mental support functions as well as their function as shelters. They are symbols of the city, and valuable for the city to present its architectural scene. This article wishes to state the backgrounds and history of Catholicism and Protestantism; compare the differences in external spaces, internal spaces, decorations, and volume of Qingdao catholic church and Qingdao Christian church to analyze the architectural differences based on different religious backgrounds; emphasize the characteristics and connotations for churches. Studying church architecture can reveal the creativity and technical proficiency of ancient architects and craftsmen. Church architecture encompasses knowledge and skills from various fields, including structural engineering, sculpture, painting, and decoration. Such research contributes to the advancement of architectural design and engineering technology. Church architecture is a reflection of human creativity and cultural traditions, and it holds significant importance for the study and preservation of cultural heritage.

Exterior cladding in the German architecture of Valdivia. A metaphor of refinement and social distinction

As a result of the colonization process that began in the mid-19th century in southern Chile and, with it, the systematic arrival of European immigrants, an informal discourse has been favored over time to sustain the transcendent contribution of foreigners in the area, as well as the architectures accrued, thus emerging a widely spread valuation and cataloging discourse; the «German architecture of southern Chile.» Notwithstanding the widely publicized colonizing agenda and its overall impact, economic progress and better material conditions are not transversal issues within this migrant colony. Within this scenario, the Typical Zone of General Pedro Lagos Street, located in the city of Valdivia, constitutes a highly representative sector in terms of its social recognition and the valuation given to the properties located there as exponents of a prolific colonization process. In a specific group of buildings in this area, this article will review and present detailed background information that will allow building a situated and complex architectural scene, revealing the mechanisms used to exhibit prosperity and social climbing as an expiatory vehicle to cover production conditions alien to the neatness of capitalist German entrepreneurship and the European sophistication that was so desired to be transmitted in the cities undergoing fledgling immigration processes.

The Socialist Sarajevo: between heritage and modernity

In the early 1960s, when Bosnia and Herzegovina was renamed to Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo experienced an exponential growth and an economic and demographic boom that exceeded the availability of housing. To remedy this growth peripheral areas were occupied by newly built districts - “residential colonies”, which among other things reflected the gigantism of the socialist period, and proposed a system made up of blocks and super-blocks scattered in open territories. The architectural panorama was enriched by a series of new architectural editions, expressly inspired by the principles of functionalism and rationalism of the Bauhaus. All this has been created on the foundations made by a group of architects who returned to Sarajevo, and in Bosnia Herzegovina in general, after they had been trained in the most important European schools of architecture. Work of the new generations of Yugoslav architects marked a shift at the architectural scene in the 1960s who experimented with the “modernist” interpretations of authentic local architectural expression. The paper intends to retrace some of the main stages of “modernization” of Sarajevo and highlight the singularity of architectural production that is, internationally, still unknown.

Digital Archiving of the Spatial Experience of Cultural Heritage Sites with Ancient Lighting

Although adaptive reuse has made the preservation, restoration, and maintenance of architectural heritage sites possible due to the revenue generated by the new program, it has unfortunately induced unavoidable renovations that have altered the original design. Consequently, while the physical configuration of an architectural scene of a heritage site can be preserved and restored to mimic how it looked in the past, how to experience it as rendered with the original lighting design that might no longer be available. With the advancement of technologies related to High Dynamic Range Imaging, light models of various ancient illumination can be reconstructed and used as lighting sources for the virtual environment. Although ancient light sources can now be preserved in this digital form, this technique falls short of preserving the real visual perception of the significant canonical scene of cultural heritage with the originally intended lighting. This study proposes a conceptual framework for the digital archiving of the perceptual realism of the original lighting scheme of an architectural heritage site. The Taiwanese folk religion temples were included in a case study to demonstrate the framework; the study investigated how to identify the discrepancy between the scene-based lighting from the past and that of the current period due to adaptive reuse; further, this study determined the systematic method to select the canonical view that can best invoke the memorial spatial experience of the historical space; additionally, this study provides a case report of the restoration of past lighting with candles made with ancient recipes that were recovered from the field study, and the computational process of documenting scene-based lighting with related technologies using high dynamic range imaging. Finally, the researcher of this study conducted two perceptual experiments. The results of the first experiment demonstrated that the pattern of light and dark induced by the daylight falling into the courtyard plays a significant role regarding the viewers’ preference of the canonical scene of the traditional temple. The second experiment further demonstrated canonical views of three temples illuminated with artificial light, modern candlelight, and ancient candlelight, with ancient lighting being the preferred option of viewers.

Tatras Phoenix. Restoration Architecture in the alpine environment of the High Tatras

The architectural concepts of the High Tatras region reside mainly in the foothills, where they form the basis of mountain tourism. On the exposed terrain of the Tatra Mountains there are huts that were once the result of craftsmanship, but today there is an increased concentration of architectural interest. We are focusing on architectural design in the context of adapting the typology to the visitor’s needs or in response to the challenges of extreme environments. The focus involves the structural alteration, restoration or reconstruction of a building that represents an architectural discussion of the alpine environment. The huts under study trace the colonization of different vegetation zones and the different typological standards of the hut. The architectural planning process represents an example of restoration of a post-war modernism work, its reconstruction into a new form and the response to the problem of avalanches in the alpine environment. Through the prism of the social situation and technological innovations, we explore the transformation of the hut typology and its relationship to its setting. At the same time, we look for a connection to the original building destroyed by fire or avalanche or a reflection on regionalism or the general architectural discourse. The article presents a brief introduction to the architectural scene in the High Tatra region from the perspective of socio-political changes. The main question was: what principles does architecture apply in a high mountain environment? Differences and innovations are sought in the context of design in the foothills and urbanised areas, as well as in the context of the social situation and the authors of the project themselves.

Contemporary mountain architecture in Serbia

Although Serbia does not have significantly high mountains, it does have vast mountainous areas south of the Danube River. Since most rural mountain houses in Serbia have disappeared over the last three decades, traditional mountain building is reduced to sporadic reconstructions, mostly for open-air museums and ethnic parks. Contemporary mountain architecture in Serbia is developing under the same overall influences of the rest of the country. These influences, among others, are the primacy of market demands, non-systematic planning, and lack of investment in raising the level of spatial culture among the general public. Fortunately, some examples illustrate the willingness of architects to push the contemporary Serbian architectural practice forward and the willingness of investors to consider a wide range of influences and aspects that generate a comprehensive response to contemporary demands and concerns. The selected projects presented in this article show different responses in relation to the context, environment, heritage, and ideas of contemporary life in rural and natural areas. Most of these examples follow a more experimental approach. This usually stems from links to regionalism and modernism. Despite expectations, Serbia cannot join the most progressive European currents or fully adopt the vision of individual high-quality national architectural agents overnight. However, the Serbian architecture scene will be increasingly present in the media, also as a result of international connections and circumstances that had somehow ‘matured’.

In the Mood for Love: Chromophilia Unbound

AbstractColour has again exploded on the architectural scene, nowhere more markedly than in California. Jasmine Benyamin, a lecturer at the University of Southern California School of Architecture, examines the chromatically ambitious designs of Atelier Manferdini, whose visually saturated projects enliven building interiors and urban streetscapes alike. Not since the halcyon days of postmodernism have we witnessed such exuberant panoramas.

Applications of augmented reality and virtual reality on computer-assisted teaching for analytical sketching of architectural scene and construction

ABSTRACT Analytical sketching is a method to document an inspired understanding from direct observations and analysis of an architectural environment through freehand sketching. A course dedicated to teaching analytical sketching has encountered problems of how to integrate different teaching activities involving in-class lectures and on-site practices. A mobile learning application (Architectural Sketching) was previously developed to bring the in-class instruction on hand to the field. However, how to assist in the development of key sketching ability of interrelating conceptual architectural configurations and their perceptual spatial experiences through mobile learning remains unexplored. This study proceeds from prior action research and reports the experimental implementation of augmented reality and virtual reality to a mobile learning application. To teach architectural scene sketching, live demonstrations of on-site sketching were provided in different interactive display methods of viewing as regular video, interactive 180-degree video on handheld devices, and 180-degree VR video with VR headset. For architectural construction, augmented reality and 3D holograms, along with 3D animations of geometrical analysis, were used to create digital learning tools. Preference rating and preference scales were established from students’ responses. The results reveal that the user-friendly interactivity and functional realism enhance the mobile learning applications to assist on-site sketching training.

Diagnosing the Individual Style by Revealing its Phenotypic Features

In architecture, the stylistic features at the level of form are among the topics discussed in the local architectural scene. The research problem was determined by the need for a clear conception of the stylistic features in architecture and the need to diagnose the individual style. The aim of the research is defined by defining the stylistic features in architecture and then presenting a theoretical framework that enables the analysis and, thus, diagnosis of the individual style by revealing its stylistic features at the phenotypic level. Then, the diagnosis of the individual style is at the level of phenotypic features. The research adopted the descriptive analytical method of the literature related to the topic. The steps of the approach followed are, first: Define a procedural definition of stylistic features and their types in architecture. Second, presenting a theoretical framework through which the individual style can be analyzed and its stylistic and phenotypic features in individual productions can be distinguished. Third: Extracting the theoretical framework and putting it in its final form. Practical study and application on a group of products belonging to a contemporary Iraqi architect.

Branko Popović kao savremenik i tumač beogradske arhitekture

The activity of Branko Popović is primarily defined in historiography through valorizations of his artistic oeuvre and his role as an art critic, one that he continuously undertook during the first half of the 20th century. Given that Popović's contributions to architectural criticism and the interpretation of contemporary architectural phenomena and problems have often lain outside the main scope of particular research endeavours, instead often being presented in summarial form within monographs and anthologies, there is an acute need for elaboration of this area of his outputs. Popović primarily received his higher education at the Technical Faculty in Belgrade, where he later held the role of professor of history of art and architecture, and during the Second World War he held the position of Dean. The aim of this work is to present, through the review and analysis of articles published in pre-war and inter-war periodicals, another aspect of Popović's interpretations and criticisms, based on perceptions of and participations in contemporary events in the field of architecture, which would complete his contribution to the shaping of artistic thought.

Beogradski opus arhitekte Milutina Jovanovića (1930-1941)

Milutin Jovanović belongs to the generation of architects who significantly contributed to the urban and architectural development of Belgrade between the two world wars. However, since there has been no adequate valorization of his creativity, a complete list of his achievements and basic biographical data have remained completely unknown. By reconstructing Jovanović's works, chronologically systematized data about his movement in the architectural profession was obtained. He began his professional engagement as an assistant at the architectural department of the Belgrade Technical Faculty, and later devoted himself to private practice. During the entire interwar period, Jovanović designed dozens of residential buildings and one hotel, and was also dedicated to other design tasks. He was hired by wealthy representatives of the middle class - merchants, clerks, doctors, entrepreneurs and many others, for whom he designed predominantly representative high-rise residential buildings throughout the central city core. In accordance with the developments on the architectural scene of that time, respecting the requests of the clients, his achievements were in two dominant stylistic directions - academicism and modernism. The discovery of buildings designed in the spirit of modernism is particularly significant, because for a long time it was considered that Jovanović's main style was academicism. Given the lack of personal legacy and complete historiographical sources, the research was based on studying of the fund of the Technical Directorate of the City of Belgrade stored in the Historical Archive of Belgrade. Therefore, this work is the first monographic review of the life and work of the architect Milutin Jovanović.

THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR THE STATE UKRAINIAN THEATER (1930)

Even although the International Competition for the State Ukrainian Theater (1930) did not result in any construction, it was a major landmark of Modernism in Ukrainian architecture. The competition received 144 entries from Soviet Union states and other countries, including four individual and one team proposals from Japan. Of these, Renshichiro Kawakita, a 29-year-old architect from Japan, was awarded the fourth prize and ranked higher than world-famous architects and designers like Walter Gropius, Norman Bel Geddes, and Hans Poelzig. This article deals with the modernist architectural scene in Japan around 1930 by introducing Japanese modernist architects’ applications to the competition. The structure of this paper is as follows: The introduction presents the four groups of applicants from Japan, and highlights the tense shipping deadline faced by Kawakita based on a retrospective by his collaborator. The main part points out that the proposal from Japan understood the organizer’s purpose to seek new ideas for theaters as cultural facilities for the proletariat via this competition, and designed it in line with that purpose. In this regard, Kawakita’s effective presentation in the drawings led to his prize. It also examines Kawakita’s architectural philosophy based on his comments after winning the prize. Kawakita praised functionalism and anti-aesthetics and believed that new architects should be engineers (rather than artists) with “inventor” nuances. This idea resonates with the international avant-garde ideas of the time in modernist architecture.

Worldview and art components of the innovative concept of the theater of French director Jacques Copeau

The goal of the work. Identify the ideological and artistic components of the innovative concept of the theatre of the French actor, director, theatre teacher and critic J. Copeau as a holistic worldview and artistic formation. The research methodology consists in the application of the historical-cultural method: for the analysis of the directorial and pedagogical activity of J. Copeau in the context of the socio-cultural space of the first half of the twentieth century; system method: for the analysis of the theatrical and pedagogical concept of J. Copeau; art method: to analyse the formation of worldviews, artistic and aesthetic principles and directorial individuality of J. Copeau; structural and functional method: to analyse the innovative essence of the system of training a well-developed actor: the theatre school "Vieux-Columbie". The novelty of the study is to determine the basic worldview and aesthetic guidelines of the artist, part of the innovative directorial concept of theatrical art. Conclusions. Jacques Copeau's directing career had a great influence on the development of European theatre. His method of conducting acting training using a mask is considered in the world of performing arts one of the most effective ways to master professional skills. The idea of the master of the "permanent architectural scene" is considered, according to experts, the most original in solving the stage form. Copeau's international success in journalism, drama, directing, acting and teaching is a level of achievement unparalleled in the history of modern French and perhaps even modern European theatre. While the French theatre was in desperate need of leadership and new goals, J. Copeau's work demonstrated extraordinary inspiration and a constant pursuit of quality. His influence on French cultural policy was indeed great and profound, and his work has left a deep mark in the theory and practice of leading researchers of American and British institutes. Keywords: theatre, actor, director Jacques Copeau.

Wieder aufbauen nach dem Krieg. Alfred Roth und die in der Schweiz internierten polnischen Architekten

Abstract During the Second World War, more than 10,000 Polish soldiers were interned in Switzerland. Among them were prominent architects, including Marek Leykam and Bohdan Garliński, who upon returning to Poland, left their mark on postwar modernism. Leykam was later marginalized for his buildings that were allegedly too International in style. Garliński became one of the key ideologists of Socialist Realism in the First General Exhibition of Architecture of the People’s Republic of Poland. This article is the first to re-trace their years in Switzerland and their contacts with Alfred Roth, CIAM member and former employee of Le Corbusier. During the war, Roth pursued plans for the reconstruction of Europe, and it was he who supplied the internees with architectural literature and support. Their intersections exemplify the larger history of Switzerland’s insular role during the war, and Poland’s immensely complex architectural scene in the early 1950s.

Elementi evropskog i nacionalnog u stvaralaštvu beogradskog arhitekte Dušana Živanovića (1853-1937)

The subject of this research is the architectural work of the Belgrade architect Dušan Živanović (1853-1937), with the primary focus being placed upon a systematic analysis of European and National elements, their (inter-)relationships and parallel (co-)existence within it. A review of Živanović's works, with individual descriptions and stylistic analyses of key objects, and placing an emphasis on his sacral opus, contributes to its necessary valorization, while at the same time helping to formulate a clearer and more complete picture of its positioning on the domestic architectural scene and its role in the emancipation and development of the architecture of Belgrade and Serbia. Attention is further paid to the explication of the politico-historical and socio-cultural framework in which Živanović lived and worked, with this being utilized as an analytical subtext of the primary subject of study. The methodological framework of this study adopts a synthesis of the biographical and historiographical approaches, with sporadic comparative analyses. Relying on previous research, as well as primary and secondary sources, this study aims to potentially deepen and complement existing analyses, and open up a number of new perspectives and issues that will lead to further elucidation of the topic. This work further presents itself as an important contribution to studies on the Belgrade architectural scene and the distinction and recognition of the dominant creative impulses of the capital and its architects in the design of buildings throughout the Serbian interior.

Nerealizovani projekat zgrade Državne arhive (1922) arhitekte Dimitrija M. Leka

The unrealized project of the State Archives building (1922) is one of the earliest works of the prominent architect and university professor at the Technical Faculty in Belgrade, Dimitrije M. Leko. The project stands as an embodiment of the high-standard academic education of the architect, as well as his affectations and skill in designing monumental public buildings, which would come to have a deep impact on the Yugoslav architectural scene. As a witness to the gradual formation of the architect's particular authorial expression, the project is of great importance to a more complete understanding of his artistic opus. With a more detailed historiographical treatment, this paper strives to contribute to a more complete understanding of the complex history of the construction of the State Archives building, as well as to the genesis of Leko's own personal architectural style.