Professional Architect Research Articles

Architects coping with continuous fragmentation

ABSTRACT ‘Fragmentation’ is a word often used to characterize the construction industry. Fragmentation can adversely impact project outcomes, hinder the adoption of innovative technologies, and obstruct the transition toward sustainable practices. It has also been viewed as a cause of significant changes in the architect’s profession. Yet no research has studied fragmentation from a profession-perspective, specifically a profession with early participation in building projects. With interpretative methods and drawing from sociological concepts, we aim to understand how architects perceive their professional role, and analyze this alongside fragmentation to answer the question: how are architects coping with the effects of fragmentation? The study consists of 23 focus group sessions, where architects constituted the core and other actors participated occasionally, and five deep interviews with architects. Our first contribution shows how architects are coping with fragmentation through a dynamic social process, making small adjustments in role adaptation to maintain their professional identity, and how this way of coping with fragmentation can actually contribute to continuous fragmentation. Secondly, our study challenges earlier suggested solutions for handling fragmentation by showing how they simply cause fragmentation earlier in the design phase. The implications of ‘design fragmentation’ for the professional architect and the outcome of a building project are discussed.

Preface

The 5th International Conference on Empathic Architecture (ICEA) is a biannual international conference organized by the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Planning, Petra Christian University. The 1st ICEA was initiated on 11-12 September 2014. The 2nd ICEA was held as an International Joint Conference with the 17th SENVAR on 1-2 March 2017. The 3rd ICEA was conducted on 25-27 April 2019, in which all papers presented were published in the IOP Conference Proceeding: Earth and Environmental Science Volume 490. During the pandemic, the 4th ICEA was held online on 26 February 2021.The 5th ICEA was held at Petra Christian University, Surabaya, Indonesia, on 19-20 October 2023, with the theme “Architecture for Health and Wellbeing.” The 5th International Conference on Empathic Architecture (ICEA) aims to gather researchers, scholars, and practitioners to share and exchange their knowledge and breakthroughs in architecture, especially for health and wellbeing. It is important to seek a holistic understanding of the impact of architecture, with its design features, on human health and wellbeing. Thus, an architectural design should be responsive to user needs, inspire, motivate, give meaning, and be spirit caring.The 5th ICEA was honored to present four reputable keynote speakers: (i) A. Ray Pentecost III, DrPH, FAIA, FACHA, LEED AP from UIA-Public Health Group, USA (ii) Dr. Yuan Chao from National University of Singapore, (iii) Ir. Adi Utomo Hatmoko, M. Arch., a professional architect in hospital design from Indonesia, and (iv) Dr. Ruzika Bozovic from the National University of Singapore.The subtopics of the conference include Healing Architecture, Inclusive Architecture Design, Architecture and Perceptual memory, Lighting for well-being, Building Thermal Performance, Indoor Air Quality, Building Envelope for Wellbeing, and Wellness in an Urban Environment. Through these topics, papers from authors have been presented during the conference days as a manifestation of empathy for users and the environment through Architecture and Built Environment. After the inspiring keynote sessions and discussions during the parallel sessions, the papers were curated once more before publication in this IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science.We would like to appreciate all keynote speakers, scientific committee, moderators, conference coordinators, and participants who have contributed to this conference. Finally, we hope this 5th ICEA proceeding could encourage the development of an architecture that empathizes with the user’s health and wellbeing.The 5th ICEA Editorial Teamhttps://5thicea.petra.ac.id/homeList of Scientific Committee, Organizing Committee are available in the pdf

Fire risk assessment of Malaysia public hospital buildings

Fire risk assessment of Malaysia public hospital buildings

Alternatives

“I’ll start drinking again... or no, I’ll wait!” said Grishka to himself, hesitating between the two alternatives, “I’d better go to Moscow!”М. Е. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Little Things in Life, 1887.The expression “burden of choice” is well understood by anyone who has ever made a design decision or any other important decision. To make a choice means to reject all variants, all alternatives, except for one. At the same time you are not always sure that you have chosen the best one.Nevertheless, alternatives are necessary, without choices there is no movement and no development. Looking back on this year, we can already say that it has been rich in events, movements and alternatives of all kinds.The autumn marathon of architecture began in August with the XI International Festival “EcoBereg” in Volgograd (8), continued in early September with the XXII Interregional Architectural Festival “Zodchestvo in Siberia 2022” in Novosibirsk (13-38), and then the International Review Competition of graduation projects in Kazan (162). A little later, Ryazan summed up the results of the open competition for architectural projects of the school in its historical centre (6), and immediately after that we had the XXX International Architectural Festival “Zodchestvo” an event of national scale, as well as the Congress of the Union of Architects of Russia (12). Thus, Russian architects had many alternatives for participation. The problem of choice, however, could be solved easily: to participate in everything.The word ‘alternative’ originally had two mutually exclusive meanings. In direct translation from Latin, it means ‘second possibility’, hence the numerous alternative movements in culture, music, politics and so on. Alternative movements are typically provocative, daring and outrageous. We present a short article by Alexander Rappaport about the relationship between the alternative and the opposition.But the alternative is also necessity to make a choice. This necessity is often hard and sometimes even false. Konstantin Lidin speaks about the search for nonalternativeness, ‘battles of styles’ and the delusions which the search for an absolute ideal of beauty leads to in the field of architecture. Andrei Bokov’s article continues his reflections on an alternative way of reality cognition – the visionary way, on the types of visionary architects and their role in the development of architecture.Can vernacular architecture be an alternative to the professional architect? Andrei Ivanov discusses this difficult question using the example of Alexandropol (Gyumri).The traditional culture of China did not know the profession of an architect. Here, the construction art used to be based on traditions and techniques that remained unchanged for thousands of years. The contact with western culture has created uneasy alternatives. Anton Kosta and Xu Shichuang talk about this.Alternative ideas about a historic city, relationship between right- and left-brain thinking in design, paradigms of place development management, old and new capitals etc. are considered in the articles by our new and regular contributors.

An Archetype of Architecture

Architecture is the art, and science of the built environment, where a multidisciplinary approach is prevalent. The paper tends to clarify architecture and explain its etymological meaning for an architectural student, practicing professional architect, and academic person. The paper suggests an archetype model using a combination of various logical terminologies that lead to the design of exquisitely defined words in human history. The manuscript relates each principal keyword as self-expressive for ARCHITECTURE. The research is based on the literal analysis of diverse content that covers the wider scope and application of architecture in qualitative research design. The note-taking series from different manuscripts that identify key areas in the field of ARCHITECTURE and their corresponding connection with each acronym was studied. The emerging themes consist of various parameters and help make strong arguments for the archetype model. The twelve emerging themes have been mapped using the mind-mapping technique in network diagrams. In the end, an archetype is explained, linking the connection of all keywords that prioritize the link with different aspects of architecture. Each letter refers to a specific term as A- Anthropometry, R-Responsive, C-Construction, H-History, I-Inspiration, T-Technology, E-Environment, C-Culture, T-Transformation, U-Utility, R-Resources, E-Economy. The author took help from the literature to reinforce the concept. In the end, an archetype is explained, linking the connection of all keywords with different aspects of architecture. The views expressed in the manuscript are based on a review analysis of existing information in the architectural discipline. It was difficult to include expert opinions due to the limitation of time and cost, and a more rigorous study can be planned later. The paper is based on the framework to benefit architectural students, academic people, and practicing architects and professionals about the range of approaches in ARCHITECTURE. Besides many definitions to expound, elucidate and clarify Architecture, the paper is novel in the approach of explaining the word ARCHITECTURE from a diverse perspective. Each letter has been an acronym with a term covering all significant aspects.

Architectural drawing’s modern transformation in China: the changing visual forms and the rise of the architectural profession

Chinese ‘architectural’ drawing (drawings that are concerned with the built environment) underwent profound transformation regarding their compositional rules around the beginning of the twentieth century, from a unique set of geometric principles to Western Euclidean geometry. This research firstly analyses and compares the different geometrical forms and other related visual expressions in three Chinese ‘architectural’ drawings representing the premodern, the modern, and the intermediate developmental period. Secondly, the changing visual forms reveal a brief history of the development of ‘subjectivity’ in Chinese ‘architectural’ drawing, from the anonymous craftsmanship that conveyed a collective subjectivity by representing Chinese cosmology to the beginning of the projection of the self as an intellectual, and finally to the modern professional architect. This article argues that the changing subjectivity is the key mechanism that has led to the profound transformation across these periods time.

Narrating Architecture as a Process: Two Histories of “Self-building” Golconde

This article shifts emphasis in the term “building” from its noun to verb sense, as exemplified by the Golconde dormitory conceived and built between 1935 and c.1948 in a French colony on India’s south-eastern coast, Pondicherry. It contributes to a discourse on how cultures of architectural modernity are inevitably rendered plural when viewed through processes of their enactment. Arguably India’s earliest exposed reinforced concrete architectural structure with a dynamic ventilation system, Golconde has been overarchingly co-opted into metanarratives on modern(ist) and tropical architecture. Yet why it took over a decade to build or what the experiences of this process were, remained to be asked. Believing such questions to be central to Golconde’s history, this research argues that the project’s ‘agency’, contingent on the philosophy of the spiritual community (Ashram) that was its patron, critically held sway over the ideologies of its professional architect(s). Contemporary accounts of construction also reveal the embodied and felt experiences of Golconde’s builders—mostly comprising members of the Ashram itself. Examining such aspects closely offers new insights into the project’s material and social processes. Two interconnected histories of Golconde then emerge: how the self-build architectural project of Golconde was, equally, the self-building of those who participated in its making.

Projects of the architect Lavrenty Ivanov in the Chita Archive

The article reflects the interim results of a study carried out within the scientific project “Architects and Engineers of the Eastern Outskirts of Russia (second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries)”. Unknown pages of the creative biography of the first professional architect of Transbaikalia, Lavrenty Ivanovich Ivanov, are considered. Brief historical information about the period of his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, as well as the main stages of the master's work as an architect of the Nerchinsk factories are given. The features of the industrial architecture of the region in the first half of the 19th century are revealed through L. I. Ivanov’s projects.

Architectural Missionary: D. Fred Charlton in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, 1887-1918 by Steven C. Brisson

Reviewed by: Architectural Missionary: D. Fred Charlton in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, 1887-1918 by Steven C. Brisson Jonathan Rinck Steven C. Brisson. Architectural Missionary: D. Fred Charlton in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, 1887-1918. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2021. Pp. 278. Appendices. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Notes. Paper: $46.95. In 1887, Demetrius Frederick Charlton arrived in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to establish a Marquette branch of the Detroit-based Scott & Company architectural firm. His endeavors were met with rapid success, and Charlton became the first professional architect to permanently reside in the Upper Peninsula, devoting his professional career to beautifying its towns and cities with buildings whose vocabulary showed the country that the Upper Peninsula possessed architectural sophistication. In Architectural Missionary, Steven Brisson provides a panorama of Charlton's career, during which Charlton designed a broad array of architectural public, ecclesial, commercial, and domestic buildings while effortlessly shifting his style in accordance with whatever was in vogue. Readers will be left with an appreciation for the extraordinary output of this immigrant architect who never received formal academic training in the field. Born in England, Charlton studied civil engineering at King's College, London, before coming to Detroit at age 21 to work for several regionally significant architectural firms, including Scott & Company. In 1887, when Scott & Company was commissioned to design and build the Marquette prison, Charlton arrived in the Upper Peninsula to oversee its construction and to establish a branch headquarters in Marquette. By 1889, Scott's firm was renamed Scott & Charlton; the following year, Charlton, sufficiently established, dissolved the partnership. [End Page 144] Brisson briskly moves through Charlton's early years and guides readers directly into Charlton's architectural career, leading with an in-depth exploration of three buildings representative of the stylistic range of Charleton's output. The Longyear House (1892) was a Richardsonian Romanesque-style Marquette mansion designed for lumber, steel, and coal tycoon John Longyear, and celebrated upon its completion for its elegance, comparable to any mansion in Boston (where, with the help of 190 boxcars and much effort, the house was eventually relocated). The Georgian Revival-style Newberry State Mental Hospital was his largest work; completed in 1916, the campus comprised nearly two dozen buildings surrounding an open courtyard. Finally, Brisson explores the Marquette County Courthouse (1904), a stately Neoclassical Revival building. The iconic structure featured prominently both in the novel Anatomy of a Murder and its film adaptation; much of the movie, which starred James Stewart, was staged in the courthouse, and national press descended on Marquette to document its filming. Brisson then catalogs Charlton's many other notable projects, which varied both in function and form. They included projects for the state of Michigan (including schools, municipal buildings, courthouses, and the Marquette Branch Prison), churches, commercial structures, whole commercial blocks, and many homes, all of which demonstrate Charlton's ability to effortlessly traverse styles. The 400 buildings he designed ranged from Richardsonian Romanesque, Gothic, Tudor Revival, Queen Anne, Renaissance Classical, Georgian, Arts & Crafts, and even Prairie-style. Brisson even teases readers with a rumored ephemeral "Mammoth Ice Palace" Charlton allegedly built in Marquette during the winter of 1899, but, alas, conclusive documentation is lacking. The focus of this book is on Charlton's architecture rather than his life, so readers should not expect a biography. But Brisson delivers an authoritative panorama of Charlton's architectural output replete with an index of all known extant works. Supplementing Brisson's descriptive writing are ample photographs and architectural renderings of nearly every structure mentioned. Reproductions of Charlton's own watercolor renderings underscore his precocious talent; by contrast, even the great Frank Lloyd Wright outsourced perspective drawings and watercolors to the specialists who worked under him. Brisson amply makes the point that much of the look of the Upper Peninsula owes itself to the fertile and cosmopolitan mind of D. Frederick Charlton, and the author delivers an affectionate tribute to his enduring legacy. [End Page 145] Jonathan Rinck Traverse City, MI Copyright © 2022 Historical Society of Michigan

A Visual Misalignment of Modernity. Documentary Photography of Contemporary Urban Transformation in Shanghai

The built environment of contemporary Shanghai has accumulated relatively continuous historical fragments, providing a unique, complete and diachronic sample of urban transformation for documentary photography. As an objective and material fact, how the transformation has become a subjective and cultural fact that was visualized by photography remains a significant issue. 
 A series of art movements in China since 1976 thrived the individual’s expression, artistic or documentary, by photography. Before long, the unprecedented and nationwide urbanization realizing the comprehensive modernization after the Reform and Opening up Policy in 1978 has far surpassed the construction of the past. During the urbanization in Shanghai, architectural spectacles and highly mixed urban development has emerged, meanwhile, the historical trace of everyday life has inevitably either vanished or transformed. It is a significant interaction between the material transformation pursuing the Chinese subjective modernity by codifying “Plans” to realize the comprehensive modernization and the visualization of the specific spatial impact that reconstructed everyday life underlying the overall transformation. 
 Concentrating on three representative and sequential photographers whose long-term documentation illustrated the urban transformation in contemporary Shanghai: Guo Bo acted as a professional architect and a photographer as well who depicted the everyday life in vanishing residential lanes “Lilong” after the Reform; Lu Yuanmin delved into the street and gleaned the surreal micro-reactions during the transformation; And Xi Zi applied his lens to produce an urban specimen of the remaining existence of the crumbling residential housing amongst new developing areas, this paper discusses how the visual misalignment as a distinct feature and approach of the recognition of the urban transformation was revealed by documentary photography.
 Although focusing on different motifs, their representations with self-consciousness as an intertextuality of urban transformation demonstrated a common sense that brought the overall transformation as a material fact of the comprehensive modernization in Shanghai back to everyday experience as a cultural fact. The coherence and distance, the intimacy and indifference, the familiarity and strangeness in the documentation endeavor sensitively to represent the visual experience of modernity in everyday life which reveals a phenomenon of misalignment in visual culture of the urban transformation in Shanghai.

Study of Dramaturgy Applied by The Selected Bureau of Architectural Consultants in Indonesia

Every architect has a different view and thought about something in designing a building. The basis of ideas design to a building is gained from experience, imagination, creativity, education, etc. Every professional architect also owns cognitive to express how the architecture works implemented through the design of a building. In architecture, there is a theory that connects drama and architecture in everyday life, dramaturgy. This article aims to see the concepts of dramaturgy in the works of the architectural consulting bureau responsible for, Omah Boto building, Aceh Tsunami Museum, and Phinisi Unm Tower. This study uses a qualitative method with data collection carried out using literature studies. Furthermore, the analyzed data is then presenting in descriptive for a more informative series. Data analysis aims to explore the relevance of the dramaturgy application in architecture to the thinking of architects in Indonesia. The results of the study show dramaturgy in architecture is used as a match between contemporary theater art and architecture. All three architectural consultants have used elements of dramaturgy in the design process. The three architectural consultants have used aspects of dramaturgy in their design process. The application of the basic concepts of dramaturgy used is an exterior setting of the building, Goals or ideas, building layout settings, visual instructions, and motion direction.

The place of theoretical wisdom in the application of architectural geometry by Islamic mathematicians. The period under study of the fourth to eleventh centuries AH

The place of theoretical wisdom in the application of architectural geometry by Islamic mathematicians. The period under study of the fourth to eleventh centuries AH

Reconstructing Frank Lloyd Wright's Library

Reconstructing Frank Lloyd Wright's Library

Architektas XVIII amžiaus Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės visuomenėje

ARCHITECT IN THE SOCIETY OF THE 18TH CENTURY GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA The article deals with the problem of professional field of activity of an architect, the place of his profession in the system of crafts, sciences and arts, architects’ position in the society of the eighteenth century. Before the education reform undertaken by the Education Commission, architecture had not been developed into a separate subject that provided professional training in the schools of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The course in architecture was only a part of general education in Vilnius Jesuit Academy, in nobility schools of a military type, and Jesuit and Piarist Collegium Nobilium. There was not enough focus on architectural studies in these most important educational institutions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: a short course of up to two years provided only general and technical basis of the theory of architecture based on classical orders, and it was not capable of training high ranked professionals-practitioners. Until the eighties of the 18th century, to become an independent professional architect one had to continue his studies abroad. It is argued that the Enlightenment concept of a creator serving to the state and society as well as representing them has provided an important impetus to the growth of the value of the architect’s profession and its social status. While many eighteenth-century artists were still very close to craftsmen in terms of social status (it was considered, that they used to do specific tasks and earn a living by employing manual / physical, not intellectual / mental powers), architects, due to the specifics of their education – studies at the university and military careers (they were mostly employed as engineers) were granted titles of nobility. In the eighteenth century, the social and material position of the architect-creator, who had been liberated from the crafts guild system, had evolved considerably and created conditions for privileges and for the establishment in the rank of nobility. The nobilitation of architects, who usually also had the rank of an officer and executed significant orders in large estates, intensified especially during the period of the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Experienced architects were desired and welcome guests in the manors of the nobles. Successful architects used to invest accumulated funds in real estate and manors with land. The architect was no longer just a hired employee but became a patron himself – the one who was initiating and partly financing construction. Keywords: architect, engineer, social status of an architect, Enlightenment, nobilitation.

Sugar and the City: The Contribution of Three Chinese-Indonesians to Architecture and Planning in the Dutch East Indies (1900–1942)

Around 1900, the Dutch East Indies was a multicultural and international society populated by Indonesians, Europeans, British Indians, Arabs and Chinese. The Chinese, although one of the colony’s ethnic minorities, contributed considerably to its economic and urban development. This article examines the professional and private lives of three Chinese-Indonesians: Tjong A Fie, Oei Tiong Ham and Liem Bwan Tjie. Tjong was a first-generation Chinese who left China and settled in Medan where he soon became one of the wealthiest citizens. Oei was a second-generation Chinese. Born into a trading family in Semarang, the fortune he accumulated in the sugar industry and his exuberant lifestyle soon earned him the nickname ‘Sugar King’. Liem, the fourth-generation descendant of a successful, Semarang-based textile-business family, became a professional architect. Much of Liem’s work was commissioned by Chinese-Indonesians. What Tjong, Oei and Liem had in common was their ethnic and cultural origin, their local and supralocal prominence within Chinese communities in the Dutch East Indies and their pioneering and leading role as professionals. By focussing on Tjong, Oei and Liem as <em>pars pro toto</em> for the affluent and educated Chinese community, this article describes how these figures cut across colonial categories of culture and community. It also illustrates how their personal and professional preferences and choices were instrumental in introducing European idioms and approaches to architecture and town planning and thus in changing the appearance of cities in the Dutch East Indies.

Indicators of Healthy Architecture\u2014a Systematic Literature Review

The design of the built environment plays an important role as a determinant of health. As a society, we are spending an increasing proportion of our time indoors and now spend over 80% of our life inside, so the design of buildings can greatly impact on human health. Accordingly, architecture health indices (AHIs) are used to evidence the effects on human health associated with the design of buildings. AHIs provide quantitative and empirical data upon which architects, clients, users and other stakeholders might monitor and evaluate the healthiness (or otherwise) of architectural design. A systematic literature review was conducted to reveal the current state of knowledge, reveal gaps, explore potential usage and highlight best practice in this area. Whilst there are a number of different health indicators for the built/urban environments more generally, the scope of this review is limited to the scale of a building and specifically those aspects within the remit of a professional architect. In order to examine the range and characteristics of AHIs currently in use, this review explored three electronic bibliographic databases from January 2008 to January 2019. A two-stage selection was undertaken and screening against eligibility criteria checklist carried out. From 15 included studies, 127 documents were identified, and these included 101 AHI. A sample of the most commonly used AHIs was then analysed at an item level. The review reveals that most AHIs are limited to measuring communicable diseases that directly affect physical health through e.g. air quality or water quality. There are very few indicators focusing on factors affecting mental and social health; given the increase in mental and social health problems, greater focus on AHIs related to these health issues should be included. Furthermore, the research reveals an absence of AHIs that address non-communicable diseases (NCDs). As the majority of all poor health outcomes globally are now related to NCDs, and many are associated with the design of the built environment, there is an urgent need to address this situation.

The actualization of the garden city model in modern urban planning with participation practices (on the example of Grabnyk park renewal in the city of Rivne)

The participation practices in Ukrainian urban planning are a fairly new phenomenon. The growing interest in such approaches primarily reflects positive changes in the development of cities. On the other hand, this interest draws attention to problems of implementation of these approaches in actual urban planning practice. It is important to note here that although participation practices are well regulated in countries with developed democracy, under conditions of developing democracy in Ukraine there are still no well-functioning mechanisms of interaction between government and society at local levels. Regarding participation of local communities in city development, the discussion about the place of a professional architect in urban planning processes that include participation practices becomes particularly important. In this article we uncover effectiveness of participation practices and limitations of their application in the context of Ukraine. We also determine the differences in understanding effectiveness and limitations of these practices in Ukraine and developed democracies.

Trabalho do arquiteto e interfaces com a saúde e qualidade de vida do ser humano

O estudo teórico-filosófico, reflexivo, exploratório e qualitativo. Que objetivou a refletir acerca das interfaces do trabalho do arquiteto, saúde e qualidade de vida do ser humano. A arquitetura não evoluiu apenas quanto ao planejamento arquitetônico para englobar maior solidez, utilidade e beleza dos espaços/ambientes construídos, mas cresceu, também frente a percepção da qualidade de quem utilizará as edificações. O ser humano com boa qualidade de vida e, consequentemente, com saúde consegue realizar-se diante das suas necessidades e potencialidades. Ele carece de oportunidades para o exercício de um bem-estar e um bem viver saudável e, para isso, é necessário uma equipe interdisciplinar, entre os quais, o profissional arquiteto, cujo principal escopo de trabalho consiste em criar espaços/ambientes construídos visando melhorar a qualidade de vida das pessoas que neles vivem.

Lokālais un globālais Guntas Šnipkes dzejā

The article deals with the representation and interaction of the local and global elements in Liepāja poet and professional architect Gunta Šnipke’s poetry writing. The research aims to establish and evaluate the importance of local and global aspects in Šnipke’s poetry creation process by determining the conceptually characteristic ways in the formation of poetic expression. The article particularly emphasizes the phenomenon of memory which reveals the dimension of time in Šnipke’s poetry space, allows to speak not only of the individual but also of the cultural memory by precise emphasis of concrete geographic places, topographic details (showing both the local and global scale) which have directed the author to an observation. The phenomenon of memory reveals the dimension of time and illuminates several levels of individual and collective memory – historical, cultural, autobiographical, feminine. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research includes the viewpoints of feminism theoreticians (Rosi Braidotti, Virginia Woolf and others) on the aspects of mental nomadism in the perspective of gender studies, as well as several aspects of the cultural memory research (works by Aleida Assmann, Marija Semjonova and others). The local and global issues have been researched mostly in Šnipke’s newest poetry collection “Ceļi” (‘Roads’, 2018) concurrently demonstrating the broader context and development process of the poet’s creative activity since the publishing of the first two poetry collections – “…Bērns ienāca…” (‘…A Child Came in…’, 1995), “...Un jūra” (‘…And the Sea”, 2008). The dominant of Šnipke’s poetic expression is a powerful impulse of thought which allows the creation of broader contexts concerning the current events and phenomena, thus expanding the boundaries of experience established by the strict form. The poet’s strong intellect is in a certain confrontation with an equally strong emotional experience. Šnipke’s poetry is characterised not only by the natural union of the intellectual and emotional elements in one poem but also by a successful amalgamation of various important levels – geographical, cultural and historical, social and personal, autobiographical. This feature is soundly used in creating the artistic concept of the poetry collection “Ceļi”. The collection was highly praised by professionals and awarded by several significant literary prizes. Šnipke’s poetry coincides with the current tendencies in the contemporary Latvian poetry process both in content and form; the poetic thought is mostly expressed in expanded and associatively dense syntactic structures. Šnipke’s poetry complies with the feminine poetry tendency to record the history of one’s own family within significant historic events pouring the individual experiences into layers of collective experience. Personal and seemingly insignificant becomes of global importance joining the space of common European memory, the distant and foreign phenomena are made closer and more understandable. In the longer forms, a woman and the feminine language become the main narrators of the past.

“El Bello Dibujo” Exposiciones y Enseñanza de Arquitectura en España, 197x-199x

Architectural drawing exhibitions framed the cultural and architectural debate in the 1970s and 1980s. In Spain, this interest developed in parallel with a renewal of the Schools of Architecture that was taking place during the process of democratization of the country. The new curriculums aimed to confront the pedagogical crisis attributed to the education policies approved during the technocratic period of Franquism. In this sense, the teaching of drawing would be, on the one hand, the result of the international contemporary context of the critique of modernity, and on the other, the possible solution to a highly technified pedagogy of architecture. The numerous architectural drawing shows and publications constructed a new “drawing ambience” that brought to the foreground not only questions about the status of architectural drawing within the architectural discipline, but also the more crucial debate on the status of the professional architect.