Architectural Theory Research Articles

Metamorphoses

All have changed appearance. Men say a certain thing is born, if it takes a different form from what it had; and yet they say, that certain thing has died,if it no longer keeps the self same shape.Though distant things move near, and near things far, always the sum of all things is unchanged. Publius Ovidius Naso. Metamorphoses. Book 15, lines 257-263 (Arthur Golding, Trans.) Nothing disappears in the world, but only transforms from one form into another, exactly the same. Mikhail Zhvanetsky Changes in today’s world are happening with kaleidoscopic speed. Since its inception, architecture has been perceived as a system of differentiated phenomena – styles, trends, traditions. Architecture has been divided into national and regional schools, and the history of architecture has been portrayed as a sequence of successive aesthetic complexes. This discrete approach is increasingly being replaced by a continuous metamorphic approach, according to which architecture is more similar not to a mosaic of isolated fragments, but to a stream without clear boundaries, where everything changes and flows into each other. The paradigm shift does not happen easily. Authoritative architectural theorists are talking about a collapse of scientific architectural studies. Optimists are looking for support in related fields – psychology, history, sociology. Some are waiting for help from artificial intelligence or from spontaneous “bottom-up” creativity. As the metamorphic approach tells us, they all are right. It can already be noted how fruitful metamorphic processes can be in the cross-fertilisation of different styles, but the dangers of blurring the boundaries are also evident. This issue contains contributions on several areas of architectural metamorphosis. As usual, we do not claim to fully disclose a complex topic. Our goal is to draw attention to the questions rather than to give exhaustive answers to them.

Visualization and Interaction Model of Outdoor Landscape Design Based on Virtual Reality Technology using Optimized Sparse Spectra Graph Convolutional Neural Network

The artistic thought of traditional garden landscape design has significant effect on garden art, architectural theory, gardening theory are also inextricably linked. In modern gardens, traditional architecture lacks applicability to construction of garden painting environment. In this Manuscript, Visualization and Interaction Model of Outdoor Landscape Design Based on Virtual Reality Technology using Optimized Sparse Spectra is Graph Convolutional Neural Network is proposed (VIM-OLD-VRT-SSGCNN).Initially the data is collected fromArcbazer.com data. Afterwards sparse spectra graph convolutional neural network (SSGCNN) is used to design the Outdoor Landscape. In Generally, SSGCNN doesn’t expose some adoption of optimization systems for calculating optimal parameters for exactly design the Outdoor Landscape. Hence, Piranha Foraging optimization Algorithm (PFOA) is proposed to optimize SSGCNN which precisely design Outdoor Landscape. Finally Visualization and Interaction Model of Outdoor Landscape Designed. The proposed VIM-OLD-VRT-SSGCNN method is implemented python and performance metrics likes accuracy, precision, F1-score, sensitivity, specificity, computational time, RoC are evaluated. The performance of VIM-OLD-VRT-SSGCNN method provides 18.31%, 20.72%, 21.67% greater accuracy, 17.83%, 18.42%, 20.38% greater precision and 21.75%, 22.36%, 23.59% greater computational time while compared with existing techniques like Utilizing Deep Learning to Generate Font with Backyards in Landscape Architecture(UDL-GFB-LA), Urban Landscape Design Depend on Data Fusion with Computer Virtual Reality Technology (ULD-DF-CVRT),perception of urban sounds cape and landscape utilizing different visual environment reproduction techniques in virtual reality (PUSL-DVER-VR) respectively.

Unsettled assemblies: performance space, infrastructure and architecture at PQ 2023

ABSTRACT The Performance Space Exhibition at the 2023 Prague Quadrennial (PQ) – titled ‘Acts of Assembly’ – explored how theatres and performance spaces operate as sites of assembly and spaces for community. It asked: How do they create connections? How do they facilitate encounters? How do they function as sites for social action and the making of culture? Focussing on the dynamics of different acts of assembly, and positing performance itself as an assemblage, the exhibition explored the productive continuities and antagonisms between more traditional theatre architectures and the broader emergent qualities of performance spaces. This essay reflects on how the exhibition expressed a vision of performance spaces as a vital social infrastructure. It suggests the concept of social infrastructure as a useful analytic for examining how performance spaces support and sustain people and practices. The essay also reflects on the unsettled positioning of theatre architecture and performance space within PQ more generally.

Exploring with children, play in Irish primary schoolyards

ABSTRACT Children’s play in Irish schoolyards remains neglected in educational policies and practices despite government commitments to inclusive schools and children’s rights. There is a dearth of research on children’s perspectives of play, criticisms of ‘at risk’ discourses underpinning concerns for certain children’s play rights, and studies identifying exclusion within Irish schoolyards, particularly for children with minoritized identities. This inquiry informed by the theory of practice architectures used walking interviews to explore with twenty-three children their play practices in two Irish primary schools identified as disadvantaged. Analysis of the interviews generated three themes: (1) the state of play – cracks with(in) the routines of the schoolyard, (2) playing along and with(in) this shared space and (3) the hard yard. This inquiry contributes to understandings of children’s play with(in) Irish schoolyards, as socially situated practices with contrasting representations of play as habitual and emerging. Play was central to children’s social lives, identities, and friendships and interrelated with diverse constraints, exclusionary practices, and the (re)production of the ‘hard yard’. While mattering most children’s experiences of significant constraints and inequities, this inquiry also highlighted the transformative possibilities generated within play to create shared possibilities for individual and collective flourishing.

What about feelings? Elaboration on and consideration of the theoretical construct of emotions in practice and practice architectures

ABSTRACT Despite increased interest in the affective aspects of human interaction in education, as elsewhere, emotions have largely been neglected in the field of practice research. Moreover, they still lack an obvious place in the theories developed and used by researchers studying practices. This article strives to elaborate on the emotional aspects of practice as a theoretical construct within the theory of practice architectures. For this purpose, empirical data retrieved from a previously completed research circle with ten Swedish school leaders were categorized and reflected on. The analysis of the data, which comprised 19 pieces of documentation based on school leaders’ observations of practices of which they were part, suggests that emotions are not just social but also semantic and physical events. The findings also suggest that emotions transcend the three categories of sayings, doings, and relatings stipulated by the theory of practice architectures. Based on these findings and to stimulate further consideration of the theoretical construct of emotions and their place in the schematic representation of practice and practice architectures, a fourth category labeled ‘feelings’ was tentatively added to the framework.

Research on Spatial Design and Reconstruction Strategy of Aging Based on Visual Features

At present, our country is in the rapid development stage of aging, the pension problem has always been a problem that the whole society pays high attention to, how to create a high quality living environment for the old people becomes a new research topic. From the perspective of vision, combined with architectural design theory, geriatric psychology, color psychology and other theories, this paper explores the interior public space environment design of elderly buildings from the aspects of light, color, quality, humanity and other influencing factors. At the same time, it analyzes the living situation of the old apartment and the characteristics of the old people in our country. From the aspects of space environment, function layout and so on, this paper summarizes the renovation strategy of interior space of elderly apartment. It provides a new reference for the design of elderly apartments in China in the future, and combines the design of elderly service centers to enrich the design methods of indoor public space environment of elderly care buildings in China in the future, so as to improve the quality of life of the elderly.

Principals’ Professional Learning as Praxis-Oriented Change – Leading Digitalisation in Preschool Education

This article takes a practice perspective on professional learning to contribute through an empirical example of how professional learning can be arranged to enable change in and for professional practice, as well as for nurturing praxis. The theory of practice architectures is used to analyse the process of an action research (AR) in which principals investigated and changed their ways of leading digitalisation in preschool education. The theorising of the co-production of practices was used to visualise how the changes were enabled in this process, as the practices for professional learning and leading became interdependent through shared practice architectures. The findings describe how such a co-production of practices enabled a process in which the principals went from a technical to a practical approach to change, when leading digitalisation, which further resulted in a critical stance. This was a process that manifested professional learning as praxis-oriented change in which the principals’ professional judgement increased.

Research on the Memorial Space Design Methods Based on the Perspective of Cinematic Architecture: Focusing on French Nouvelle Vague

This study investigates the design of French Nouvelle Vague films converted into monumental spaces based on the theory of cinematic architecture. The purpose of the study is to further develop the design method of converting the film into monumental space by exploring the correlation between film and monumental space and to prove the feasibility of the design method of converting the film into monumental space through the virtual design of the French Nouvelle Vague Memorial Museum. The object of the study is the French Nouvelle Vague film and monumental space. The content and scope of the study are to analyze the background of cinematic architecture, the correlation between film and monumental space in terms of architecture, and to propose the method of converting film into monumental space. The research method is the literature method and film observation and analysis method, through the observation and analysis of literature and classic films, to summarize the narrative techniques of French Nouvelle Vague film art and the characteristics of the French Nouvelle Vague. The significance of the research is to explore the new forms and connotations of monumental space to convey the idea of monumental space more intuitively to the users of the space and to give more social significance to the architecture with the cultural significance of the film.

Business center at 69 Dekabristov street: history first

Interaction between new projects and historical buildings is explored on the example of the business center at 69 Dekarbistov Street. The role of this business center in the structure of the historically significant area in Yekaterinburg is established through analysis of its spatial and urban compositions, and plastic and coloristic solutions. Opinions from practicing architects and architecture theorists have enabled general architectural and artistic approaches to the design of new architectural objects in historical contexts and criteria for their analysis to be formulated. A review of similar objects from Russian and international practice provided an evaluation scale with two opposite values: "full contrast" and "full nuance" of architectural solutions for a new facility in relation to the existing surrounding buildings. In conclusion, the importance of the business center is revealed as an object that harmoniously interacts with the historical environment and forms a corner of the city block.

Conceptualising praxis, agency and learning: A postabyssal exploration to strengthen the struggle over alternative futures

Educational researchers are increasingly striving on the edge of possibility to re-imagine and realise the future. Activist scholarship requires appropriate philosophical and theoretical bases, what Stetsenko refers to as ‘dangerous’ – useful in the struggle for a better world. How might praxis, agency and learning be charged with transgressive spirit? This paper considers the Theory of Practice Architectures and Transformative Activist Stance, established frameworks that dangerously address praxis, agency and learning. Adopting a postabyssal approach, contributions from the Global South and East are drawn on to develop an epistemologically plural basis for thinking differently about praxis, agency and learning. Recent Latin American scholarship reinvigorates Freirean ideas through connections with Fals Borda and contemporary feminist pedagogues, centred on a notion of feeling-thinking. Luitel’s interpretations of Vedic philosophy provide radically different ideas of negative dialectics, chaos, responsibility and liberation. An open-minded, open-hearted, open-ended approach is crucial to making these ideas more useful in the struggle over alternative, more equitable and just futures.

Using practice theories to understand, analyse and articulate followership in early childhood education sites

ABSTRACT This article delves into a methodological approach that challenges traditional followership and leadership research. It presents the application of Nicolini’s theory-method package, involving three tools of theory, methods, and vocabularies to articulate data. The theory-method package is a valuable tool for researchers in Australia and globally employing a practice-based approach to study work practices and educational systems. The package was used to analyse and articulate followership practices by integrating followership theories, multi-site ethnography, the theory of practice architectures and reflexive thematic analysis. Through these innovative lenses, the study provides fresh insights into how followership is practiced in early childhood settings. Notably, it challenges established leadership theories by emphasizing the multidimensional intricacies of followership practices, which extend beyond traditional leader-follower relationships. The study underscores the importance of choosing appropriate theories and methods when examining social practices within education systems. It highlights the value of adopting a practice lens to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of followership. This research both advances understandings of followership and identifies broader implications for the study of followership in educational contexts. It also highlights the need to navigate the seductive allure of theories and to embrace reflexive trepidations as part of the analytical journey.

Devised theatre methodology to promote creativity in school

ABSTRACT This study examines the use of a devised theatre methodology to develop more creativity in the professional learning community and among students. Data from focus groups in an action research project in an upper secondary school in Norway have been thematically analysed. Using the practice architecture theory, we identified three different practices: ‘creative practice’, ‘collective creative practice’ and ‘school practice’. The results show that devising methodology in the form of different production strategies, process orientation and a system of collective creative work promotes creativity in the professional learning community and for students. In addition, the methodology can be used to develop a teaching practice that promotes planning, imagination, and spontaneity in students, and contribute to a more equal guiding role in the form of guided improvisation from the teacher. The methodology can help teachers to foster discussions, understandings, develop concrete creative collaborations and promote democratic processes. The study points to tensions in teachers’ development of ‘creative practice’ and ‘collective creative practice’ in the face of a traditional ‘school practice’. The results are discussed using theories of devised theatre methodology, creativity, professional learning communities and practice architecture theory.

Determining Military Resistance in the Republic of Armenia's Border Settlements Within Spatial Planning

Due to the military operations conducted by the opponent during and after the 2020 Artsakh war, as well as potential future risks and threats, the Republic of Armenia faces the challenge of ensuring the secure livelihoods of border settlements and implementing programs aimed at territorial development. Therefore, raising the issues regarding the resistance of these settlements to possible military operations is of strategic importance and demands immediate attention. The research examines normative and technical documents adopted from both international and local experiences to mitigate the impact of military attacks. It delves into the potential for reducing casualties and material damage by organizing the spatial environment of settlements. Furthermore, it emphasizes the necessity of defining new terminology and formulating key assessment criteria. The proposed solutions can be the basis for proposing a new scientific theory in architecture and contributing to the development of new resistance solutions in architecture along with military technologies.

Understanding professional learning in and for practice

ABSTRACT Based on an overview of the existing literature, this paper aims to provide a holistic and coherent conceptualisation and understanding of the complexity of educators’ professional learning. First, the way in which professional development, professional learning and everyday learning have been configured in contemporary research is combined with an initial practice theory perspective. Consequently, we conceptualise professional learning as learning in and for professional practice. Subsequently, the theory of practice architectures, a practice theory developed in educational settings, is presented. Based on the authors’ previous work, aspects of relatings, that is, the social space in which educators relate to each other in the mediums of power and solidarity, are highlighted. These include power, trust, recognition and agency. The paper ends by presenting a framework for understanding the complexity of learning in and for professional practice, consisting of two complementary perspectives: a site-based and time-bounded focus on professional action and an open-ended process of educators’ professional and human growth. Brought together these perspectives enable an understanding of the complexity of professional learning in terms of praxis development.

The origin, development, and application of fractal geometry theory in architecture

Fractal geometry plays a crucial role in the study of fractals, with wide-ranging applications and it is closely related to architectural design creation, notably in architecture. Fractals are becoming more prevalent in todays society and can be used to describe a variety of extremely irregular items in the actual world. This article aims to provide an overview and analysis of the significant implications of fractal geometry in architecture, exploring its relationship with elements in nature, such as trees. By searching, organizing data, and elucidating examples, the article delves into the origin and basic background of fractal geometry. The use of fractal geometry in architecture demonstrates the perfect symbiosis between fractal and nature through analysis of TOD, the ancient gardens in Suzhou, and other practical applications. One notable fractal algorithm is the L-system, a modeling approach expressing fractal concepts, enabling parameterization and architectural design. Fractal geometry successfully expands possibilities for the harmonious coexistence of architecture and nature, embodying numerous natural features and human-centric ideas.

СУЧАСНИЙ АРХІТЕКТУРНИЙ ПРОЦЕС ТА АКТУАЛЬНІ ЗАВДАННЯ АРХІТЕКТУРНОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ

The article is devoted to the identification of the features of the modern architectural process and the establishment of actual tasks of architectural activity. Today's society, science, and practice are experiencing phenomena that radically change the approaches and paradigms of the architectural process. The paper highlights the contradictions in the theory and practice of architecture that need to be resolved; considers aspects of the modern ideology of architecture; develops certain provisions of the theory of the environmental approach, namely, the features of "understanding" design, the communicative component of architectural activity; emphasizes the interaction of various actors in the process of architectural activity, the dialogue of the architect with stakeholders. The author emphasizes the decisive role of the architect as an organizer and coordinator of the design process, the interpretation of the architectural process as a component of the overall socio-cultural process. The biggest shifts are taking place in the field of the environmental approach to architectural activity. Environmental issues, which bring people and their lifestyles to the forefront, give impetus to the development of architectural management and marketing. These changes in priorities have led to a problematic situation in the theory of architecture and opened up a new space of work: the identification and recording of environmental experiences and images, the production of these experiences and the management of this process. The environmental approach outlines the future trajectories of architectural work, the essence of which is the inclusion of the designer in the life of the population, the materialization of their own version of life processes, the identification of a set of specialized activities that support the ideology of social progress and cultural development. Scientific research and architectural practice should be based on the achievements of the philosophy of architecture, understanding of new value orientations, taking into account the differences and pace of social change, etc. There is a need to recognize the importance of such a factor as the subject of the architectural process. Changing the basic guidelines of the consumer of an architectural object requires ensuring at the design stage the possibility of transforming an architectural object in the process of its further operation, predicting the emergence of new functions and the formation of their new material shell. The article outlines the contours of scientific innovations in the field of architecture - the theory of architectural activity in the conditions of intersubjective interaction; suggests forms of correct introduction of the concept of "design subject", which is active in the architectural environment, into design practice and theory of architectural activity.

Smoke: Enablers and barriers for sustainable engagement with local Aboriginal communities

For many years, activists in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) have called for the sector to engage closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities. However, less is documented on how mainstream services might achieve authentic, sustained engagement at a local service level. This paper showcases educators who connect with local Aboriginal community members/Elders as a central plank of their ECEC practice. In sharing their account, we examine what engagement looks like and what makes it possible. We have used Indigenous methodologies and the Theory of Practice Architecture (TPA) as theoretical lenses for exploring the policy, and organisational arrangements that sustained their engagement practices. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the research.

The Optimization Strategy of Tourism Space

With the expansion of the scale of cultural heritage tourism, the contradiction between cultural heritage space and tourism activities is becoming more and more prominent, and the integrity and authenticity of cultural heritage are facing threats. This study took Gulangyu Island as the research object. From the perspective of marketing, combined with the theories of architecture, urban and rural planning, and other disciplines, this paper analyzed the current situation of tourism space on Gulangyu Island and put forward tourism space optimization strategies. The research pointed out the current problems of Gulangyu Island in terms of product type, product design, and product quality through the method of literature research. In view of the current problems of Gulangyu tourism space, the optimization strategy of Gulangyu tourism space was put forward: first, optimize the allocation of resources and build a tourist scenic spot with cultural heritage resources as the main body; second, establish a multi-subject cooperative governance model, using the historical and cultural heritage of Gulangyu Island to improve the optimization strategy of tourism space; third, build a linkage tourism product system, improve transportation infrastructure, and ease the flow of people in hot areas.

‘View from the window’: On time, politics and domestics during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

The present article aims to contribute to theorisations of the politics of time through a detailed engagement with techno-aesthetic strategies of temporal synchronisation and heterogeneisation of everyday rhythms during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The exploration focuses on practices of mediatisation of domestic spaces, in particular by examining photographs posted on the Bulgarian-language ‘View from the Window’ Facebook group. The group was founded during the first coronavirus lockdown in April 2020 and its members used it to share images taken from their private homes onto exterior spaces. Theoretically, I build on Henri Lefebvre’s rhythmanalytical project, from which I derive an understanding of the polyrhythmic and multi-scalar character of the everyday, while engaging writings from visual cultures, performance studies, architecture and media theory. The article looks closely at two formal aesthetic strategies that established themselves for posting on the group: The visual strategy of framing and the use of time stamps in image captions. On the one hand, I show how these media practices are engaged in synchronising views with each other; I argue that they contribute to the creation of an equivalence between views while obfuscating their underlying socio-material conditions, which tend to remain outside of the photographic frame. On the other hand, I also demonstrate that these practices can be equally generative of asynchronicity and dissonance between views, bringing to the fore a spatio-temporal heterogeneity and the articulation of stark socio-political differences. The article thus contributes an analysis of the interplay between time, politics and domestics through the conceptual prism of an engagement with aesthetic practices of mediation.

Down-to-Earth Types: Brick Buildings and the Bounds of Propriety in Berlin and Hamburg, 1904–14

Abstract As the go-to cladding material for a range of new utilitarian building types, machine-made brick appeared across Germany during the industrial boom of the 1890s. In response, in 1904, the Bund Heimatschutz (League of Homeland Protection) was formed to defend the traditional German landscape against the visual blight of industrialization. The organization began campaigning against the use of brick cladding, which it viewed as a sin against propriety and national character. By 1914, however, the situation had changed, and bricks and ceramics had firmly cemented their place within the bounds of cultural permissibility for architectural façades. Focusing on Berlin and Hamburg, this article discusses the processes that enabled the acceptance of brick cladding, shedding new light on the changing character of architectural theory during the prewar era, as architects forged new tools to reconcile history and modern life.