Union Building Research Articles

Identity Politics in the Context of Nation Building and Integration-Oriented Interaction: The Case of the Union State of Belarus and Russia

Introduction. In the processes of nation building and integration, it is particularly important to increase the consolidation potential of emerging communities through identity politics. The totality of challenges, threats and risks determines the need for a balanced combination of its dimensions, taking into account national and common interests of countries. In the post-Soviet space, the Union State of Belarus and Russia acts as a platform for dialogue. The aim of the study is to outline the contours of the construct of supranational identity within the framework of the Union State and to define the degree of its conjugation with the category of “national identityˮ in the discursive practices of the political leadership of Russia and Belarus. Materials and Methods. The study is based on official documents representing the specifics of interpretation of identity politics by the presidents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, as well as on materials associated with the functioning of the Union State. Content analysis, the comparative method, and scenario analysis were employed when examining the documents. Results. The research and expert assessments of the internal and external dimensions of the identity politics of the member states, as well as the basic and derived categories of the official discourse have been analyzed; the constants and dominants, similarities and differences in the stands of Russia and Belarus have been revealed. It has also been demonstrated that there has been no fundamental contradiction in their understanding of the priorities of nation and Union building. At the same time, disagreements on a number of topical issues have been identified. The leitmotif of the official discourse is giving absolute priority to sovereignty, which has an ambiguous effect on the course of the integration of Russia and Belarus. Discussion and Conclusion. The conducted study has confirmed the hypothesis that identity politics is multilevel for the states involved in integration-oriented interaction; at the current stage, it remains complex and incomplete. The states demonstrate prevalence of the internal dimension of identity politics and “restrictiveˮ perception of its external dimension, which affects the prospects for promoting the construct of “dualˮ identity. At the same time, the Union State remains an essential integration format for Russia from the geopolitical and civilizational perspective. The approach proposed by the authors and the results obtained, which articulate the correlation of tasks in terms of nation building and integration policy, may help to improve the efficiency of political governance.

Spatial characterization of noise levels at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria

The study investigated the spatial variability in the distribution of noise pollution in Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Measurements of noise were taken from 10 locations on campus namely; the academic environment including the University library and college lecture auditoria, the residential areas comprising the Student hostels and Vice-chancellor’s lodge as well as other populated areas like the car park and student union building. The noise measurement was done in the morning and evenings of Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays over a period of 3 weeks in July 2019. The noise measurement was done with the aid of Smart Sensor Digital Sound Level meter (Model: AR824). The sampling points were geo-located using a hand-held receiver for Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Questionnaires were administered to members of the University community (staff and students) to determine their respective perception of campus noise on academic activities. Data (noise and survey) were subjected to statistical analysis. Spatial analysis of the noise levels includes surface interpolation (Krigging) to determine the spatial pattern of noise across the campus, particularly, the most tranquil and most chaotic locations. The results show noise pollution levels reaching 74.3 (db) and 73.0 (db) during weekdays at some locations on campus. The noise emission level at some locations within the University exceeded the World Health Organization and Federal Ministry of Environment of Nigeria’s permissible level of 55 db for residential areas. Generally, it was observed that the ambient noise from heavy duty generating with the student chattering put noise level above 35(db) to 55(db) recommended for educational institutions. It can be inferred from statistical analyses and spatial interpolations of recorded noise levels, that noise levels of many areas in FUNAAB exceed the recommended 40 db required for an institution of higher learning. The study however finds that staff and students have adjusted to the noise on campus. Lecturers have resorted to the use of public address systems in large classes while students go to serene locations for better assimilation when studying. The study recommends reduction of point-source noises such as replacing the diesel generators with solar power. Signage should be displayed at sensitive areas such as library to reduce unnecessary noise.

Residential retrofit in the climate emergency: the role of metrics

This paper examines whether current residential retrofit metrics are fit for purpose and if they can help deliver swift and significant cuts in carbon emissions. Information is presented on metrics used for a variety of UK and European Union building and building retrofit standards and evaluation and assessment tools. An analytical approach is developed that offers a simplified set of four key aspects of metrics: scope, headline measurement, normalisation factor and timescale. This helps to unpack the complexity of metric design. However, choice of metrics is not simply a technocratic issue, because their design is not value free. Two examples where metrics form the basis for policy-making for retrofit and energy use in buildings are described: UK Energy Performance Certificates and the Energiesprong approach to deep retrofit. Use of multiple metrics improves their fitness for purpose and is already established practice in some standards and policy. Metrics in common use omit many aspects of energy use in buildings. New metrics are required that can take account of the whole life of a building, the time profile of retrofit, or the ability of the building to be flexible as to when energy is used. Policy relevance Existing and new metrics can contribute to the transformation of the building stock. They have real-world impacts on buildings, those retrofitting them and their occupants. Retrofit metrics embody values and views about how retrofit should be undertaken. Unpacking metric design and considering scope, headline measures, normalisation factors and timescale separately can help inform better policy decisions. There is no one ideal metric for building retrofit—many policies and standards use multiple metrics. A focus on carbon metrics only for retrofit can lead to missing opportunities for high-quality building fabric. Energy metrics remain important.

Law in concrete: institutional architecture in Brussels and The Hague

ABSTRACT One of the most iconic and concrete encounters one can have with international law is to visit its institutional buildings. This article aims to shed light on the ambivalent aspirations reflected by the architectural design of the International Criminal Court in The Hague and the European Union buildings in Brussels. It provides a sightseeing tour through the architectural landscape of these two ‘legal capitals’ and explores the architectural embodiment of international law’s imaginaries through discussing three main issues: (1) the representation of values and needs; (2) embeddedness within the city; (3) audience expectations. It argues that the physical sites of institutional buildings and the public events that take place at these sites are not trivial to the practice of international law. These sites and the activities and interactions on their grounds (re)produce stories that affect our understanding of what international institutions are and what they mean to us. In particular in the international setting, where institutional legitimacy is not a given, the building’s architecture is an important means of communication. This article explores how the architectural design invites or discourages engagement and how it facilitates an encounter between the institutions and their multiple audiences.

A preliminary study on the treatment of restaurant wastewater using electrocoagulation technique

Restaurant Wastewater (RW) is characterized by high volume and strength, with minimal treatment before its release into the environment. Electrocoagulation (EC) could be a better alternative due to its environmental friendliness. The study investigates the use of EC in RW treatment. The samples were collected from the University of Ibadan student Union Building restaurant, between 7-9 am. The EC consisted of an aerator, carbon electrodes, power source, a beaker, and stirrer. Electrodes were connected in mono-polar system at inter-distance of 10 mm, with retention times of 0, 30, 60 and 90 minutes. The RW was aerated before passing direct currents of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 Amperes. The Colour, Particulate Phosphorus (PP), Soluble Reactive Polyphosphate (PO 4 3- ), Phosphorus Pentoxide (P 2 O 5 ), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Dissolved Oxygen (DO) were determined. The study was three replicates. Mean percentage removal efficiencies for PP, PO 4 3- , P 2 O 5 , COD, DO and colour at 30 minutes (16.85, 19.33, 17.15, 12.58, -32.88 and 20.12%), 60 minutes (30.88, 27.1, 30.57, 21.13, -57.18 and 34.30%), and 90 minutes (40.75, 33.00, 32.83, 25.83, -87.88 and 40.7%) respectively. Better treatment efficiencies of treated wastewater using the electrolytic reactor were obtained with an increase in direct current passing through.

Freedom Charter, Women's Charter, Memories, and (Un)freedoms

More than 60 years ago, South African women declared their aim of striving for the removal of all laws, regulations, conventions and customs that discriminated against women and that deprived them in any way of their inherent right to the advantages, responsibilities and opportunities that society offered to any one section of the population. Women do not form a society separate from men. There is only one society, and it is made up of both women and men. Against this backdrop, after 60 years, and with a Women’s Charter and Freedom Charter in place, there are many issues that still need to be addressed, highlighted and referred to. On the agenda is the investigation of unresolved women’s issues so as to pave the way for emancipation from the (un)freedoms that still prevail. On August 9, 1956, more than 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the extension of women’s pass laws. This march, organised by the Federation of South African Women, has been recorded as one of the largest demonstrations staged in this country’s history. Women have played an important role in building a better South Africa. They should be protected against abuse, violence and discrimination, and they must be valued and respected in order to uphold the vision of building a non-racist, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa. Against this background, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Women’s Charter and 25 years of freedom indicates that change should have taken place over the last six decades. However, the liberation, education and management of South African women within the paradigm of political, legal, economic and social challenges need to be investigated and documented.

Autoethnographic Reflections on Student Mobilisation for Educational Reform: From Apartheid to Democracy and the 2015 #Fees-must-fall Student Uprising in South Africa

ABSTRACTThis is a paper on student mobilisation or youth activism in South Africa from a critical race theory, black consciousness and cultural studies perspective with an emphasis on meaning construction, symbolic action and locating the author centrally in the empirical-analytical process. It is presented through the personalised experiences and reflexive-narrative style (i.e. story-within-the-story) of the author’s own point of view, which makes it an auto- (personal experience), ethno- (rich cultural and historical context) -graphic (descriptive and visual) piece. Using the autoethnographic method of narrating observations in the field, at the event of the 23 October 2015 “Fees-must-fall” gathering at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the paper offers a reflexive comparison of the experiences of the author present at two distinct (but historically related, i.e. past related to present and vice versa) political junctures of student mobilisation for higher education in South Africa—first as a student in the late 1980s and then as a passive observer-cum-social science researcher at the 2015 student protests at the Union Buildings, in Pretoria. In adopting this novel qualitative method of interrogating student mobilisation from a personal experiential point of view, this paper offers a different approach to reporting qualitative field research that conventionally presents the ideas and opinions of its participants as the main interrogation point, not that of the author’s. The main narrative is therefore premised on the author’s own experiences with student mobilisation for educational reform during the height of apartheid and under this current democratic social context of the “hashtag fees-must-fall” (#FMF) movement.

The Kgotla as a Spatial Mediator on South African University Campuses

Higher education in South Africa is experiencing a time of accelerated change, increasing complexity, contested knowledge claims and inevitable uncertainty. Academia, and by proxy the place which accommodates the academic function, stand central to this debate. The need for a decolonised curriculum on the African continent dates back to the inauguration of the Association of African Universities (AAU) in 1967. The AAU called for the adherence to world academic standards in the service of Africa and its people. The #FeesMustFall (#FMF) movement placed renewed prominence on the necessity of a curriculum that includes Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). In spatial terms, the Kgotla forms part of the IKS. The Kgotla represents both a meaningful place and a system of communication. The spatial construct surrounding the #FMF movement lacks interrogation and debate. This article highlights the requirement of a meaningful place on South African university campuses where different voices can be heard. The importance of place is analysed at the hand of two #FMF events. Firstly, the Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) sitting down to meet with disgruntled students. Secondly, the President of South Africa leaving protestors in wait on the southern terrace of the Union Buildings. This article concludes by stating the need for a place on South African university campuses to address the complex issues facing not only students but society at large.

Events, lines and interruptions: the production of university space

During 2015 and 2016 there were wide-spread student protests across campuses in South Africa. This contribution focuses on the protests at the University of Pretoria and in particular the way in which the spatiality of the campus and the city of Tshwane influenced the nature of the protests. In terms of the spatiality of the campus, I consider in particular the neo-brutalist architecture of the campus, the fact that it is fencedoff entirely and also its restrictive events policy. Within the city of Tshwane, the focus falls on a long history of marching to the Union Buildings as well as the Regulation of Gatherings Act, and how that related to the student protests. This contribution contrasts Michel Foucault’s notion of heterotopia with Henri Lefebvre’s concrete utopia, to call for universities to be concrete utopias. The student protests are framed as lines and as interruptions with reference to the work of Antonia Layard. Even though the student protests at the University of Pretoria can be distinguished from those on other campuses, it is connected and contextualised within the broader student movement through Doreen Massey’s concept of geographies of responsibility.

Khaya Witbooi. Rabbit

ABSTRACTIn January 2014 a scandal broke out when a sculpted rabbit was discovered in the ear of a nine-metre-tall statue of Nelson Mandela which stands before the Union Buildings, South Africa’s governmental headquarters in the capital of Pretoria. The sculptors were summarily asked to remove the rabbit, but not before the controversy surrounding it went viral. Freedom of expression, effectively routed out, now faced the strong arm of the African National Congress, the government in power, which condemned what it construed as a perceived threat. That a rabbit should generate such conflicting points of view, when associated with the country’s most iconic figure, Nelson Mandela, is the impetus for this essay. A decade prior to this scandal its author noted that ‘South Africa’s finest talent is its ability to draw a rabbit out of a hat and call it history’. It is this rhetorical ploy, or illusory trick, which assumes centre stage in an examination of why and how democratic governance in South Africa had and continues to fail the needs of its people – the right to freedom of speech and expression. The work of one artist, Khaya Witbooi, is the linchpin upon which this discussion turns.

Cities of the Arab World: Theory, Investigation, and Critique

Cities of the Arab World: Theory, Investigation, and Critique Salah D. Hassan (bio) On February 14 and 15, 2019, scholars came together on the campus of Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI, to discuss “Cities of the Arab World,” at a conference organized by Najib Hourani under the auspices of the Global Urban Studies Program in collaboration with the Muslim Studies Program, the Department of Anthropology, the College of Social Science, and in partnership with the University of Michigan’s Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Ann Arbor, MI. Papers presented in the course of the two-day interdisciplinary conference emphasized “Theory, Investigation, and Critique” in connection with urban studies of the Arab world. Over the two days, panelists presented their original research to a full house in the conference room at the MSU Union building. Rachel Croson, Dean of the College of Social Sciences at Michigan State University welcomed the participants and attendants, underlining the importance of the event for the university, the College, and the Global Urban Studies Programs. Igor Z. Vojnovic, Interim Director of Global Urban Studies further accentuated the uniqueness of the conference, one of the first major events organized by the program, whose staff served as the fulcrum for a rich partnership with several academic units at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. In his welcoming address, Najib Hourani, associate professor of anthropology and global urban studies, and the principal organizer of the conference, conveyed the importance of pushing the boundaries of research [End Page 135] in urban studies and Middle Eastern studies by bringing the two fields together in more complex and challenging ways. He noted the growth in the field of urban studies, which has only recently begun to take up the specific character of Arab cities, whose histories and 21st century transformations remain on the periphery of mainstream scholarship on cities. According to Hourani: “despite the revival and growth of Urban and Middle East/Muslim studies, these two interdisciplinary fields rarely speak to each other, even as the study of Arab cities in particular, has taken off over the last decade. Indeed, the theoretical works and debates that drive urban studies remain beholden to European and North American experiences, and so rarely engage or learn from Arab cities, their histories or contemporary dynamics. For example, while the literature engaging neoliberal urbanism has exploded in the last decade and a half, Arab cities (the occasional reference to Dubai, notwithstanding) are absent from the major collections that theorize the concept. At the same time, research on Arab cities is only now beginning to engage and redirect dominant strains of urban theory. How might in-depth study of Arab cities enrich urban theory? How might theoretically-driven explorations further enrich our understandings of Arab cities, in all of their complexity and diversity?” Hourani’s opening remarks provided the necessary frame for understanding the importance of this timely conference. Day One (February 14, 2019): Cities of the Arab World Panel I “Projecting Cities” included papers that addressed uniquely complicated developments in Gulf cities. Eva Kassens-Noor (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI) presented research on “Mega-event Planning in the Arab World: A Case Study of Dubai’s 2020 World Exposition,” highlighting the struggle over ownership of the city during the event, and examining how mega-event legacies are understood. Her investigation looks at political, economic, and cultural influences shaping the 2020 World Exposition in Dubai and examines how developments related to the Expo are having an impact on Dubai’s urban planning. She concludes that the neoliberal tendencies associated with mega-events have significantly transformed Dubai’s urban and socio-cultural landscape, eroding further Arab urban culture in the Gulf. Gökçe Günel (University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ) provided a snapshot of the extensive original research on Masdar City that she has done for her recently published book Spaceship in the Desert: Energy, Climate Change and Urban Design in Abu Dhabi (Duke University Press, 2019). The paper summarized the main points of the book, underlining the political-economy of the utopian project of Masdar City. Günel’s research exposes the contradictory and often opportunistic features of the...

Persistence of the past and the here-and-now of the Union Buildings

Persistence of the past and the here-and-now of the Union Buildings

Unsung heroines and violence for the land: narratives of elderly women farmers’ experiences in South Africa and Zimbabwe

abstractScholarly evidence from African flag-democracies reveals that although women were central to the liberation struggle, narratives of their participation and contribution let alone the violence they suffered on their bodies during the fight for land are invisible from post-independence discourses. In Zimbabwe, female freedom fighters were reduced to sexual objects who merely went to war to perform ‘reed dance’ for the male freedom fighters. Subsequently, the negative labelling limited women’s chances post-independence and even deterred them from enjoying the fruits of the land they fought hard for. This negativity, in many African contexts where women struggled for democracy, not only trivialises their contribution but renders invisible their bodies from the land they fought for. Although women’s contribution to democracy in South Africa is acknowledged through the annual celebration of the August 9 1956 women’s march to the Union Buildings, the commemoration does not do justice to individual women’s contribution to the land as well as their struggles on and for the land. Their contribution is often ‘celebrated’ and negotiated through men and as a result, women suffer the effects of a gendered and hierarchised patriarchal structure which reads their relationship to and struggle for the land through their sexual and reproductive bodies. Building on the gendered realities of unsung heroines who fought for land, this article pursues the theme ‘women for land’ through elderly women farmers’ narratives of violence on the land in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The article theorises that as the elderly women’s violent experiences on the land are heard, they cease to be mere (sexual and reproductive) bodies that deserve to be violated and emerge as voices that re-value previously uncelebrated women who fought on and for the land. These empirical voices simultaneously insert the unsung heroines’ long forgotten experiences into the historical land struggle narrative and contemporary land rights framework that seeks to make visible and audible the violent gendered patriarchal effects women suffer on, for and through the land in South Africa, Zimbabwe and beyond.

South Africa's Prospects Under Cyril Ramaphosa

The African National Congress (ANC) narrowly avoided a damaging split at the recently concluded 54th national conference. South Africa is, however, firmly in a “muddling along” scenario. The result of the elections for the 86 elected members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) led by newly elected ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa reflects an organization that went into the conference sharply divided and it will take time for these divisions to subside. The recall of Jacob Zuma is one of the key decisions now confronting the NEC. The longer Zuma stays in power the better the opposition parties will do during the national and provincial elections in 2019. However, in spite of the narrow victory of Ramaphosa, Zuma and his incoherent, large cabinet may be recalled sooner rather than later to avoid a further downgrade of South Africa’s long-term local currency debt ratings. Since Ramaphosa currently serves as deputy president of South Africa and therefore is a member of cabinet the problems associated with two centers of power (between Luthuli House and the Union Buildings) in the period leading up to national and provincial elections in 2019 are manageable. However, Zuma’s announcement on fee-free education only hours before the start of the 54th Conference clearly demonstrates the potential damage that he could wreak in the months that lie ahead, particularly given his stated intention to press ahead with a hugely expensive and superfluous nuclear energy deal. The question is how rapidly the NEC will unite behind Ramaphosa to recall him. Based on the forecasts presented in Fate of the Nation it seems likely that the ANC will retain its status as governing party during the 2019 elections, with around 53% of the vote, down from 62% in 2014. Such an outcome will avert the need for a coalition at national level. The ANC could however, lose its majority in the critically important Gauteng province. Only a coalition between the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) would be able to put together a governing opposition alliance in Gauteng – a difficult and unlikely partnership given the ideological distance between these two parties. This analysis effectively makes the EFF a potential 2019 kingmaker in Gauteng. The Western Cape, the only province currently governed by an opposition party (the Democratic Alliance), will retain that status and ANC support in rural provinces will remain firm, particularly given the focus on transition of land to rural communities as announced during the conference. The win by Ramaphosa has averted a major crisis for the ANC and it may yet retain Gauteng province (in alliance with others), but it is not going to be an easy ride. The ANC will, however, eventually emerge significantly more united than at present and the outcome may save the Tripartite Alliance that includes the South African Communist Party and labour union COSATU from disbandment. In terms of its foreign relations South Africa has its work cut out to rebuild the respect and trust of others. Generally, values such as democracy, human rights and good governance have found limited expression in foreign policy under Mbeki and Zuma (the Mandela era was an aberration), and it is unlikely that this will change under a Ramaphosa government although there may be some tonal adaptation. In addition, absent structural reform in the military, South Africa’s ability to contribute to peacekeeping will continue its steady decline.

Geodetska izmera fasad stavb za namen energetske sanacije

Statistics show that in recent years, global energy consumption is growing steadily. In the countries of the European Union buildings consume 40 percent of total energy and release 36 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. These data suggest that it is necessary to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. To this we can contribute with improved energy efficiency of buildings that we can achieve with energy renovation. Energy renovation of buildings is an engineering project with which we reach that the buildings consume at least half of the energy for heating or cooling as before the renovation. In this master’s thesis we are studying the energy renovation of buildings and the methods of facade measuring. Topic largely covers the area of geodesy, which deals with both classical method of surveying and terrestrial laser scanning. At the same time it also covers the area of energy renovation, which is associated with energetic and construction. We reviewed the area of energy renovation and the possibility of participating geodetics profession in the facade measurements. Our focus was on the classical terrestrial measurement and terrestrial laser scanning, wireframe buildings and prefabricated facade elements. The need to ensure a high level of precision we needed to pay attention to the establishment of a geodetic reference network in the vicinity of the present building. Based on the reference case, we want to draw conclusions regarding the selection of relevant geodetic methods on the basis of selected buildings and the chosen method of energy renovation. A practical field measurement was carried out following various post processing. For field measurement, we used an advanced surveying instrument that combines different measurement techniques. To the final result - 3D wireframe facade - we came up with different calculation and postprocessing. By comparing the results obtained, we can assess the accuracy of each method, and most importantly, determine the advantages and disadvantages of each method, and the differences between them.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATION OF BUILDINGS

In the European Union buildings are responsible for 40% of total energy consumption. Reducing energy use and the use of energy from renewable sources in the construction sector is an important measurement needed to reduce the Union's energy dependency and greenhouse gas emissions. The Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) of a building is intended to declare and display the energy performance of the building, presented in a unitary synthetic form, detailing the main building characteristics and associated facilities resulting from the thermal and energy analysis. The Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) is in fact an energy balance of the analyzed building. For a good cohabitation, in case of "Green Houses[i]" it is necessary to be anchored in reality, to be aware of the impact that a construction - used for living or for other activities- has on the environment.

A Proposed Investment on a University Campus

College days are probably the most memorable years of a man or woman’s life. The students’ unions’ associations and entertainment building usually houses rooms for meetings and seminars, a book store, a small grocery store, a novelty store, a number of brand name fast and regular food restaurants, an arcade for games machines, bowling, ping pong, billiards, and a large space with appropriate seating for students and guests, and large screen TV’s and a movies theater. This paper proposes a scheme to build a risk managed students association building dedicated to the satisfaction of campus’ students’ and visitors’ needs. The return on its operations is assumed to be very rewarding to entrepreneurs and small businesses alike. This paper presents a case in which a union building is budgeted, three legal businesses leasing spaces within this building. The building’s budgeted capital is financed. The space leased by the three businesses represents a small percentage of the overall structure, however, its revenue and specifically input into the building’s investment is relatively much larger, emphasizing that the union’s building’s investment is a successful venture. An element of humorous sarcasm is introduced in describing one of the union building’s leasing businesses; a provision of an entertaining flavor to escort readers’ attention.

El estudio de la economía gremial. El caso del sindicato argentino Luz y Fuerza Capital Federal (1943-2003)

Fil: Haidar, Julieta. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Argentina

Renewing Modernism: emerging principles for practice

ABSTRACTThe repair and environmental enhancement of Modern movement buildings often presents different conservation and design challenges to those faced with older buildings of cultural or historic significance, (for example: light weight construction, replaceable fabric technology, and of course a closer proximity to the original building’s architects and their design philosophies – some of whom are still alive). So how do the fates of these buildings map out when new commercial or operational pressures come to bear, and what challenges are presented in the practical requirement to ‘preserve and enhance’ their significance in phases of comprehensive refurbishment and design?This paper introduces a perspective on two recent case study projects in the UK – the refurbishment of Southbank Centre, London, and the Students’ Union Building of the University of Bristol. The two buildings have varying levels of architectural and historic merit: the Southbank Centre being part of a group of Modern movement buildings of national importance, whilst the Bristol building is a good Modern building of more local significance. However both are the subject of comprehensive refurbishment projects where philosophies for conservation and environmental improvement have been carefully combined.

THE EU/CFSP AND NATO: POSSIBILITY OF A CO-EXISTENCE AS BROTHERS-IN-ARMS?

At the outset, Europe needed to develop its defense policy and structure in line with its foreign policy while the Union was evolving in institutional enlargement process during every other 10 years of time. The reason was not behind it, but in the façade of the Union building. Otherwise the Union would not be able to enable Europe to play its full part in world affairs while the ‘security’ was gaining a key-role in the international politics and relations. Since there was a security vacuum in Europe after WW’, the US urged European states to create a sort of defence structure embedded to already-formed NATO or integrated with NATO, but including German Army in both cases. Decades had passed and in the late 1990s the European Security Defence Identity and Policy was formed up as a parallel structure to NATO systems. Eventually in the start of 2000s, the EU system turned into a Common Security and Defence Policy for member states only. This research tries to explore and analyze the effects, paradigms, prospects and coexistence possibilities of this two polar-defence-system in the Europe, that’s to say between NATO and the CFSP.