A humanizing approach towards more sustainable multifamily housing design

This study presents a design approach that relates humanizing concepts to the environmental quality of multifamily housing. The conception of a more humane and sustainable dwelling suggests interdisciplinary theoretical engagement as a contribution to the design process. Selected patterns among those identified by Christopher Alexander and colleagues in 1977 were interpreted as design parameters that can be comprised by humanizing concepts, whose relevance was verified through the analysis of a comprehensive set of award-winning designs. These concepts require effective compatibility among the different possibilities suggested by the design parameters, and are equally fundamental for design quality as a whole. The synthetic and open character of the approach, combined with programming and site specificities allow for and recommend further contributions towards the consolidation of a humanizing knowledge base for the design process that fosters the improvement of more sustainable multifamily housing solutions.Este trabalho apresenta abordagem para o processo de projeto que relaciona conceitos humanizadores à qualidade ambiental do projeto de habitação coletiva. A concepção de um habitar mais humano e sustentável suscita engajamento teórico interdisciplinar como contribuição para o ato de projetar. Padrões selecionados, entre os identificados por Christopher Alexander e equipe em 1977, foram interpretados como parâmetros projetuais passíveis de serem abrangidos por conceitos humanizadores, cuja relevância foi verificada por meio da análise de um conjunto de projetos premiados. Tais conceitos requerem a compatibilização efetiva entre as diferentes possibilidades sugeridas individualmente pelos parâmetros projetuais e são igualmente fundamentais para a qualidade do projeto em seu todo. O caráter sintético e aberto da abordagem, somado às especificidades programáticas e locais, permite e recomenda outras contribuições para a consolidação de base humanizadora para o processo de projeto, fomentando o aprimoramento das soluções habitacionais coletivas mais sustentáveis.12113

INTUITIVE USER INTERFACES

The paper outlines an approach to the development of intuitively understandable on-screen user interfaces. Users have been found to explain the operation of equipment with screen based user interfaces in terms of handling “objects” and interacting with “agents” in a virtual “space”. These metaphorical descriptions may reflect general and fundamental principles of cognition that are rooted in the evolution of the human species. It is postulated that presentation of information on the interface as scenes, objects and actors can call upon instinctive capacities for direct perceptual information pickup, intuitive cognitive functions and natural behavioral tendencies. In order to initiate learning of complex functions that cannot be perceived directly may necessitate the use of symbolic information. This must be based on an analysis of the most appropriate way to map the new functions to the users’ prior conceptual understanding of technological objects and functions

New design companions opening up the process through self-made computation

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-75).This thesis is about man and machine roles in the early conception of designs where it investigates computational methods that support creativity and surprise. It discusses the relationship between human and digital medium in the enterprise of Computer-Aided Design', and Self-Made Computation to empower the designer as driver of digital processes taking the computer as an active collaborator, or a sharp apprentice, rather than a master. In a design process tool personalization enables precise feedback between human and medium. In the field of architecture, every project is unique, and there are as many design workflows as designers. However current off-the-shelf design software has an inflexible built-in structure targeting general problem-solving that can interfere with non-standard design needs. Today, those with programming agility look for customized processes that assist early problem-finding instead of converging solutions. Contributing to alleviate software frustrations, smaller tailor-made applications prove to be precisely tailored, viable and enriching companions in certain moments of the project development. Previous work on the impact of standardized software for design has focused on the figure of the designer as a tool-user, this thesis addresses the question from the vision of the designer as a tool-maker. It investigates how self-made software can become a design companion for computational thinking - observed here as a new mindset that shifts design workflows, rather than a technique. The research compares and diagrams designer-toolmaker work where self-made applets where produced, as well as the structures in the work of rule-maker artisans. The main contributions are a comparative study of three models of computer-aided design, their history and technical review, their influence in design workflows and a graphical framework to better compare them. Critical analysis reveals a common structure to tailor a creative and explorative design workflow. Its advantages and limitations are exposed to guide designers into alternative computational methods for design processes. Keywords: design workflow; computation; applets; self-made tools; diagrams; design process; feedback; computers; computer-assisted-designby Laia Mogas-Soldevila.S.M

On the design and evaluation of adjustable footwear for the prevention of diabetic foot ulcers

Worldwide there are over 422 million people with diabetes. Up to 34% of them will develop a diabetic foot ulcer. These ulcers are extremely dangerous and can result in amputation of the affected leg. Elevated pressures at the plantar surface of the foot are a major cause of diabetic foot ulcerations. Diabetic foot ulcers can be prevented by reducing plantar pressures that are too high. Special footwear such as custom-made insoles and rocker profile shoes are commonly used to reduce plantar pressure. However, the design of this footwear is mainly based on the experience of the prescribing specialist and orthopaedic shoe technician. This leads to a large variety of results and sometimes to insufficient offloading of the foot. Even when the insole or rocker profile shoe initially is effective, over time the location of the pressure spots can shift, resulting in poor offloading and putting the person at risk again of developing an ulcer. The work in this thesis aimed to overcome the problems with the current offloading footwear and includes the design and evaluation of an adjustable rocker profile and a self-adjusting insole

Uma abordagem de inspiração humanizadora para o projeto de habitação coletiva mais sustentável

Este trabalho apresenta abordagem para o processo de projeto que relaciona conceitos humanizadores à qualidade ambiental do projeto de habitação coletiva. A concepção de um habitar mais humano e sustentável suscita engajamento teórico interdisciplinar como contribuição para o ato de projetar. Padrões selecionados, entre os identificados por Christopher Alexander e equipe em 1977, foram interpretados como parâmetros projetuais passíveis de serem abrangidos por conceitos humanizadores, cuja relevância foi verificada por meio da análise de um conjunto de projetos premiados. Tais conceitos requerem a compatibilização efetiva entre as diferentes possibilidades sugeridas individualmente pelos parâmetros projetuais e são igualmente fundamentais para a qualidade do projeto em seu todo. O caráter sintético e aberto da abordagem, somado às especificidades programáticas e locais, permite e recomenda outras contribuições para a consolidação de base humanizadora para o processo de projeto, fomentando o aprimoramento das soluções habitacionais coletivas mais sustentáveis

Requisitos para a qualidade de um executive information system

Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão.OS EIS pretendem ser a solução para o acesso dos gestores às bases de dados, por intermédio de um interface especializado. Este estudo pretende testar a veracidade dessa relação. Assim, foram seleccionados 107 gestores, com idades compreendidas entre os 20 e os 63 anos, repartidos em 3 grupos: 2 grupos de 37 elementos com experiência prévia nestes sistemas (grupo I e II) e outro com 33 elementos, sem contacto com EIS. A experiência foi conduzida em 2 fases, uma com relatórios em conformidade com as orientações da literatura (Modo OK) e outra com relatórios contrários às mesmas (Modo NOK). Assim, ao grupo I foi proposta a sequência Problema-OK-NOK, ao grupo II e III a sequência Problema-NOK-OK. Ao grupo III foi ainda dada formação específica para a utilização do sistema, que consistiu em aceder via web ao modo NOK e ao modo OK através de uma aplicação, também via web, que reunia as condições para a experiência. Em sintonia com a literatura, foram consideradas como variáveis dependentes a satisfação, quer com a compreensão do problema, quer com a solução obtida. Como variáveis independentes, as características próprias de um EIS e a atitude face aos sistemas informáticos. Foram feitos testes de diferença de médias de satisfação entre os dois modos (teste t para amostras emparelhadas), bem como regressões lineares múltiplas, No final, foi possível sustentar que o modo OK produziu maior satisfação, mas não se encontraram provas convincentes da sua relação com as características EIS. A análise dos dados, bem como das correlações entre as respostas, sugere aliás que é a concepção gráfica, mais até do que a possibilidade da manipulação OLAP, a responsável pela diferença de satisfação encontrada.The EIS intend to be the solution for managers to access large databases, by means of a specific type of interface. This study wishes to find if we can in fact relate one to the other. Therefore, 107 managers were selected, aging from 20 to 63 years old, divided in 3 groups: 2 of this groups with 37 elements with previous experience with EIS (group I and II), and another with 33 with no experience in this field (group III). The test was conducted in 2 phases, one with reports taylored to the EIS features (mode OK), and another with reports made to be exactly the opposite (mode NOK). The group I was confronted with the sequence Problem-OK-NOK, the groups II and III with the sequence Problem-NOK-OK. Group III also took specific trainning for this purpose. This was mainly the access through the web to a set of reports in mode NOK and to mode OK through an web-based application specially selected to support the test. In accordance with the literature, satisfaction was considered the dependent variable, in what concerns the understanding of the problem and the solution adopted. As independent variables, the features of an EIS and the altitude towards computerized systems. A t-test for paired samples was applied to the satisfaction of both modes, as well as multiple linear regressions. In the end, proof was given that satisfaction improves with the mode OK (ElS-like), but the relationship between the EIS features and this improved satisfaction fell short. The analyses of the data suggests, however, that it is the graphic design, more so than the OLAP capabilities, that it is responsible for the increased satisfaction.N/

Codiseño para el imaginario lego en la ciudad de Nuevo Chimbote, 2020-2021

Este aporte propone una herramienta de codiseño, para incluir al ciudadano lego en diseño, en el proceso de concepción de equipamientos urbanos, la participación ciudadana es comúnmente relegada, generando un débil sentido de pertenencia e identificación con dichos equipamientos, sin embargo, las construcciones sociales que se suscriben en el imaginario de los ciudadanos, respecto a los equipamientos existentes, como parte de su cultura, se pueden significar como aporte para el proceso mismo de diseño. Para este propósito, se ha empleado un análisis semiótico, apoyado en el empleo de prototipos de baja fidelidad de los elementos más comunicativos de la arquitectura de equipamientos distinguidos por los propios ciudadanos, que develan la forma de identificación local tanto de legos como de arquitectos, haciéndose posible una comparación que concluye con la prioridad que deben dar los profesionales a la percepción de la sociedad respecto a la arquitectura para emplearla como insumo de diseño, validando esta metodología de codiseño o similares que presenten, como en este caso, un sistema de significación compartido entre legos y arquitectos que facilitan la comunicación intercultural en un proceso de diseño con participación ciudadan

Natural Play and Learning Spaces Integrated within Zoos

Master of Landscape ArchitectureDepartment of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community PlanningMajor Professor Not ListedTime in nature is an essential part of childhood development to gain an understanding and relationship with nature; however, gradually, children today have reduced or limited access and opportunities to be directly engaged in natural environments. This diminishing access is exacerbated by school curricula, climate change, poor city planning, and social factors such as an increased emphasis on work and technology (Ernst 2014; Strife and Downey 2009; Szczepanski et al. 2006). This study aims to address this issue by examining how natural play and learning spaces can be integrated into informal educational institutions such as zoos. More specifically, this study investigates how the woodland natural area adjacent to Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Kansas can serve as a natural play and learning space for local children. In addition to providing more opportunities for outdoor education, this study also shows how these natural spaces can increase the educational value of zoos. A literature review analysis, program analysis, precedent study, and a projective design were completed to explore this hypothesis. These findings offer more insights into the value of natural play and learning spaces, how they can be integrated into informal educational institutions, and how these spaces can add value to such institutions. The broader outcome of this study is related to its implications in natural play and learning spaces relationships with school curricula and childhood development

A Networked Perspective on the Engineering Design Process: At the Intersection of Process and Organisation Architectures

The design process of engineering systems frequently involves hundreds of activities and people over long periods of time and is implemented through complex networks of information exchanges. Such socio-technical complexity makes design processes hard to manage, and as a result, engineering design projects often fail to be on time, on budget, and meeting specifications. Despite the wealth of process models available, previous approaches have been insufficient to provide a networked perspective that allows the challenging combination of organisational and process complexity to unfold. The lack of a networked perspective also has limited the study of the relationships between process complexity and process performance. This thesis argues that to understand and improve design processes, we must look beyond the planned process and unfold the network structure and composition that actually implement the process. This combination of process structure—how people and activities are connected—and composition—the functional diversity of the groups participating in the process—is referred to as the actual design process architecture. This thesis reports on research undertaken to develop, apply and test a framework that characterises the actual design process architecture of engineering systems as a networked process. Research described in this thesis involved literature reviews in Engineering Design, Engineering Systems, Complexity and applied Network Science, and two case studies at engineering design companies with the objective of iteratively developing the framework and providing a proof-of- concept of its use in a large engineering design project. The developed Networked Process (NPr) Framework is composed of a conceptual model of the actual design process architecture, and an analytical method that allows the model and data- driven support to be quantified. The framework provides a networked perspective on three fundamental levels of analysis: 1) the activity-level, characterised as a network of people performing each activity, 2) the interface-level, characterised as a network of people interfacing between two interdependent activities, and 3) the whole process-level, characterised as a dynamic network of people and activities. The aim of the framework is to improve the design process of engineering systems through a more detailed overview of the actual design process, to support data-driven reflection of the relationship between process architecture and performance, and to provide the means to compare process plans against the actual process. The framework is based on a multi-domain network approach to process architecture and draws on previous research using matrix-based and graph-based process models. The results of the NPr Framework’s application in two case studies showed that decision makers in engineering design projects were able to gain new insights into their complex design processes through the framework. Such insights allowed them to better support and manage design activities, process interfaces and the whole design process. The framework also was used to enrich project debriefing and lessons-learned sessions, to spot process anomalies, to improve design process planning, to examine process progress, and to identify relationships between process architecture and performance. Contributions to knowledge include: First, the development of a more complete model of the actual process architecture and concrete analytical methods to quantify the developed model. Second, the identification of key structural and compositional variables as well as tests to identify the relationship between those variables and performance metrics. Third, the creation of a platform for further research on the relationships between actual design process architecture, behaviour and performance