On the Evolution of the Heavenly Spheres: An Enactive Approach to Cosmography

The ability to view the world from multiple perspectives is essential for tackling complex, interconnected challenges. Yet conventional academic structures are designed to produce knowledge through ever-increasing specialization and compartmentalization. This fragmentation is often reinforced by tacit dualistic assumptions that prioritize linear thinking and abstract ways of knowing. Though the need for integrated approaches has been widely acknowledged, effective techniques for transcending disciplinary boundaries remain elusive. This thesis describes a practical strategy that uses immersive visualizations to cultivate transdisciplinary perspectives. It develops an enactive approach to cosmography, contending that processes of visualizing and interpreting the cosmos iteratively shape ‘views’ of the ‘world.’ The archetypal trope of the heavenly sphere is examined to demonstrate the significance of its interpretations in this history of ideas. Action research and mixed methods are employed to elucidate the theoretical considerations, cultural relevance, and practical consequences of this approach. The study begins with an investigation into the recurring appearance of the heavenly sphere across time, in which its embodied origins, metaphorical influence, and material embodiments are considered. Particular attention is given to how cosmographic tools and techniques have facilitated imaginary ‘flights’ through the heavens, from the ecstatic bird’s eye view of the shaman to the ‘Archimedean point’ of modern science. It then examines how these cosmographic practices have shaped cosmological beliefs and paradigmatic assumptions. Next, the practical utility of this approach is demonstrated through the development of cosmographic hermeneutics, a technique using visual heuristics to interpret cosmic models from transdisciplinary world views. Finally, the performative practice of cosmotroping is described, in which cosmographic hermeneutics are applied to re-imagine the ancient dream of the transcendent ‘cosmic journey’ within immersive vision theaters. This study concludes that the re-emergence of the heavenly sphere within the contemporary Digital Universe Atlas provides a leverage point for illuminating the complexity of knowledge production processes. It is claimed that this research has produced a practical strategy for demonstrating that the ultimate Archimedean point is the ability to recognize the limits of our own knowledge, a crucial first step in cultivating much-needed multi-perspectival and paradoxical spherical thinking

Architectonics of Game Spaces

What consequences does the design of the virtual yield for architecture and to what extent can the nature of architecture be used productively to turn game-worlds into sustainable places - over here, in »reality«? This pioneering collection gives an overview of contemporary developments in designing video games and of the relationships such practices have established with the design of architecture. Due to their often simulatory nature, games reveal constructions of reality while positively impacting spatial ability and allowing for alternative avenues to complex topics and processes of negotiation. Granting insight into the merging of the design of real and virtual environments, this volume offers an invaluable platform for further debate

Architectonics of Game Spaces: The Spatial Logic of the Virtual and Its Meaning for the Real

What consequences does the design of the virtual yield for architecture and to what extent can the nature of architecture be used productively to turn game-worlds into sustainable places - over here, in "reality"? This pioneering collection gives an overview of contemporary developments in designing video games and of the relationships such practices have established with the design of architecture. Due to their often simulatory nature, games reveal constructions of reality while positively impacting spatial ability and allowing for alternative avenues to complex topics and processes of negotiation. Granting insight into the merging of the design of real and virtual environments, this volume offers an invaluable platform for further debate

Architectonics of Game Spaces

What consequences does the design of the virtual yield for architecture and to what extent can the nature of architecture be used productively to turn game-worlds into sustainable places - over here, in »reality«? This pioneering collection gives an overview of contemporary developments in designing video games and of the relationships such practices have established with the design of architecture. Due to their often simulatory nature, games reveal constructions of reality while positively impacting spatial ability and allowing for alternative avenues to complex topics and processes of negotiation. Granting insight into the merging of the design of real and virtual environments, this volume offers an invaluable platform for further debate

Interactive Mediascape Designed for Collaborative Creativity

We are living in the world where "together alone" has become a staple of daily life, our interaction with our physical environment is diminishing due to constant interaction with the device we carry - our phone. Developing applications in virtual space has been a booming field and produced a vary rapid growth in the number of users and the body of scientific data in the last 20 years, however the same cannot be said about our physical world. There are far less innovations which promote technology-mediated human interaction in physical space. The scientific knowledge base has been recently filling up with studies about the unfavorable side-effects on the human mind and body due to a disconnect from one's physicality and environment, a disconnect resulting from the lifestyle filled with virtual presence experiences. As network systems become more robust and powerful, today with IoT advancements, we have an opportunity to bring interactive technologies into the physical environment and bring the human communication mediated by technology back into the tangible space. More so, we can create experiments and study how to design safe and playful interactive environments which best promote human collaboration and then bring such systems into museums, galleries, public spaces, schools, libraries, shopping malls, etc.This thesis is focused on the topic of technology-mediated experience (TME) in physical space. Although interactive installations and immersive experiences are not a new topic, there has been no attempt to describe such experiences in a systematic way, to find common threads, structures, variables and general approach to designing interactive multi-modal experiences in physical space. The first question of this research is to understand how we can approach the development of Interactive Mediascapes (IM), to make a common ground of knowledge for expanding and growing this, segmented and under-researched at the moment, sector of technological creative innovation. Grounding the research in a multidisciplinary approach and bringing together concepts from HCI, IoT, TUI, spacial design, dramaturgy and the notion of agency in user experience, I propose an Interactive Mediascape Design Theory by starting with outlining its Ecosystem: a) semantic model and b) taxonomy of elements and attributes. Further, the second question is addressed: how can IM be designed to form an environment which encourages collaboration and fosters creativity? By integrating the proposed IM ecosystem with concepts of playful creativity and 3-C collaboration model among others, a roadmap for developing IM for collaborative creativity is outlined. These findings are presented alongside with analysis of related practical work

The Proceedings of the International History of Public Relations Conference 2012. Bournemouth University, 11-12 July 2012

Papers, keynote address and presentations from IHPRC 201

ACTIVATION STRATEGIES IN REGENERATION OF LARGE SPORTS BLOCK IN HIGH-DENSITY URBAN AREA

Arch.D

Video Conferencing: Infrastructures, Practices, Aesthetics

The COVID-19 pandemic has reorganized existing methods of exchange, turning comparatively marginal technologies into the new normal. Multipoint videoconferencing in particular has become a favored means for web-based forms of remote communication and collaboration without physical copresence. Taking the recent mainstreaming of videoconferencing as its point of departure, this anthology examines the complex mediality of this new form of social interaction. Connecting theoretical reflection with material case studies, the contributors question practices, politics and aesthetics of videoconferencing and the specific meanings it acquires in different historical, cultural and social contexts