Library buildings around the world

"Library Buildings around the World" is a survey based on researches of several years. The objective was to gather library buildings on an international level starting with 1990

Processes of promotion of well-being as a generator of built environments: the design of a community healthcare facility for Durban.

Masters in Architecture. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College 2014.Health, in whatever form remains a worldwide issue just short of being declared a global pandemic. Current urban architectural environments in modern day lifestyle contribute immensely to ill-health and negative well-being of humans. This dissertation investigates the shortcomings of architectural environments, how they can be improved to promote good health and well-being and how this practice results in a positive domino effect to other fields such as social and economic discourses. The research explores the improvement of healthcare facilities through the primary concept of biophilic design; the incorporation of nature in built form, to promote healthy and living environments thus in-turn re-identifying an appropriate typology as a tool for the promotion of well-being. This concept is supported by the Genius Loci theory and the Critical Regionalism theory of place and placelessness with particular reference to the South African context. Research methodology focused on a qualitative study to meet the aims and objectives of the dissertation by addressing key and relevant questions. The answers and findings would be extracted from literature, case and precedent studies and posed to specific groups and individuals relevant to the health and built environment sectors including the users. The literature review and theoretical framework form the basis criteria used in which the case and precedent study were assessed and analysed; the findings were such that the biophilia hypothesis is a viable concept which has been employed successfully among a few projects. Persons interviewed also displayed a fondness towards nature and a belief in its healing properties. Essentially, the research document suggests a multi-faceted architecture which considers broader aspects of well-being such as alternative treatment, community and social involvement, financial liberty and environmentally conscious

Making Custodians: A design anthropology approach to designing emotionally enduring built environment artefacts

My doctoral research through creative production takes a Design Anthropology approach to examine the person-object relationship typical of artefacts with long-term attachment and significance. I then speculate on the implications of these findings with the goal of designing enduring new built environment artefacts, surfaces, and furniture. The exegesis explores the context of this enquiry within design theory and practice and its significance, given the environmental impact of high levels of premature disposal and ‘fast’ consumption

Building Bridges, Blurring Boundaries: The Milwaukee School in Environment-Behavior Studies

Along with the 40th anniversary of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the 30th anniversary of our Ph.D. Program in Architecture represents another important benchmark in educational excellence. As one of the pioneering PhD programs in architecture dedicated to understanding the relationship between people and place, its influence has been considerable. Its 51 (and counting) graduates teach in architectural design and allied fields at major institutes and practice throughout the world. Their intellectual contributions, and those of the faculty, continue to shape Environment-Behavior Studies and the discipline of architecture as a whole. This book, a tribute to the many excellent students who have shared the Milwaukee experience, is a testament to their collective input for the design of settings for health care, education, the workplace, older people, and communities, and their insights about the role well-designed environments contribute to the quality of people’s lives.https://dc.uwm.edu/sarup_facbooks/1000/thumbnail.jp

An aesthetic for sustainable interactions in product-service systems?

Copyright @ 2012 Greenleaf PublishingEco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. However the application of this concept is still very limited because its implementation and diffusion is hindered by several barriers (cultural, corporate and regulative ones). The paper investigates the barriers that affect the attractiveness and acceptation of eco-efficient PSS alternatives, and opens the debate on the aesthetic of eco-efficient PSS, and the way in which aesthetic could enhance some specific inner qualities of this kinds of innovations. Integrating insights from semiotics, the paper outlines some first research hypothesis on how the aesthetic elements of an eco-efficient PSS could facilitate user attraction, acceptation and satisfaction

2017 EURēCA Abstract Book

Listing of student participant abstracts

The design of healthcare facilities: knowledge, methods and effectiveness

Apparent deficiencies in the design quality of healthcare buildings raise an important issue for designers and users. It has been reported that designers have failed in fulfilling the clients’ expectations and requirements, which has resulted in a ‘design performance gap’. This research focuses on the design of hospital premises and the associated performance gap. The purpose of this study was to compare the way designers perform with the satisfaction levels of healthcare users and having done so, to produce a better understanding of how this might be improved. The first stage was a literature review of existing work on the assessment of design performance, performance gaps and ways of closing them, with particular focus on the key issues in the design of healthcare facilities. Two data collection methods were adopted: two surveys that encompassed Likert scale and open-ended questions, and a set of in-depth interviews. The first survey was assigned to designers to explore their awareness and response to important problems encountered in the design of healthcare facilities. This was followed up by in-depth interviews with selected designers. The second survey questioned the satisfaction of healthcare users about aspects of the design of their healthcare environment. Hypothetically, a variety of outcomes was possible based on the designers’ awareness (or lack of) of key issues in healthcare facility design, their response (or lack of) to these, and the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of healthcare users. In fact, two situations emerged (1) that in some respects designers are aware of the issues, think they are addressing them, and users are satisfied; (2) in other respects, however, although designers are still aware of the issues and believe they are addressing them, users are nevertheless dissatisfied. The conclusion is that designers have insufficient information on certain user requirements. Better user information is paramount for better design decision-making and for the quality of healthcare facility design. A conceptual framework and matrices were developed that could raise awareness of this and help in improving design decision-making through improved Post-Occupancy Evaluation and ultimately, with digital technology, be captured in a knowledge base. This framework and associated matrices have been developed at a relatively high level, and further work would be required to operationalize them for use in actual healthcare projects