Designing Atmospheres: Theory and Science

This book was born as the legacy of the “Designing Atmospheres: Theory and Science” Symposium, an Interfaces event of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA), sponsored by the EU’s Horizon 2020 MSCA Program — RESONANCES Project, the Perkins Eastman Studio, and the Architecture Department at Kansas State University. The event was hosted in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design (APDesign), Kansas State University (K-State), Manhattan, KS, on March 28, 2023. Recent advances in science confirm many of the architects’ deep-rooted intuitions, improving knowledge about the perception of space and the meaning of architectural and urban design. This volume collects four essays: “Investigating Atmosphere in Architecture: An Overview of Phenomenological and Neuroscientific Methods” by Elisabetta Canepa; “Rhythms of the Brain, Body, and Environment: A Neuroscientific Perspective on Atmospheres” by Zakaria Djebbara; “A History of Tool-Atmospheres” by Kory Beighle; and “Atmospheric Histrionics” by Harry Francis Mallgrave. Bob Condia provided a critical introduction entitled “The Design of Atmospheres.”https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1050/thumbnail.jp

Designing Atmospheres: Theory and Science

Recent advances in science confirm many of the architects’ deep-rooted intuitions, improving knowledge about the perception of space and the meaning of architectural and urban design. This volume collects four essays: “Investigating Atmosphere in Architecture: An Overview of Phenomenological and Neuroscientific Methods” by Elisabetta Canepa; “Rhythms of the Brain, Body, and Environment: A Neuroscientific Perspective on Atmospheres” by Zakaria Djebbara; “A History of Tool-Atmospheres” by Kory Beighle; and “Atmospheric Histrionics” by Harry Francis Mallgrave. Bob Condia provided a critical introduction entitled “The Design of Atmospheres.

Einstein vs. Bergson

On 6 April 1922, Einstein met Bergson to debate the nature of time: is the time the physicist calculates the same time the philosopher reflects on? Einstein claimed that only scientific time is real, while Bergson argued that scientific time always presupposes a living and perceiving subject. On that day, nearly 100 years ago, conflict was inevitable. Is it still inevitable today? How many kinds of time are there

To see and not be seen

Die vorliegende Arbeit behandelt Tarnung im Tierreich und der Menschheitsgeschichte. Um die Mechanismen zur Täuschung von Feinden und Vermeidung von Entdeckung und Attackierung besser zu verstehen, werden die Eigenschaften von visuellen Systemen unterschiedlicher Spezies und aus der Sicht verschiedener Wahrnehmer genauer betrachtet. Während der Beschäftigung damit, wie sich Feinde und Artgenossen wahrnehmen, wird ein Überblick über einige Testmaterialien gegeben, wie die Manipulation von Farbmustern oder Körperteilen eines Objektes um die Antwort eines Empfängers zu untersuchen, Manipulation des visuellen Hintergrunds, Computersimulationen und auch Szenarien zur visuellen Suche. Bereiche der visuellen Wahrnehmung welche “Camouflage breaking” beeinflussen, beinhalten unter anderem Prinzipien von Figur-Hintergrund-Segmentation, Objekterkennung und Kantenerkennung im menschlichen visuellen System, welche mit tierischen Sinnessystemen verglichen werden. Mechanismen von Tarnung und Täuschungsfärbung aus der Natur wurden auch im humanen Kontext angewendet. Beginnend mit den umfassendenen Gebieten von Kunst, Militär und “dazzle painted“ Schiffen, wird die Verbindung von Camouflage mit der menschlichen Kultur, und neuere Entwicklungen auf dem technologischen Sektor präsentiert. Trotz allen Erkenntnissen ist das Wissen um die genauen Wirkungsmechanismen von Tarnung spärlich. Durch weitere Forschung auf dem Gebiet der Interaktion von visuellen Systemen können diese jedoch genauer verstanden werden.This work focuses on camouflage in the animal kingdom and in human history. In order to gain a deeper knowledge of mechanisms for avoiding detection or attack and for deceiving predators, the properties of visual systems of different species are explored from the mind and eyes of various perceivers. While inspecting how predators and conspecifics see each other, an overview of several testing material is given, such as manipulations of color patterns and body parts of an object to examine the response of a receiver, manipulation of visual backgrounds, computer simulations and also visual search scenarios. Areas of visual perception that influence camouflage breaking include among others principles of target-background segmentation, object recognition and edge detection in the human visual system, which are compared with animal sensory systems. Mechanisms of camouflage and deceptive coloration from nature have been adopted to the human context. Starting with the broad area of art, military and dazzle painted ships, the connection of camouflage with human culture and recent developments on the technological sector is presented. Despite all that insight, knowledge of how camouflage works is spare but by further examing the interactions of visual systems we can understand perception more precisely

The Funambulist Papers 2

This book is the second volume of texts curated specifically for The Funambulist since 2011. The editorial line of this second series of twenty-six essays is dedicated to philosophical and political questions about bodies. This choice is informed by Léopold Lambert’s own interest in the (often violent) relation between the designed environment and bodies. Corporeal politics do not exist in a void of objects, buildings and cities; on the contrary, they operate through the continuous material encounters between living and non-living bodies. Several texts proposed in this volume examine various forms of corporeal violence (racism, gender-based violence, etc.). This examination, however, can only exist in the integration of the designed environment’s conditioning of this violence. As Mimi Thi Nguyen argues in the conclusion of this book’s first chapter, “the process of attending to the body — unhooded, unveiled, unclothed — cannot be the solution to racism, because that body is always already an abstraction, an effect of law and its violence.” Although the readers won’t find indications about the disciplinary background of the contributors — the “witty” self-descriptions at the end of the book being preferred to academic resumés — the content of the texts will certainly attest to the broad imaginaries at work throughout this volume. Dialogues between dancers and geographers, between artists and biohackers, between architects and philosophers, and so forth, provide the richness of this volume through difference rather than similarity. The Funambulist Papers are published by the CTM Documents Initiative imprint, Center for Transformative Media, Parsons School of Design, The New School. CTM is a transdisciplinary media research initiative bridging design and the social sciences, and dedicated to the exploration of the transformative potential of emerging technologies upon the foundational practices of everyday life across a range of settings

Einstein vs. Bergson

On 6 April 1922, Einstein met Bergson to debate the nature of time: is the time the physicist calculates the same time the philosopher reflects on? Einstein claimed that only scientific time is real, while Bergson argued that scientific time always presupposes a living and perceiving subject. On that day, nearly 100 years ago, conflict was inevitable. Is it still inevitable today? How many kinds of time are there

The Evolution of the Retail Landscape

If the city is a theatre of social interaction (Mumford 1996), then one of the principle stage sets is the retail landscape. Retail districts are generally where people congregate, making places of shopping among the liveliest areas the city. In addition to being social settings, retail areas are also where a large component of the city’s economy is transacted, and they are implicated in the political dramas of the city, particularly those dealing with issues of growth and development. Retail shops are highly visible elements of the urban landscape, lining principle arteries and clustering at major transit nodes. Retailing is woven throughout the economic, social, political, and built fabrics of the city. The evolution of the retail landscape was studied throughout the development of London, Ontario, a typical mid-sized North American city. The functional and spatial composition of the retail sector was documented from the first settlement, thru the era of rapid industrialization, to today’s consumption-based city. Over time, the retail landscape exhibited much dynamism, reflecting changing socio-economic conditions, as well as technological innovation. Both the retailers themselves, and the environments in which their businesses were conducted, have evolved. From the primitive general store, thru the grand emporia lining ‘mainstreet’, to the contemporary planned shopping centres. Comparisons were made between the physical characteristics of the built environments constructed in various eras which make up the retail landscape. Drawing from the urban morphology literature (notably Conzen 1960), analysis was conducted of the town-plan, building forms, and land-uses of the various retail environments. In addition to documenting the general changes in these town-scape elements over time, further analysis was conducted on the form and function of the archetypical retail environments, the traditional ‘mainstreet’ district and contemporary shopping centres. Although they differ in many ways, a common logic was found in all retail landscapes, united through the drive for profit maximization by the retailers who shape their environments in striving towards this goal. Theoretical advancements to the field of urban morphology are presented, arguing that it is necessary to consider all elements of the town-scape in unison when describing the character of urban environments. A trialectic is proposed, taking into account how each of these elements simultaneously shapes and is shaped by the other two

Multi-objective optimisation using the Bees Algorithm

In the real world, there are many problems requiring the best solution to satisfy numerous objectives and therefore a need for suitable Multi-Objective Optimisation methods. Various Multi-Objective solvers have been developed recently. The classical method is easily implemented but requires repetitive program runs and does not generate a true "Pareto" optimal set. Intelligent methods are increasingly employed, especially population-based optimisation methods to generate the Pareto front in a single run. The Bees Algorithm is a newly developed population-based optimisation algorithm which has been verified in many fields. However, it is limited to solving single optimisation problems. To apply the Bees Algorithm to a Multi- Objective Optimisation Problem, either the problem is converted to single objective optimisation or the Bees Algorithm modified to function as a Multi- Objective solver. To make a problem into a single objective one, the weighted sum method is employed. However, due to failings of this classical method, a new approach is developed to generate a true Pareto front by a single run. This work also introduces an enhanced Bees Algorithm. A new dynamic selection procedure improves the Bees Algorithm by reducing the number of parameters and new neighbourhood search methods are adopted to optimise the Pareto front. The enhanced algorithm has been tested on Multi-Objective benchmark functions and the classical Environmental/Economic power Dispatch Problem (EEDP). The results obtained compare well with those produced by other population- based algorithms. Due to recent trends in renewable energy systems, it is necessary to have a new model of the EEDP. Therefore, the EEDP was amended in conjunction with the Bees Algorithm to identify the best design in terms of energy performance and carbon emission reduction by adopting zero and low carbon technologies. This computer-based tool supports the decision making process in the design of a Low-Carbon City.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo