Artistic Characteristics of Fresco from the Perspective of Time-Space Construction

The time-space construction characteristic of fresco embodies the human’s idea of reflecting infinite spiritual strength in finite individuals. The time-space of fresco includes not only the traditional three dimensions of space: length, width and height, but also the time factor, and the introduction of the latter renders a kind of multidimensional characteristic for the time-space of fresco. The fresco composition is featured in multiple centers, rendering macroscopic, grand and grandiose sense of fresco. The visual perception and psychological feelings given to the people by the fresco widely differ from those of ordinary easel paintings. The time-space construction of fresco can be divided into three main classes: realistic and logical construction; super-realistic and non-logical construction; interactional construction of fresco in harmony with the environment. The time-space of fresco sources from the spiritual time-space created by artists

Virtual architecture: reconstructing architecture through photography

The concept of construction in architectural design process is a temporary action that exists for a while and transforms itself into another product; i.e. the final building to be inhabited. Construction site can be taken as a podium where a play-to-remain-incomplete is being staged. The incompleteness causes us to dream, due to the fact that a complete building loses its narrative potential as it informs us about all the necessary pieces that constitute the whole: There is no puzzle to solve... Construction in this sense is like a historical ruin; Paul Zucker asserts that "ruins have held for a long time a unique position in the visual, emotional, and literary imagery of man. They have fascinated artists, poets, scholars, and sightseers alike. Devastated by time or willful destruction, incomplete as they are, they represent a combination of man-made forms and of organic nature." Architectural photography has the potential of re-creating this puzzle back again in order to bring an alternative representation to architecture. The architectural photographer is sometimes offered the freedom of reinterpreting, reconstructing architecture in order to be able to present a novel virtual perception to the audience. The idea here is to get some spatial clues that can later be used in other architectural projects. I was personally invited to two different concept exhibits in which I was given the freedom of inventing a virtual architecture through photography. The concept text written for one of these exhibits goes as follows: “I went, saw, stopped, attempted to grasp and enter it, looked at construction process and workers with respect, tried to internalize, wanted to claim it for a while, dreamed of creating a microcosm out of the macrocosm I was in, shot and shot and shot and finally selected: The created world, though intended for all, was probably quite a personal illusion...” Virtual architecture is a term used for architecture specifically created in the computer environment and never used in the realm of architectural photography. People like Piranesi, Lebbeus Woods, M.C. Escher, Marcos Novak, etc. previously dreamed about architectures that could exist virtually on paper, screen, digital environments. This paper will try to prove that this practice of (re)designing architecture virtually can be transferred to one of the most important realms of visuality: Photography. Various digital processes like stitching multiple photos together and mirroring images in image editing software like Photoshop, allow this virtual architecture to take place in the computer environment. Following this, I propose to raise the term “snap architecture” to connect it to the frequently referred concept of “paper architecture.” Keywords: virtual, (re)construction, snap architecture, paper architecture, illusion, puzzle, incompleteness, representation, perception, reinterpretation, microcosm vs. macrocosm, fictional architecture, metaspace, narrative space, generative architecture

Connecting Adult Learners through an Online Community: Challenges and Barriers

While online communities of various natures proliferate in cyber space, our understanding of the reasons underlying their success or failure is quite limited. Current study aims to contribute to this area through exploring motivating or inhibiting factors that influence adult learners’ participation in an online community. The virtual community under study was intentionally formed upon an existing physical community. Initiated by the Faculty, an online community was created to sustain and reinforce community of part-time doctoral students. Our study intends to explore into two questions: what are the critical factors determining members’ participation in the online community when it was built upon their existing physical group? What are the challenges or issues confronted by externally initiated communities? As matter of fact, there is a myriad of factors that might motivate or impede people’s participation in virtual community. Our research focuses on members’ need for and perception of online community which are considered as most crucial contributing factors of their participation. At the same time, we took into account users’ comfort level with and experience of using computer-mediated communication. Interview was used as the major instrument for data collection. Our study results will not only shed light on people’s perception and behavior in virtual realm, but also inform the design efforts to create nurturing environment for virtual communities.published_or_final_versio

Architecture in virtual game worlds

Abstract. Developments in digital technology and information networks have changed our perception of distance, scale, and location. Interconnected devices, such as computers and smartphones, allow us to communicate and access media anywhere, anytime. Physical and virtual have become inseparable, which has also changed the way space is experienced. A person can be physically present and at the same time immersed in the digital world. Digital spaces have become an integral part of everyday life and virtual games are one of their most popular manifestations. Essentially, virtual games are a form of interactive media where interaction occurs in a representational space. Virtual worlds seem infinite as they are not bound by any real-world limitations. However, games are created for a very precise purpose, namely play, and game environments are meant to support that purpose. The purpose of the thesis is to discuss the similarities and differences between architecture and virtual game worlds. Like stage props and film sets, game worlds draw on the built environment, but they serve a different function than real buildings. Unlike theater and cinema, however, games give the audience the freedom to explore and wander in a fictional space. While the spatiality of virtual games is most evident in the three-dimensional environments they represent, it also encompasses the social structures of the player communities and the physical spaces in which the games are played. In the end, both buildings and virtual worlds can be thought of as spatial structures that organize and shape human activity

Introduction to sustainability as a transversal competence in higher education

Sustainability in higher education institutions is little discussed, but there is a large amount of literature that mentions its importance for the awareness of all those who frequent their spaces, whether they are teachers, employees, or students. The understanding, by the human being, of the complex nature of the environment and the perception of the interdependence of the environmental elements in space and time is crucial and, for this reason, the education in this area must be accessible to all and at all levels of education, not matter what subject area. Since 2019, in the Soft Skills Lab of a public university was created a curricular unit called - Introduction to Sustainability, with the aim that students and everyone involved with the environment in a higher education institution can be fully aware of what it means to develop sustainability actions, both in the environment and in the very contents of the various courses developed in the institution they are a part of. This exploratory study aims to disseminate this experience with the 1st cycle students and also with workshops made with the employees as a practice that can be replicate in other institutions. The evaluation was made through the process of pedagogical monitoring students make every semester and in the case of the employees through a evaluation survey. It was very motivating to see the commitment that both students and employees have started to show in their daily behavior and even the creative suggestions for their participation in this matter.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

An athletic approach to studying perception-action integration: Does sport-specific training, and the impact of injury, influence how individuals visually guide navigation?

The objective of this thesis was to investigate perception-action integration capabilities of individuals during a choice navigation task. This task assessed navigation strategies in open space while individuals avoided colliding with two vertical obstacles that created a body-scaled, horizontal gap, at three varying obstacle distances from the starting location (3m, 5m, 7m). The two studies completed in this thesis employed the same paradigm to assess the hypothesized group differences. Gaze behaviours and kinematics of navigation strategies were compared between: 1) athletes specifically trained in navigating in open space versus non-athletes; and 2) athletes with post-concussion syndrome (PCS) versus non-concussed, specifically trained athletes. Specifically trained athletes have been identified as demonstrating more successful perception-action integration in discrete motor tasks related to their sport (Mann et al., 2007; Vickers, 2007). However, whether these abilities translate to the continuous motor task of obstacle avoidance in open space was unknown. The purpose of Study 1 was to identify the influence of sport-specific training on navigating in open space (i.e. navigational strategies of large field sport athletes) compared to age-matched, non-athletes. It was hypothesized that specifically-trained athletes would demonstrate fewer, longer fixations, suggesting a more successful perception-action integration strategy (as defined by Mann et al., 2007), and would employ more sport-specific navigation strategies than non-athletes by maintaining their straight trajectory toward the goal (Fajen & Warren, 2003). Athletes were found to make fewer, longer fixations than non-athletes. However, no differences were observed between navigation strategies of the two groups, nor were any kinematic measures found to differ between groups. It can be concluded that athletes and non-athletes differentially obtain visual information to perform the same actions, suggesting that athletes and non-athletes differentially perform perception-action integration when navigating in open space. Future studies are required to identify sport-specific nuances of navigation (moving obstacles, running) to better identify athletic-related navigation strategies. Although athletic training can enhance perception-action integration strategies, sport-related injuries can hinder this process. Following a concussion, individuals experience deficits of perception-action integration that persist well beyond 30 days of recovery, post-concussion (Baker and Cinelli, 2014; Slobounov et al., 2006). These perception-action integration deficits may also exist in individual with postconcussion syndrome (PCS). The purpose of the Study 2 was to identify whether perception-action integration deficits persist with the persistent physical symptoms of concussion characteristic of PCS. The current study revealed that athletes with PCS did not differ from non-concussed athletes on any measure of visual fixation strategy, nor were they found to differ on any kinematic measure assessed. These findings suggest that in the context of the current paradigm, athletes with PCS have no perception-action integration deficit. In that, athletes with PCS may have adapted perception-action integration strategies to navigate with equal efficiency as a specifically-trained group of athletes or that the paradigm was not sensitive enough to identify these differences. Such findings suggest that more research is required to assess what, if any, perception-action integration deficits persist with persisting physical symptoms of PCS to better benefit rehabilitative procedures and outcomes for these individuals. Together, these studies add to what was previously known about perception-action integration, as it relates to navigation. Both studies assessed perception-action integration in unique populations that add to understanding of behavioural dynamics in the sport setting. Study 1 builds on a line of research assessing affordance theory and behavioural dynamics in sport (Fajen, Riley, & Turvey, 2008). The findings of this study suggest that although navigation strategies did not differ between specifically trained athletes and non-athletes, visual search strategies employed in task did. Such findings add to the understanding that sport-specific training influences perception-action integration, through our understanding of how athletes obtain visual information to perform actions. This thesis did not identify perception-action integration deficits in athletes with PCS. These findings suggest that the individuals in the present study likely adapted to their injury as they demonstrated equal ability in gaze and navigation strategies to specifically-trained athletes. As such, further research is required to assess the cognitive, motor, and sensory-motor deficits that may persist with the persisting physical symptoms of PCS. As individuals with PCS do not demonstrate similar visuomotor integration deficits as individuals with acute concussions (Baker & Cinelli, 2014), such individuals must be assessed and researched as a separate population

Comparison the concepts of sense of place and attachment to place in architectural studies

Today, concepts such as place attachment, sense of place, meaning of place, place identity, and ... has devoted many studies In literature of architecture and urban design particularly in the field of environmental psychology. It is obvious that in all these concepts, various aspects of interaction between human and place and the impact that places have on people has been presented. This paper defines the concepts of sense of place and place attachment and explains the factors that affect them. Sense of place is a comprehensive concept which in it men feels places, percept them and attached meaning to them. Understanding the fundamental aspects of sense of place, can be effective in assess the level of public attachment to places and tendency of people to places. Place attachment refer to emotional and functional bonds between place and people which Interpreted in different scale from a district to a country in Environmental psychology. In this regard different studies point to varied of spatial and human factors. Review the literature, this paper achieves a comprehensive definition of these concepts and then it try to compare them to find their relationship. What will come eventually is that place attachment is one of the sense of place subsets. Thus in encounter of people and place if assume people sense of place a general feeling to that place, place attachment is a positive emotion which people have about the place

Sensing the Urban Interior

Following the principle of “spatial inversion” (Attiwill, 2011), whereby spaces between buildings habitually referred to as exteriors become interiors, this paper presents the background research, methodology and key findings from a case study framed as a perceptual documentation of an urban interior, the More London Estate, a riverside business development in London, England. The location sits at the boundaries between inside and outside, private and public, enclosed and open space. This distinctive position and promise of interiority makes it an ideal site of enquiry. The objective of the research is to uncover connections between the way we feel and our sense of belonging by investigating the correlation between the site’s embodied atmosphere and its perceptual affect on the body. The methodology is inspired by Peter Zumthor’s (2006) writings on atmospheres, James J. Gibson’s (1966, 1986) studies of ecology and perceptual systems, and Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka’s (2004) work on sensory design. Key findings reveal a duality in existing perceptual narratives, and the recognition of the way the urban interior resonates with our senses provides a framework for reflection and an incentive towards sensory transformations