How The Environment Could Teach. Louis I. Kahn’s Architecture

The architecture of Louis I. Kahn changed radically in the 1950s. Such was the transformation that it is difficult to find its unmistakable mark in works so different like the miesian Parasol House (1944) or the palladian Fleisher House (1959). All these differences have been widely recognized by leading architectural critics, and some of them even venture to place that process of change while he was at the American Academy in Rome between 1950 and 1951. They are absolutely right in terms of time and place. But the real question arises when it comes to establishing the reasons for such a radical change in his short stay in Rome. The answer, however, is more difficult…. The three months that Kahn spent in Rome as a Resident Architect (RAAR) were really intense. Contrarily to what one might think, he was more a college friend than a Professor. His job allowed him to travel and also encouraged him to do so, so Kahn used to do it a lot. Some of these trips were nearby, but he also made a far journey that got him to Egypt and Greece. This Mediterranean journey is also widely known because of the great drawings he made. Some architectural critics even point out that this trip may have had a potential influence on his late work. But no one has dwelt upon it so far

Le Corbusier’s uncanny interiors

[EN] The reception of Le Corbusier’s early buildings in Paris provoked an astonishing sensation of shock and estrangement in the public of the time. This troubling sensation of wonder is still alive today, after almost a century from their construction, and it is particularly vivid in some of the interiors, as we can notice from the photographic documentation of the time. Sigmund Freud, in his book “The interpretation of dreams”, underlined the direct relation existing between the interior of the human psyche and the interior of the house a subject lives in. He defined the interior of each man’s home as a sort of “diagnostic box” of the human mind, able to disclose the psyche of the individual, expressing his dreams, desires and obsessions. In his purist houses, Le Corbusier seems to have imposed his overwhelming personality on the clients, somehow expressing his own idealistic dream of the city of the future and foreseeing the visionary scenarios of a modernist utopia. This paper’s goal is to present a psychoanalytic reading of Le Corbusier’s buildings of the time, analyzing a number of significant examples in order to identify their uncanny effects, disclosing the hidden relations between cause and effect, and decoding the related composing technics used in the interior design[ES] La recepción de los primeros edificios de Le Corbusier en París provocó una sensación asombrosa de shock y extrañamiento en el público de la época. Esta sensación inquietante de asombro sigue vivo hasta hoy, después de casi un siglo de su construcción, y es particularmente viva en algunos interiores, como podemos observar en la documentación fotográfica de la época. Sigmund Freud, en su libro “La interpretación de los sueños", subrayó la relación directa existente entre el interior de la psique humana y el interior de la casa donde un sujeto vive. Él definió el interior de la casa de cada hombre como una especie de " caja diagnóstica" de la mente humana, capaz de revelar la psique del individuo, expresando sus sueños, deseos y obsesiones. En sus casas puristas, Le Corbusier parece haber impuesto su personalidad arrolladora en los clientes, expresando de alguna manera su propio sueño idealista de la ciudad del futuro y previendo los escenarios visionarios de una utopía modernista. El objetivo de este trabajo es de presentar una lectura psicoanalítica de los edificios de Le Corbusier de la época, analizando una serie de ejemplos significativos con el fin de identificar sus efectos extraños, revelar las relaciones ocultas entre causa y efecto, y decodificando las relativas técnicas compositivas utilizadas en el diseño de los interiores.Aglieri Rinella, T. (2016). Le Corbusier’s uncanny interiors. En LE CORBUSIER. 50 AÑOS DESPUÉS. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 23-46. https://doi.org/10.4995/LC2015.2015.708OCS234

How The Environment Could Teach. Louis I. Kahn’s Architecture

The architecture of Louis I. Kahn changed radically in the 1950s. Such was the transformation that it is difficult to find its unmistakable mark in works so different like the miesian Parasol House (1944) or the palladian Fleisher House (1959). All these differences have been widely recognized by leading architectural critics, and some of them even venture to place that process of change while he was at the American Academy in Rome between 1950 and 1951. They are absolutely right in terms of time and place. But the real question arises when it comes to establishing the reasons for such a radical change in his short stay in Rome. The answer, however, is more difficult…. The three months that Kahn spent in Rome as a Resident Architect (RAAR) were really intense. Contrarily to what one might think, he was more a college friend than a Professor. His job allowed him to travel and also encouraged him to do so, so Kahn used to do it a lot. Some of these trips were nearby, but he also made a far journey that got him to Egypt and Greece. This Mediterranean journey is also widely known because of the great drawings he made. Some architectural critics even point out that this trip may have had a potential influence on his late work. But no one has dwelt upon it so far

The Level 0 Pixel Trigger System for the ALICE experiment

The ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector contains 1200 readout chips. Fast-OR signals indicate the presence of at least one hit in the 8192 pixel matrix of each chip. The 1200 bits are transmitted every 100 ns on 120 data readout optical links using the G-Link protocol. The Pixel Trigger System extracts and processes them to deliver an input signal to the Level 0 trigger processor targeting a latency of 800 ns. The system is modular and based on FPGA devices. The architecture allows the user to define and implement various trigger algorithms. The system uses advanced 12-channel parallel optical fiber modules operating at 1310 nm as optical receivers. Multi-channel G-Link receivers were realized in programmable hardware and tested. The design of the system and the progress of the ALICE Pixel Trigger project are described in this paper

Impulsos urbanos. Apuntes para entender el presente y el futuro de Dubái | Urban Impulses. Notes to Understand the Present and the Future of Dubai

En el imaginario global, Dubái representa hoy en día una fascinante y reluciente ciudad joven proyectada hacia el futuro aunque hace tan solo 50 años, la ciudad no era más que pequeña población de comerciantes y pescadores. Sin embargo, el descubrimiento y comercialización el petróleo en los años 60 supuso un punto de inflexión en la historia del emirato y su capital. Rápidamente brotaron del desierto infinitas siluetas de luces brillantes que animan la imagen de Dubái. Una imagen que presenta numerosas analogías con las fachadas iluminadas de Las Vegas, ciudad con la que Dubái ha sido frecuentemente comparada, pero, ¿qué se esconde verdaderamente “detrás de las fachadas” de este espectáculo urbano? La rápida y explosiva expansión de la ciudad durante el pasado reciente condujo a fenómenos de expansión urbana y a la proliferación de espacios basura (junkspaces). En medio de zonas de alta densidad existen grandes espacios vacíos y zonas desérticas generan una fuerte sensación de desorientación urbana. Así, en una ciudad donde los centros comerciales y los hoteles se ha convertido en los principales puntos de agregación social, la estructura urbana parece similar a una interconexión de “no-lugares”, según la definición de Marc Augé, de iconos dispersos por el territorio. Este artículo analizará las ambiciones implícitas y descartadas de los distintos planes urbanos de Dubái para, en base a ellos, tratar de señalar las soluciones para las actuales cuestiones urbanas abiertas.PALABRAS CLAVE: Dubái, crecimiento, plan urbano, morfología, densidad, futuro.In the global imaginary, Dubai represents a fascinating and glimmering young city projected to the future even, if just 50 years ago, the city was a small village of fishermen and shopkeepers. Nevertheless, the discovery and commercialization of oil in the 60s was a turning point in the history of the emirate and its capital. Quickly sprout up from the desert, the glittering led lights that animate Dubái’s skyscrapers at night present common analogies with the «decorated sheds» of Las Vegas, which is a city commonly compared with Dubái. But, what is concealed “behind the scenes” of this outstanding urban spectacle? The very fast and bursting expansion of the city of the recent past led to phenomena of urban sprawl and to the proliferation of junkspaces. In between highdensity zones, there are large unbuilt empty spaces and desertic areas that generate a strong sensation of urban disorientation. Thus, in a city where shopping malls and hotels became the main points of social aggregation, the urban structure seems similar to an interconnection of Non-Places, following the definition of Marc Augé, of urban landmarks spread on the territory. This paper will attempt to unfold the implied and jettisoned ambitions of Dubái’s masterplans, attempting to point out solutions for the present open urban issues.KEYWORDS: Dubai, urban growth, masterplan, morphology, density, futur

The Magnetic Distortion Calibration System of the LHCb RICH1 Detector

The LHCb RICH1 detector uses hybrid photon detectors (HPDs) as its optical sensors. A calibration system has been constructed to provide corrections for distortions that are primarily due to external magnetic fields. We describe here the system design, construction, operation and performance.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figure

Differential studies of inclusive J/ψ and ψ(2S) production at forward rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV

The production of J/ψ and ψ(2S) was studied with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The measurement was performed at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4) down to zero transverse momentum (pt) in the dimuon decay channel. Inclusive J/ψ yields were extracted in different centrality classes and the centrality dependence of the average pt is presented. The J/ψ suppression, quantified with the nuclear modification factor (RAA), was measured as a function of centrality, transverse momentum and rapidity. Comparisons with similar measurements at lower collision energy and theoretical models indicate that the J/ψ production is the result of an interplay between color screening and recombination mechanisms in a deconfined partonic medium, or at its hadronization. Results on the ψ(2S) suppression are provided via the ratio of ψ(2S) over J/ψ measured in pp and Pb-Pb collisions.SCOAP

Calibration of the Prompt L0 Trigger of the Silicon Pixel Detector for the ALICE Experiment

The ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector (SPD) is the innermost detector of the ALICE experiment at LHC. It includes 1200 front-end chips, with a total of ~107 pixel channels. The pixel size is 50 x 425 μm2. Each front-end chip transmits a Fast-OR signal upon registration of at least one hit in its pixel matrix. The signals are extracted every 100 ns and processed by the Pixel Trigger (PIT) system, to generate trigger primitives. Results are then sent within a latency of 800 ns to the Central Trigger Processor (CTP) to be included in the first Level 0 trigger decision. This paper describes the commissioning of the PIT, the tuning procedure of the front-end chips Fast-OR circuit, and the results of operation with cosmic muons and in tests with LHC beam