Verso un’architettura della luce: la “lucicultura” in Italia negli anni ’20

Negli anni ’20 anche in Italia, progresso scientifico e avanzamenti tecnologici in campo illumino-tecnico sono maturi per avviare un più consapevole approccio al “progetto luce” in architettura, superando l’empirismo delle prime applicazioni. La disponibilità di nuovi apparecchi e lampade sempre più potenti ed efficienti, unita ad una approfondita conoscenza dei fattori della visione e dei fenomeni percettivi, consente di sviluppare metodologie di progettazione strettamente integrate in teoria e prassi. Agli iniziali scopi utilitaristici degli impianti di illuminazione, concepiti esclusivamente per migliorare la sicurezza stradale o il comfort degli spazi per abitare e del lavoro, si sovrappongono istanze simboliche ed evocative, giungendo ad immaginare installazioni con un effetto puramente decorativo, in continuità con le idee di illuminazione effimera dei monumenti già sviluppate nel corso dell’Ottocento. Negli ambienti scientifici e professionali il dibattito si concentra sul concetto di ”illuminazione razionale” e sulle molteplici problematiche che il progetto illumino-tecnico pone. La promozione della “cultura della luce”, o come viene definita la “lucicultura”, trova così impegnati molti tecnici e amministratori con mostre, articoli di ampia divulgazione ed esperimenti pubblici in luoghi urbani. Con tale obiettivo nasce anche in Italia un’Associazione Nazionale per lo Sviluppo dell’Illuminazione. Il presente lavoro intende approfondire proprio il passaggio dalla pratica empirica delle prime applicazioni illumino-tecniche, all’individuazione di una rigorosa sistematica progettuale basata su una “idea-luce”. Un vario repertorio di metodi per la soluzione di problemi tecnici, funzionali e scenici vengono messi a punto di volta in volta, sulla base di differenti modellazione dei fenomeni luminosi a carattere analitico, grafico, ecc.. È l’avvio di quella progressiva definizione dei fondamenti disciplinari dell’illumino-tecnica moderna, articolata nel duplice approccio del “progetto della luce per l’architettura” e del “progetto di architetture per la luce”

Information Technology ed automazione del progetto

Vengono qui raccolti i contributi presentati nell'ambito delle conferenze su "Information Technology ed automazione del progetto" tenute presso la Facoltà di Ingegneria di Firenze nel 2000-01. L'offerta di IT nel settore delle costruzioni è oggi molto diversificata ed orientata verso specifiche applicazioni di supporto nelle varie fasi di articolazione del progetto. L'integrazione tra queste e il collaborative-working tra i diversi attori del processo costruttivo appare così un obiettivo perseguibile, sviluppando sistemi informativi e networks che tendano a formare piattaforme di dati condivisibili, ispirate ai metodi della pianificazione dei processi ed alla progettazione integrale

7D BIM FOR SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT IN DESIGN PROCESSES: A CASE STUDY OF DESIGN OF ALTERNATIVES IN SEVERE CLIMATE AND HEAVY USE CONDITIONS

Introduction: The emerging of energy and environmental thread has fostered a new cultural design approach to Sustainable Architecture that aims to conceive and implement buildings with a low environmental impact. In this context the role of Building Information Modelling (BIM), as a support tool for sustainable integrated design, acquires great relevance. The purpose of this study is to investigate BIM potential in both addressing preliminary design choices and supporting complex analysis during the advanced design phase, within the whole sustainable design process. A technological rail building is assumed as a case study: the Operation Control Centre for the new Oman Railway, whose preliminary project was elaborated by the Italian engineering society Italferr s.p.a. Methods: The BIM approach is used to identify possible problems and deficiencies in the preliminary project, which may represent a good basis for a next design improvements proposal. The next phase consists in investigating and experimenting BIM tools potential in supporting the Conceptual Design, by using Autodesk® Revit® and IES VE® software suites, for the modelling and the energy analysis of different conceptual design solutions. Once the optimal building shape is established, the study focuses on the evaluation of sustainability effects brought by the structural building component, in particular for what concerns its materials environmental impact. Results and discussion: The analysis of the preliminary project shows the potential of BIM in the control of many performance parameters of a building in the design phase, revealing all the design problems associated to the lack of an integral multi-disciplinary approach during the initial phases of the process. The possibility of looking into a series of solutions in a quick and in-depth manner permits an accurate assessment of the most adequate form for a building based on the place in which it is set, thus joining current technological design methods to traditional bio-climatic methods, reinstating the strong and inevitable link between site and building

Validation of geometric data in HBIM implementation processes of Romanesque churches in Sardinia

The implementation of BIM methodologies for historical buildings presupposes not only the collection of data and information related to its geometric configuration and to the technical parameters of its constituent elements, but more generally the identification of those semantic values which make it part of the historical-cultural heritage shared in a specific context. It is therefore essential that the modelling objectives are explicitly defined in relation to the specific BIM uses required, in order to avoid risks of over-modelling. This paper proposes a process of geometric validation of building information models of high morphological complexity implemented through Scan-to-BIM procedures. By means of a controlled and interoperable workflow, a chain of software applications is defined that is able to determine the level of geometric accuracy (LOA) of the information model with respect to the numerical model derived from the point cloud. Two case studies of H-BIM modelling of historical monumental complexes dating back to the Romanesque period in Sardinia (Italy) are illustrated: the churches of Sant'Efisio a Nora (Cagliari) and Santa Maria del Regno (Sassari). In the discussion of the results, the need for a prior definition of modelling strategies in relation to the expected BIM uses is highlighted.The digital survey was carried out as a part of the research project titled, “The Romanesque and the territory. Construction materials of the Sardegna Giudicale”, and coordinated by prof. Stefano Columbu. The BIM model was developed by a students’ team as part of the teaching activities of the Architectural Drawing course at the School of Engineering, University of Florence. The imagines are extracted from the drawings of the students, Valeria Siddi, Elena Pastorelli, Liuba Gabrielli, Simone Riccio, Elisa Ricotti

Signal-to-Noise Ratio importance in Apparent Diffusion Coefficient measurements using Diffusion-Weighted Echo-Planar-Imaging scans

Purpose: To define experimental grounds for Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) measurements using Spin-Echo Diffusion-Weighted Echo-Planar (SE-DW-EPI) sequences, as a function of Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Methods: multiple multi-b SE-DW-EPI scans with the same parameters but the lipid suppression technique have been compared on water phantom with a 3T MRI equipment. The SNR has been estimated using the method of difference. Images have been analyzed manually, comparing the signal intensities at different b-values. Results: All measurements show a high repeatability and strong self-consistency. A significant dependence of the ADC on SNR has been shown, and its lowest limitto obtain reliable quantitative answers has been stated. Conclusion: ADC measurements in vivo must be carefully designed to avoid systematic errors during acquisition and post-processing due to low SNR

Virulence Genes of Pathogenic Escherichia coli in Wild Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes)

Different pathotypes of Escherichia coli can cause severe diseases in animals and humans. Wildlife may contribute to the circulation of pathogenic pathotypes, including enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC). This study analyzed 109 DNA samples previously extracted from fecal specimens collected from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) to detect E. coli virulence genes eaeA, hlyA, stx1, and stx2, that characterize the EPEC, STEC, and EHEC strains. Thirty-one (28.4%) samples were positive for at least one investigated virulence gene: eaeA gene was detected in 21 (19.2%) samples, hlyA in 10 (9.1%), stx1 in 6 (5.5%), and stx2 in 4 (3.6%). Nine DNA samples resulted positive for two or three virulence genes: five (4.6%) samples were positive for eaeA and hlyA genes, two (1.8%) for eaeA and stx1, one (0.9%) for hlyA and stx1, one (0.9%) for eaeA, hlyA and stx2. Red foxes seem to be involved in the epidemiology of these infections and their role could be relevant because they may be source of pathogenic E. coli for other wild animals, as well as domestic animals and humans

Treatment of perinfarction recurrent ventricular fibrillation by percutaneous pharmacological block of left stellate ganglion

A patient suffering from an acute myocardial infarction presented on the seventh and eighth days of hospitalization recurrent episodes of ventricular fibrillation refractory to antiarrhythmic treatment. The life-threatening ventricular fibrillation was suppressed by percutaneous pharmacological block of the left stellate ganglion

Dairy donkey: an alternative building layout

In Italy, donkey dairies are growing in popularity to produce an alternative milk source for human infants. The use of donkey milk is not limited to the paediatric field, being used in geriatric nutrition and in the cosmetic industry. In 2010, the Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, was involved in a project supported by the Tuscany Region Rural Development Fund 2007- 2013 dealing with the creation of a donkey milk productive chain. The project has as its main partner the Bandite di Scarlino, an agro-forestry complex of considerable size. It covers approximately 9000 hectares, which fall in Scarlino, Castiglione della Pescaia, Follonica and Gavorrano municipalities, under Tuscany regional control. The so-called FILAMI project (Filiera Latte Asino Amiatino, acronym of the goal of the project in Italian) had among its goals helping preserve an indigenous breed of donkeys called Amiatina. Salimei (2011) assessed that the presence of the foal during milking does not affect milk ejection in jennies (the female donkey) adapted to the milking procedure, but when foals are not present the milking routine is more manageable for the animals and for optimal milk harvest; in accordance, in the present farming system the jenny has been kept separately from the foal during the milking session. To this purpose, the stable, the milking parlour and the paddocks must be well organised with a proper milking routine. Milking facilities must be designed for the milk treatment and storage at low temperature or for freezing. Currently, the milk undergoes a pasteurisation cycle for human consumption, or directed to the cosmetic industry. Moreover, the milking facilities should fulfil the creation of a milk collection centre in order to play an important role between the dairy donkey farms and the dairy industry. In this paper, the technical and technological aspects of the donkey stable, paddocks, milking parlour, mobile milking unit, and processing plants have been described and the main issues addressed