Bricolage as Institutional Maintenance Work: integrating new construction materials into heritage buildings

International audienceListed-buildings refers to buildings that are protected by the state because of their recognized status as national patrimony. Many listed buildings are currently undergoing various construction works, such as renovation or extension, to preserve them while keeping intact the function for which they were originally built. Increased use of construction practices pertaining to Sustainable Development is calling for insight into the process through which these kinds of buildings can be modernized by integrating new materials, without distorting their embodied cultural heritage. More specifically, this phenomenon raises the question: how do construction actors and different stakeholders of a construction work maintain the legitimacy of listed-buildings by intertwining the « old » and the « new »? Through a Grounded-Theory Methodology, the paper investigates this topic through three selected listed buildings in Denmark: two schools, Sølvgade Skole - Denmark’s oldest primary school - and Munkegård Skole, which was built by the celebrated Danish architect Arne Jacobsen, as well as the Nyboder neighbourhood, a housing estate intended for students of the Danish Defence. The project aims to identify some key processes of bricolage, a notion developed by Lévi- Strauss (1962), notably how bricolage is used as a form of Institutional Maintenance Work. The present study analyses how actors select and combine resources they have at hand, ranging from material artefacts and economic resources to cognitive elements and political concerns, and how they translate them at a micro-organizational level in order to achieve their purpose; i.e. maintaining the institution of listed-buildings, characterized by its essential leitmotiv of “keeping the original above all”

The simultaneous management of business model innovation and replication processes: : The case of Airbnb’s “experiences”

This article aims to understand how organizations can simultaneously manage their business model innovation and replication processes. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, we analyze Airbnb’s business model innovation and replication processes when the company launched its new value proposition. Our findings show that innovation and replication processes are designed, tested and implemented simultaneously. We underline the role of the platform in standardizing the key elements of the different stages of the processes. Through its digital platform, Airbnb can standardize its value creation and value capture processes to drive replication at scale. We discuss the contributions of our study to the replication strategy literature and to research on the Airbnb business model

Ambient Seismic Noise and Microseismicity Monitoring of a Prone-To-Fall Quartzite Tower (Ormea, NW Italy)

Remote sensing techniques are leading methodologies for landslide characterization and monitoring. However, they may be limited in highly vegetated areas and do not allow for continuously tracking the evolution to failure in an early warning perspective. Alternative or complementary methods should be designed for potentially unstable sites in these environments. The results of a six-month passive seismic monitoring experiment on a prone-to-fall quartzite tower are here presented. Ambient seismic noise and microseismicity analyses were carried out on the continuously recorded seismic traces to characterize site stability and monitor its possible irreversible and reversible modifications driven by meteorological factors, in comparison with displacement measured on site. No irreversible modifications in the measured seismic parameters (i.e., natural resonance frequencies of the tower, seismic velocity changes, rupture-related microseismic signals) were detected in the monitored period, and no permanent displacement was observed at the tower top. Results highlighted, however, a strong temperature control on these parameters and unusual preferential vibration directions with respect to the literature case studies on nearly 2D rock columns, likely due the tower geometric constraints, as confirmed by 3D numerical modeling. A clear correlation with the tower displacement rate was found in the results, supporting the suitability of passive seismic monitoring systems for site characterization and early waning purposes

Ambient seismic noise and microseismicity monitoring of a prone-to-fall quartzite tower (Ormea, NW Italy)

Remote sensing techniques are leading methodologies for landslide characterization and monitoring. However, they may be limited in highly vegetated areas and do not allow for continuously tracking the evolution to failure in an early warning perspective. Alternative or complementary methods should be designed for potentially unstable sites in these environments. The results of a six-month passive seismic monitoring experiment on a prone-to-fall quartzite tower are here pre-sented. Ambient seismic noise and microseismicity analyses were carried out on the continuously recorded seismic traces to characterize site stability and monitor its possible irreversible and reversible modifications driven by meteorological factors, in comparison with displacement measured on site. No irreversible modifications in the measured seismic parameters (i.e., natural resonance fre-quencies of the tower, seismic velocity changes, rupture-related microseismic signals) were detected in the monitored period, and no permanent displacement was observed at the tower top. Results highlighted, however, a strong temperature control on these parameters and unusual preferential vibration directions with respect to the literature case studies on nearly 2D rock columns, likely due the tower geometric constraints, as confirmed by 3D numerical modeling. A clear correlation with the tower displacement rate was found in the results, supporting the suitability of passive seismic monitoring systems for site characterization and early waning purposes

Messinian rodents from Moncucco Torinese, NW Italy: palaeobiodiversity and biochronology

FIG. 8. — Isolated teeth of Sciuridae Fischer, 1817 from Moncucco Torinese: A, B, Pliopetaurista pliocaenica (Depéret, 1897); A, MGPT- PU 128220, M3 dex.; B, MGPT-PU 128221, m1 dex.; C, D, Sciurus warthae Sulimski, 1964; C, MGPT-PU 128347, M3 dex.; D, MGPT- PU 128218, m1 sin. Scale bar: 1 mm.Published as part of Colombero, Simone, Pavia, Giulio & Carnevale, Giorgio, 2014, Messinian rodents from Moncucco Torinese, NW Italy: palaeobiodiversity and biochronology, pp. 421-475 in Geodiversitas 36 (3) on page 455, DOI: 10.5252/g2014n3a4, http://zenodo.org/record/453856

Special Issue “Remote Sensing in Applied Geophysics”

The Special Issue "Remote Sensing in Applied Geophysics" is focused on recent and upcoming advances in the combined application of remote sensing and applied geophysics techniques, sharing the advantages of being non-invasive research methods, suitable for surface and near-surface high-resolution investigations of even wide and remote areas. Applied geophysics analyzes the distribution of physical properties in the subsurface for a wide range of geological, engineering and environmental applications at different scales. Geophysical surveys are usually carried out deploying or moving the appropriate instrumentation directly on the ground surface. However, recent technological advances have brought to the development of innovative acquisition systems more typical of the remote sensing community (e.g., airborne surveys and unmanned aerial vehicle systems). At the same time, while applied geophysics mainly focuses on the subsurface, typical remote sensing techniques have the ability to accurately image the Earth's surface with high-resolution investigations carried out by means of terrestrial, airborne, or satellite-based platforms. The integration of surface and subsurface information is often crucial for several purposes, including the georeferencing and processing of geophysical data, the characterization and time-lapse monitoring of surface and near-surface targets, and the reconstruction of highly detailed and comprehensive 3D models of the investigated areas. Contributions to the issue showing the added value of surface reconstruction and/or monitoring in the processing and interpretation of geophysical data, integration and cross-comparison of geophysical and remote sensing techniques were required to the research community. Contributions discussing the results of pioneering geophysical acquisitions by means of innovative remote systems were also addressed as interesting topics. The Special Issue received great attention in the combined community of applied geophysicists and remote sensing researchers. A total of 15 papers are included in the Special Issue, covering a wide range of applications. This is one of the highest number of papers among the Remote Sensing Special Issues, showing great interest in the proposed topic. The relevant number of contributions also highlights the relevance and increasing need for integration between remote sensing and ground-based geophysical exploration or monitoring methods. In particular, one of the main fields of research showing the potential integration of the geophysical and remote sensing techniques is archaeological exploration