Architecture of Experience

We currently inhabit a visually dominant world where the impact of technology is evident in every sphere of life. Such technologies have provided architects with highly sophisticated computer tools that are utilised in the design, process and communication of their work. Has this resulted in a move away from principles that we once deeply valued; regionality, craft, and longevity and been replaced with speed, homogeny, expediency and globalisation? Could this reliance on technology be desensitising us, resulting in visual dominance at the expense of a multi-sensory outcome, where architecture is viewed as a visual art and not one that is body-centred? This paper explores this phenomenon and reports on a teaching methodology that attempts to address this through a series of multi-sensory design projects and workshops, where the physical nature of space is explored through hands on experiments. Students are challenged to move out of their comfort zone and seek different modes of research and methods of exploration. The pedagogic aims are to embed a physical way of working that will create embodied experiences, enriching the student’s process into one that combines the poetics and pragmatics as the physical and digital complement each other

A Beautiful Living Thing

On the 23rd May 2014 fire spread through The Glasgow School of Art, Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece, badly damaging the heart of the School. In the immediate aftermath of the fire there was an overwhelming response evidencing a sense of loss and sadness amongst GSA’s worldwide community. This emotional reaction developed into a desire to engage with the Mackintosh Building, and this research project being one of several focused on the building. Following this tragic event, Birrell and Crotch were both driven by a desire to record the irrevocable damage, and the concept of ‘A Beautiful Living Thing’ developed. Both authors independently felt a connection with the building in the context of their own research, Birrell’s fascination with the relationship of music and place, and Crotch’s concerns with embodied experience and memory. The ambition was to capture and record the beauty within the building viewing the restoration of this damaged work of art from the immediate aftermath of the fire, and through the process of restoration to completion. Through discussion the project developed and it was agreed that a series of three films would be produced; designed as a series of visual ‘movements’ each would be aligned to mark significant stages of rehabilitation of the building; before, during and after the restoration work. Film 1 (completed) places a single musician within the damaged library, and records a new composition transposed from the words of Mackintosh ‘A Beautiful Living Thing’. Film 2 (currently in the editing stage) will concern itself with ‘improvisation’ in response to the improvisatory nature of fire and takes place during the reconstruction phase. Film 3 will celebrate completion and a new beginning through a choral piece. This is a linear project that has been conceived as a whole but with each part having independent legitimacy

Interact: A multi-­‐disciplinary design course

Abstract: How can academic programs prepare students to make the transition from education to work place? Is it possible to simulate some of the challenges that they will confront so as to equip them with the skills and confidence to approach these situations appropriately? This paper reports on a unique course that brings together third year undergraduate students of Architecture, Structural Engineering and Quantity Surveying from independent institutions to work together on a project, each representing their own discipline and in a format that role-plays real life professional situations. INTERACT provides a forum for multidisciplinary group work, with teams developing a building proposal through the design stages. The end point requires each group to produce an outcome that meets criteria established by each discipline. The aim of the course is to simulate a real life context, resembling that of practice, thus providing an insight into the next step as they graduate and move into a professional environment. What is unusual about the course is that the students are primarily assessed on their interaction and communication skills in conjunction with the outcome that represents the product of the collaboration. The course has now been running for over 20 years

The effect of administration of fenbendazole on the microbial hindgut population of the horse

Anthelmintics are used as anti-worming agents. Although known to affect their target organisms, nothing has been published regarding their effect on other digestive tract organisms, or metabolites produced by them. The current work investigated effects of fenbendazole, a benzimidazole anthelmintic, on bacteria and ciliates in the equine digestive tract, and their major metabolites. Animals receiving anthelmintic treatment, had high faecal egg counts, relative to controls. Analysis was performed over two weeks, with temporal differences detected in bacterial populations, but with no other significant differences detected. This suggests fenbendazole has no detectable effect on organisms other than its targets. Moreover it does not appear to make a contribution to changing the resulting metabolome

Constraints on Fermion Magnetic and Electric Moments from LEP-I

The effective Lagrangian approach allows us to constrain fermion magnetic and electric moments using LEP-I data. We improve some of the previous limits on these moments.Comment: LaTex, 15 pages, 12 figures (not included), UAB-FT-31

Characterization of the self magnetic pinch diode at high voltages for flash radiography.

The Sandia Laboratories Advanced Radiographic Technologies Department, in collaboration with the United Kingdom Atomic Weapons Establishment, has been conducting research into the development of the Self-Magnetic-Pinched diode as an x-ray source suitable for flash radiographic experiments. We have demonstrated that this source is capable of meeting and exceeding the initial requirements of 250 rads (measured at one meter) with a 2.75 mm source spot-size. Recent experiments conducted on the RITS-6 accelerator have demonstrated the ability of this diode to meet intermediate requirements with a sub 3 mm source spot size and a dose in excess of 400 rads at one meter

Diagnostic value of fine-needle aspiration biopsy for breast mass: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the breast is a minimally invasive yet maximally diagnostic method. However, the clinical use of FNAB has been questioned. The purpose of our study was to establish the overall value of FNAC in the diagnosis of breast lesions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>After a review and quality assessment of 46 studies, sensitivity, specificity and other measures of accuracy of FNAB for evaluating breast lesions were pooled using random-effects models. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves were used to summarize overall accuracy. The sensitivity and specificity for the studies data (included unsatisfactory samples) and underestimation rate of unsatisfactory samples were also calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The summary estimates for FNAB in diagnosis of breast carcinoma were as follows (unsatisfactory samples was temporarily exluded): sensitivity, 0.927 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.921 to 0.933); specificity, 0.948 (95% CI, 0.943 to 0.952); positive likelihood ratio, 25.72 (95% CI, 17.35 to 28.13); negative likelihood ratio, 0.08 (95% CI, 0.06 to 0.11); diagnostic odds ratio, 429.73 (95% CI, 241.75 to 763.87); The pooled sensitivity and specificity for 11 studies, which reported unsatisfactory samples (unsatisfactory samples was considered to be positive in this classification) were 0.920 (95% CI, 0.906 to 0.933) and 0.768 (95% CI, 0.751 to 0.784) respectively. The pooled proportion of unsatisfactory samples that were subsequently upgraded to various grade cancers was 27.5% (95% CI, 0.221 to 0.296).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>FNAB is an accurate biopsy for evaluating breast malignancy if rigorous criteria are used. With regard to unsatisfactory samples, futher invasive procedures are required in order to minimize the chance of a missed diagnosis of breast cancer.</p

Linger, Savour, Touch

ABSTRACT: Today digital technology presents opportunities and possibilities that a quarter of a century ago would not have been out of place in sci-fi films or in the imaginations of inventors. But today this digital technology is a reality and its progress has been rapid; questionably too rapid for us to keep up with. This advancement has made our planet appear to be smaller, more accessible, and globalisation is evident in every part of our lives. Is this a good thing or are we turning our backs on the principles that we not so long ago deeply valued; regionality, skill and longevity and replaced these with speed, homogeny, expediency and globalisation? Is this apparent technology overload desensitising us and our lives...do we behave differently to the pre-technological humans of 25 years ago? This shift in the way we live our lives has been facilitated and nurtured by the rapid and wondrous development, use and reliance on the computer and all that it can offer in every sphere of our existence, from shopping to socialising, design to construction, information to communication. But the computer cannot make a judgement, it cannot tell us if the shoes we purchase on e-bay will suit us, if the match.com date is our soul mate or if the space we have designed is an uplifting, comfortable or inspiring to inhabit. Architectural education is one realm where this advancing technology has been fully embraced. The majority of students have been born and educated within this new and developing technological environment, they are familiar using it and comfortable within its realm. But do the design proposals that are produced as a result of an immersed technological process provide true representation of architectural proposals? Can a design process that combines technology alongside an ‘old school’ traditional method of design together with hands on experience provide an enriched learning environment and result in a more holistically explored and communicated architectural outcome

Slow briefs: slow food....slow architecture

We are moving too fast…fast lives, fast cars, fast food…..and fast architecture. We are caught up in a world that allows no time to stop and think; to appreciate and enjoy all the really important things in our lives. Recent responses to this seemingly unstoppable trend are the growing movements of Slow Food and Cittaslow. Both initiatives are, within their own realms, attempting to reverse speed, homogeny, expediency and globalisation, considering the values of regionality, patience, craft, skill and longevity. The analogy between Slow Food and Slow Architecture are embraced at the Mackintosh School of Architecture where in the third year of the undergraduate programme, student design briefs are planned to address many practical issues with sustainability at the core; through a number of ‘food centric’ projects students are encouraged to consider how materiality and construction contribute to a sustainable architecture where craft, sensuality, and delight are explored, with consideration given in both micro and macro contexts. Working on the premise that speed driven architecture can result in a visually dominant architecture, one in which the spaces created are viewed rather than felt; the projects required a ‘Slow’ haptic response