From Time to Time: A Constructivist Approach to Sociality in Learning

[EN] Under the current financial pressures, tertiary education increasingly looks towards corporate sector to import its model of management and efficiency. While benefits of this model can be seen in practice, in regard to staff and facilities management and financial viability, its impact on teaching and learning caused a disruption to the very core of tertiary education, eroding sociality in learning and opportunity for sharing knowledge and values. Capacity to work in teams and ability to critically solve problems by collaborating and sharing insights and informations, are skills students are expected to gain during their studies. The development of these skills to their fullest using Design Thinking approach, however, is currently not widely supported, albeit desirable,[1] in the present education context which is addressing the efficiency of time management by reducing contact time, increasing student/staff ratio and shifting towards integrated and mass education modes of delivery. While this presentation is not disputing the existing model, it responds to its current challenges proposing a stronger integration of different factors contributing to learning.Tthe aim is to present a collaborative working model as a way of bridging ‘the missing link between theoretical findings [on holistic and interdisciplinary learning] and demands by pedagogy science’[2]. Such a model is envisioned to encourage sociality in learning and strategize space/time/experience management, ultimately enhancing knowledge and value sharing. [1] Ability to solve ‘wicked problems’ as supported by Design Thinks is becoming more attractive to the tertiary sector as it promotes ‘holistic modes of constructivist learning in projects’ (Sheer et al 17 (3), 8). [2] Sheer et al 17 (3), 8http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Mancini, F.; Glusac, T. (2018). From Time to Time: A Constructivist Approach to Sociality in Learning. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1567-1576. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8255OCS1567157

Architecture and belonging: Migration, re-territorialisation and self-identity

This thesis investigates connections between architecture, culture, memory and habitus and the role architecture and the built environment play in promoting self-identity and belonging. It explores these issues through the complexity of migration resettlement and its impact on built forms, demonstrating the rich qualities of life and personal being that individuals bring to architecture and the failure of conventional architectural discourse and practice to acknowledge or respond to the necessity of informing identity and belonging

'How much these walls have seen': the role of architecture, place and memory in re-constructing the sense of self-identity in a new built environment

Whilst migration and continuous movements of individuals and groups are well-documented phenomena, it is the intensity of these that has in recent times generated increased curiosity and also to some extent, controversy. The issues of migrant settlement, fitting in, belonging and identity have been approached from many perspectives and have drawn the attention of many disciplines across politics and economics, to social sciences and human geography. Yet the questions regarding the role of architecture and greater built environment in respect to formation of migrants' sense of self-identity, as explored from an architectural perspective, have only recently emerged. Arguably, architecture, together with built environment, provides a framework; a stage on which our daily activities evolve, a stage on which experiences are encountered and memories of these constructed. And it is these frameworks of place, architecture and memory, which migrants unintentionally carry with them to any new built environment that are potentially hindering or assisting the settling in process. Taking into account that a significant number of people residing in Australia today were born and lived in conditions and built environments substantially different to those found in Australia, it appears reasonable to ask ourselves what role place, architecture and memories play in the process of constructing and re-constructing new identities in diaspora. To date, not much attention has been paid to the specific relationships that exist between identity, memory, migrants and architecture. By drawing from theories by Martin Heidegger, Pierre Bourdieu, Maurice Halbwachs, Michele de Certeau and Judith Butler, amongst others, this paper will explore these potential relationships and the way they are played out in the construction of the sense of self-identity in a new built environment

The Cultural Capital of Urban Morphology

Perth, Western Australia has been steadily changing its urban fabric and appearance, from a colonial outpost to a post-colonial centre embracing modernity. Its brief history means that the grounding in prior historical periods may appear missing. In this paper, we argue that the young history is not necessarily precluding the existence of layered values, but that these are underestimated in relation to Perth’s urban development. Consequently, a perpetual ideological scenario of a virtual tabula rasa is created where everything is considered fleeting and easily substitutable. This paradigm, supported by global economic forces, has to date been preferred over urban transformations based on the typological process. While economic factors undeniably impact urban transformations and development, this paper suggests that other factors must be considered for sustainable urban growth, such as cultural capital discussed by Bourdieu. The authors argue that the understanding and application of urban morphological and typological principles in urban design can be used to sustain the permanence of cultural capital as an essential and tangible component of the city

AASA Digital Learning Research Grant 2022 Activity Report - Digital Urban Lab

This research project concerns testing how a digital immersive, web-based learning and practice environment can assist with students’ research, data analysis and sharing related to controlling planning, development and design principles of urban contexts to create speculative urban propositions via a shared digital Urban model

Artificial Intelligence and Optimization Methods in Construction Industry

Digitalisation and the future city paradigm are becoming a trend in recent research and practices. The literature discusses digitalisation and its applications as the main gear in the transformation to the ideal future city vision. Yet, the concept of digitalisation is articulated in many interpretations and presented in different applications in the built environment. One emerging application is digital twinning. Literature envisions the potential of digital twinning applications in the urban realm and discusses the cognitive city model and its implications on the future of our cities, its urban realm and the built environment in general. With the evolving themes on the ideal future city model, this systematic review tackles the following questions: what are the key motives and drivers of the future city paradigm; what is a city digital twin; and what are their expected applications. Additionally, how literature envisions the definition of the city users and their experience in the urban realm of the city of the future. This review article explores related literature on the themes of the future city model, digital urban realm, digital twinning and city users. The main findings are: identifying key gears of the future city model in literature, exploring city digital twin conceptualization and applications and discussing concepts on the definition of city user and user experience in the city of the future