Places in placelessness — notes on the aesthetic and the strategies of place–making

The paper discusses the aesthetic aspects of place‑making practices in the urban environment of Western metropoles that are struggling with the progressive undifferentiation of their space and the weakening of communal and personal bonds. The paper starts by describing the general characteristics of an urban environment as distinct from the traditional vision of a city as a well‑structured entity, and in relation to formal and informal aesthetics and participatory design ideas. The author then focuses on two contrary but complementary tactics for translating a space into a positively evaluated p l a ce: by dome ticating it through introducing nature into an urbanscape; and by accentuating its alienness with the example of the urban exploration movement. The growing popularity of the latter is presented in relation to the discourses related to the decline of cities and the romantic endeavours for reaching into the realm of the unknown or the uncanny in order to rediscover and enrich the unique identity of a place. The paper ends with conclusions that present the necessity for the cultivation of a multidimensional aesthetic awareness and an aesthetic engagement as a crucial issue in the complex task of endowing places with a density of meaning

Estetyka codzienności – estetyka spotkania

Everyday aesthetics is the umbrella term for trends in contemporary aesthetics which focus on everyday existence. Its specifics require changes and innovations in traditional aesthetic theories. Everyday aesthetics can be related to the so-called engaged aesthetics of Arnold Berleant: it takes into consideration such aspects of aesthetic experience as its emotional character, sensuality, directness, and its open “boundaries.” Everyday aesthetics covers the whole spectrum of the forms of aesthetic appreciation from disinterested contemplation to active participation founded on cooperation with the environment and the notion of aesthetic welfare.” Introducing the categories of respect, care and attentiveness toward objects, processes, and other – human and non-human – beings, everyday aesthetics can be viewed as the “aesthetics of encounter.” The text attempts to present and discuss its main premises

Zagrożenia zdrowotne wśród dzieci i młodzieży. T. 3

Praca recenzowana / Peer-reviewed pape

Places in placelessness — notes on the aesthetic and the strategies of place–making

The paper discusses the aesthetic aspects of place‑making practices in the urban environment of Western metropoles that are struggling with the progressive undifferentiation of their space and the weakening of communal and personal bonds. The paper starts by describing the general characteristics of an urban environment as distinct from the traditional vision of a city as a well‑structured entity, and in relation to formal and informal aesthetics and participatory design ideas. The author then focuses on two contrary but complementary tactics for translat‑ ing a space into a positively evaluated place: by domesticating it through introducing nature into an urbanscape; and by accentuating its alienness with the example of the urban explora‑ tion movement. The growing popularity of the latter is presented in relation to the discourses related to the decline of cities and the romantic endeavours for reaching into the realm of the unknown or the uncanny in order to rediscover and enrich the unique identity of a place. The paper ends with conclusions that present the necessity for the cultivation of a multidimensional aesthetic awareness and an aesthetic engagement as a crucial issue in the complex task of endowing places with a density of meaning

Places in placelessness — notes on the aesthetic and the strategies of place–making

The paper discusses the aesthetic aspects of place-making practices in the urban environment of Western metropoles that are struggling with the progressive undifferentiation of their space and the weakening of communal and personal bonds. The paper starts by describing the general characteristics of an urban environment as distinct from the traditional vision of a city as a well-structured entity, and in relation to formal and informal aesthetics and participatory design ideas. The author then focuses on two contrary but complementary tactics for translating a space into a positively evaluated place: by domesticating it through introducing nature into an urbanscape; and by accentuating its alienness with the example of the urban exploration movement. The growing popularity of the latter is presented in relation to the discourses related to the decline of cities and the romantic endeavours for reaching into the realm of the unknown or the uncanny in order to rediscover and enrich the unique identity of a place. The paper ends with conclusions that present the necessity for the cultivation of a multidimensional aesthetic awareness and an aesthetic engagement as a crucial issue in the complex task of endowing places with a density of meaning

The power of paradox: notes on categories of the tragic, mono no aware, and lacrimae rerum

The paper is an attempt to investigate the intriguing convergence of the inner logic of three aesthetic categories that emerge from the experience of finitude of existence in diverse cultural environments: the awareness of the tragic in Western cultures, the Japanese category of mono no aware, expressing the painful beauty of things in their impermanence, and a famous Greco-Roman notion of lacrimae rerum (tears of things). All three – despite the deep disparities between the cultural traditions they represent – prove to be the ‘places’ of paradox, of powerful synchronic tension resulting from the ‘clash’ of contradictory forces, transforming one’s perception of the universum. It seems that it is the paradoxical nature of the experiences labelled by these categories (as confirmed by neuroscience) that allows us to confront our finitude with the aid of aesthetic tools

The association between psychotic-like experiences and aggressive behaviour

W ciągu ostatnich kilku dekad w psychologii coraz silniejsza staje się tendencjado ujmowania zaburzeń psychicznych jako stanowiących kontinuum. Na jednym jego krańcu znajdują się doświadczenia podobne do psychotycznych (ang. psychotic-like experiences – PLEs), a na drugim pełnoobjawowa schizofrenia. W ramach podejścia kontinuum zakłada się, że również osoby w zdrowej populacji mogą przejawiać pewne symptomy zaburzeń, nieosiągające jednak nasilenia, przy którym konieczna byłaby hospitalizacja. Celem badania było sprawdzenie czy osoby doświadczające PLEs przejawiają zachowania agresywne. Do pomiaru doświadczeń podobnych do psychotycznych oraz dystresu wywołanego przez te doświadczenia została użyta skala PDI-21, do pomiaru doświadczeń podobnych do omamów użyto skali RHS. Do zmierzenia poziomu agresji wykorzystano skalę BPAQ oraz zdjęcia pochodzące z bazy IAPS. Uzyskane wyniki potwierdzają istnienie kontinuum psychotycznego. Wykazano, że osoby doświadczające większej liczby PLEs przejawiają większą liczbę zachowań agresywnych mierzonych samoopisem. Związku między agresją a doświadczeniami podobnymi do psychotycznych nie wykazano w przypadku agresji interpersonalnej. Głównym predyktorem agresji okazał się dystres, będący konsekwencją doświadczania PLEs. Wyższe wyniki uzyskiwane na skali agresji korelowały przede wszystkim z doświadczeniami urojeniowymi o tematyce wielkościowej. Wykazano również korelację pomiędzy urojeniami prześladowczymi a zachowaniami agresywnymi.The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in the general population and aggressive behaviour. That association was supposed to be moderated by perceived distress and the occurence of persecutory delusions.Psychotic-like experiences were assesed using self-reported questionnaires: the 21-Item Peters et al. Delusions Inventory and Revised Hallucination Scale by Morrison et al. To determine the level of aggresive behaviour, the author used Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and pictures obtained from the IAPS database.The existence of PLEs was significantly associated with self-reported aggressive behaviour, but not with the interpersonal violence. The greater number of psychotic-like experiences indicated the higher risk of aggresive acts. The hypothesis regarding the mediating role of the perceived distress was confirmed. Also, one item from the PDI-21 questionnaire concerning persecutory delusions and both items regarding grandiosity delusions correlated with the greater level of aggressive behaviour

Oddziaływanie kontaktowe między powłoką ze stali falistej a zasypką gruntową określone na podstawie pomiarów odkształceń powłoki

Unlike in conventional bridges, the backfill and the roadway pavement have a major bearing on the load capacity of buried corrugated metal structures. In the soil-steel structure model one can distinguish two structural subsystems: the shell made of corrugated steel plates and the soil backfill with the road pavement. The interaction between them is modelled as a contact (interfacial) interaction, i.e. forces normal and tangent to the surface of the shell. The normal interactions are variable during both construction and service life. Two algorithms are presented. In the first algorithm on the basis of unit strains the internal forces in the shell are determined and consequently the contact interactions are calculated. A large number of measuring points distributed on the circumferential section of the shell is needed for the calculations. In the second algorithm the collocation condition, according to which the result obtained from the shell geometry model must agree with the measured displacement of the structure’s collocation point, is used. When there are more such points, the estimated result is more precise. The advantage of both algorithms is that they take into account the physical characteristics of the soil in the backfill layers, but above all the backfill laying and compacting technology. The results of such analyses can be the basis for comparing the effectiveness of conventional geotechnical models.Charakterystyczną cechą konstrukcji gruntowo-powłokowych, w odróżnieniu od klasycznych mostów, jest duży wpływ zasypki gruntowej i nawierzchni jezdni jako elementów nośnych obiektu. W modelu obiektu gruntowo-powłokowego wyróżnia się dwa podukłady konstrukcyjne: powłokę z blachy falistej oraz zasypkę gruntową z nawierzchnią. Współdziałanie pomiędzy nimi modeluje się jako oddziaływanie kontaktowe, czyli siły o kierunku normalnym i stycznym do powierzchni powłoki. Oddziaływania te są zmienne w czasie budowy jak również podczas eksploatacji. W pracy podano dwa algorytmy wyznaczania sił kontaktowych. W pierwszym na podstawie odkształceń jednostkowych określa się siły wewnętrzne w powłoce a stąd oddziaływania kontaktowe. Do obliczeń niezbędna jest duża liczba punktów pomiarowych rozmieszczonych na paśmie obwodowym powłoki. W drugim algorytmie wykorzystuje się warunek kolokacji polegający na tym, że wynik obliczeń uzyskany z modelu geometrii powłoki ma być zgodny w rezultatem pomiaru przemieszczenia punktu kolokacyjnego obiektu. Gdy takich punktów jest więcej oszacowanie wyniku jest dokładniejsze. Zaletą obydwu algorytmów jest uwzględnienie cech fizycznych gruntu w warstwach zasypki a przede wszystkim technologii jej układania i zagęszczania. Wyniki tych analiz mogą być podstawą do porównań skuteczności klasycznych modeli geotechnicznych. Chociaż zależność między siłami kontaktowymi a deformacją powłoki jest znana, to procedury określenia oddziaływań kontaktowych na podstawie doświadczalnie wyznaczonych odkształceń czy też przemieszczeń powłoki nie są ściśle opisane. Celem pracy było przedstawienie takich procedur na przykładzie dwóch różnych obiektów gruntowo-powłokowych

Theoretical and Experimental Fatigue Strength Calculations of Lips Compensating Circumferential Backlash in Gear Pumps

This article presents theoretical and experimental calculations of the minimum thickness of a compensation lip used in external gear pumps. Pumps of this type are innovative technical solutions in which circumferential backlash (clearance) compensation is used to improve their volumetric and overall efficiency. However, constructing a prototype of such a pump requires long-lasting research, and the compensation lip is its key object, due to the fact that it is an element influenced by a notch and that it operates in unfavorable conditions of strong fatigue stresses. The theoretical calculations presented in this article are based on identifying maximum stress values in a fatigue cycle and on implementing the stress failure condition and the conditions related to the required value of the fatigue safety factor. The experimental research focuses on static bending tests of the lips as well as on the fatigue loading of the lips in series of tests at increasing stress values until lip failure due to fatigue. The tests allowed the minimum lip thickness to be found for the assumed number of fatigue cycles, which is 2.5 times the number of cycles used in wear margin tests

Deteriorated steel culvert under static loading

The paper describes full-scale tests of a 7,25 m long corrugated steel pipe with a diameter of 1.40 m. The corrugation pattern was 125x26mm and the steel was 2 mm thick. The backfill height over the pipe crown was 0,5 m. The deterioration of the tested steel pipe was simulated by removing a part of its bottom. Strain gauges and optical prisms were installed on the metal surface to determine the stresses, internal forces in the metal shell and additionally its deformation. The results of the measurements are presented as graphs and tables. The main goal of the full-scale tests was to assess the performance of the deteriorated steel pipe subjected to static loads and to evaluate the changes in the distribution of the internal forces, caused by the increasing corrosion of the bottom part of the tested pipe