Housing Design: Furniture or Fixtures? Accommodating Change through Technological and Typological Innovation

The recent global pandemic has sped up architectural research in residential design aimed at rethinking housing layouts, services, and construction methods to accommodate the changing needs of the rapidly evolving contemporary society. New typological and technological design approaches are required to address, on the one hand, the adaptability of the plan as a result of higher flexibility and temporariness in familiar and working patterns, together with a downsizing of the layouts to ensure affordability and quality of life. On the other hand, the issues of sustainability and circular economy require specific attention to interpret the resilience of the building and the reuse/recycle of the fit-out systems. The paper aims at interpreting the notion of integration between fixtures and furnishing in housing design, based on a comprehensive literature review enriched with a case study analysis that shows design concepts and approaches rooted in theories and experiences of 20th-century architecture. Principles, potentials, and barriers to the development of integrated systems are highlighted and the possible implementation of industrialised production components, the potential for modularity, flexibility, and assembly are discussed

The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity

Background: The question of how many marine species exist is important because it provides a metric for how much we do and do not know about life in the oceans. We have compiled the first register of the marine species of the world and used this baseline to estimate how many more species, partitioned among all major eukaryotic groups, may be discovered. Results: There are ∼226,000 eukaryotic marine species described. More species were described in the past decade (∼20,000) than in any previous one. The number of authors describing new species has been increasing at a faster rate than the number of new species described in the past six decades. We report that there are ∼170,000 synonyms, that 58,000–72,000 species are collected but not yet described, and that 482,000–741,000 more species have yet to be sampled. Molecular methods may add tens of thousands of cryptic species. Thus, there may be 0.7–1.0 million marine species. Past rates of description of new species indicate there may be 0.5 ± 0.2 million marine species. On average 37% (median 31%) of species in over 100 recent field studies around the world might be new to science. Conclusions: Currently, between one-third and two-thirds of marine species may be undescribed, and previous estimates of there being well over one million marine species appear highly unlikely. More species than ever before are being described annually by an increasing number of authors. If the current trend continues, most species will be discovered this century

Diffuse materiality in public spaces between expressiveness and performance

Hoy en día, el design de los espacios públicos es frecuentemente aproximado como los interiores de design urbano, con tal que la instalación y l’ajustamento de los espacios abiertos con el método y concepto parecido a los de interiores. En el papel se analiza el uso innovador de los materiales tradicionales o el uso de nuevo materiales en espacios públicos, destacando dos tendencias posibles en busca de mejorar la calidad de los espacios urbanos: expresividad y funcionamiento. Estudios de casos seleccionados son revelados de presentar como las nuevas formas, una tensión en los valores de percepción y el impacto medioambiental y comodidad tanta como durabilidad son los principales objetivos de innovación de materiales en este campo.Public spaces design is today frequently approached as urban interiors design where to create new artifices and the setting up of a renovated urban symbolism providing the installation and the fitting up of open spaces with methods and concepts akin to those of Interiors. The paper discusses the innovative use of traditional materials or the use of new materials in public spaces design, highlighting two possible trends in the search for the quality enhancement of urban places: expressiveness and performance. Selected case studies are disclosed to present how new forms, a stress on perceptual values and the environmental impact and comfort as well as durability are the main goals of material innovation in this field.O Design de espaços públicos é hoje muitas vezes tratado como design interior urbano, onde os novos recursos são criados e um simbolismo renovado é estabelecido proporcionando espaços abertos com métodos semelhantes aos conceitos de interiores. Este artigo discute o uso inovador de materiais tradicionais e o uso de novos materiais na concepção de espaços públicos, incluindo duas possíveis tendências na busca da melhoria da qualidade dos espaços urbanos: a expressividade e o desempenho. São apresentados estudos de casos para mostrar como as novas formas, a ênfase nos valores perceptuais, impacto ambiental, o conforto, e a durabilidade são os principais objetivos da inovação de materiais neste campo

Design “reactivity” for the enhancement of the built environment. New models of living in abandoned office buildings

The contribution proposes strategies for the convertibility of the disused heritage, in which hybridisation, temporary functionality and use become generative factors to support changes in requirements over time. The design criteria: modularity and its articulations, dry construction technology, flexibility, with the relative choice of technical, techno-typological and procedural solutions, respond to a predictive need of the project as a degree of freedom that allows transformations. The work provides tools and operational models to rethink rehabilitation as an action of continual improvement over time, which goes beyond the concept of reversibility (as debated on an international scale) to achieve continuous convertibility, recognition of heritage as a resource. The design approach interprets the intervention on the existing building not only as a static qualitative adjustment (functional, spatial, physical...) but as an action that reformulates the life cycle and the 'reactivity' of the building to future changes, through peculiar construction solutions. The conditions illustrated configure a design result adapted to the dynamics of demand, to multiple categories of users and to the interests of the stakeholders, triggering interventions with a social value. Through design simulations and the assessment of technical-economic feasibility, design models and strategies are then inferred that are capable of generating a new use of living space, to guarantee hygiene, health and wellbeing, and which can be replicated on different application contexts in variable ways

Autonomous vs collaborative workspaces for academic research: a design issue. The case of the new scientific university campus in the Milan Mind district.

As higher educational facilities face the challenge of digital transformation in teaching methodologies and its impacts on spatial layouts, contemporary trends in academic workplaces rethinking have undergone a significant push as the result of remote working, also persisting after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown periods. The ongoing debate in workspaces design, arguing the advantages of open space against individual rooms, has shifted to a balance, acknowledging that a flexible mix of spaces for personal focus, informal communication, and collaboration provides a more effective and satisfying environment, responding to new physical and social requirements. Academia still strongly opposes the abandonment of the cellular office and the rethinking of research infrastructures in a perspective of openness and sharing, due to its hierarchical structures, even despite the functional obsolescence of existing facilities. However, further drives to renew research facilities design models arise from the issue of operational and maintenance costs and the emerging trends in education. This paper presents the case study of the brief and meta-design definition for a new scientific university campus in Milan, introducing the issue of specialised high-tech laboratories and ancillary spaces as places for collaborative working within the quantitative and qualitative layout setting of the new facility. Accordingly, the meta-design methodology purposely implemented is reported, as well as the definition of requirements, also following a thorough co-design process, finally allowing for the development of design guidelines for spatial flexibility and multidisciplinary research activities

Progetti di riattivazione temporanea dello spazio pubblico: quale eredità? / Projects for the temporary reactivation of public space: what legacy?

The expressions tactical urbanism, place making, pop-up city, openstreet projects distinguish highly relational projects, which generally constitute the result of bottom-up operations, carried out with the participation of the population, with or without the support of institutions. Starting from the detection of approaches found in literature and the identification of international case studies, the essay focuses on a qualitative analysis of intervention models, proposing an evaluation matrix that identifies significant indicators to assess the effectiveness of projects over time. The evaluation matrix also takes advantage of the experience of a collective that promotes projects of public spaces through new forms of interaction between inhabitants and common goods