Structural Innovation Through Digital Means: Wooden Waves, Galaxia, Conifera, Sandwaves, Polibot, Silkworm

This folio presents a body of investigation into the possibilities of innovative built structures developed by manipulating digital technologies to generate new structural systems and tested using manual as well as digital construction methods. Research is generated through a range of projects, in different contexts, at various scales, using innovative building and structural design, and considering the tools generated to make the project as part of the research output. The work further tests new and emerging patterns of architectural practice, construction and procurement. Projects have moved towards a more environmentally-friendly parametrically generated approach e.g. through developing re-useable and compostable structures. Mamou-Mani developed this research through commissioned briefs by clients and self-initiated competition entries for large-scale permanent structures. Often, projects are inspired by patterns found in nature, and the research explores, develops, tests and expands upon these parametrically to suggest new structural models. Structures included are the installations for Buro Happold’s headquarters (2015): for fashion brand COS (2018) –one of the largest PLA (bioplastic made from fermented sugar) 3D-printed structures in the world to date; the largest sand-printed installation to date; and the well-published 60 metre-wide, 20 metre-high Galaxia temporary temple building erected for the 2018 Burning Man event in the USA, duly burned down after use. Innovative procurement and construction methods involved working with volunteers and students as well as skilled construction teams, and formulating self-generated projects that raise finance using crowd-funding platforms and ‘investment angels’, and considering the new architectures these might generate. Software innovations include the Silkworm plugin that exports G-code from Grasshopper, enabling one of the world’s largest 3D-printed pavilions. Iterative knowledge development from this research is shared through the WeWantToLearn.net blog which has 1.6M viewers, as well hands-on exchange with volunteers, students and skilled construction teams, as well as more conventional dissemination

Effects of principal stress rotation and drainage on the resilient stiffness of railway foundations

Railway foundations play an integral role in controlling the stability of the overlying track structure and the maintenance of the overall track geometry. Premature failures of railway track foundation are likely to result in frequent maintenance, which may entail significant costs since railway track foundations are less easily accessible than the other layers of railway track. Premature failures of track foundations may arise if the service loads exceed the design specifications, but may also develop as a result of the shortcomings of the design codes to simulate in situ stress paths, which involve cyclic stress changes in the horizontal as well as vertical direction, which result in principal stress rotation (PSR). Laboratory investigations have suggested that cyclic changes in the horizontal as well as vertical direction may result in a higher rate of plastic strain accumulation than cycling the vertical stress only. The effect of PSR on the soil stiffness is less certain however. Furthermore little consideration has been given to how the gradation of different soils may affect in situ drainage conditions and therefore influence the rate of railway track deterioration during PSR. A knowledge gap exists as to how cyclic changes in the directions of principal stresses may affect the pore pressure and stiffness of soils under different drainage conditions.In order to improve our understanding of the effects of PSR on the long term performance of railway track foundations, a series of laboratory tests were conducted which investigated the effects of cyclic changes in the direction of principal stresses on the pore pressure, stiffness and susceptibility to failure of saturated railway track foundation soils under different drainage conditions. The investigated sand-clay mixes were selected so as to replicate the gradation of an in situ railway track foundation. It was found that even small additions of clay to the volume of a sand significantly affected the response of the mixes during cyclic changes in principal stress direction. Moderate additions of clay in the pore space of a sand reduced the susceptibility to principal stress rotation by reducing the tendency for excess pore pressure generation and by increasing the cyclic shear stress the mixes were able to sustain before rapid plastic strain accumulation occurred. Increases in principal stress rotation below the cyclic shear threshold increased the resilient stiffness of the sand-clay mixes, however once this threshold was exceeded rapid stiffness degradation occurred. Below the cyclic shear threshold, the response of the mixes was stable over a high number of loading cycles and no abrupt fatigue failures were observed. The sand-clay mixes were sensitive to even small changes in the magnitude of PSR near the cyclic shear threshold. Small increases in PSR could trigger the sudden collapse of a previously stable sand-clay mix. Under conditions where the rate of pore pressure dissipation was regulated by the permeability and the volumetric compressibility of the soil, the sand clay mixes with moderate additions of fines were stable over a range of cyclic increases in PSR which correspond to the maximum expected changes in magnitude within the depth of a ballasted railway track foundation

Remembering East German Childhood In Post-Wende Life Narratives

REMEMBERING EAST GERMAN CHILDHOOD IN POST-WENDE LIFE NARRATIVES by JULIANA MAMOU, May 2013 This dissertation explores how East German childhood is remembered in four exemplary auto/biographical texts that appeared in the early years of the twenty-first century. In Jana Hensel\u27s Zonenkinder, Claudia Rusch\u27s Meine freie deutsche Jugend, Jana Simon\u27s Denn wir sind anders, and Robert Ide\u27s Geteilte Träume. The depiction of childhood memories is moreover contextualized in the radical social, political and economic changes after the Wende and their effects on former East Germans as individuals and as a group. Written by authors who constitute a generational cohort who were born in the early to mid-1970s, these life narratives engage in the construction of a counter-memory to dominant West German discourse which devalues virtually everything East German. As such, the literary representation of East German childhood memories constitutes an attempt to define Ossi identity in positive terms and emphatically reject the ascription of a self-concept in terms of lack and insufficiency imposed by the new West German masters. Yet, despite the similarity of seeking a reevaluation of the GDR that does not reflect West German hegemonic discourse, the texts depict different aspects of both the past and the present and also differ, at times quite significantly, in their representation and evaluation of everyday life in East Germany. In my analyses of the four primary texts, which I group together in various combinations in each chapter to explore the respective themes by comparison, I contend that the similarities are due to the authors\u27 shared generational background in terms of their physical exposure to GDR life and the differences due to individually different experiences based on family history as well as the intended purpose of their narration. Chapter One provides an overview of the key theoretical frameworks I employ in analyzing the primary texts. These include the concepts of collective trauma, individual and collective memory and identity as well as discussions of the function of autobiographical texts as memory artifacts in the construction of collective memory. Subsequently, I discuss the four primary texts with regard to thematic clusters. In Chapter Two, I explore the notion of nostalgia and specifically analyze the phenomenon of a nostalgic longing for the East German past known as Ostalgie. While it constitutes a counter-narrative to West German discourse which solely represents the GDR as a dictatorial regime by representing positive memories of ordinary life, Ostalgie idealizes the past to the extent of historical inaccuracy by effacing the interaction of oppressive power structures and ordinary life. Chapter Three turns to the notion of home and Heimat as it informs the identity quest of many East Germans who spent their childhood in the GDR. I analyze their sense of loss and longing expressed as Heimweh as well as the representation of childhood places and their disappearance in the changing cityscapes in the so-called five new provinces. Chapter Four explores the representation of stereotypes East and West Germans formed about each other during and after the Wende as part of the authors\u27 acculturation process and their identity negotiation between East and West. As I explore the life narratives as embodiments of cultural memory, I integrate an analysis of their reception into my discussions. The texts represent the authors\u27 individual memories of their childhood experiences in the GDR. Upon publication as literary texts, they become cultural artifacts and as such embody a potential for (re)constructing collective memory. However, this potential needs to be actualized in the reception process. Therefore, I explore the official and vernacular reception of the auto/biographical texts in newspaper reviews, Leserbriefen, and internet discussion forums

Farming Systems in Southern Mali: How to Improve Small Farmers’ Management Behaviors

The study aims at designing a need analysis methodology and a curriculum that deals with the decision making process of small farmers in allocates resources cultural production. The research will be implemented in the Operation H Valley (OHV) and with food crop production. The samples under study concern 33 households 4 different villages. The focus of study was the actual reactions (behaviors) of farmers in terms of decisions made; actions undertaken and the consequences of the actions with regard to three factors: the input supply system (credit system and extension activities), the market system, and the farmers individual goals and expectations. The study attempted: - first, to establish the discrepancy that exists between the production decision making schemes as proposed by OHV (through the and market systems) and the actual decision making process followed by the farmers: - second, to identify the causes of this discrepancy, - third, to propose a curriculum to deal with the discrepancy, The final outputs of the study will be (1) the draft of a need analysis methodology to achieve the curriculum ) and (2) the design of the curriculum

Du conflit ouvert à une concertation « exemplaire » : savoirs citoyens au service du collectif.: La Coudraie, Poissy

International audienceCe cas d’étude s’intéresse à concertation concédée issue d’un conflit urbain majeur autour de la rénovation d'un grand ensemble emblématique sur une longue période. C’est donc la relation dialectique entre conflit et savoirs citoyens qui est explorée ici. En revenant sur les principales étapes de la concertation, l’étude montre comment un groupe d’habitants dépasse les simples savoirs d’usage pour consolider des savoirs citoyens et des compétences à même de soutenir une négociation « rude », qui les met régulièrement à l’épreuve, et d’aboutir à l’obtention de garanties et/ou de réponses à un certain nombre de leurs demandes. Elle montre que c’est dans la fabrication de compétences collectives que les habitants parviennent à être force de proposition aux yeux des institutions (bailleur et Mairie) : se saisir ensemble de la situation, juger de ce qui est juste et faire porter une parole « de tous et pour tous », etc. Ces habitants deviennent alors audibles, sur la transformation de leur cadre de vie - choix des bâtiments à démolir, à conserver ou à réhabiliter, relogements collectifs - et sur les conditions mêmes de leur participation - penser des supports plus adaptés aux enjeux que soulèvent les projets de rénovation des quartiers d’habitat social, préférer des consensus durs à des situations trop flottantes pour permettre la prise collective de décisions, etc. -

Mass eccentricity effects on the torsional response of inelastic buildings

This paper investigates the role of accidental mass eccentricities on the inelastic torsional behaviour of multi-storey asymmetric buildings with a mixed type lateral load resisting system subjected to the Erzincan-1992 and Kobe-1995 ground motions. The numerical modelling results show that the effects of spatial variations of mass eccentricities are lower and smoother in the inelastic rather than the elastic state of deformation, but both the elastic and inelastic torsional response is pointing to the same optimum location of the key element for which the torsional response of the structure is minimized

Evaluating the suitability of acoustical measurement techniques and psychophysical testing for studying the consistency of musical wind instrument manufacturing

Musicians often claim to be able to discern differences in the playing properties of musical wind instruments that have been manufactured in exactly the same way. These differences are most likely due to disparities in bore profile or in the positioning and sealing of any valves or side holes. In this paper, the suitability of acoustic pulse reflectometry and a capillary-based impedance measurement technique for detecting differences between instruments of the same model is explored through measurements on two low-cost, mass-produced trumpets. Differences in the measured bore profiles of the two instruments are reported, with the largest deviation caused by the presence of a leak in the third valve of one of the trumpets. Differences in input impedance measurements made on the two instruments are also noted, with the main cause shown to be the leaky valve. Controlled playing tests are carried out using the same two trumpets in order to evaluate the effectiveness of psychophysical testing in establishing whether there are perceptible differences in the playing properties of nominally identical wind instruments. A semi-professional musician is proved to be able to discriminate between the trumpets whereas an amateur player is shown to be unable to do the same