The 19th entury iron architecture of industrial buildings. A formal and constructive comparison between two case studies

The paper analyzes the features of the 19th century industrial architecture and the application of metallic structures combined with formal and architectural expressions that frequently concealed or mitigated their presence. The mix of engineering features for the industrial purpose and familiar perceptions of the traditional architecture is one of the characteristics of this typology. The cases - both belonging to the mining industry of the 1800s - feature both the structural innovations in the use of metallic - masonry structures and formalism that recall the Eclectic and aesthetic motifs as a mean to enhance the industrial function and the technological expression. The metallic elements are in fact frequently employed in the most important sections of the buildings and testify the influences of both the technical advance of the constructive theories and the stylistic formulas that, although belonging to a more aulic architecture, intensify the productivity and the performances. Finally a proposal of reuse for one of the case study aims to valorize the duplicity of the formal and the technological approach for this typology in order to give a new purpose to this symbol of the industrial epopee.Peer ReviewedPreprin

Decisiveness indices are semiindices: addendum

In the paper Decisiveness indices are semiindices (Freixas and Pons, 2016) it was shown that any decisiveness index obtained from an anonymous probability distribution is a semiindex, and that the converse is not true. In this note we characterize the semiindices which are indices of decisiveness.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Vivir la Alhambra : mujeres en la Alhambra nazarí y cristiana

La presencia femenina en la Alhambra ha quedado habitualmente oculta tanto por la potencia en si del propio conjunto monumental como porque las fuentes tradicionales la han invisibilizado sistemáticamente. Poco a poco se va reconociendo la necesidad de incluir el género como un elemento fundamental para entender en plenitud los procesos históricos y también, evidentemente, para interpretar los usos de los edi$ cios. Este artículo trata de contextualizar los espacios de la Alhambra en clave femenina, identificando aquellos que tradicionalmente les han sido asignados pero no sólo. Intenta transitar de la mujer objeto, ideal romántico de princesa cautiva suspirando por su amado, o esposa diletante tumbada entre cojines, a la mujer como sujeto que habita. Porqué en la Alhambra vivieron sultanas inteligentes, músicas cultivadas, reinas estadistas, alfareras, y comadronas. Y en la Alhambra trabajan mujeres que documentan, restauran, catalogan, cuidan, difunden, limpian, guían, explican y protegen la ciudad palatina como lo que es, un espacio vital en el que, como poco, la mitad son mujeres. [ANGLÈS] The female presence in the Alhambra has been usually hidden both by the potency of the monumental set itself and by the fact that traditional sources have systematically made it invisible. Step by step, the need to include gender as a fundamental element to fully understand historical processes, and also to interpret the uses of buildings, is being recognized. Th is article tries to contextualize the spaces of the Alhambra in a female point of view, identifying those that traditionally have been assigned but not only. Th e article tries to vindicate in front of the object woman, identified with the romantic image of captive princess sighing for her beloved, or dilettante wife lying between cushions, to the subject woman. Because in the Alhambra lived intelligent sultanas, cultivated musicians, statesmen queens, potters, and midwives. And because in the Alhambra there are actually women who document, restore, catalogue, take care for, disseminate, clean, guide, explain and protect the palatine city as a vital space in which, at least, half of all are women.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Rehabilitació energètica: el cas dels edificis escolars

Els equipaments escolars són un conjunt d’edificis amb uns condicionants especials que els fan molt adequats per a dur a terme accions de millora i de conscienciació mediambiental, a causa de la seva vinculació directa amb l’educació i la formació dels ciutadans del demà. Durant els darrers anys, el Grup de Recerca GICITED de l’Escola Politècnica Superior d’Edificació de Barcelona hem estat treballant en avaluacions del parc edificat i en concret en estalvi i eficiència energètica en edificis docents universitaris i en centres d’educació infantil i primària. Del conjunt d’estudis realitzats, hem après que el primer que cal és identificar les mancances i les possibilitats de millora dels edificis per tal de plantejar les mesures més adients per garantir el confort ambiental dins els centres, tot reduint els consums de recursos. L’estudi de diferents edificis amb unes condicions legislatives, organitzatives i d’entorn climàtic similars, ens permetrà establir les futures línies de treball per tal de millorar la qualitat d’ús dels edificis i les possibles mesures d’estalvi energèticPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Using the multilinear extension to study some probabilistic power indices

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10726-016-9514-6We consider binary voting systems modeled by a simple game, in which voters vote independently of each other, and the probability distribution over coalitions is known. The Owen’s multilinear extension of the simple game is used to improve the use and the computation of three indices defined in this model: the decisiveness index, which is an extension of the Banzhaf index, the success index, which is an extension of the Rae index, and the luckiness index. This approach leads us to prove new properties and inter-relations between these indices. In particular it is proved that the ordinal equivalence between success and decisiveness indices is achieved in any game if and only if the probability distribution is anonymous. In the anonymous case, the egalitarianism of the three indices is compared, and it is also proved that, for these distributions, decisiveness and success indices respect the strength of the seats, whereas luckiness reverses this order.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Decisiveness indices are semiindices

In this note we prove that any decisiveness index, defined for any voter as the probability of him/her being decisive, is a semiindex when the probability distribution over coalitions is anonymous, and it is a semiindex with binomial coefficients when the probability over coalitions is anonymous and independent.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Metodologia d'avaluació energètica d'edificis

El Pla d’Eficiència en el Consum de Recursos (PECR) de la UPC contempla, en una de les primeres fases, la realització d’avaluacions energètiques en les edificacions de la UPC per valorar l’estat actual dels edificis i poder establir uns indicadors del seu comportament energètic a partir dels quals establir els objectius d’estalvi i d’eficiència. Per fer aquestes avaluacions, es va crear una metodologia amb l’objectiu d’establir polítiques i definir línees d’actuació per a l’estalvi i l’eficiència en el consum dels recursos energètics i d’aigua en els edificis de la UPC que poden ser aplicades a gran part dels edificis públics

Components with higher and lower risk in a reliability system

A new reliability importance measure for components in a system, that we call Representativeness measure, is introduced. It evaluates to which extent the performance of a component is representative of the erformance of the whole system. Its relationship with Birnbaum’s measure is analyzed, and the ranking of components given by both measures are compared. These rankings happen to be equal when all components have the same reliability but different in general. In contrast with Birnbaum’s, the Representativeness reliability importance measure of a component does depend on its reliability.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Avaluació energètica d'edificis de la UPC com eina d'educació en sostenibilitat

A partir de maig de 2003, per iniciativa del Vicerectorat adjunt d’Edificacions de la UPC, el Centre Interdisciplinari de Tecnologia, Innovació i Educació per a la Sostenibilitat (CITIES) treballa en l’elaboració i la implantació del Pla d’Eficiència en el Consum de Recursos (PECR), amb l’objectiu d’establir polítiques i definir línees d’actuació per a l’estalvi i l’eficiència en el consum dels recursos energètics i d’ aigua en els edificis de la UPC. El PECR contempla, en una de les primeres fases, la realització d’avaluacions energètiques en les edificacions de la UPC per valorar l’estat actual dels edificis i poder establir uns indicadors del seu comportament energètic a partir dels quals establir els objectius d’estalvi i d’eficiència. Per fer aquestes avaluacions, es va crear una línea de projectes finals de carrera (PFC) per a estudiants de l’Escola Politècnica Superior de l’Edificació de Barcelona (EPSEB), sota la coordinació de professors tutors de diferents departaments y amb la col·laboració indispensable de totes les unitats de recolzament de la UPC.Peer Reviewe

Teaching, sustainability and environment in UPC buildings

Universities must motivate future professionals so that they are able to apply their experience over and beyond the scientific and technological context. These professionals should also be trained so that they are aware of the current position as regards the economy and limited energy resources, and they must be creative, knowledgeable and committed if they are to rethink the current model. The Departments of Architectural Technology II and Applied Physics, in collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Centre of Technology, Innovation and Education for Sustainability (CITIES), believed that students could be given the opportunity to specialise in the area of sustainable development by means of their final theses [2]. With this objective in mind, a line of theses called Energy Assessments was created as part of the Plan for Resource Consumption Efficiency (PECR). The line was based on a learning strategy that focused on the student. The teaching staff was able to observe that, in terms of cognitive aspects, the students improved their knowledge of environmental issues and the associated skills, and that they were more able to solve problems in the area of sustainability and had greater concerns about this subject matter after having completed their theses