Productive ecologies: Redefining the centrality and marginality of the city-territory

With the aim of identifying different perspectives for the future of territory – starting from the dimension of production in the context of urban sprawl – this PhD research intends opening a critical reflections on the dynamics of territorial polarization, specialization and marginalization underway in Europe. According to the last European Competitiveness Report drawn up by the European Commission, production is still to be considered as an engine of prosperity linked to the real economy and to the development of the territory; thus the need for a new re-industrialization program for Europe. In recent decades production has been one of the territorial elements exposed to more extensive changes in Europe, while at the same time it has become one of the elements least subject to reflection in terms of spatial construction and rationalisation of the territory. Production is today becoming incompatible with the common idea of European traditional city. In order to avoid the risk of a dualistic model of development, that opposes urban areas to productive and secondary territories, this article claims the need to include production in the debate on the structural specificity and potentialities of the European city-territory as one of its constituent elements

The City, that Collective Work of Art. Tools for Graphic Expression and Participatory Creation in Urban Spaces

[EN] Sustainable, democratic, resilient, inclusive urban regeneration means working with inhabitants when cities are transformed, giving them the opportunity to collaborate in the city’s creation. This research studies the relationship between graphic creativity and citizen participation for architectural and university applications in urban  processes to build the city, and in the strategies and means to operate it. In schools, this relationship reveals glimpses of new ways of alternative learning. As a research method, we analyze examples that have influenced various graphic disciplines and  technological implementations, and urban art practices that have emerged from citizen struggles. The results illustrate that the urban project can be taught by incorporating collaborative design, with strategies such as street art, collective maps or tactical  urbanism, and urban sketching and virtual reality, taken together as means of enriching the creative, artistic and educational processes.[ES] Una transformación urbana sostenible, democrática, resiliente e inclusiva significa trabajar con la comunidad local, dándole la oportunidad de colaborar en la creación de la ciudad. Esta investigación estudia la relación que existe entre creatividad gráfica y participación ciudadana para su aplicación en arquitectura y universidades, tanto en los  procesos arquitectónicos para construir la ciudad como en los procesos de estrategias y medios para operar. En las Escuelas, se permite entrever nuevas maneras de aprendizaje alternativo. Como método de análisis, nos centramos en ejemplos,  incluyendo disciplinas gráficas y de implementación tecnológica, pero también prácticas de arte urbano que surgieron de las luchas ciudadanas. Los resultados enseñan que se  puede enseñar el proyecto urbano incorporando el diseño colaborativo, con herramientas como el arte callejero, el dibujo, los mapas colectivos o el urbanismo táctico, como medio de enriquecimiento de los procesos creativos y artísticos para la construcción de la ciudad.Esta investigación fue apoyada por el Programa Nacional de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación dirigido a los Retos de la Sociedad, con referencias BIA2016-77464-C2-1-R y BIA2016-77464-C2-2-R. Ambas ayudas están asociadas al Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica, Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica 2013-2016 del Gobierno de España.Sève, B.; Muxi Martínez, Z.; Sega, R.; Redondo Domínguez, E. (2021). La ciudad, esa obra de arte colectiva. Herramientas de expresión gráfica y de creación participativa en espacios urbanos. EGA Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica. 26(41):230-241. https://doi.org/10.4995/ega.2021.13237OJS2302412641ALOMAR, R. (2017). Sketching together. In: De la Peña et al. (ed.), Design as democracy, techniques for collective creativity. Washington DC: Island Press, pp- 60-63.AMADO LORENZO, A., and FRAGA LÓPEZ, F. (2015). El dibujante digital. Dibujo a mano alzada sobre tabletas digitales. EGA Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica, 20(25), 108-119. https://doi.org/10.4995/ega.2015.3330ARELLANO, M. (2018). Colectivo Tomate: Lo más importante del diseño participativo es que la gente se encuentre y se reconozca (2018). Available at: https://www.plataformaarquitectura. cl/cl/891624/colectivo-tomate-lo-mas-importante-del-diseno-participativo-es-que-la-gente-se-encuentre-y-se-reconozca. Accessed on: 17/12/2019.ARNSTEIN SHERRY, R. (1969). A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 35, No. 4, July 1969, pp. 216-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225BASCOP, N. and DELPRAT É. (2016). YA+K, Manuel illustré de bricolage urbain. Paris: ed. Alternatives.BLANCAFORT, J. and REUS, P. (2015). Pioneros de la participación colectiva en los procesos de planificación urbana. Legado Halprin. ACE: Architecture, City and Environment, ACE: Architecture, City and Environment, Juny 2015, vol. 10, núm. 28, p. 57-76. https://doi.org/10.5821/ace.10.28.3681BORJA, J. (2003). La ciudad conquistada. Madrid: Alianza editorial.BOSERMAN, C. (2014). Entre grafos y bits. Obra Digital, (6), 8-23. https://doi.org/10.25029/od.2014.33.6COL·LECTIU PUNT6. (2017a). Nocturnas. La vida cotidiana de las mujeres que trabajan de noche en el Área Metropolitana de Barcelona. Barcelona, España.DE CARLO, G. (2007). Architecture's Public. In: Blundell Jones P., Petrescu D. and Till J.(eds), Architecture and Participation. Abingdon: Spon Press, pp.3-22.DE LA PEÑA, D. (2018) Knowing, managing, making. In: Lacol. Building collectively. Barcelona: ed. Pol·len.FERNÁNDEZ HERRERO, E. (2018). Origen, evolución y auge del arte urbano. El fenómeno Banksy y otros artistas urbanos. Tesis doctoral dirgida por Reyes Sánchez, Francisco. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias de la Información.HALPRIN, l. and BURN, J. (1974).Taking Part: A Workshop Approach to Collective Creativity. Cambridge: MIT Press.HARVEY, D. (2003). The right to the city. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27, pp. 939-941. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0309-1317.2003.00492.xHOFFMAN, S. (2014). Architecture is participation: Die Baupiloten, Methods and Projects. Berlin: JOVIS Verlag.JACOBS, J.(1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York. Random House.LACOL (2018). Building collectively. Barcelona: ed. Pol·len.KLEIN, R. (2016). Creativity and territory: the construction of centers and peripheries from graffiti and street art. Street Art & Urban Creativity Scientific Journal, 2, pp. 6-15.LEFEBVRE, H. (2009). Le droit à la ville. 3rd Edition. Paris: Economica/Anthropos. Original Publication Date:1968.LUCK, R. (2018). Participatory design in architectural practice: Changing practices in future making in uncertain times. Design Studies, 59 pp. 139-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2018.10.003LYNCH, K. (1960). The Image of the City. Cambridge: The MIT Press.MALGORZATA, H. (2007). Information technology as a tool for public participation in urban planning: a review of experiments and potentials. Design Studies, 28, pp. 289-307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2007.02.003MUXÍ MARTÍNEZ, Z. and GUTIÉRREZ VALDIVIA, B. (2011). Apuntes sobre Jane Jacobs. In: Jane Jacobs. Muerte y vida de las grandes ciudades. Madrid: Capitán Swing.PETRESCU, D. (2005). Losing control, keeping desire. In: Blundell Jones P., Petrescu D. and Till J.(eds), Architecture and Participation. Abingdon: Spon Press, pp.43-64.RAPOSO GRAU, J. (2014). Dibujar, procesar, comunicar: el proyectar arquitectónico como origen de un proceso grafico-plástico. Implicaciones docentes. EGA Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica, 19(24), 92-105. https://doi.org/10.4995/ ega.2014.3091REDONDO, E., FONSECA, D., SANCHEZ RIERA, A., Navarro, I. (2017). Educating Urban Designers using Augmented Reality and Mobile Learning Technologies / Formación de Urbanistas usando Realidad Aumentada y Tecnologías de Aprendizaje Móvil. Revista iberoamericana de educación a distancia, 3 Juliol, vol. 20, núm. 2, p. 141-165. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.20.2.17675REDONDO, E. (2008). El dibujo híbrido. Explorando los límites del dibujo arquitectónico. Actas del XII Congreso Internacional de Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica: Congreso Internacional de Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica ( 12. 2008. Madrid) / Enrique Rabasa Díaz (aut.), 2008, ISBN 9788497282703, págs. 677-684.RISLER, J. and ARES, P. (2013). Manual del mapeo colectivo: recursos cartográficos para procesos territoriales de creación colaborativa. Buenos Aires: Tinta Limón.SALGADO DE LA ROSA, M., RAPOSO GRAU, J., and BUTRAGUEÑO DÍAZ-GUERRA, B. (2016). Action drawing. Una apuesta por el dibujo. EGA Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica, 21(28), 246-257. https:// doi.org/10.4995/ega.2016.6088SANOFF, H. (2000). Community participation methods in design and planning. New York: Wiley.SANOFF, H. (2010). Democratic design. Berlin: Verlag.SEVE, B. and REDONDO, E. (2020). El pabellón de deseos: co-creación y co-instalación artística para la mejora del espacio público. ACE: architecture, city and environment = arquitectura, ciudad y entorno. Volum: 14. Número: 42. Pàgs.: 1-20. https://doi.org/10.5821/ace.14.42.8200SEVE, B., (2012). Taller Espacios Abiertos. Recicla el Ferrocarril. Oaxaca de Juárez: UABJOTILL, J. (2005). 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Collective radioresistance of T47D breast carcinoma cells is mediated by a Syncytin-1 homologous protein

It is generally accepted that radiotherapy must target clonogenic cells, i.e., those cells in a tumour that have self-renewing potential. Focussing on isolated clonogenic cells, however, may lead to an underestimate or even to an outright neglect of the importance of biological mechanisms that regulate tumour cell sensitivity to radiation. We develop a new statistical and experimental approach to quantify the effects of radiation on cell populations as a whole. In our experiments, we change the proximity relationships of the cells by culturing them in wells with different shapes, and we find that the radiosensitivity of T47D human breast carcinoma cells in tight clusters is different from that of isolated cells. Molecular analyses show that T47D cells express a Syncytin-1 homologous protein (SyHP). We observe that SyHP translocates to the external surface of the plasma membrane of cells killed by radiation treatment. The data support the fundamental role of SyHP in the formation of intercellular cytoplasmic bridges and in the enhanced radioresistance of surviving cells. We conclude that complex and unexpected biological mechanisms of tumour radioresistance take place at the cell population level. These mechanisms may significantly bias our estimates of the radiosensitivity of breast carcinomas in vivo and thereby affect treatment plans, and they call for further investigations

Interplay between distribution of live cells and growth dynamics of solid tumours

Experiments show that simple diffusion of nutrients and waste molecules is not sufficient to explain the typical multilayered structure of solid tumours, where an outer rim of proliferating cells surrounds a layer of quiescent but viable cells and a central necrotic region. These experiments challenge models of tumour growth based exclusively on diffusion. Here we propose a model of tumour growth that incorporates the volume dynamics and the distribution of cells within the viable cell rim. The model is suggested by in silico experiments and is validated using in vitro data. The results correlate with in vivo data as well, and the model can be used to support experimental and clinical oncology

Transcriptomic profiling of calcified aortic valves in clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential carriers

Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is characterized by the presence of clones of mutated blood cells without overt blood diseases. In the last few years, it has emerged that CHIP is associated with atherosclerosis and coronary calcification and that it is an independent determinant of cardiovascular mortality. Recently, CHIP has been found to occur frequently in patients with calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) and it is associated with a poor prognosis after valve replacement. We assessed the frequency of CHIP by DNA sequencing in the blood cells of 168 CAVD patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement or transcatheter aortic valve implantation and investigated the effect of CHIP on 12 months survival. To investigate the pathological process of CAVD in CHIP carriers, we compared by RNA-Seq the aortic valve transcriptome of patients with or without CHIP and non-calcific controls. Transcriptomics data were validated by immunohistochemistry on formalin-embedded aortic valve samples. We confirm that CHIP is common in CAVD patients and that its presence is associated with higher mortality following valve replacement. Additionally, we show, for the first time, that CHIP is often accompanied by a broad cellular and humoral immune response in the explanted aortic valve. Our results suggest that an excessive inflammatory response in CHIP patients may be related to the onset and/or progression of CAVD and point to B cells as possible new effectors of CHIP-induced inflammation