La città come. Storia dell'idea di paesaggio urbano

Il testo è organizzato in quattro capitoli principali, ciascuno dei quali gravita attorno a una o più domande specifiche, la cui risposta ho ritenuto improrogabile ai fini del raggiungimento dell'obiettivo principale di questa ricerca: una definizione operativa dell'idea di paesaggio urbano. «Che cos'è il paesaggio? Qual è la sua relazione con il paesaggio urbano?»: sono questi i due interrogativi affrontati all'interno del primo capitolo, intitolato Prolegomeni al paesaggio, nel quale faccio chiarezza sull'insieme di concetti che caratterizzano entrambe le idee, mettendone in luce tanto i tratti in comune, quanto le rispettive specificità. Data la complessità semantica che caratterizza al giorno d'oggi il termine «paesaggio» - di cui i campi disciplinari più disparati tendono, con sempre maggior frequenza, ad appropriarsi, producendone interpretazioni spesso diverse, se non tra loro contraddittorie -, non ho potuto esimermi (pena l'impossibilità di procedere nella trattazione) dal prendere una posizione chiara e univoca in merito alla definizione di tale idea. Appoggiatomi, principalmente, alle teorie estetiche sul paesaggio di Augustin Berque, Alain Roger e Javier Maderuelo, ho dunque escluso dalla mia ricerca tutte le letture disciplinari che non condividono i principali concetti da essi segnalati a fondamento dell'idea in questione: pur consapevole dei rischi che derivano da tale scelta, ho comunque ritenuto preferibile intraprendere un cammino criticamente militante, piuttosto che prudentemente imparziale. Il secondo capitolo, intitolato La città osservata, risponde alla cruciale domanda: «quando è nata l'idea di paesaggio urbano in Europa?». Attraverso l'analisi contenutistica di una serie di rappresentazioni urbane fondamentali (tutte prodotte tra il X e il XIX secolo), in questa parte della ricerca traccio, per sommi capi, la storia evolutiva dello sguardo europeo sulla città, a partire dall'ipotesi secondo cui, in ogni opera d'arte, la scelta del soggetto e del modo di rappresentarlo non sono mai indifferenti, ma rispecchiano invece una specifica visione del mondo (dell'ambiente urbano, in questo caso), le cui caratteristiche sono il prodotto dell'insieme delle condizioni politiche, economiche, tecniche e culturali del periodo storico in cui l'opera si colloca. Tale ipotesi - non certo mia - risulta fondamentale ai fini di questo studio, perché permette di utilizzare qualsiasi rappresentazione (pittorica, letteraria, fotografica, cinematografica etc.) come un documento materiale dell'immaginario collettivo di cui è l'espressione. Fatte queste premesse, e a partire dalla definizione di paesaggio urbano svolta nel primo capitolo, identificato, nel panorama della storia dell'arte europea, le rappresentazioni che per prime denunciano in maniera inequivocabile la presenza, nel paradigma estetico cui esse appartengono, di una lettura paesaggistica dello spazio della città. Nel terzo capitolo, La natura della città, mi interrogo sulle conseguenze che la nascita della metropoli, avvenuta intorno alla seconda metà del XIX secolo, ha avuto sull'evoluzione della cultura occidentale e, in particolare, sul ruolo svolto dall'esperienza dello «shock» metropolitano nella formazione dell'idea moderna di paesaggio urbano. Riportando le testimonianze di pittori, scrittori e filosofi, ricostruisco le valenze culturali ed estetiche dell'epocale cambio di paradigma verificatosi con il passaggio dalla società urbana a quella metropolitana, nel quale già si nascondeva, in nuce, il germe estetico che accompagna l'esperienza della città contemporanea. Al quarto e ultimo capitolo, intitolato La città frammentata, è affidato il compito di fare chiarezza su quali rapporti intercorrano tra paesaggio urbano e progettazione. Le tre domande «cosa caratterizza l'esperienza della città contemporanea?», «come si progetta il paesaggio urbano?» e «come può il paesaggio urbano entrare a far parte della

Memes de Arquitectura: Una conversación asíncrona entre Davide Tommaso Ferrando y Felipe G. Gil

Felipe G. Gil. Davide, ¿cómo te has sentido haciendo este experimento de memes de arquitectura? Davide Tommaso Ferrando. Bien ;). En los últimos meses había recopilado varias críticas sobre la cultura arquitectónica contemporánea que quería compartir. Sin embargo, estas críticas estaban bastante fragmentadas y no gravitaban en torno a un tema central, sino a muchos. Desarrollar estas críticas en escritos adecuados, por ejemplo, en una serie de artículos científicos, habría requerido mucha investigación y tiempo, algo que no tengo en este momento. Una serie de publicaciones en Facebook también me parecía una opción no viable por dos motivos. Por un lado, la cantidad de texto legible en Facebook (en el sentido de que, después de un cierto número de palabras, nadie lee lo que escribes) no es suficiente para articular un pensamiento complejo, pero es demasiado para no intentar articularlo de algún modo. Por otro lado, temía que criticar, por ejemplo, la forma a menudo superficial en que muchos arquitectos han comenzado a utilizar Midjourney desde el verano de 2022, invadiendo el espacio visual de la Web con un diluvio de imágenes arquitectónicas cuyo valor es mucho más que discutible, me llevaría a un camino moralizador que preferiría evitar. La idea de recurrir a los memes surgió de un libro que leí durante las vacaciones de invierno, Interregno, de Mattia Salvia (Nero Editions, 2022), que explica precisamente cómo los memes son capaces de expresar las condiciones contradictorias y fragmentadas de la cultura contemporánea. Usar memes para elaborar mis críticas no solo fue una forma de experimentar con la herramienta, sino también de proporcionar crítica de arquitectura con cierta ligereza e ironía. Mientras los hacía, especialmente algunos de ellos, me divertí mucho :

OMA -AMO - Casa de la música de Oporto

La investigación de un “objeto arquitectónico” enlaza con los principios teóricos desde los que en ARKRIT-LAB se entiende la crítica la arquitectura: la obra antes que el autor y su descripción antes que su interpretación. Consecuentemente, se propuso estudiar un edificio relevante y considerado de gran impacto teórico y mediático, entrando primero de manera precisa en su respuesta al medio, al material, a la medida, a la morfología y a la misión -metodo M3- y proponiendo después, entre los investigadores del laboratorio diversas actividades: re exionar de manera abierta sobre las condiciones de su “arquitectura”, experimentar el edi cio, rastrear sus antecedentes e investigar en la materia concreta y en las formas utilizadas; actividades que buscaban nuevas realidades que pudieran mostrar otras visiones. En el laboratorio consideramos que como arquitectos y como críticos, no resulta super uo aprender a ver más, a oír más, a sentir más y a pensar más4. El edificio elegido para el curso 2010-2011 fue la “Casa da Musica” de Oporto, proyecto de OMA-Rem Koolhaas, siendo el texto que se convirtió en referencia para la primera aproximación el titulado “Otra Modernidad” de Rafael Moneo. Texto en el que se describe el proyecto como encarnación de los nuevos atributos de la arquitectura contemporánea5. “Otra Modernidad” entendida desde la Modernidad, como frontera considerada por Antonio Miranda como referente de progreso y faro de toda acción arquitectónica. Modernidad como anhelo de una sociedad nueva más justa

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass

Severe early onset preeclampsia: short and long term clinical, psychosocial and biochemical aspects

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy specific disorder commonly defined as de novo hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestational age. It occurs in approximately 3-5% of pregnancies and it is still a major cause of both foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide1. As extensive research has not yet elucidated the aetiology of preeclampsia, there are no rational preventive or therapeutic interventions available. The only rational treatment is delivery, which benefits the mother but is not in the interest of the foetus, if remote from term. Early onset preeclampsia (<32 weeks’ gestational age) occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. It is, however often associated with maternal morbidity as the risk of progression to severe maternal disease is inversely related with gestational age at onset2. Resulting prematurity is therefore the main cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in patients with severe preeclampsia3. Although the discussion is ongoing, perinatal survival is suggested to be increased in patients with preterm preeclampsia by expectant, non-interventional management. This temporising treatment option to lengthen pregnancy includes the use of antihypertensive medication to control hypertension, magnesium sulphate to prevent eclampsia and corticosteroids to enhance foetal lung maturity4. With optimal maternal haemodynamic status and reassuring foetal condition this results on average in an extension of 2 weeks. Prolongation of these pregnancies is a great challenge for clinicians to balance between potential maternal risks on one the eve hand and possible foetal benefits on the other. Clinical controversies regarding prolongation of preterm preeclamptic pregnancies still exist – also taking into account that preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands5 - a debate which is even more pronounced in very preterm pregnancies with questionable foetal viability6-9. Do maternal risks of prolongation of these very early pregnancies outweigh the chances of neonatal survival? Counselling of women with very early onset preeclampsia not only comprises of knowledge of the outcome of those particular pregnancies, but also knowledge of outcomes of future pregnancies of these women is of major clinical importance. This thesis opens with a review of the literature on identifiable risk factors of preeclampsia

Search for anomalous production of events with three or more leptons in pp collisions at √s = 8TeV

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published articles title, journal citation, and DOI.A search for physics beyond the standard model in events with at least three leptons is presented. The data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5fb-1 of proton-proton collisions with center-of-mass energy s=8TeV, was collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC during 2012. The data are divided into exclusive categories based on the number of leptons and their flavor, the presence or absence of an opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pair (OSSF), the invariant mass of the OSSF pair, the presence or absence of a tagged bottom-quark jet, the number of identified hadronically decaying τ leptons, and the magnitude of the missing transverse energy and of the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta. The numbers of observed events are found to be consistent with the expected numbers from standard model processes, and limits are placed on new-physics scenarios that yield multilepton final states. In particular, scenarios that predict Higgs boson production in the context of supersymmetric decay chains are examined. We also place a 95% confidence level upper limit of 1.3% on the branching fraction for the decay of a top quark to a charm quark and a Higgs boson (t→cH), which translates to a bound on the left- and right-handed top-charm flavor-violating Higgs Yukawa couplings, λtcH and λctH, respectively, of |λtcH|2+|λctH|2<0.21

Measurement of associated W plus charm production in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

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