DETECTING A NEW APPROACH TO REVIVE DYSTOPIAN PARANOID SITES

Until the nineteenth century, space delineation was tied only to the architectural norm, and even now, space is considered as a fundamental area that provide a safe and shelter for its user. Architecture historically has evolved significantly, altering the way people perceive space. Anciently, world civilization used to pay great attention in portraying semiotic of spatial experience in their architectural practices. Back when reflecting moods in architecture was part of utilization of the function. Moreover, Civilization has revolutionized the means of spatial delineation due to new trends in technological evolution. Therefore, to comprehend this association, the studies can distinguish how the remaining physical remnants of advanced civilizations are reflecting the social and scientific development of an era. In our contemporary world, this trail of thinking is replaced by architecture that do not connect with the user’s psychology. Hence, politics in architecture has sustained to be that major womb for dystopian psychologic paranoia between user and space. The problem is that the architectural spatial composition has been subjected to obsolescent acts of war and deterioration, nullifying the presence of user’s psychology, and turning them into “paranoid spaces”, which become a major source of social and psychological disruption to its surrounding context. The aim of this paper is to produces a new spatial experience with which users can be injected, as a new approach in the amelioration to scarred spaces within paranoid cities. This Paper will use a scientific methodology that starts by investigating paranoid scarred places and infrastructure in a socio-political analysis of a case study, Starting by. Seeking for a design strategy that confronts the regeneration of a new spatial delineation ideology of amelioration in a new contemporary trend, that would polarize the sanctuary equating a new paradigm of architectural and transcendence to the lives of its habitants

THE ROLE OF SMART ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS IN REDUCING THE PANDEMIC EFFECT IN RESIDENTIAL COMPOUNDS

Pandemic is an episode of an illness that happens over a wide geographic zone, (for example, different nations or countries) and regularly influences a huge extent of the population, which is in our case a virus called COVID-19. The problem or the gap lies in the houses and type of residents we have now, that aren’t adaptable and flexible enough to survive a pandemic while focusing on social distancing, safe living, and many other decisions, all the while keeping the human interaction alive. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to propose guidelines on how new smart architectural elements can help reduce the effect of the pandemic in residential compounds and create a quasi-utopian living. The research therefore will depend on a scientific methodology through analyzing different literature reviews to create a theoretical base. Then, the derived parameters will be used to inspect a case study on a site in Achrafieh, a part of the residential area of the city which is an affected area from Beirut’s Port explosion. Data will be collected from site visits, photographs, and interviews. This site will be visualized to be an experimental location for a residential compound controlled by smart architectural elements such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Automation, the use of sensors, during a pandemic. As a conclusion, it is important to go smart on the level of architectural elements, especially through such a pandemic, which should be considered as a design potential and a good risk to take, and not a threat

USE OF BIOMIMICRY DESIGN APPROACH IN CONSTRUCTING SUSTAINABLE RESILIENT STRUCTURES (CASE STUDY: PORT OF BEIRUT)

Resiliency is not the same as sustainability, nor its substitute, but definitely the two concepts complement each other’s. Sustainability is the avoidance of depletion of natural resources to maintain ecological balance whereas resiliency is to recover, adapt and keep going in the face of setbacks. While designing with green approach is important but what will happen to leed points if the building becomes uninhabitable due to disasters, that’s where resiliency comes into play. The 2019 statistics showed that natural disasters accounted for 133 billion dollars losses and manmade ones accounted for other 7 billion in addition to 11,755 people worldwide were passed way or disappeared, all as results of failures experienced in cities structures and infrastructures when facing such contingencies, these numbers draw a concern on the current buildings industry resiliency on the global level. Currently there are two theories of resiliency; engineering which is based on technology and ecological which is based on biology. While technology exploits energy to solve problems, biology focuses on information and structure which is usually ignored by technology, therefore this research aims to propose a new approach for designing resilient structures through the use of biomimicry in order for cities to be capable of withstanding disasters. To achieve this aim, the research used a scientific approach based on tracing literature review about building’s structures, in addition to disasters and how they shaped the architecture of our cities, and investigating ideas about resiliency achievement, then analyzing the “Port Of Beirut” as a case study to identify a new design approach through the use of biomimicry to improve the quality of life and strengthen the feeling of safety in the city. As a conclusion, after 3.8 billion years of nature’s research and development, failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the secret to our survival, hence biomimicry approach to be applied in order to learn from nature as a model to create sustainable designs for achieving more resilient cities

EXPLORING POTENTIALS OF LEFTOVER SPACES USING URBAN METAMORPHOSIS

In a dynamic world, the challenge behind reaching utopia is a result of the continuity of change and the metamorphosis. Metamorphosis, from the Greek meta signifying the change and morphe referring to the form, is a change and adaptation of the form or nature of something into a different one through time. However, when it comes to urban metamorphosis, it is a tension between the traditional living and the raise of technology through history, and this adaptation is affecting cities, buildings, identity, and environment. Urban metamorphosis of undeveloped non-organized cities had created urban and social fragmentation; unorganized cities are broken urban fabrics disconnected by bare lands. Therefore, this research aims to establish guidelines to metamorphic the leftover lands to create utopian spaces in the cities. To achieve this aim the study starts with a literature review including previous opinion in the field of study, and the case study analysis of the neighborhood of Bachoura in Beirut city; a disconnected neighborhood from Beirut central city. The urban fabric of this neighborhood needs to reconsider preserving the identity which goes back to 1960s, and to reconsidering the use of the urban leftover spaces in revitalizing the district. A holistic approach of urban integration among built and natural environment, changes the way people occupy a place and get attached to it

Stress–strain model for concrete confined by FRP composites

In this paper, a stress–strain model for concrete confined by fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites is developed. The model is based on the results of a comprehensive experimental program including large-scale circular, square and rectangular short columns confined by carbon/epoxy and E-glass/epoxy jackets providing a wide range of confinement ratios. Ultimate stress, rupture strain, jacket parameters, and cross-sectional geometry were found to be significant factors affecting the stress–strain behavior of FRP-confined concrete. Such parameters were analyzed statistically based on the experimental data, and equations to theoretically predict these parameters are presented. Experimental results from this study were compared to the proposed semi-empirical model as well as others from the literature

Guidelines for Sustainable Construction Methods to Build Over Difficult Topographies

Sustainable construction development is a recent term that is required to create an eco-friendly built environment using renewable and recyclable resources and to reduce energy consumption and waste within protecting the natural environment. This term means such an improvement that pleases the current requirements without limitation of the prospect of sustaining requirements in future. Many problems face builders while executing projects, especially these projects were decided to be built over difficult topographies, such as rivers, falls, inclinations, caves, ridges, cliffs, and mountains. Construction challenges to build a project over a difficult topography are diverse starting by executing piles, retaining walls, conserving stability, and choosing the proper sustainable materials that can withstand the natural environmental factors. This paper sheds the light on the potential of any site\u27s certain criteria; mostly its topography and slope on the provision of sustainable and ecological buildings. It seeks to recognize the sustainable and ecological variables of site topography, consuming a set of characteristics for each building type. The main aim of this research is to propose guidelines of sustainable construction methods that can be used to enable builders to build over difficult topographies, particularly on mountains. The research therefore depended on a scientific methodology through analyzing a sort of literature sources to structure a theoretical base, and then certain parameters were concluded. These parameters were used to analyze a concentrated case study on a site attaching (Beaufort Castle-Chkif), located in Arnoun South of Lebanon. Data of this field-work was conducted by site-visits, capturing photos, interviews, and questionnaire. This site is envisioned to be tested for building projects over sloped contour lines of Chkif Mountain. The paper provides an application for the development of the guidelines for passive and sustainable capability on favorite orientations on the buildings in difficult sloped areas with respect to the climatic local data, Application of the idea of the sustainable and ecological development in the building construction will be an origin of engineering and scientific inspiration for many coming years. One of the conclusion points is the preferable typology of projects to be built over mountains is touristic and entertainment activity to attract people. The sloped contour lines may be employed to be a potential not threat

TECHNOLOGY OF MOBILITY HUBS IN AUTOPIAN FUTURISTIC CITIES

Utopias envision perfect societies, however in practice, when imperfect humans attempt perfection they fail miserably. Hence, if Utopia means no place, then Autopia is the alternative place where progress is steadfast and measured by securing a better world for tomorrow. In 2012, the UN issued a report stating that population growth will increase exponentially, reaching up to 9 billion by 2040. The report also states that melted ice due to global warming will eventually cover up to 7% of the world’s land. At this rate, humans will require three times the earth’s land area to keep up with their required resources, otherwise they will be faced with the scarcity of all resources. If nations are overwhelmed with problems of scarcity, then more conflicts will arise. Therefore, it seems that either war or the environment will be the causes of humans’ downfall, making us all competitors in our fight for survival. Therefore, this research aims to explore automation and design strategies of mobility hubs of the futures to achieve self-sustained cities, in an attempt to secure a more humane world for all. It assumes that such technological applications and cybernetics will have the humans’ and environmental concerns at heart. To achieve this aim, the paper used a scientific methodology, based on literature review by analyzing the potential of one case study near the sea, through exploring methods of visual thinking documented by sketches, computational design, and advanced simulation. As a conclusion emphasizing automation as a mean to liberate man from his daily survival needs in order to pursue higher goals and knowledge, which will achieve a society with equal abundance and equity for all

REVISITING PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES: ENVISIONING FIRST BUILT ENVIRONMENTS TO REPOSSESS GEOGRAPHICALLY SPECIFIC APPROACHES IN ARCHITECTURE

Since Prehistoric times, architecture had been a human response to an occurring natural setting. Starting from places of dwelling to buildings that no longer only serve physical requirements for survival. Architectural languages were approached initially as an expression of culture, evolution, and growth of a community within a natural setting. This response resulted in the creation of built environments, humanity’s decision to become sedentary. This decision took place in the Late Stone age, a key phase in our timeline. First built environments were born in a time known as the Neolithic revolution, which shown itself as humans transitioned from hunter-gatherer societies to agrarian based ones. Once Nature shaped man, now man shapes nature. We observe the dynamic created between man the hosting setting. While observing this two sided complex operating system through revisiting prehistoric archeological sites, we can notice how various geographic zones birthed a diversity of built environments. However, by observing the paradigm of duality in our modern world, we can see neglected neighborhoods and cities, and more importantly that we failed to fulfill our fair part of shaping our natural setting and this reflected on the state of our communities as well. By repossessing how to be geographically specific in architecture, we can set the parameters to architectural planning that includes nature as a co-partner and as a result attempt to improve the well-being of our neglected communities

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care