Pressing the housing and habitat question

En la actualidad es reconocible una alarmante situación en lo relativo al problema de la vivienda. No solo en el mundo subdesarrollado, sino también en los contextos que años atrás habían alcanzado un estado de bienestar bien definido, proliferan situaciones de infravivienda, como si hubiesen quedado borrados todos los años empeñados en alcanzarlo. En estas circunstancias, el Consejo Editorial de “proyecto, progreso, arquitectura” consideró necesario dedicar un número a pulsar la cuestión sobre la vivienda y el hábitat. Cuestiones como los hábitats marginales, la inclusión de la participación ciudadana en los procesos de producción del hábitat, o la revisión de los valores vigentes de los logros pasados inexplicablemente olvidados, motivaron el lanzamiento de una convocatoria que ha logrado una alta participación. Desde esta editorial se presentan los artículos seleccionados para cristalizar el noveno número, valorando las aportaciones fundamentales que cada uno ofrece y justificando su puesto en el orden resultante.Today an alarming situation can be observed, regarding the housing problem. Substandard housing conditions now proliferate, not only in the developing world, but also where a well-defined state of well-being had been reached years ago. It is as if, every year that had been spent achieving that state has been erased. Under these circumstances, the Editorial Board of “proyecto, progreso, arquitectura” have considered it necessary to dedicate an issue to press home the housing and habitat question. Marginal habitats, the inclusion of citizen participation in the habitat production processes, and the review of the current values of the inexplicably forgotten past achievements, are matters that have motivated the launch of a call which has achieved a high level of participation. The selected articles are presented in this editorial to crystallize the ninth issue, assessing the fundamental contributions that each one offers, justifying its place in the resulting order

New educational scenarios for a new century

Partimos advirtiendo que las transiciones entre siglos aceleran revoluciones en todos los campos, incidiendo especialmente en la educación. La historia registra los avances pedagógicos, estos acaban trasladándose a la enseñanza pública y finalmente a las construcciones escolares. La investigación de estos hechos se produce casi con cien años de demora. Las útiles reflexiones críticas sobre los hechos acontecidos, se publicarán al finales del siglo XX y primeros años del XXI y se sumarán con las nuevas inquietudes de progreso para seguir avanzando, incidiendo en los nuevos programas educativos y sus correspondientes escenarios arquitectónicos. La convocatoria buscaba provocar nuevas contribuciones para sintetizar el conocimiento acumulado. La editorial agradece todas las aportaciones que se han producido para esta oportunidad, dejando abiertos nuevos retos interactivos para el futuro.We start by observing that the transitions between centuries accelerate revolutions in all fields, especially those affecting education. History records the pedagogical advances, which moved towards public education, and finally, to the construction of schools. Research into these events was delayed by almost one hundred years. The useful critical reflections on these would be published at the end of the 20th century and first years of the 21st, and would be combined with new concerns for progress to continue advancing, affecting the educational programmes and their corresponding architectural scenarios. The call for articles sought to bring about fresh contributions to compound the accumulated knowledge. The editor is grateful for all the contributions that have been produced for this opportunity, leaving new interactive challenges open for the future

Ciudad Blanca in Alcudia Bay. An educational work by professor Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza. 1961-63

La expansión económica de España en la década de los 60 del pasado siglo XX, se relaciona directamente con el acceso mayoritario de la clase media a las vacaciones estivales y con la explosión del turismo de costa. Entre la multitud de promociones que empezaron a transformar el litoral mediterráneo, Ciudad Blanca proyectada por Sáenz de Oíza en la Bahía de Alcudia, aunque no concluida por completo, ejemplifica cómo un encargo especulativo para acoger a una gran masa de veraneantes, puede aprovechar la euforia del momento, ensayando un modelo residencial ideal, en un contexto próximo a los debates de arquitectura que se estaban dando en el resto de Europa, abordados por los arquitectos de la “Tercera Generación”, que pretendían la superación de los dogmatismos del Movimiento Moderno. La lección que el Oíza profesor nos lega a través de esta experiencia, aparte del modo de proceder, enfrentándose con cierta dosis experimental cual alumno afrontando un ejercicio académico innovador, reside en el valor didáctico de mostrar mediante una serie de mecanismos proyectuales, la vital atención prestada al paisaje y al habitante, a la exterioridad y a la interioridad de la obra, desarrollando una empatía entre el lugar y el momento, que generó un mestizaje interesante entre nuevos conceptos de agrupación, ejecutados con sistemas estructurales racionalistas en los que se introducen elementos puntuales prefabricados, combinando tradición y novedad.Economic expansion in Spain in the 60s of last century, relates directly to the majority of middle class access to the summer holidays and with the explosion of coastal tourism. Among the many developments that began to transform the Mediterranean coast, Cuidad Blanca designed by Sáenz de Oíza in the Bay of Alcudia although not finished completely, exemplifies how a speculative order to accommodate a large mass of vacationers, can benefit from the euphoria of the moment. Testing an ideal residential model in a context that was close to the debates that were happening in the rest of Europe was addressed by the architects of the “Third Generation” which sought to overcome the dogmatism of the Modern Movement. The lesson by professor Oíza reaches us through this experience, besides the way to proceed, facing with some experimental dose which student facing an innovative academic exercise lies in the educational value of showing through a series of project design mechanisms, important attention given to the landscape and the inhabitant, to exteriority and interiority of the work. Developing empathy between the place and time, which generated an interesting mix between new concepts of grouping, executed with rationalist structural systems in which specific prefabricated elements are introduced, combining tradition and innovation

Rem Koolhaas: "Delirio de Nueva York. Un manifiesto retroactivo para Manhattan"

Le conocemos principalmente por sus obras, tan grandes, rotundas y complejas, como polémicas; espectaculares obras que le han proporcionado numerosas distinciones. Pero Koolhaas también se ha ocupado de dejar escrita la teoría con la que ha alimentado y justificado su arquitectura. Entre sus textos destaca “Delirio de Nueva York. Un manifiesto retroactivo para Manhattan”. Publicado por primera vez en 1978, es gracias a la traducción al castellano realizada por Jorge Sainz y publicada por Gustavo Gili en 2004, que hoy cuenta con esta reseña; por esto considero importante empezar manifestando mi gratitud a cuantos han contribuido a esa edición en castellano. "Delirio de Nueva York" describe la metrópoli con una técnica impresionista, mediante sueltas pinceladas superpuestas, configura imágenes cotidianas de la metrópolis en sus momentos de máxima esfervescenci

Beginnings, evolution and decay of architectural space in the Spanish Public Primary School: A view from Sevilla

Se defiende la importancia del espacio arquitectónico en la educación infantil y primaria, compa-rando ejemplos de ámbito nacional o internacional con casos de Sevilla estudiados con detalle. En España se revelan cruciales los años finales del siglo XIX y primeras décadas del XX, alcan-zando un punto álgido en la Segunda República. Se concluye reflexionando sobre la vigencia de esta importante cuestión mediante un ensayo crítico sobre la situación actual de edificios modelo como "los Altos Colegios" del barrio de la Macarena y "el grupo escolar Reina Victoria" en el barrio de Triana. Ambos celebraron ya su centenario pero mantienen gran vitalidad.The importance of architectonic space is defended in the nurseryand primary education, comparing national and international examples to Seville cases, reviewed in detail. In Spain are crucial the latest years of XIX century and first decades of XX, reaching a high point in the Second Re-public. The article is completed reflecting about the validity of this important question trough a critical essay about the actual situation of model buildings as "los Altos Colegios"from the neighbourhood of La Macarena and "el grupo escolar Reina Victoria"in Triana district. Both celebrated their centenary, but they keep a great vitality

Counterculture, actions and architecture

Para la arquitectura, la década de los sesenta y siguientes quedó como el momento de grandes acontecimientos que tuvieron la intención de cambiar los paradigmas sociales, políticos, económicos e ideológicos dominantes en sociedades industrializadas y desarrolladas. Movimientos y corrientes contraculturales que se añadieron al extenso y complejo panorama ideológico que Charles Jencks representó en su gráfico en el año 1971. Con el paso del tiempo, el cambio de milenio y la consolidación de una arquitectura global, dejaron de expresar acciones o pensamientos colectivos, para ser sustituidos por nombres propios de arquitectos o de las principales empresas productoras de la arquitectura. El texto de este artículo reflexiona críticamente sobre esta cuestión y aprovecha la capacidad de determinadas ideas que sugieren investigaciones actuales publicadas en este número, para proponer un entramado cultural que transitaría al margen de las arquitecturas representativas del pensamiento global.For architecture, the Sixties and following decades were times of great events that had the intention of changing the social, political, economic and ideological paradigms dominant in industrialized and developed societies. Countercultural movements and currents were added to the extensive and complex ideological panorama that Charles Jencks represented in his flowchart in 1971. With the passage of time, the change of millennium and the consolidation of a global architecture, ceased to express collective actions or thoughts, being replaced by the names of the architects themselves, or the main companies producing the architecture. The text of this article reflects critically on this question and takes advantage of the capacity of certain ideas that current research evokes, to propose a cultural framework that would move to the margin of the architecture representative of global thought

BGB and BSC Systems (1949-56). The prefabricated dwellings of Antonio Bonet

A raíz de las primeras experiencias de Antonio Bonet con la prefabricación, y de su interés por la geometría y la modulación del espacio, en su etapa argentina de los años 50, desarrolló dos ensayos de viviendas en serie totalmente industrializadas. Los Sistemas BGB y BSC, fueron dos modelos constructivos de prefabricación integral que Bonet diseñó como posibles soluciones técnicas a los problemas de la vivienda, y con los que pretendía superar la construcción a medio camino entre lo tradicional y lo estandarizado. Sin perder sus referencias, contextualizados dentro de su producción, y dentro del debate internacional en torno a la industrialización de la vivienda, ambos sistemas fueron pensados desde el espacio habitable y desde su tectónica, superando lo técnico o lo constructivo para dar lugar a la cualidad del objeto arquitectónico. Planteados como prototipos generalizables, Bonet proyectó en el caso del Sistema BGB una vivienda unifamiliar, y en el del Sistema BSC un bloque de viviendas para una unidad vecinal, pese a la diferencia de escala, en ambos se planteó la prefabricación completa de la vivienda mediante elementos perfectamente modulados que permitían variaciones y que resolvían tanto la pequeña escala interior del mueble como la estructura o la envolventeAs a result of Antonio Bonet’s first experiences with prefabrication, and his interest in geometry and the modulation of space, during his Argentinian stage in the 1950s, he developed two trials of totally industrialised serial dwellings. The BGB and BSC Systems, were two constructive models of comprehensive prefabrication that Bonet designed as possible technical solutions to the housing problems, and with which he attempted to improve the middle-of-the-road construction, between the traditional and the standardised. Without losing their references, contextualised within their production, and within the international debate around housing industrialisation, both systems were designed from the habitable space and from its tectonics, surpassing the technical or the constructive, to give rise to the quality of the architectural object. Contemplated as generalizable prototypes, Bonet designed a single-family house in the case of the BGB System, and a block of houses for a neighbourhood unit in the BSC System. In spite of the difference of scale, both prototypes considered the complete prefabrication of the house by means of perfectly modulated elements that would allow variations, and which would resolve the small interior scale of the furniture, the structure or the envelope

A GPU-Enabled, High-Resolution Cosmological Microlensing Parameter Survey

In the era of synoptic surveys, the number of known gravitationally lensed quasars is set to increase by over an order of magnitude. These new discoveries will enable a move from single-quasar studies to investigations of statistical samples, presenting new opportunities to test theoretical models for the structure of quasar accretion discs and broad emission line regions (BELRs). As one crucial step in preparing for this influx of new lensed systems, a large-scale exploration of microlensing convergence-shear parameter space is warranted, requiring the computation of O(10^5) high resolution magnification maps. Based on properties of known lensed quasars, and expectations from accretion disc/BELR modelling, we identify regions of convergence-shear parameter space, map sizes, smooth matter fractions, and pixel resolutions that should be covered. We describe how the computationally time-consuming task of producing ~290000 magnification maps with sufficient resolution (10000^2 pixel/map) to probe scales from the inner edge of the accretion disc to the BELR can be achieved in ~400 days on a 100 teraflop/s high performance computing facility, where the processing performance is achieved with graphics processing units. We illustrate a use-case for the parameter survey by investigating the effects of varying the lens macro-model on accretion disc constraints in the lensed quasar Q2237+0305. We find that although all constraints are consistent within their current error bars, models with more densely packed microlenses tend to predict shallower accretion disc radial temperature profiles. With a large parameter survey such as the one described here, such systematics on microlensing measurements could be fully explored.Comment: 30 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Efficacy of nonpharmacologic interventions in preoperative anxiety: a systematic review of systematic reviews

Aims and objectives: Evidence suggests that preparing patients for surgery using nonpharmacological strategies reduces their anxiety. However, there is no consensus on what the best practices are. This study aims to answer the question: Are interventions using nonpharmacological therapies effective in reducing preoperative anxiety? Background: Preoperative anxiety causes physiological and psychological adverse effects, with a negative effect on postoperative recovery. Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, between 266 and 360 million surgical procedures are performed annually worldwide, and it is estimated that more than 50% of patients will experience some degree of preoperative anxiety. Design: Systematic review of systematic reviews with results of interventions aimed at mitigating preoperative anxiety. Methods: A search was conducted for systematic reviews with meta-analyses published between 2012 and 2021 in Medline, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. Quality was assessed using the AMSTAR-2 scale. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO. Results: A total of 1016 studies were examined, of which 17 systematic reviews were selected, yielding 188 controlled trials with 16,884 participants. In adults, the most common intervention included music, followed by massage, in children virtual reality and clowns. Almost all controlled trials reported a reduction in preoperative anxiety after the intervention, of which almost half had statistically significant results. Conclusion: Interventions that include music, massage and virtual reality reduce preoperative anxiety and have shown that they are cost-effective, minimally invasive and with a low risk of adverse effects. Preoperative anxiety can be reduced through a short-term intervention involving nursing professionals as an alternative or complement to drugs.FUNDING INFORMATION: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. Journal Pre-proof. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors would like to thank Roberto Martin Melón for his contribution to the literature search