Whose identity? Valuing the culture built heritage in diverse and tensioned societies

The UNESCO declaration on cultural diversity in 2002 has raised more questions than answers. More recent events around the World have highlighted the immediate need for legislative actions to protect cultural built heritage in tensioned societies. This paper discusses the potential global risks that face cultural built Heritage. The paper argues that such risks are not only limited to regions where military operations are taking place but also to nations where questions of identity and cultural diversity are raised. The paper questioned the reasons and the impact of the rise of ethno nationalism on the protection of cultural built heritage. The different discourses of these groups that will lead to destruction of cultural artefacts are also explored. In order to properly legislate means for the protection of vulnerable cultural built heritage in conflict areas, the underline value system should be clarified and the values under threat identified. The paper concludes with a plea to move our understanding and definition of culture from the previous \u27old\u27 definition with relation to &quot;people\u27 to a \u27new\u27 one which is more relevant to context.<br /

Study on the visual performance of a traditional residential neighborhood in old Cairo

Traditional dwellings located in the hot arid zones of the Arabian regions are well known for their sensitive architectural response to the region&rsquo;s climatic conditions and socio-cultural norms. The majority of these dwellings are well recognized for their courtyard arrangement and perforated fenestration system that evolved to control the harsh solar, climatic conditions without compromising the aesthetic quality of space and occupants&rsquo; wellbeing. However, the unique visual characteristics of these structures cannot be fully appreciated by assessing the visual performance of buildings in isolation from their urban context. Given the fact that much of the character of the traditional settlements of this region came from the collective visual perception of their architectural components as well as urban patterns. This paper presents a methodology that can be used to assess daylight behaviour at an architectural level as well as at an urban scale. The work examines the daylight behaviour of a well-known historic alleyway and of a courtyard house in the old city of Cairo. The variability in the visual perception and comfort for a typical pedestrian street and the occupants of the house was predicted using Radiance IES simulation modelling tool and a scaled model under an artificial sky dome. A comparative analysis between simulated results and measured values at target points was conducted and the results reveal a reasonable agreement with the simulation results. Preliminary results from the first phase of modelling were presented that give an insight into the overall visual experience in the traditional settlements in the Old City of Cairo where daylight has contributed to the place unique sense of identity.<br /

Urban ecology and the future of cities

The role of ecology in a sustainable future is prominent in the media, academic writing and political decisions; as such environmental pressures, as well as economic, social and political, increasingly influence planning for the future. This paper looks at how this translates into the process for planning future cities &ndash; highlighting gaps in knowledge and issues of implementation. It draws on interdisciplinary sources to explore three main elements of the debate: What is urban ecology and why is it important to sustainable cities?; What gaps are there in the ecological knowledge of planners and policy makers and why are there gaps?; and How can urban ecology be integrated into the planning of future sustainable cities?. This paper does not aim to provide a definitive answer to the problem; rather it addresses the first two areas and identifies potential directions for the third. It takes Australia, as national, Victoria, as regional and Geelong, as local, points of reference

Thermal comfort adaptation in outdoor places

The level of international migration has been growing in the last decades creating a plurality of cultures and inspiring a multicultural nature in global cities (O\u27Byrne, 1997; Short and Kim, 1999; Hawkins, 2006). This created new challenges in urban planning or the management of the coexistence of different people that are having different characteristics shaping their unique identity and needs in shared places. Being the urban stages where the social interactions happen, public places are considered important parts of cities (Thompson, 2002; Varna, 2009). These places can contribute to enhance the quality of life within cities, or contrarily increase isolation and social exclusion (Lo et al.; 2003). As agreed by researchers the users&rsquo; state of comfort gives a good indication for how successful is the public outdoor places (Rosheidat et al.; 2008; Kwong et al.; 2009; Aljawabra and Nikolopoulou, 2010). In order to create a successful open space usable by all members of a community, urban designers need to satisfy their thermal comfort needs in its wider meaning according to a variety of users (Knez and Thorsson, 2006; Thorsson et al.; 2007). While assessing the thermal comfort, in addition to the strong influence of the microclimatic parameters, the term thermal adaptation seems to becoming increasingly important. The thermal comfort adaption is then a considerable issue in design guidelines of outdoor environments (Nikolopoulou and Steemers, 2003). The main aim of the research is to examine the influence of thermal adaptation and environmental attitude on participants&rsquo; thermal requirements in outdoor public places. It focuses on understanding the effect of adaptation on the thermal comfort perception of immigrants. The research methodology of the research is provided through quantitative analysis of a case study. The findings of thermal comfort investigations could be applied into improving the quality of urban areas in order to increase the outdoor activities of citizens and use of outdoor places

Teaching in practice : work integrated design learning and practice readiness for architecture students

This literature review describes the theoretical basis for developing a pedagogical model of higher education/industry engagement for the built environment and related design disciplines, with a focus on architecture. In particular, attention is given to the conceptualisation informing the development of such a model as a form of work integrated learning (WIL). In the discussion, the use and development of WIL in architecture will be placed in the historical context of Cooperative Education as a whole. The objective of the paper is to present ideas about the way in which design education relocated to practice might better prepare students for professional life.Aiming to capitalize on the work place as a location for authentic learning, the paper will propose a form of WIL that will be termed &ldquo;Teaching in Practice&rdquo; (TiP). A prime aim of such a model is to bridge the growing gap between academia and the profession by enabling students to learn design from practitioners within a practice environment. The paper will argue that TiP allows practitioners to have a direct influence on design education, and thus establishes connections between academia and the professions that ensure built environment education remains relevant to industry needs.<br /

Diversity and architecture

Architecture can be defined as the art and tectonics of place making. The discipline of architecture involves a broad set of practices including design of the built environment, development of architectural projects either community~ based or oriented towards a (private) client, and advisory work for governments. Architecture also involves a wide spectrum of knowledge including urban design and urban planning, and a variety of architectural ideas, theories and movements. Various dominant ideologies have manifested themselves in built form, whereas other, marginal cultural parameters have emerged in the vernacular or traditional architecture. Architecture is considered the medium through which society is organised and materialised. It resonates with symbolic meaning as well as pragmatic order through built places

Development of a tool for evaluation of academic library spaces (TEALS) (0242)

The paper provides a brief description of the tool for evaluating the quality and utilisation of academic library spaces (TEALS). Supported by Deakin University Library, TEALS has been developed out of a research project in the School of Architecture and Building, Deakin University, Geelong Waterfront Campus. The tool is intended to establish the setting for evaluation of physical spaces at different phases of development of new academic library spaces and refurbishment of existing ones as well as throughout the life of buildings. The methodological framework of the tool consists of four key elements; establishing Criteria of Quality (CoQ), determining Quality Indicators, evaluating library spaces against QIs and interpreting results for future improvements. The characteristics that distinguish TEALS from existing evaluation models include adopting an approach that focus on people (students, faculty and library staff), acting as a &ldquo;reflective&rdquo; and &ldquo;empowering&rdquo; tool and being user-friendly, quick and easy to use

Daylight for sustainable development of historic sites

Consideration of daylight is one of the contextual ingredients for maintaining a sustainable identity when intervening in a heritage site. Appropriate consideration of daylighting ensures not only visual and thermal comfort in the urban setting, but also contributes to the preservation of the place visual identity. The historic district of el Darb al-Asfar is undergoing a rehabilitation project that raises questions about the new &lsquo;sparking&rsquo; look of the place. The ongoing cultural debate in old Cairo on the extent of success of the rehabilitation efforts in preserving the place identity identified a gap in literature regarding the ingredients that constitute identity in heritage settings. The paper argues that the project using new finishing materials of facades has led to changes in daylight levels in the space and hence the visual perception of the place itself. This paper aims to assess the impact of such intervention on the visual perception and the space identity. A digital model is built utilising a combination of photogrammetric and 3D digital technique. The TOWNSCOPE simulation package is used to trace the performance of direct, diffused, and reflected components of daylight within the original and recently resorted scenes. The output of the simulation exercise has been validated by empirical data. The paper concludes by suggesting a set of measures for achieving an appropriate daylight performance in heritage sites Eastern Mediterranean climatic conditions.<br /