‘Sesiones de Crítica de Arquitectura’. The change in architectural debate in the Spain of the 1960s

The journal Arquitectura was reissued in January 1959 as a mouthpiece of the Madrid Institute of Architects (COAM). This brought to an end the period of the Revista Nacional de Arquitectura, the journal which replaced it after the Civil War under the control of the Franco regime. Curiously, moving from one journal to another did not involve many changes in how it was managed, and it would remain for over a decade in the hands of Carlos de Miguel, its director since the late forties. Despite this ‘apparent’ continuity, the independence achieved from government bodies brought about important changes in focus, mechanisms and strategies of dissemination and architectural criticism. This paper aims to consider this shift in thinking, topics and agents by reviewing the ‘Sesiones de Crítica de Arquitectura’ (SCAs, Architecture Critic Sessions). These were regular meetings organized by Carlos de Miguel in which there were interactive debates about an issue, previously introduced by a speaker. The sessions started in 1951 and were held regularly all through the fifties. However, they were interrupted in the early sixties and later reorganized, but this time with significant differences with regard to the former period. The SCAs in the sixties were less frequent and included guest speakers with special expertise in the fields of design and social sciences. Urban conditions began to attract greater attention and, overall, disagreements and differences of approach and interests between the two generations who attended the meetings became evident: the older architects, who started the sessions as a discussion forum about tradition and modernity, and the younger ones, who called into question rational values of modernism defended by their masters and went for pursuing new perspectives in the development of architectural culture.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI <18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For schoolaged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI <2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI >2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit

Mano a mano: metodologías de proyecto con los usuarios

En los últimos años se ha vivido un importante auge de lo que se conoce como ‘arquitectura participativa’, entendida como aquella en la que se implica, en mayor o menor medida, al usuario en la toma de decisiones, ya sea con respecto al diseño final del objeto del proceso creativo, a la planificación y/o a la construcción del mismo. Los beneficios de este tipo de arquitectura son bien conocidos, por lo que este trabajo no se centra en ellos, sino que con un enfoque metodológico pretende estudiar cómo el arquitecto puede incluir la participación del usuario en el desarrollo de un proyecto y qué supone esto para él. Para ello consta de tres partes: una primera,en la que se realiza una contextualización tanto histórica como conceptual de la participación dentro de la arquitectura; una segunda, en la que se estudia el papel que debe asumir el arquitecto a la hora de trabajar junto a los usuarios, así como las distintas fases de las que constan los procesos de diseño de este tipo de proyectos y las técnicas que se emplean en cada una de ellas; y una tercera final,en la que se analizan tres ejemplos actuales de ‘arquitectura participativa’ enmarcados en lo que se conoce como ‘co-diseño’

El ágora de Ciudad Universitaria

El campus de Ciudad Universitaria se concibió en origen como una pieza unitaria, configurada entorno a una serie de conexiones peatonales en forma de ejes y con el Paraninfo como elemento representativo. Sin embargo, debido a su desarrollo histórico, la inclusión de elementos poco permeables como el complejo de la Moncloa o la gran potenciación de la autovía A6, el campus ha quedado disperso y fragmentado. Por ello, el proyecto propone la recuperación de la tensión y unidad original mediante la articulación de un nuevo centro neurálgico del ámbito, una reinterpretación del paraninfo nunca construido, adecuándolo a las necesidades actuales del campus. Para ello, se propone su traslado al campo de Cantarranas, lugar central de conexión entre las dos partes del ámbito separadas por la autovía. Además, se plantea una reinterpretación conceptual de este espacio representativo desde el paradigma del Ágora, como centro de la vida y la actividad de la ciudad, prestando especial atención a los espacios exteriores. Por ello el proyecto se constituye como una gran plaza que se inserta en la trama de espacios abiertos del campus. La configuración de la misma y del parque adyacente permite la generación de espacios de diferente escala y características para la celebración de eventos y actividades diversas, tanto institucionales como promovidas por los propios estudiantes. A dichos espacios vierten las edificaciones, que albergan todos aquellos servicios y usos necesarios para el funcionamiento del campus y la generación de un sentimiento de pertenencia al mismo, así como una serie de pabellones de escala suficiente para servir a la ciudad, renovándose las sinergias entre Madrid y la universidad, que se habían perdido. El programa se articula entorno a los conceptos de “sociedad prosumer” y “economía colaborativa” propiciados por las nuevas tecnologías, según las cuales los usos conforman un infraestructura de creación, de intercambio y de difusión con el objetivo de que sean los propios estudiantes los que puedan generar los contenidos que tendrán lugar en el Ágora, tales como eventos, actividades culturales o comerciales. El proyecto trata, por tanto, de la generación de un nuevo espacio, un corazón para el ámbito, en el que se atiende a las conexiones y las nuevas tecnologías en nuestra manera de reunirnos y relacionarnos

Análisis y comunicación: recursos docentes para acercar la profesión a la sociedad

Los medios de comunicación de masas, internet y las redes sociales han democratizado el acceso a contenidos de arquitectura. Esta comunicación parte del análisis de la irrupción de estos productos de expresión y se fundamenta sobre la base pedagógica que sostiene que integrar recursos didácticos laterales al contexto estrictamente profesional enriquece el aprendizaje. Para ello, se basa en una experiencia docente consistente en la elaboración de un proyecto de divulgación centrado en los elementos característicos del lenguaje arquitectónico de una figura prestigiosa accesible para un público general. Esta experiencia favoreció la creación de un espacio de debate alrededor de cómo incorporar estos nuevos lenguajes en el proceso de aprendizaje de la arquitectura sin perder el rigor exigible en la formación universitaria. Además, posibilitó a los estudiantes reflexionar sobre cómo comunicar su trabajo para llegar a toda la sociedad, un aprendizaje fundamental para su futura inserción laboral. The mass media, the Internet and social networks have democratized access to architectural content. This communication is based on the analysis of the emergence of these products of expression and is based on the pedagogical basis that maintains that integrating supplementary didactic resources into the strictly professional context enriches learning. To do this, it is based on a teaching experience consisting of the development of a dissemination project focused on the characteristic elements of the architectural language of a prestigious figure accessible to a general public. This experience favored the creation of a space for debate around how to incorporate these new languages in the architectural learning process without losing the rigor required in university training. In addition, it enabled students to reflect on how to communicate their work to reach the entire society, a fundamental learning for their future employment

STEAM San Fernando

Convocatoria proyectos de innovación de Extremadura 2019/2020Se describe un proyecto llevado a cabo en el IES San Fernando (Badajoz) orientado al aprendizaje integrado de las enseñanzas STEAM, en el que a través de la realización de diferentes talleres monitorizados por alumnos, proyectos científicos, vídeos didácticos y programas de radio los alumnos son los protagonistas principales y artífices de su propio aprendizaje. Otros objetivos del proyecto eran: promover el trabajo colaborativo, aprovechar los recursos existentes en el centro y en su entorno, garantizar la igualdad de género, conseguir aprendizajes activos y de carácter significativo, fomentar el conocimiento y uso de los distintos medios de comunicación, promover la participación de la comunidad educativa y ampliar los conocimientos de los alumnos con materias que normalmente están fuera del currículoExtremaduraES

General and abdominal adiposity and hypertension in eight world regions: a pooled analysis of 837 population-based studies with 7·5 million participants

International audienceSummaryBackground Adiposity can be measured using BMI (which is based on weight and height) as well as indices of abdominal adiposity. We examined the association between BMI and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) within and across populations of different world regions and quantified how well these two metrics discriminate between people with and without hypertension.MethodsWe used data from studies carried out from 1990 to 2023 on BMI, WHtR and hypertension in people aged 20–64 years in representative samples of the general population in eight world regions. We graphically compared the regional distributions of BMI and WHtR, and calculated Pearson’s correlation coefficients between BMI and WHtR within each region. We used mixed-effects linear regression to estimate the extent to which WHtR varies across regions at the same BMI. We graphically examined the prevalence of hypertension and the distribution of people who have hypertension both in relation to BMI and WHtR, and we assessed how closely BMI and WHtR discriminate between participants with and without hypertension using C-statistic and net reclassification improvement (NRI).FindingsThe correlation between BMI and WHtR ranged from 0·76 to 0·89 within different regions. After adjusting for age and BMI, mean WHtR was highest in south Asia for both sexes, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. Mean WHtR was lowest in central and eastern Europe for both sexes, in the high-income western region for women, and in Oceania for men. Conversely, to achieve an equivalent WHtR, the BMI of the population of south Asia would need to be, on average, 2·79 kg/m² (95% CI 2·31–3·28) lower for women and 1·28 kg/m² (1·02–1·54) lower for men than in the high-income western region. In every region, hypertension prevalence increased with both BMI and WHtR. Models with either of these two adiposity metrics had virtually identical C-statistics and NRIs for every region and sex, with C-statistics ranging from 0·72 to 0·81 and NRIs ranging from 0·34 to 0·57 in different region and sex combinations. When both BMI and WHtR were used, performance improved only slightly compared with using either adiposity measure alone.InterpretationBMI can distinguish young and middle-aged adults with higher versus lower amounts of abdominal adiposity with moderate-to-high accuracy, and both BMI and WHtR distinguish people with or without hypertension. However, at the same BMI level, people in south Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa, have higher WHtR than in the other regions

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background: Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods: We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5-19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI <18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For school-aged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI <2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI >2 SD above the median). Findings: From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation: The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesity. Funding: UK Medical Research Council, UK Research and Innovation (Research England), UK Research and Innovation (Innovate UK), and European Union

Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development

Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified