Patterns in nature, emergent urbanism and the implicate order

This research is about the scientific understanding of the concept of "life" in urban space and its main purpose is to explain the underlying order that is present in organic cities. It was found that this order is emergent (bottom-up),a product of a self-organization, a fractal geometry that characterizes the geometries of Nature which is substantially different from the visual order (top-down) we are used to look at our cities.The biological metaphor in city planning has been used since the sixteenth century. However, this analogy has been made mainly because of its shape and appearance rather than by the investigation of their geometric properties and laws of formation. Checking the parallel between the geometries of Nature and the geometries of the organic city, through the recognition of a set of patterns and emergent properties I conclude with this work that these forms and structures emerge for the same reason: the constraints of physical space and the laws of nature are the same everywhere. Thesefundamental lawswhich governall live-systems phenomena showthat in spite of apparently amorphous growth of urban sprawl, resilient patterns emerge. Once we know the principles we can use them to improve our plans and designs. We shouldtrust to the self-organizingprinciples of cities rather than impose ideas of what theyshould look like.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The city shape and its natural context

The subject of the present work is the study of the relationship between the city’s shape and its natural context. The ‘design’ of cities over a territory doesn’t happen independently of its natural context. The surface of the land has already its own form which determines the pattern of many cities. The climate characteristics also suggest different sites and forms of occupation. As a result of these constrains, man has made beautiful and sustainable urban landscapes over the time, especially those non-planned cities, called organic, generated, vernacular, spontaneous or geomorphic. Many of them, like the Mediterranean cities, have so strongly accepted the natural features, that it is possible to identify urban patterns according to its natural environment. The study of the urban form is associated to the idea of rational planning and the production of a model. The territory, as the base for our activities, has been seen many times as an element which generates irregularity to the urban form. The objective of the proposed paper is to show the relationship between the structural quality of the Portuguese traditional cities and its natural context. Starting from this point we try to explain the genesis and growth of urban forms, especially those called organic or geomorphic.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The roots of 4IR in architecture: a military drawing machine used for space perception in architecture

This paper analyses how architecture became a pioneer discipline in digital interactivity research. It describes how that pioneer research derives from a lineage of researchers whose work spans more than two decades beginning in the early fifties. Military funds enabled the creation of the first computer graphic interfaces that evolved into a - drawing machine", the first interactive CAD, that made possible the role of architecture as a pioneering discipline in interactivity research. It is expected to demonstrate that the same architecture that nowadays uses mainly interactive digital design was one of first disciplines to research interactivity addressing a gap in the study of the link between architecture and interactivity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Trees and semi-lattices: analysing space configuration of two urban systems in Lisbon region

This study examines patterns of order and structure in street networks and its relationships with spatial life of two urban neighborhoods (housing estates). It explores the concepts of “tree” and “semi-lattice” as two different ways of looking and thinking about the structure of cities, each one generating a different form of life and community place (Alexander, 1965). The authors propose a configurational analysis of street networks of two urban plans designed according to different city ideologies and historical background. Based on space syntax methodology the street network was represented both as convex spaces and axial lines as nodes of a graph. The network was then analyzed in terms of the mathematical properties of the graph. The objective was to address a comparative study of structural properties of the urban street networks in order to speculate some implications on social life of each neighborhood. Syntactic measures have shown that conceptual designs have different spatial and social patterns both at global and local scales. It was corroborated that the difference between the characteristics of topological properties which reflects the mathematical principle of tree and semi-lattice is responsible for the different character of public life we found in each urban area.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

On IT risk management ontology using DEMO

Nowadays, organisations use and rely on Information Technology (IT) solutions. However, despite their benefits, IT solutions induct risks. Consequently, organisations implement Risk Management (RM), more specifically Information Technology Risk Management (IT RM), in order to maximize the effectiveness of IT usage while dealing with IT risks. Nevertheless, IT RM's implementation is not easy, since numerous standards and frameworks propose multiple RM processes to deal with IT risks. Moreover, these processes are composed of different activities causing confusion. In the end, organisations are not capable of managing risks successfully due to IT RM's complexity. To overcome IT RM diversity, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted. The goal is to identify which are the most essential IT RM activities. The SLR results were then integrated with ISO 31000 and PMBOK standards in the form of an ontology using Design and Engineering Methodology Ontology (DEMO). The contributions of this study are: the aggregate analysis of IT RM activities through the SLR; the identification of reasons and benefits of using DEMO; a description of an IT RM's essential model designed as an ontology; and a critical view of the benefits of the ontological model proposed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Religion, space and culture

Traditional places of worship were related with sacred spaces and this fact has been reflected in spatial cultures and within the structures of the city and territory. Dematerialization and placelessness characterizes the new urban landscape. Location and functionality of the buildings seem to be the common elements between new religious movements. The appropriation of available spaces and buildings (factories and industrial structures, warehouses, shops, cinemas, etc.) with good global accessibility seems to be the main reasons for choosing a place for worship. This paper examines the relationship between space and religion within Lisbon landscape and it aims to answer the following questions: In which way spatiality has implications in the constitution of the new places of worship? What is their relationship with the local communities and how they help to form new spatial cultures and urbanities in suburban landscapes? What are the change and persistence of the traditional pattern of sacred spaces as places of worship? To answer this questions, we present a new methodology to investigate the urban spatial structure by using Space Syntax with the GIS for analysis and visualization of places of worship. Two levels of scale analysis were required: Global (Lisbon city and suburbs) and local (neighborhood-street). Space Syntax models the spatial configurations of urban spaces by using a connectivity graph representation. Using GIS software all places of worship were mapped within the region according to different religions. The patterns of distribution and clustering were then correlated with the syntactic measures.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Space as place: mapping patterns of social life in public spaces

One of the most fascinating aspects in the study of urban spaces is the interaction of people – with the physical environment as well as with other people. Urban spaces comprise not only the physical aspects, like the form of buildings, the streets, etc., but also the people who live in them. This paper is about the understanding of the informal process which creates life in public spaces. How space configure people behavior? And how people behavior configure space? Is that space layout performative of life in public space and vice versa? Why some places work and others don’t? What are the evidences of the relationships between spatial patterns, life patterns and social patterns? Can we measure it, simulate it and use it in design? We will examine spatial and social patterns in small urban spaces in Lisbon. Through descriptive analyses and quantification, it would be discussed how space layout can contribute to the urban life. The research combines configuracional analysis with findings from observation in order to understand how physical structures influence human behavior. Space Syntax techniques will be used to describe and analyze spatial configurations in relation to social patterns, (Hillier and Hanson, 1984). The model involves a nonmetric understanding of space and suggests that the presence of pedestrian in a network can be explained by topology. At the same time, direct observation of pedestrian behavior was attempted to quantifiably isolate what elements of the space made it effective or, conversely, ineffective (Whyte, 1980).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Institutional Theory and IFRS: An Agenda for Future Research

While authentic leadership is highly valued in today’s business world, managers do not necessarily have the resources to attain it. Building on conservation of resources theory, we propose a conceptual model to address how personal and contextual resources predict authentic leadership. Study 1 analyzes the day-to-day variability in managers’ positive psychological capacities as personal resources in relation to changes in authentic leadership. In addition, it tests ethical organizational climates as stable, contextual resources for authentic leadership. In Study 2, we replicate our results on the between-person level and extend the research model by exploring promotion focus as a link in the relationship between personal resources and authentic leadership. Evidence from an experience sampling study with 89 managers surveyed daily on 10 consecutive work days (Study 1) and a field survey of 130 managers at two points in time (Study 2) supports the hypothesized role of personal resources and promotion focus for authentic leadership. In both studies, only principled but not benevolent ethical organizational climates emerged as a contextual resource for authentic leadership. We discuss the implications for current management research and practice

The stabilisation of receptor structure in low cross-linked MIPs by an immobilised template

In molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) a high level of cross-linking is usually important for preserving the receptor structure. We propose here an alternative approach for stabilising binding sites, which involves the use of an immobilised template. The idea is based on the assumption that an immobilised template will ‘‘hold’’ polymeric chains and complementary functionalities together, preventing the collapsing of the binding sites. To test this postulate, a range of polymers was prepared using polymerisable (2,4-diamino-6- (methacryloyloxy)ethyl-1,3,5-triazine) and non-polymerisable (or extractable) (2,4-diamino-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazine) templates, methacrylic acid as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linker. The level of cross- linking was varied from 12 to 80%. Polymerisations were performed in acetonitrile using UV initiation. Binding properties of the synthesised materials were characterised both by HPLC and equilibrium batch binding experiments followed by HPLC-MS or UV-visible detection. The adsorption isotherms of polymers were obtained and fitted to the Langmuir model to calculate dissociation constant, Kd, and concentration of binding sites for each material. The results strongly indicate that the presence of an immobilised template improves the affinity of MIPs containing low percentages of cross- linker. The low cross-linked MIPs synthesised with a polymerisable template also retain a reasonable degree of selectivity. Low crosslinked MIPs with such binding characteristics would be useful for the creation of new types of optical and electrochemical sensors, where induced fit or the ‘‘gate effect’’ could be used more effectively for generating and enhancin

Configuration of self-organizing informality: socio-spatial dynamic in favelas

This paper aims to discuss on spatial patterns found in favelas throughout di erent cities worldwide, as they seem to reproduce similar con gurations and urban dynamics despite its diverse local contexts. The purpose is to explore these patterns in order to understand its social behaviour and address urban informality issues through it. To see how resilience seems to be inherent to such spaces, that grow vibrant, complex and dynamic global structures emerging and self-organizing from segregation in city space. It pursues the acknowledgement of structural morphological patterns of informality production, those genotypic characteristics that seem to be independent on culture, and might be representative of these social patterns commonly observed worldwide. Favela is observed in this study as a complex, self-organized entity, whose contrast to o cial city relies on its “bottom up” structure. It tends to follow natural rules of organization instead of formal urban strategies. Space Syntax (Hillier and Hanson, 1984) is the theoretical and methodological approach applied, through which it is possible to investigate these peculiar spatial patterns in favela, comparing several cases in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The analyses are based on axial and segment maps. Investigated variables are connectivity, local and global integration, mean depth, synergy, intelligibility, angular Choice, number and length of axes, and number and length of segments, compactness, normalized angular integration and choice for segment comparison. Findings show favela as an entity that maximises use and space into strong fragmented spatial structures, which provides the labyrinthic perception of users, but also accentuates spatial hierarchy. Topography is critical to the understanding of favela’s performance. The more accentuated, the more fragmented, labyrinthic and endogenous. Nevertheless, most analysed favelas locate in at areas and, therefore, present a tendency to better articulate with the surroundings, resulting in a softer in- and-out transition. Such topological performance seems better than Brazilian cities (Medeiros, 2013), which points out favela’s organizing structure as a possible model that could be adopted to re ne the con gurational performance of cities