La petita noblesa rural: els Pallarès de Talarn

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La Música programàtica, una nova música per a la societat del s. XIX

Los cambios que se producen en el ámbito de la recepción musical de la sociedad del siglo XIX propician la construcción de un nuevo escenario teórico que permite considerar la música, tanto desde el punto de vista estético como sociológico, de manera diferente a como se había hecho antes del romanticismo. En este sentido, el debate entre la música pura —una música de cuño netamente burgués—, y la música programática —una música que tiene como propósito de acercar la música a la sociedad—, potencia de manera contundente la proclamación —dentro de un contexto más materialista que idealista— de nuevos parámetros que marcan la recepción-comprensión de la música del romanticismo.The changes that took place in the field of musical reception in the society of the 19th century favoured the setting-up of a new theoretical scenery which allowed to think up the music, either from an aesthetical point of view or taking a sociological approach, in a different way from the manner undertaken before the romanticism. And thus, the debate between pure music —a kind of music with a genuinely bourgeois stamp— and program music —a kind of music aimed to approach music to society—, fosters in a forceful way the proclamation —within a more materialistic than idealistic context— of new parameters marking the receptioncomprehension of Romantic music

Architectures without end

El orden interno de las formas, sus instrumentos de crecimiento y la múltiple combinatoria que de ellos se deriva, constituyen una fuente inagotable de inspiración y un sólido instrumento de control del proyecto. Este ensayo analiza una serie de ejemplos arquitectónicos cuya resolución formal y constructiva se basa en las espirales, unas geometrías cuya característica fundamental es su capacidad de crecimiento ilimitado. Presentes en la naturaleza y en las estructuras de los elementos, las espirales incorporan el tiempo, la energía y la materia en su desarrollo y, por ello, han simbolizado a lo largo de la historia, la evolución y la vida. Su compleja organicidad y su ausencia de límites son algunos de los motivos por los cuales su traslación a la arquitectura condiciona la manera de construir, utilizar y percibir los espacios que de ellas se derivan, convirtiéndolos en dinámicos, expansivos y excepcionales.The internal order of forms, their instruments of growth and the multiple combinations derived from them, constitute an inexhaustible source of inspiration and a solid tool for the control of the project. This essay analyses a series of architectural examples whose formal and constructive resolution is based on spirals, geometries whose fundamental characteristic is the capacity for limitless growth. Present in nature and elemental structures, spirals incorporate time, energy and matter in their development and have symbolised evolution and life throughout history for that reason. Their complex organizational possibilities and limitlessness are two of the reasons why their translation to architecture conditions the way to construct, use and perceive the spaces derived from them, making them dynamic, expansive and exceptional

Using affective avatars and rich multimedia content for education of children with autism

Autism is a communication disorder that mandates early and continuous educational interventions on various levels like the everyday social, communication and reasoning skills. Computer-aided education has recently been considered as a likely intervention method for such cases, and therefore different systems have been proposed and developed worldwide. In more recent years, affective computing applications for the aforementioned interventions have also been proposed to shed light on this problem. In this paper, we examine the technological and educational needs of affective interventions for autistic persons. Enabling affective technologies are visited and a number of possible exploitation scenarios are illustrated. Emphasis is placed in covering the continuous and long term needs of autistic persons by unobtrusive and ubiquitous technologies with the engagement of an affective speaking avatar. A personalised prototype system facilitating these scenarios is described. In addition the feedback from educators for autistic persons is provided for the system in terms of its usefulness, efficiency and the envisaged reaction of the autistic persons, collected by means of an anonymous questionnaire. Results illustrate the clear potential of this effort in facilitating a very promising autism intervention

De llotja de mercaders a caserna militar: La Llotja de Barcelona a l'època moderna

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