This book is the result of a research project designed and carried out at the Department of Archi... more This book is the result of a research project designed and carried out at the Department of Architecture, University of Florence. This research was based on the transfer of knowledge from members of the Albanian Diaspora in Italy (university students, young architects and researchers) to their home country. This unique process blazed a trail in the Albania-related studies by creating a methodology, which could be replicated not only in Albanian rural contexts, but also elsewhere. The book constitutes a structured tool for generating sustainable and socially inclusive territorial development processes in five lesser-known Albanian cultural sites. Their tangible and intangible cultural heritage was seen as a driving factor for triggering development processes aimed at improving the inhabitants’ quality of life and strengthening local identity and social networks. Through concrete proposals and strategies, the book offers scenarios and solutions capable of enhancing the potential of ea...
Abstract While the person-environment relationship is one of the structuring frameworks of daily ... more Abstract While the person-environment relationship is one of the structuring frameworks of daily life in general, for disabled people this relationship is a decisive one. ADA is an action research project which assessed the person-environment relationship of people with severe disabilities and subsequently proposed home adaptations to improve their autonomy, well-being and quality of life. The article introduces the framework of ADA and its strategy to personalise home adaptations while considering participants multifaceted profiles. The impact of ADA on the life of its recipients in a context of fragmented disability policies is then discussed. Space appropriation processes and effects on trust in institutions and agency of participants are assessed. A sociologically informed perspective on habitation is adopted to conduct a reliable and multidimensional ex-post evaluation of the effects of home adaptations. Points of interest The article discusses the strategy and impact of a home adaptation project carried out in a context with insufficient disability policies. Home adaptations affect how disabled people live in their homes in many ways. Home adaptations change what behaviours disabled people can perform, but also how they feel and what their spaces mean to them. Adaptations are more effective when customized on the specific needs of each disabled person. This is challenging and requires experts from different fields. Getting disabled people and their families involved in the assessment of their homes promotes their self-confidence and trust in the process, especially if they had previous disappointing experiences with other disability services and policies. People who had successful adaptations are eager to share their experience. Actively involving them in supporting other participants could have positive effects and should be further investigated.
Designing Autonomy at Home. The ADA Project. An Interdisciplinary Strategy for Adaptation of the ... more Designing Autonomy at Home. The ADA Project. An Interdisciplinary Strategy for Adaptation of the Homes of Disabled Persons. Housing adaptations are one of the main tools for improving quality of life for people with severe disabilities and for their caregivers. They are also the main tool of the ADA Project, an action research that developed a strategy to tailor adaptations to the specific user needs and profiles. After an introduction to disability, accessibility and housing adaptations, the book describes the ADA Project’s goals, stages and tools. It then focuses on the main scientific outcome of the Project: the ADA Assessment Model (AdAM), an interdisciplinary tool that analyses and assesses the functional and social profile of disabled persons and their relationship with the physical environment in which they live.
ABSTRACT In order to foster safe and independent mobility for blind people, Tactile Walking Surfa... more ABSTRACT In order to foster safe and independent mobility for blind people, Tactile Walking Surface Indicators (TWSI) are used in many countries throughout the world. Unfortunately, TWSI have witnessed a rapid and often uncertain proliferation without sufficient attention on their impact on spatial contexts in general, and on cultural assets in particular. With the aim of contributing to the ongoing debate concerning accessibility to cultural heritage, this paper proposes a critical reflection on the use of TWSI and explores the communicative capacities of a tactile paving typology (Contrasting Walking Surface Materials—CWSM) based on the appropriate combination of common paving materials. Through a structured observation study conducted in a controlled environment, this paper offers a methodological design, the first quantitative data, and some food for thought regarding CWSM detectability.
Part III of the book focusses on Zvërnec, a small village located in the southern part of the Lag... more Part III of the book focusses on Zvërnec, a small village located in the southern part of the Lagoon of Nartë, on a promontory over a small gulf (Gjiri i Vogël), which looks like a miniature of the ‘great’ Gulf of Vlorë (Gjiri i Vlorës). Zvërnec is part of the Protected Landscape Vjosë-Nartë and is well-known for the suggestive island which hosts the Byzantine church of the Dormition of Mary (Category I Cultural Monument), which every year attracts many faithful and tourists alike, both Albanian and foreign. In the first chapters, the importance of the intangible heritage is stressed. In Zvërnec the cultural traditions in the lagoon area play a pivotal role, especially the fishing tradition together with the culinary tradition connected to sea products. In the following chapters, the multiple aspects of the tangible heritage are analysed. The protected landscape of Vjosë-Nartë requested a special attention. It includes a number of habitats, which constitute one of the most significa...
Techne Journal of Technology For Architecture and Environment, Oct 1, 2014
Accidents that occur in built spaces represent the result of the interaction of several factors. ... more Accidents that occur in built spaces represent the result of the interaction of several factors. Some of these factors are attributable to the characteristics of the environment, others depend on the user and the ways in which the environment is used. The multifactorial nature of accidents explains why sectorial approaches represent a significant obstacle to the implementation of effective policies and intervention strategies for creating safer and more usable environments. The subject of this essay, that pays special attention to residential scenarios, is the description and classification of risk factors, that is, those environmental circumstances as well as individual and behavioural conditions that increase the frequency and / or magnitude of an accident. The article highlights the need for a comprehensive view of accidents as a cultural condition for an inclusive and safe design (technical prevention) and effective information campaigns aimed at users (prevention in use).
This article addresses the topic of environmental comfort from a salutogenic and pedagogical poin... more This article addresses the topic of environmental comfort from a salutogenic and pedagogical point of view. It begins by presenting a wide framework aimed at describing the complexity and specificity of the acoustic issue and the need to integrate decibel-based metrics with knowledge and reflections which are inherent to non-measurable factors. The article then focuses its attention on educational spaces and presents the results of an investigation carried out in 52 classrooms of 19 primary schools in Florence. From this research and keeping in mind the current Italian legislation, the following results are deduced: (1) the layout of a typical classroom, (2) the average reverberation time and (3) the sound-absorbing surface required to improve the acoustic quality of the typical classroom with polystyrene fibre panels. Subsequently, after having briefly described the more appropriate typology of sound-absorbing solutions, a system for the acoustic correction of classrooms is present...
This book is the result of a research project designed and carried out at the Department of Archi... more This book is the result of a research project designed and carried out at the Department of Architecture, University of Florence. This research was based on the transfer of knowledge from members of the Albanian Diaspora in Italy (university students, young architects and researchers) to their home country. This unique process blazed a trail in the Albania-related studies by creating a methodology, which could be replicated not only in Albanian rural contexts, but also elsewhere. The book constitutes a structured tool for generating sustainable and socially inclusive territorial development processes in five lesser-known Albanian cultural sites. Their tangible and intangible cultural heritage was seen as a driving factor for triggering development processes aimed at improving the inhabitants’ quality of life and strengthening local identity and social networks. Through concrete proposals and strategies, the book offers scenarios and solutions capable of enhancing the potential of ea...
Abstract While the person-environment relationship is one of the structuring frameworks of daily ... more Abstract While the person-environment relationship is one of the structuring frameworks of daily life in general, for disabled people this relationship is a decisive one. ADA is an action research project which assessed the person-environment relationship of people with severe disabilities and subsequently proposed home adaptations to improve their autonomy, well-being and quality of life. The article introduces the framework of ADA and its strategy to personalise home adaptations while considering participants multifaceted profiles. The impact of ADA on the life of its recipients in a context of fragmented disability policies is then discussed. Space appropriation processes and effects on trust in institutions and agency of participants are assessed. A sociologically informed perspective on habitation is adopted to conduct a reliable and multidimensional ex-post evaluation of the effects of home adaptations. Points of interest The article discusses the strategy and impact of a home adaptation project carried out in a context with insufficient disability policies. Home adaptations affect how disabled people live in their homes in many ways. Home adaptations change what behaviours disabled people can perform, but also how they feel and what their spaces mean to them. Adaptations are more effective when customized on the specific needs of each disabled person. This is challenging and requires experts from different fields. Getting disabled people and their families involved in the assessment of their homes promotes their self-confidence and trust in the process, especially if they had previous disappointing experiences with other disability services and policies. People who had successful adaptations are eager to share their experience. Actively involving them in supporting other participants could have positive effects and should be further investigated.
Designing Autonomy at Home. The ADA Project. An Interdisciplinary Strategy for Adaptation of the ... more Designing Autonomy at Home. The ADA Project. An Interdisciplinary Strategy for Adaptation of the Homes of Disabled Persons. Housing adaptations are one of the main tools for improving quality of life for people with severe disabilities and for their caregivers. They are also the main tool of the ADA Project, an action research that developed a strategy to tailor adaptations to the specific user needs and profiles. After an introduction to disability, accessibility and housing adaptations, the book describes the ADA Project’s goals, stages and tools. It then focuses on the main scientific outcome of the Project: the ADA Assessment Model (AdAM), an interdisciplinary tool that analyses and assesses the functional and social profile of disabled persons and their relationship with the physical environment in which they live.
ABSTRACT In order to foster safe and independent mobility for blind people, Tactile Walking Surfa... more ABSTRACT In order to foster safe and independent mobility for blind people, Tactile Walking Surface Indicators (TWSI) are used in many countries throughout the world. Unfortunately, TWSI have witnessed a rapid and often uncertain proliferation without sufficient attention on their impact on spatial contexts in general, and on cultural assets in particular. With the aim of contributing to the ongoing debate concerning accessibility to cultural heritage, this paper proposes a critical reflection on the use of TWSI and explores the communicative capacities of a tactile paving typology (Contrasting Walking Surface Materials—CWSM) based on the appropriate combination of common paving materials. Through a structured observation study conducted in a controlled environment, this paper offers a methodological design, the first quantitative data, and some food for thought regarding CWSM detectability.
Part III of the book focusses on Zvërnec, a small village located in the southern part of the Lag... more Part III of the book focusses on Zvërnec, a small village located in the southern part of the Lagoon of Nartë, on a promontory over a small gulf (Gjiri i Vogël), which looks like a miniature of the ‘great’ Gulf of Vlorë (Gjiri i Vlorës). Zvërnec is part of the Protected Landscape Vjosë-Nartë and is well-known for the suggestive island which hosts the Byzantine church of the Dormition of Mary (Category I Cultural Monument), which every year attracts many faithful and tourists alike, both Albanian and foreign. In the first chapters, the importance of the intangible heritage is stressed. In Zvërnec the cultural traditions in the lagoon area play a pivotal role, especially the fishing tradition together with the culinary tradition connected to sea products. In the following chapters, the multiple aspects of the tangible heritage are analysed. The protected landscape of Vjosë-Nartë requested a special attention. It includes a number of habitats, which constitute one of the most significa...
Techne Journal of Technology For Architecture and Environment, Oct 1, 2014
Accidents that occur in built spaces represent the result of the interaction of several factors. ... more Accidents that occur in built spaces represent the result of the interaction of several factors. Some of these factors are attributable to the characteristics of the environment, others depend on the user and the ways in which the environment is used. The multifactorial nature of accidents explains why sectorial approaches represent a significant obstacle to the implementation of effective policies and intervention strategies for creating safer and more usable environments. The subject of this essay, that pays special attention to residential scenarios, is the description and classification of risk factors, that is, those environmental circumstances as well as individual and behavioural conditions that increase the frequency and / or magnitude of an accident. The article highlights the need for a comprehensive view of accidents as a cultural condition for an inclusive and safe design (technical prevention) and effective information campaigns aimed at users (prevention in use).
This article addresses the topic of environmental comfort from a salutogenic and pedagogical poin... more This article addresses the topic of environmental comfort from a salutogenic and pedagogical point of view. It begins by presenting a wide framework aimed at describing the complexity and specificity of the acoustic issue and the need to integrate decibel-based metrics with knowledge and reflections which are inherent to non-measurable factors. The article then focuses its attention on educational spaces and presents the results of an investigation carried out in 52 classrooms of 19 primary schools in Florence. From this research and keeping in mind the current Italian legislation, the following results are deduced: (1) the layout of a typical classroom, (2) the average reverberation time and (3) the sound-absorbing surface required to improve the acoustic quality of the typical classroom with polystyrene fibre panels. Subsequently, after having briefly described the more appropriate typology of sound-absorbing solutions, a system for the acoustic correction of classrooms is present...
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