Architecture

El objeto de investigacion de este trabajo es el espacio publico de la ciudad cinematografica. Mediante la cinematografia alcanzar su objetivo que es, intentar comprender la relacion entre la sensacion de libertad de los personajes cinematograficos (16 peliculas en concurrencia) y la estructura del espacio publico en la ciudad. La representatividad de los cuatro modelos de ciudad visualizados en el cuerpo cinematografico principal se pueden agrupar en la ciudad neorrealista, moderna, meta-moderna y tecnologica, enfocando en la estratificacion del espacio publico: espacios publicos, espacios publico-privados y espacios privado-publicos, en la ciudad intensificada y a veces hipertrofiada en la que vivimos. Con este documento se propone un sistema de visualizacion para cada una de las peliculas, en relacion con lo que se esta investigando en esta tesis. Este modo de lectura propone el analisis de escenas en planos generales donde se distingue una cierta distancia entre la accion y el “...

Η έννοια της αυθαίρετης δόμησης έχει συνυφανθεί με την τις έννοιες του παράνομου, του οικονομικά δυσμενούς, και κοινωνικά υποδεέστερου. Το φαινόμενο της αυθαίρετης δόμησης δεν είναι ούτε πρόσφατο ούτε αποκλειστικά ελληνικό. Η αυθαίρετη δόμηση είναι μια παγκόσμια κατάσταση, που στις αναπτυσσόμενες χώρες συναντάται είτε με την μορφή της «φτωχογειτονιάς» (slum) είτε πρόκειται για καταπατήσεις εξαιτίας μαζικών μετακινήσεων προς τα αστικά κέντρα ή επιθυμίας για εξοχική παραθεριστική κατοικία. Η παρούσα εργασία επιχειρεί να εξετάσει συνολικά το φαινόμενο της αυθαιρεσίας στην Ελλάδα. Επικεντρώνεται στην αποσαφήνιση του όρου της αυθαίρετης δόμησης και στην ιστορική πορεία του φαινομένου, προκειμένου να γίνει αντιληπτό το περίπλοκο και μακροχρόνιο πλαίσιο της οικιστικής αυθαιρεσίας. Τέλος εξετάζει τα χαρακτηριστικά αυθαιρεσίας τριών διαφορετικών οικισμών, με κοινό χαρακτηριστικό την παρεμπόδιση που δημιούργησαν οι άτυπες πολεοδομικές παρεμβάσεις στην αντιμετώπιση δυσμενών καταστάσεων.

The concept of the arbitrary building has become intertwined with the concepts of illegal, economically unfavorable, and socially inferior. The phenomenon of arbitrary building is neither recent nor exclusively Greek. Arbitrary building is a global situation, which in developing countries can be found either in the form of slums or encroachments due to mass migration to urban centers or the desire for holiday homes. This paper attempts to examine the phenomenon of arbitrariness in Greece as a whole. It focuses on the clarification of the term arbitrary building and the historical course of the phenomenon, in order to understand the complex and long-standing context of residential arbitrariness. Finally, it examines the characteristics of arbitrary building in three different settlements, with a common feature being the obstruction created by informal urban planning interventions in dealing with adverse situations.

Initially driven by the general aim to discuss the analogies between biology and architecture, this essay compares the concept of performance as it applies in these two fields. Performance is approached along with related terminology such as metabolism and function. It further evokes historical precedents of interdisciplinary research dated since the early days of modernism, mainly applied for the development of systems. Systems are recently brought into attention along with the appointment of digitally-based methods set for analysis, rule defining, dynamic simulation and composition.
In reflection of the above, this essay further addresses biology's influences in architecture in three main areas. These are stated as a recurring interest in structuralism, the primacy of behaviour over aesthetics and the generative aspect of design.

By elaborating on the significance of the drawing in the architectural avant-garde of the 1960s, the paper’s primary scope is to weave a thread between late modernism and contemporary research in computational design. The architectural drawing is presented as an abstract means aiding design research. The more recent notion of performative drawing evokes adaptability, being a critical precondition that responds to diverse design aims in interactive manners. Performative drawing's function may further be linked to patterns, a recurring research theme during late modernism. Thinking in (and with) patterns recalls approaching design problems through malleable schemas that hold design data, according to which they are being transformed. In respect, the present paper delves into the analogies between the manipulation of patterns with the use of drawings during late modernism and parametric processes developed through simulation patterns of the current era. Through this comparison, it becomes possible to stress out the operative significance of methodologies and conceptual means in the architectural making as tools that are being used primarily for the exploration of form’s dynamic behaviour.

By comparing the adaptations of machine and network in works of late-modernism, this study's scope is to evince the significance of archetypes throughout design. Archetypes act as schematic visualizations showing the relations among the units involved, as much as they are disassociated from the restraints of form. They may be interpreted variously as they may also be modified even be combined with other archetypes too, and so they are inherently ingrained with the potential for space adaptation. There is a renewed interest on archetypes nowadays, primarily benefiting from the capabilities of the digital means of production in regards to computation, parametric manipulation and dynamic transformation. A complete re-evaluation of the design process would reflect the idea that architecture holds information codified and at once retrievable, as for this reason it remains open to transformation according to each time's set priorities.

Computation has caused a profound change in the conception of architectural space and its production alike, including its syntax, structure and form. Writing code for architectural design does not merely outline a new category of research having "blurry" areas of implementation; rather, it provides with a set of sophisticated tools and techniques that may be integrated in the process. In reflection, this paper examines the possibilities opened up by the use of computation in architectural design. Specifically, it presents the theoretical basis, the methodology and the results of AB-Use five-day intensive workshop and Code Species advanced semester studio, both held at School of Architecture, University of Patras, in 2012. Digital code's general logic is introduced, followed by more complex functions defined by repetitive processes, successive deformations, additions and subtractions of primary and derivative geometric forms. The courses continue with a series of experimentations on surface topology and they are completed with further studies on the applied techniques and their combinations, as these converge towards a design outcome. The two courses are framed by the broader discussion on computation, directed towards the special character of architectural design.

The topic of this paper pertains to a broader research outlined by the influences of technology in architectural design. Specifically, machine is presented as a structural model that represents linear structures of organization among its components concerning function, also strict hierarchies and a predetermined outcome. The machine is a prominent symbol of modern architecture. It delineates explicit order among architectural elements, units, entities and functions.
During the interwar era, the machine was appointed as a multifaceted reference for the definition of the modern house. The related research focused on the technological evolution of domestic appliances, also on efficient and ergonomic design, the development of new typologies for the house unit and the housing complex, the standardization of construction using prefabrication and the building industry, the new materials of construction and the highly sophisticated solutions and techniques in the construction site. These studies were framed by an upraising interest in building development, including its market. In the present paper, machine’s influences to the house are organized according to an evolutionary schema. First, technology is viewed as a cue being supportive to domesticity. Then, ergonomics and functionality are being discussed in relation to the design of the house. Finally, the machine is examined as a model of organization in the modern house, with respect to architectural space and construction. This set of references of the machine represents the spectrum of metaphors between technology and architecture, which has been established since modernism, as it stands to the present.
By focusing on the concept of house-as-machine, machine’s early adaptations are examined in relation to the house, also to the socio-cultural context of early modernism. First, a set of variations of all-electric house developed in Europe and the US is presented along with the cultural differences between these two geographic areas. Meanwhile, in response to the economic crisis of the Thirties, house-as-machine was adapted into case studies on the minimum dwelling [Existenzminimum]. Rooms having specific mechanical function such as the kitchen and the bathroom were symbolic ones in terms of economy and competence. Additionally, the machine became a reference to a more systematic understanding of architectural design. Ernst Neufert’s book Architect’s Data, first published in 1936, is a comprehensive guide about the integration of machine’s characteristics into architecture, as the house is given a prominent place. Le Corbusier’s Dom-ino and Citrohan House are concise manifestations of the architect’s related interest. Upon comparison, it is claimed that the projects are not always developed as automatic translations of the machine into architectural space; in that case, they rather carry contradictious qualities.