Fernando Ávila’s Post

[HKIA Journal | Issue 79: Community] Participant Observation and Community Design : An Anthropological Inquiry of the Western District Public Cargo Working Area Benni Yu-Ling Pong The Western District Public Cargo Working Area, alias Sai Wan Pier or Instagram Pier, sits on reclaimed land planned for cargo handling functions. It was never designed as an open space. It was only “discovered” by the public at large when it received the Outstanding Public Space Award in 2013. Despite accessing the area for purposes other than logistic functions being technically unauthorized, the space, with its spectacular waterfront view, it received widespread media coverage and attracted regular crowds of visitors. Public appropriation and the vibrant activities at the pier defied the practice and pedagogy of design and planning. It is also debatable whether the categorization of formal versus informal space and top-down versus bottom-up approach could have suitably described its presence. Conventional design and planning apparatuses focusing on tangible, well defined, quantitative and geometric elements fail to frame these undesigned activities and the perception of space. This paper analyzes three major aspects which may shed light to future community design, namely spatial practice, perception of space and tacit agreement. For the full HKIA Journal, please visit https://lnkd.in/ghq8C-YK HKIA Journal Issue 80: Technology in Architecture is now calling for papers. The submission deadline for viewpoint essays and project showcases is on 18 October 2024. More details at https://lnkd.in/gRMvhAfj #hkia #architecture #journal #community

Do environmental histories of architecture have a problem with cities? This is my argument in this short piece for "Planning Perspectives", where I also touch upon a few issues (the notion of temporality in historical research, the public role of the historian) that represent crucial challenges for this fast-evolving field of investigation and will certainly deserve further discussion. The paper is open access. Comments are welcome. https://lnkd.in/dbT85rsv

Proud to be a part of 'Nature of Hope'. Teaming up with Ester van de Wiel, we collaborate with both human and non-human Delta Workers. The call for eco-empathy is a hopeful one, for it is in our nature. In order for us to reconnect with the one world we all inhabit and understand its intricate entanglements, we must become active participants in its becoming and learn to see, feel and be in interrelation. It is time for change from within, bottom up and top down.  -zee -plaats -werk -land (-sea -place -work -land) challenges the bureaucratic order of excel sheets, the permit apparatus, the national governments, and calls into being the Agency for Eco-Social Affairs. You have been called to Ecosystem Service Duty!

Architectural surveys: The CSI🧐 of the construction world🏢, minus the forensics and the drama (usually). But truly, these surveys are the backbone of preserving our historic buildings. Our coursework dug deep into the techniques, tools, and importance of understanding these survey techniques. Take a peek 🕵️♀️ into my coursework done for "Architectural Survey" at Sapienza University of Rome!✨ 📍Ponte Cestio, Rome As part of Sapienza University of Rome 🏛️ #architecturalsurvey #conservation #3Dlaserscanner #photogrammetry

(HIDDEN) NARRATIVES OF SPATIAL RESISTANCE CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Writingplace #11, Journal for architecture & literature 500 words by May 31, 2024 For this edition of the Writingplace series, we are looking for contributions that address how stories of resistance emerge from the quiet or tumultuous landscapes of our urbanities and beyond, both on the level of communities and of architectural space and its materiality. For instance, we’d like to address local communities' roles, explore how they grapple with destruction, displacement, gentrification, and environmental degradation, and how they assert their agency through spatial practices. On the level of architecture, we are interested in the role of space's materiality in participating in these resistances. Acknowledging the role of narratives as a medium to express such resistances, this issue hopes to show how these spatial resistances are present in prose and verse, in stories and poems. Read the whole call: https://lnkd.in/dDn7DGub Editors: Elina Alatalo, Dalia Milian Bernal and Dor Pllumbi

Proud to be a part of 'Nature of Hope'. Teaming up with Joost Adriaanse, we collaborate with both human and non-human Delta Workers. The call for eco-empathy is a hopeful one, for it is in our nature. In order for us to reconnect with the one world we all inhabit and understand its intricate entanglements, we must become active participants in its becoming and learn to see, feel and be in interrelation. It is time for change from within, bottom up and top down.  -zee -plaats -werk -land (-sea -place -work -land) challenges the bureaucratic order of excel sheets, the permit apparatus, the national governments, and calls into being the Agency for Eco-Social Affairs. You have been called to Ecosystem Service Duty!

Watch the video below to see what Assistant Professor at the NED University’s Dept. of Architecture and Planning, @Farida Ghaffar, had to say about the workshop on 3D Photogrammetry for Archaeological Site Documentation. She was one of 10 participants in the workshop and went on to host another session by Dr. Kotaro Yamafune at the NED University of Engineering and Technology for his help with recording the interiors of heritage buildings. Now that’s what we call a takeaway! #MaritimEAResearch #3DPhotogrammetry #AgisoftMetashape #DHTP #UnderwaterArchaeology #SiteRecording #CulturalProtectionFund Department for Culture, Media and Sport

🌍 Understanding Climate Change Through Art and Science 🌍 We are honoured to share an incredible scientific paper from the Università degli Studi di Milano: "Indoor Glaciology: 'Melting Landscape' to increase people awareness on climate change impacts". ❄️ This paper presents a fascinating study on the melting of ice, showcased in the installation titled “Melting Landscape” by Architect Kei Kaihoh. The installation was part of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia (Italy) in 2021. The experiment was aimed at increasing awareness among Exhibition visitors about climate change and its profound environmental impacts. By using an indoor weather station - supplied by LSI LASTEM— and physical models, the researchers meticulously studied how ice behaves and melts under controlled indoor conditions. This work beautifully merges the realms of art and science to highlight the urgency of climate action. 📜 Download the paper to dive deeper into this innovative approach and discover how art and science can join forces to spark a much-needed conversation about climate change: https://lnkd.in/dZjAU8-9 👉 Watch the interview to the artist: https://lnkd.in/ddHS-E54 #ClimateChange #Sustainability #ScientificResearch #ArtAndScience #BiennaleDiVenezia #EnvironmentalAwareness #IndoorGlaciology #ArtInstallation #LSILASTEM #VeniceBiennale2021

In *Hidden Reality*, Cairo-based architect Ibrahim Karim introduces a pivotal concept in architectural energy dynamics: "compression waves related to form." As the founder of Biogeometry, Karim reveals how physical shapes—similar to colors, sounds, and other sensory stimuli—emit unique energetic vibrations and influences. These compression waves, emerging from the interaction between form and space, can profoundly impact biological systems and their surroundings. Generated by the contours and geometries of objects, these waves extend their energetic effects to nearby environments, creating a resonant impact on natural energies. Karim emphasizes that specific forms hold properties capable of harmonizing or destabilizing natural systems. Through Biogeometry, Karim’s vision leverages selected shapes and proportions to generate harmonizing compression waves that offer a stabilizing effect on living organisms and the environment. Acting subtly within spatial energy fields, these waves correlate with vital energy patterns, enhancing users' well-being and promoting environmental balance. By activating energy patterns that foster environmental harmony, specific geometric forms not only enhance human health but foster an ongoing, balanced interaction with the world around us.

*** CFP DEADLINE EXTENDED *** SAH 2025 Panel: Movement and Migration in Early Modern Mediterranean Architecture Proposals may be submitted until Sunday, June 30 at 11:59pm CST. Details and portal at https://lnkd.in/dCghsZcw Co-organized by Michele Lamprakos and Ann Huppert Society of Architectural Historians 2025 Annual International Conference in Atlanta, April 30-May 4, 2025.     Call for Papers: How did the movement of people, ideas, and techniques produce new architectural syntheses in the early modern Mediterranean? How did these syntheses reflect evolving identities and imaginaries of the past?     The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and the Castilian conquest of Nasrid Granada in 1492 were watershed events, ushering in great religious, cultural, and political upheavals that transformed the Mediterranean – creating new cultural geographies, architectures, and settlement patterns. Aftershocks were long-lasting and compounded as waves of refugees, along with expulsions, forced conversions, transfers, and displacements, established far-flung diaspora communities with complex and layered identities. Despite Ottoman-Hapsburg rivalry and warfare, cultural exchange between the empires and with Italian states continued throughout the long 16th  century and beyond, as political interests and perceptions of the religious “other” evolved. Imperial styles were increasingly codified but remained fluid, as architects, engineers, and artisans moved across these large territorial expanses.    What is the architecture of such movements, contacts, and exchanges? We seek papers that explore connections within and across the Mediterranean under the aegis of empire and in its margins, from the mid-15th century through the early 18th century. Themes and sites may include contacts between pan-Mediterranean powers like the Ottomans and the Hapsburgs, and smaller polities like Saadian Morocco and Venice; the architecture of expulsions, population transfers, and diasporas; the movement of architectural practitioners, ideas, and techniques; the recuperation and reinvention of antique heritage in and across Islamic and Christian realms. We are especially interested in north-south and east-west exchanges involving Africa, southern Europe, the Balkans, Anatolia and the Levant.