An Atmospheric Surface

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Danielle Hrstich

<p>This thesis considers how to use atmosphere as a driver when designing to strengthen the relationship between the body and architecture. Wigley, following Semper, argues that atmosphere is constructed through the outer surface. Surface is used as a key element in architectural practice to contribute to the overall atmospheric conditions within architecture, to influence the way an occupant experiences space. To strengthen the relationship between the body and the built, this thesis looks at the surface of architecture to explore ‘how atmosphere can be designed for through a kinetic surface’. This thesis begins with a theoretical review of atmosphere and surface, along with case study research that contributes to the thesis exploration through design research. This thesis consists of three design outputs that test the kinetic surface at three increasing scales to engage the body. These design outputs include an installation, a house and a public building with each design increasing in complexity. While primarily focusing on the atmosphere produced through surface, these experiments also deal with site and programmatic constraints. This thesis concludes with an architectural strategy of using a double layered kinetic surface in a public building to create atmosphere that forms a strong relationship with the body, through light, movement and materiality.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Danielle Hrstich

<p>This thesis considers how to use atmosphere as a driver when designing to strengthen the relationship between the body and architecture. Wigley, following Semper, argues that atmosphere is constructed through the outer surface. Surface is used as a key element in architectural practice to contribute to the overall atmospheric conditions within architecture, to influence the way an occupant experiences space. To strengthen the relationship between the body and the built, this thesis looks at the surface of architecture to explore ‘how atmosphere can be designed for through a kinetic surface’. This thesis begins with a theoretical review of atmosphere and surface, along with case study research that contributes to the thesis exploration through design research. This thesis consists of three design outputs that test the kinetic surface at three increasing scales to engage the body. These design outputs include an installation, a house and a public building with each design increasing in complexity. While primarily focusing on the atmosphere produced through surface, these experiments also deal with site and programmatic constraints. This thesis concludes with an architectural strategy of using a double layered kinetic surface in a public building to create atmosphere that forms a strong relationship with the body, through light, movement and materiality.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 1170-1179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabia Mushtaq ◽  
Usman Raja ◽  
Mohammad Bashir Khan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how the relationship between job scope and in-role performance is contingent upon the level of social support (i.e. supervisor support) received in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach A total of 640 questionnaires were distributed to employees of Pakistani companies, yielding 328 useable responses for analysis. Regression analysis was used to test for both hypotheses. Findings The results support the role of supervisor support as a moderator in the relationship between in-role performance, a dimension of job performance and job scope. The findings show that a higher job scope would facilitate higher job performance from employees who receive high levels of supervisor support. Practical implications The results provide useful insights for managers and consultants, especially HR professionals involved in job design and redesign. Organizations that encourage high levels of social support can help employees improve their job performance as they foster an environment where employees can get direct assistance and advice from their supervisors. Originality/value This paper makes three key contributions to the literature on job design. First, this inquiry shows that a strong link does exist between job scope and job performance; previous studies have failed to find a strong relationship. Second, it highlights how social context, especially in highly challenging work settings, can shape employees’ proficiencies and behaviors. Third, this paper offers a novel perspective in job design research by incorporating a contextual moderator (i.e. supervisor support).


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (14) ◽  
pp. 2201-2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsie Breet ◽  
Jason Bantjes

Few qualitative studies have explored the relationship between substance use and self-harm. We employed a multiple-case study research design to analyze data from 80 patients who were admitted to a hospital in South Africa following self-harm. Our analysis revealed, from the perspective of patients, a number of distinct ways in which substance use is implicated in self-harm. Some patients reported that substance intoxication resulted in poor decision making and impulsivity, which led to self-harm. Others said substance use facilitated their self-harm. Some participants detailed how in the past their chronic substance use had served an adaptive function helping them to cope with distress, but more recently, this coping mechanism had failed which precipitated their self-harm. Some participants reported that substance use by someone else triggered their self-harm. Findings suggest that there are multiple pathways and a host of variables which mediate the relationship between substance use and self-harm.


1997 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 742-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin O'Connor

In 1866, theAtlantic Monthlypublished a fictional case study of an army surgeon who had lost all of his limbs during the Civil War. Written anonymously by American neurologist Silas Weir Mitchell, “The Case of George Dedlow” describes not only the series of wounds and infections which led to the amputation of all four of the soldier's arms and legs but also the after-effects of amputation. Reduced to what he terms “a useless torso, more like some strange larval creature than anything of human shape,” Dedlow finds that in disarticulating his body, amputation articulates anatomical norms. His observation of his own uniquely altered state qualifies him to speak in universal terms about the relationship between sentience and selfhood: “I have dictated these pages,” he says, “not to shock my readers, but to possess them with facts in regard to the relation of the mind to the body” (1866:5). As such, the story explores the meaning of embodiment, finding in a fragmented anatomy the opportunity to piece together a more complete understanding of how the body functions—physically and metaphysically—as a whole.


Author(s):  
Christos Manolopoulos ◽  
Dimitris Sofotassios ◽  
Paul Spirakis ◽  
Yiannis C. Stamatiou

One of the cornerstones of Democracy is the participation of citizens in decisions that affect their lives. This participation, traditionally, is exercised: a) through national elections and the body of representatives, and b) through binding procedures such as referendums. However, there are decisions that affect citizens’ everyday lives that require more frequent, day to day participation. Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) can create fast and secure communication channels, enabling politicians and citizens to engage in a mutually rewarding interaction leading to the development eDemocracy. However, lack of trust either between politicians and citizens or lack of trust of citizens towards ICT can raise barriers to this opportunity. In this chapter we discuss the issue of trust among government, citizens, and ICT. Our view is that it is nowadays possible to, at least, handle effectively the citizen-ICT facet of trust and provide the drivers for the convergence of eGoverment and eDemocracy realizing the concept of eGovernance. As a case study we present our experiences from the design and implementation of an eVoting system, which has the same strong relationship with eGovernance as traditional elections have with Governance.


Author(s):  
Linda Stepulevage

This article draws on interviews and case study research on gender-IT relations to examine the relationship between gender identity and IT development activities. It explores the intertwining of gender and technological identity for women in office work contexts, a location where a boundary between the design and use of IT systems has long been recognised. It is important to explore identity construction within this framework of design and use as separate activities since women’s identity is constrained on both sides of this perceived boundary. The article first explores issues for women as IT professionals, then as users of IT-based work systems and lastly, it discusses the feasibility of constructing gender identities that encompass and recognise the technical work that both developers and users do.


10.1068/a3287 ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm Tait ◽  
Heather Campbell

The relationship between local government officers and elected members is central to the decisionmaking processes associated with planning, as with many other areas of public policymaking. Legal responsibilities and issues of accountability and legitimacy lie at the heart of the relationship between officers and members, with interaction mediated and constituted through ritualised communicative encounters such as committee meetings and associated reports, and less formally through ad hoc contacts. Given the importance of this relationship it is striking that there has been relatively little research into the influences on officers and members within everyday planning practice. In this paper we will explore the extent to which a consideration of the language used in planning practice can inform our understanding of the relationship between planners and politicians. Thinking within the planning field about the role of language as a mechanism for reflecting and constituting power has been dominated by the work of Jürgen Habermas and Michel Foucault. However, despite the increasing attention focused on the importance of language and communication, work within the planning community has tended to concentrate on normative issues of how planning ought to operate in society rather than situating these theories within the ‘real’ world of practice. The objectives behind the case study research evaluated in this paper are therefore twofold. First, to explore the role of language and discourse in reflecting and constituting relations of power in a planning authority on the south coast of England and, second, to explore the value of Foucault's and Habermas's ideas as tools of research in planning. On the basis of this study we conclude that there are some important theoretical and methodological difficulties in connecting the ideas of Habermas and Foucault to the world of everyday planning practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1877) ◽  
pp. 20180090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy T. Burkhard ◽  
Rebecca R. Westwick ◽  
Steven M. Phelps

Advertisement displays often seem extravagant and expensive, and are thought to depend on the body condition of a signaller. Nevertheless, we know little about how signallers adjust effort based on condition, and few studies find a strong relationship between natural variation in condition and display. To examine the relationship between body condition and signal elaboration more fully, we characterized physiological condition and acoustic displays in a wild rodent with elaborate vocalizations, Alston's singing mouse, Scotinomys teguina . We found two major axes of variation in condition—one defined by short-term fluctuations in caloric nutrients, and a second by longer-term variation in adiposity. Among acoustic parameters, song effort was characterized by high rates of display and longer songs. Song effort was highly correlated with measures of adiposity. We found that leptin was a particularly strong predictor of display effort. Leptin is known to influence investment in other costly traits, such as immune function and reproduction. Plasma hormone levels convey somatic state to a variety of tissues, and may govern trait investment across vertebrates. Such measures offer new insights into how animals translate body condition into behavioural and life-history decisions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-77
Author(s):  
Jari Koskinen ◽  
Daniel Sahebi ◽  
Hassan Nikookar ◽  
Wang Zhan

Abstract This research is a case study research related to customer satisfaction, focuses on more effective service improvement and changes in regards with meeting the customer needs. Through empirical approach and related enterprises investigation, based on employees’ perspective and end-user’ perspective, it designs a questionnaire system to collect data. In a case company, totally 31 interviews were made from 18 subsidiaries and 13 from end customers. Finally, we use statistical analysis to analysis the collection data and draw a conclusion. The outcomes of analysis show that communication and effective information flow, as well as effective service processes are the key while technical knowhow is the basic requirements. Throughout the body of the research, we can observe that there are significant differences between the internal and external customers perspective. These differences should be taken into consideration when the service improvement is the main objective. This research helps manufacturing firms to improve their value added services in addition to operating closer to their global customers.


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