scholarly journals Bee Positive: Design for Awareness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Maria Lubomudrov

<p>This thesis aims to create a museum dedicated to awareness, research, and education, in an attempt to preserve the declining bee population. It focuses on the Native Bees of New Zealand in conjunction with introduced bees. The architectural design intention for the bee museum aims to encapsulate the life and biology of the bee through an informative experience of current issues, by delving into the current world in which bees exist, as well as an ephemeral architectural expression based on organic elements occurring in nature. The aim is to adhere to an emotional as well as a cognitive human response for the sake of forming an empathetic connection between the occupier and the architectural subject.  This has the potential to aid the bee population through a captivating and informative design, raising further awareness as to what the issue is and how it can potentially be resolved through public initiative. The promotion of bee conservation in New Zealand may have a prospective ecological impact on a national scale and may subsequently have the potential to work as an example for other countries in their approach to this global concern.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Maria Lubomudrov

<p>This thesis aims to create a museum dedicated to awareness, research, and education, in an attempt to preserve the declining bee population. It focuses on the Native Bees of New Zealand in conjunction with introduced bees. The architectural design intention for the bee museum aims to encapsulate the life and biology of the bee through an informative experience of current issues, by delving into the current world in which bees exist, as well as an ephemeral architectural expression based on organic elements occurring in nature. The aim is to adhere to an emotional as well as a cognitive human response for the sake of forming an empathetic connection between the occupier and the architectural subject.  This has the potential to aid the bee population through a captivating and informative design, raising further awareness as to what the issue is and how it can potentially be resolved through public initiative. The promotion of bee conservation in New Zealand may have a prospective ecological impact on a national scale and may subsequently have the potential to work as an example for other countries in their approach to this global concern.</p>


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-172
Author(s):  
David C. Geddis ◽  
Ian C. Appleton

The method of operation of a pilot car seat rental scheme is described. It is unique in that there are sufficient seats to accommodate every newborn infant in the city. Both infant and child seats are available. The pattern of use since the establishment of the scheme in December 1981 is reported. Currently 60% to 70% of parents rent infant seats and 35% to 40% rent child seats. Yearly roadside observations have shown a steady increase in the number of restrained children. In 1981 no infants traveled in approved restraints. In 1984 66% did so. The 1984 results for other age groups were: 6 to 18 months of age, 88%; 18 months to 2½ years of age, 82%; 2½ to 3½ years of age, 66%; 3½ to 4½ years of age, 62%. At this time no legislation applied to children less than 8 years of age. The success of this pilot scheme suggests it should be expanded on a national scale.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amber Marie Gray

<p>Wine is created from the delicate and fragile craft of winemaking, a craft reliant on the balance of both science and art. Wine translates qualities and experience of space and creation through the sense of taste and smell. Intoxicating impressions rediscovers the artistic nature of this craft through the space of a winery. It proposes an architecture of engagement.  Impressionist painting offers an immersive representation of the qualities and atmosphere of space. This immersive effect creates an engagement of the viewer's imagination within the depicted scene. The painting's execution is based on both science and art through the representation of the intangible. This exploration resulted in testing architectural concepts of 'dissipation of light' and 'blurring of boundaries' to enhance the architectural experience to engage the imagination of the inhabitant.  From these concepts, architecture allows the inhabiting of intangible qualities. The landscape presents itself as an ephemeral tool to mediate this relationship of art and science having an imperative role within the winemaking craft. The architectural design becomes a tool to immerse the user within the craft that it houses and within the landscape where the craft of winemaking occurs and upon which it relies upon.  This winery is designed for a site in the Hawke’s Bay wine region of New Zealand and follows a brief designed to materialise intangible and immaterial qualities of space. This is to engage the inhabitant within the environment and the winemaking craft. The architectural design allows the exploration of the intangible, balanced, vulnerable and fragile nature of a craft that is balanced by a scientific reality.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amber Marie Gray

<p>Wine is created from the delicate and fragile craft of winemaking, a craft reliant on the balance of both science and art. Wine translates qualities and experience of space and creation through the sense of taste and smell. Intoxicating impressions rediscovers the artistic nature of this craft through the space of a winery. It proposes an architecture of engagement.  Impressionist painting offers an immersive representation of the qualities and atmosphere of space. This immersive effect creates an engagement of the viewer's imagination within the depicted scene. The painting's execution is based on both science and art through the representation of the intangible. This exploration resulted in testing architectural concepts of 'dissipation of light' and 'blurring of boundaries' to enhance the architectural experience to engage the imagination of the inhabitant.  From these concepts, architecture allows the inhabiting of intangible qualities. The landscape presents itself as an ephemeral tool to mediate this relationship of art and science having an imperative role within the winemaking craft. The architectural design becomes a tool to immerse the user within the craft that it houses and within the landscape where the craft of winemaking occurs and upon which it relies upon.  This winery is designed for a site in the Hawke’s Bay wine region of New Zealand and follows a brief designed to materialise intangible and immaterial qualities of space. This is to engage the inhabitant within the environment and the winemaking craft. The architectural design allows the exploration of the intangible, balanced, vulnerable and fragile nature of a craft that is balanced by a scientific reality.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Howse

<p><b>Social wasps are considered among the most successful and impactful invasive species in the world. One species, Polistes dominula has spread from its native Mediterranean range to every continent except Antarctica. This wasp reached New Zealand in the last decade where it has established in the north of the South Island, however, reports of its presence are increasing throughout the country. Due to its recent arrival in New Zealand, little is known about where this species is likely to establish or what impacts it may have on local insect communities. In this thesis, I conducted two studies to investigate these questions, providing valuable information that may inform future management of this invasive species. </b></p><p>In chapter 2, I used two bioclimatic modelling methods to predict areas of suitable habitat across four regions in the southern hemisphere. These models were informed by global temperature and precipitation data as well as global distribution occurrence data of P. dominula. These data were used to estimate conditions most highly correlated with the presence of this wasp. The models identified large areas across the target regions that were climatically suitable for the establishment of P. dominula. Many of these areas are not known to currently contain populations of this species, representing habitat potentially vulnerable to further invasion by P. dominula. Areas across South America, South Africa and Australia were predicted to be climatically suitable. In New Zealand, much of the North Island and eastern parts of the South Island were predicted to be suitable habitat for this wasp. These results suggest that P. dominula could potentially establish across more of the country and expand its invaded range. Information provided by these models may guide conservation and biosecurity management by highlighting key areas where prevention and mitigation should be prioritized. </p><p>In chapter 3, I used molecular diet analysis to investigate the range of prey being utilised by P. dominula in New Zealand. Using DNA barcoding, larval gut contents of P. dominula and another closely related species, Polistes chinensis, were analysed to identify what species were present in the diet of both wasps. Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) were found to be the most highly represented order in both species’ diets. True bugs (Hemiptera) and flies (Diptera) were also abundant. Both wasps were shown to consume a range of native and introduced species including a number of agricultural pests. P. dominula was found to utilise a wider range of prey than P. chinensis. This more diverse prey range, combined with known differences in nesting behaviour, suggest that P. dominula may represent a more significant threat to invertebrate diversity than the already well-established P. chinensis. These results may inform conservation and biosecurity managers on which species are most at risk where this new invasive wasp becomes established. </p><p>This thesis provides insights into the potential impacts of a new invasive species to New Zealand. Both chapters represent the first time that these methods have been used to study P. dominula. This work highlights the need for continued monitoring of wasp populations throughout New Zealand, especially in regions highlighted as vulnerable to P. dominula establishment. We also suggest the need to prioritise the conservation of ‘at-risk’ species in coastal and human-altered habitats. Increased public engagement through the citizen-science initiatives should be encouraged while more research into management and control methods is recommended.</p>


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euripedes L. Lopes Junior ◽  
Tereza C. Giannini ◽  
Andre R. Hirakawa ◽  
Silvio M. Amancio ◽  
Antonio M. Saraiva ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Daniel Coles ◽  
Athanasios Angeloudis ◽  
Deborah Greaves ◽  
Gordon Hastie ◽  
Matthew Lewis ◽  
...  

This review provides a critical, multi-faceted assessment of the practical contribution tidal stream energy can make to the UK and British Channel Islands future energy mix. Evidence is presented that broadly supports the latest national-scale practical resource estimate, of 34 TWh/year, equivalent to 11% of the UK’s current annual electricity demand. The size of the practical resource depends in part on the economic competitiveness of projects. In the UK, 124 MW of prospective tidal stream capacity is currently eligible to bid for subsidy support (MeyGen 1C, 80 MW; PTEC, 30 MW; and Morlais, 14 MW). It is estimated that the installation of this 124 MW would serve to drive down the levelized cost of energy (LCoE), through learning, from its current level of around 240   £ / MWh to below 150   £ / MWh , based on a mid-range technology learning rate of 17%. Doing so would make tidal stream cost competitive with technologies such as combined cycle gas turbines, biomass and anaerobic digestion. Installing this 124 MW by 2031 would put tidal stream on a trajectory to install the estimated 11.5 GW needed to generate 34 TWh/year by 2050. The cyclic, predictable nature of tidal stream power shows potential to provide additional, whole-system cost benefits. These include reductions in balancing expenditure that are not considered in conventional LCoE estimates. The practical resource is also dependent on environmental constraints. To date, no collisions between animals and turbines have been detected, and only small changes in habitat have been measured. The impacts of large arrays on stratification and predator–prey interaction are projected to be an order of magnitude less than those from climate change, highlighting opportunities for risk retirement. Ongoing field measurements will be important as arrays scale up, given the uncertainty in some environmental and ecological impact models. Based on the findings presented in this review, we recommend that an updated national-scale practical resource study is undertaken that implements high-fidelity, site-specific modelling, with improved model validation from the wide range of field measurements that are now available from the major sites. Quantifying the sensitivity of the practical resource to constraints will be important to establish opportunities for constraint retirement. Quantification of whole-system benefits is necessary to fully understand the value of tidal stream in the energy system.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jonathan Hay

<p>A political crisis is currently underway in New Zealand with a critical lack of affordable well-designed housing. Due to the presence in New Zealand of such vast timber resources and our enviable global location for export shipping, there are great economic and industry opportunities for the production of prefabricated timber housing. However, the contemporary architectural position on prefabrication is often limited by the inability to evidence individuality, diverse detailing and robust habitability with a predetermined production ‘formula’. This thesis argues that the anonymous open plan nature of prefabrication facilities is restricting prefabrication from achieving high levels of architectural design that evidence qualities of craft. This thesis argues that by using an interdisciplinary approach recognising qualities of shared authorship with prefabrication, this highly effective form of construction can satisfy a wider market while maintaining key architectural values of individuality (authorship), detailing (craft) and habitability (integrated technical functions, sustainability, etc.).  The design research explores how the design of a large-scale prefabrication facility can encourage craft and authorship within production processes. Similarly through design exploration the facility intends to provide a cohesive understanding and implementation of complex and specialised industry systems alongside production processes. The design also explores how the facility can provide an environment where this collaboration can be meaningfully encouraged, while also facilitating collaborative learning to resolve prefabrication design-related problems.  The site for the proposed new Trade Build Facility is on the border of Wellington’s operational port of Centre Port, on the south intersection of Waterloo Quay and Cornwell Street, Pipitea, alongside a resource of raw logs with multiple national and international transport modes. The thesis proposes the experimental design of a facility that focuses on timber beginning with the processing of the raw log at the input end, through to the pre-fabricated housing units at the output end. This thesis proposes a production facility that also takes on the role of an educational design vehicle for both the architect and the architectural student to develop and engage the latest technologies of design and construction in the field of prefabrication, providing them with the foundation for entering the complexities of the current architectural design profession. It is intended that users will witness the actual creation of a system of architecture, in a setting explicitly designed to enable these conditions to transform and evolve in step with the latest industry developments. This results in a productive partnering between design and construction, production and education, architect and architectural student through the refined inclusion of craft and authorship in architectural design.  The thesis actively seeks a design solution that develops future design outcomes of prefabricated timber production facilities through an enhanced and responsive adaptability within the facility. The building design also encourages robust and cohesive collaboration by incorporating multidisciplinary specialists with the production and education processes of prefabrication. As a result this thesis argues that architects will be provided greater opportunities for exploring craft and authorship within the context of prefabrication. The problems addressed by the strategic design experiments are prefabrication focused; however the situation is emblematic of a greater problem in the overall field of architecture. Through a focused evaluation on the collaborative environment experienced in the production of prefabrication, valuable lessons are transferable to all collaborative construction-based work environments, facilitating the ability to engender qualities of craft in an architecturally advanced industry.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jonathan Hay

<p>A political crisis is currently underway in New Zealand with a critical lack of affordable well-designed housing. Due to the presence in New Zealand of such vast timber resources and our enviable global location for export shipping, there are great economic and industry opportunities for the production of prefabricated timber housing. However, the contemporary architectural position on prefabrication is often limited by the inability to evidence individuality, diverse detailing and robust habitability with a predetermined production ‘formula’. This thesis argues that the anonymous open plan nature of prefabrication facilities is restricting prefabrication from achieving high levels of architectural design that evidence qualities of craft. This thesis argues that by using an interdisciplinary approach recognising qualities of shared authorship with prefabrication, this highly effective form of construction can satisfy a wider market while maintaining key architectural values of individuality (authorship), detailing (craft) and habitability (integrated technical functions, sustainability, etc.).  The design research explores how the design of a large-scale prefabrication facility can encourage craft and authorship within production processes. Similarly through design exploration the facility intends to provide a cohesive understanding and implementation of complex and specialised industry systems alongside production processes. The design also explores how the facility can provide an environment where this collaboration can be meaningfully encouraged, while also facilitating collaborative learning to resolve prefabrication design-related problems.  The site for the proposed new Trade Build Facility is on the border of Wellington’s operational port of Centre Port, on the south intersection of Waterloo Quay and Cornwell Street, Pipitea, alongside a resource of raw logs with multiple national and international transport modes. The thesis proposes the experimental design of a facility that focuses on timber beginning with the processing of the raw log at the input end, through to the pre-fabricated housing units at the output end. This thesis proposes a production facility that also takes on the role of an educational design vehicle for both the architect and the architectural student to develop and engage the latest technologies of design and construction in the field of prefabrication, providing them with the foundation for entering the complexities of the current architectural design profession. It is intended that users will witness the actual creation of a system of architecture, in a setting explicitly designed to enable these conditions to transform and evolve in step with the latest industry developments. This results in a productive partnering between design and construction, production and education, architect and architectural student through the refined inclusion of craft and authorship in architectural design.  The thesis actively seeks a design solution that develops future design outcomes of prefabricated timber production facilities through an enhanced and responsive adaptability within the facility. The building design also encourages robust and cohesive collaboration by incorporating multidisciplinary specialists with the production and education processes of prefabrication. As a result this thesis argues that architects will be provided greater opportunities for exploring craft and authorship within the context of prefabrication. The problems addressed by the strategic design experiments are prefabrication focused; however the situation is emblematic of a greater problem in the overall field of architecture. Through a focused evaluation on the collaborative environment experienced in the production of prefabrication, valuable lessons are transferable to all collaborative construction-based work environments, facilitating the ability to engender qualities of craft in an architecturally advanced industry.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jake Goodger

<p>Housing is an important precondition for people to live healthy and prosperous lives. Access to suitable housing is an essential factor in the overall well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Housing suitability and quality has ramifications for physical and mental health, education, employment, social cohesion and intergenerational mobility. These outcomes directly impact the functioning of communities, broader society, and the economy (Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment).  Per capita, New Zealand has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the world. At 1% of the total population, it is estimated that approximately 42,000 New Zealanders are experiencing some form of homelessness. These individuals are either in temporary or insecure accommodation (OECD). Our capital’s housing supply is evidentially not meeting demand. Wellington is currently 9312 dwellings short of what is required, resulting in multiple tenants residing in singular rooms, and an increase in homelessness (Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment). This issue arises when there is an intermediate population deemed ‘too rich’ for social housing by the Ministry of Social Development screening process. However, due to low current median incomes this group are not able to afford Wellington’s rental prices, leaving them with little to no options in securing healthy and stable accommodation. Those fortunate enough to secure tenancy find themselves marginalised by society as they are not in permanent ‘homes’ but transitional residences on the city fringes.  This thesis explores a novel approach to our capital’s housing crisis, with the specific intention of provoking conversation about alternative approaches to the re-housing of New Zealanders most at need. Giving individuals the opportunity to up-skill, combined with the ability to craft their own permanent home will provide the helping hand needed to get them back on their feet and re-introduced into productive society. Interviews with Wellington’s housing providers and those working directly with the homeless have informed the key considerations for providing housing for the transitionally homeless. The literature review highlights the importance of creating and enhancing a sense of belonging through architectural design strategies. Precedent studies are analysed to understand the importance of location, planning, appearance and the materiality of housing units as well as assessing the validity of self-build housing for New Zealand. This research develops a universal design response to affordable housing in Wellington. A non-exclusive approach facilitates residents as a whole rather than focusing on site specifics, thus achieving a more holistic design concept. This model can be implemented in a broader context to ultimately support the provision of quality and affordable housing to those in most need.  The outcomes of this thesis include; a set of design guidelines for those involved in the provision of housing for the transitionally homeless, and a detailed design proposal for a conceptual housing intervention in urban Wellington.</p>


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document