scholarly journals An Investigation on the Effects of Architectural Features on Acoustical Environment of Historical Mosques

Acoustics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-580
Author(s):  
Fatma Yelkenci Sert ◽  
Özgül Yılmaz Karaman

In the historical period, different mosques were built in the Anatolian side; the differences in size, typology and style were affected by the climate conditions, cultural and social aspects, availability of materials and the construction techniques of the region they were built in. The ceiling structure, which is the most influencing factor for mosque acoustics, is designed with either curvilinear elements or a flat ceiling for mosques. In the context of our case study, the eight historical mosques in Turkey, with different materials and types of ceiling structures, are investigated in terms of acoustical characteristics in the main prayer hall. Acoustical data are collected by measurements to reveal how the formal differences and material change in ceiling structures affect the acoustic environments of mosques with similar volume. Distribution of acoustical parameters and the suitability of the values obtained through measurements are compared to reflect the effect of architectural features on the acoustical characteristics of the prayer hall.

Author(s):  
Ahad Nejad Ebrahimi ◽  
Farnaz Nazarzadeh ◽  
Elnaz Nazarzadeh

Throughout history, gardens and garden designing has been in the attention of Persian architects who had special expertise in the construction of gardens. The appearance of Islam and allegories of paradise taken from that in Koran and Saints’ sayings gave spirituality to garden construction. Climate conditions have also had an important role in this respect but little research has been done about it and most of the investigations have referred to spiritual aspects and forms of garden. The cold and dry climate that has enveloped parts of West and North West of Iran has many gardens with different forms and functions, which have not been paid much attention to by studies done so far. The aim of this paper is to identify the features and specifications of cold and dry climate gardens with an emphasis on Tabriz’s Gardens.  Due to its natural and strategic situation, Tabriz has always been in the attention of governments throughout history; travellers and tourists have mentioned Tabriz as a city that has beautiful gardens. But, the earthquakes and wars have left no remains of those beautiful gardens. This investigation, by a comparative study of the climates in Iran and the effect of those climates on the formation of gardens and garden design, tries to identify the features and characteristics of gardens in cold and dry climate. The method of study is interpretive-historical on the basis of written documents and historic features and field study of existing gardens in this climate. The results show that, with respect to natural substrate, vegetation, the form of water supply, and the general form of the garden; gardens in dry and cold climate are different from gardens in other climates.


Author(s):  
Lu Zhang ◽  
Zhenghong Peng

As the most historically and culturally valuable city district in Nanning, Xingning Block has gradually formed its own unique color characteristics and architectural style in the slow process of urban historical development, showing the unique local customs and architectural features. However, restricted by the specific development conditions, many undesirable aspects can be found in the overall architectural landscape color of some nodes on the block, such as lack of systematic planning, poor material matching, messy building color, as well as various challenges of contemporary social development to the architectural environmental color on the block.The architectural environmental color of urban traditional blocks is an important part of the specific history, culture and spirit of the times of a city, which plays a vital role in the development and change of the city. Therefore, how to effectively and reasonably do a good job in sustainable urban planning and development is an issue that must attract the attention of competent authorities at all levels, scientific research institutions and planning practitioners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 923
Author(s):  
Qianqian Sun ◽  
Chao Liu ◽  
Tianyang Chen ◽  
Anbing Zhang

Vegetation fluctuation is sensitive to climate change, and this response exhibits a time lag. Traditionally, scholars estimated this lag effect by considering the immediate prior lag (e.g., where vegetation in the current month is impacted by the climate in a certain prior month) or the lag accumulation (e.g., where vegetation in the current month is impacted by the last several months). The essence of these two methods is that vegetation growth is impacted by climate conditions in the prior period or several consecutive previous periods, which fails to consider the different impacts coming from each of those prior periods. Therefore, this study proposed a new approach, the weighted time-lag method, in detecting the lag effect of climate conditions coming from different prior periods. Essentially, the new method is a generalized extension of the lag-accumulation method. However, the new method detects how many prior periods need to be considered and, most importantly, the differentiated climate impact on vegetation growth in each of the determined prior periods. We tested the performance of the new method in the Loess Plateau by comparing various lag detection methods by using the linear model between the climate factors and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The case study confirmed four main findings: (1) the response of vegetation growth exhibits time lag to both precipitation and temperature; (2) there are apparent differences in the time lag effect detected by various methods, but the weighted time-lag method produced the highest determination coefficient (R2) in the linear model and provided the most specific lag pattern over the determined prior periods; (3) the vegetation growth is most sensitive to climate factors in the current month and the last month in the Loess Plateau but reflects a varied of responses to other prior months; and (4) the impact of temperature on vegetation growth is higher than that of precipitation. The new method provides a much more precise detection of the lag effect of climate change on vegetation growth and makes a smart decision about soil conservation and ecological restoration after severe climate events, such as long-lasting drought or flooding.


Author(s):  
Kara G. Cafferty ◽  
David J. Muth ◽  
Jacob J. Jacobson ◽  
Kenneth M. Bryden

Engineering feedstock supply systems that deliver affordable, high-quality biomass remains a challenge for the emerging bioenergy industry. Cellulosic biomass is geographically distributed and has diverse physical and chemical properties. Because of this feedstock supply systems that deliver cellulosic biomass resources to biorefineries require integration of a broad set of engineered unit operations. These unit operations include harvest and collection, storage, preprocessing, and transportation processes. Design decisions for each feedstock supply system unit operation impact the engineering design and performance of the other system elements. These interdependencies are further complicated by spatial and temporal variances such as climate conditions and biomass characteristics. This paper develops an integrated model that couples a SQL-based data management engine and systems dynamics models to design and evaluate biomass feedstock supply systems. The integrated model, called the Biomass Logistics Model (BLM), includes a suite of databases that provide 1) engineering performance data for hundreds of equipment systems, 2) spatially explicit labor cost datasets, and 3) local tax and regulation data. The BLM analytic engine is built in the systems dynamics software package Powersim™. The BLM is designed to work with thermochemical and biochemical based biofuel conversion platforms and accommodates a range of cellulosic biomass types (i.e., herbaceous residues, short-rotation woody and herbaceous energy crops, woody residues, algae, etc.). The BLM simulates the flow of biomass through the entire supply chain, tracking changes in feedstock characteristics (i.e., moisture content, dry matter, ash content, and dry bulk density) as influenced by the various operations in the supply chain. By accounting for all of the equipment that comes into contact with biomass from the point of harvest to the throat of the conversion facility and the change in characteristics, the BLM evaluates economic performance of the engineered system, as well as determining energy consumption and green house gas performance of the design. This paper presents a BLM case study delivering corn stover to produce cellulosic ethanol. The case study utilizes the BLM to model the performance of several feedstock supply system designs. The case study also explores the impact of temporal variations in climate conditions to test the sensitivity of the engineering designs. Results from the case study show that under certain conditions corn stover can be delivered to the cellulosic ethanol biorefinery for $35/dry ton.


2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 255-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve LeMoine ◽  
James Helmer ◽  
Bjarne Grønnow

Abstract Late Dorset dwellings from two sites on Little Cornwallis Island (Nunavut) illustrate the diversity of architectural forms from this period. Ten architectural features are described. They include five tent rings, ascribed to warm season occupations, and five rectangular semi-subterranean houses with axial features, including one exceptionally well-preserved example, ascribed to cold season occupations. Variations in size, number of hearths, and construction techniques are examined and the use of both types of structures to house multiple nuclear families is suggested.


Author(s):  
Ivo Machar ◽  
Marián Halás ◽  
Zdeněk Opršal

Regional climate changes impacts induce vegetation zones shift to higher altitudes in temperate landscape. This paper deals with applying of regional biogeography model of climate conditions for vegetation zones in Czechia to doctoral programme Regional Geography in Palacky University Olomouc. The model is based on general knowledge of landscape vegetation zonation. Climate data for model come from predicted validated climate database under RCP8.5 scenario since 2100. Ecological data are included in the Biogeography Register database (geobiocoenological data related to landscape for cadastral areas of the Czech Republic). Mathematical principles of modelling are based on set of software solutions with GIS. Students use the model in the frame of the course “Special Approaches to Landscape Research” not only for regional scenarios climate change impacts in landscape scale, but also for assessment of climate conditions for growing capability of agricultural crops or forest trees under climate change on regional level.


2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Guilia Sinatti

The increased interconnectedness and possibilities for travel and communication that characterise the current, global age have strongly affected scholarly ways of understanding contemporary forms of identification and belonging. Literature on the subject strongly challenges the notion of home as a fixed place, particularly where migration is concerned. The case study of Senegalese migration, however, contrasts this argument. Based upon ethnographic research and in depth interviews with migrants conducted in Senegal and in Italy between 2004 and 2007, this article shows that for many Senegalese the ultimate home still remains strongly identified with the country of origin. Questioned on the issue at stake, Senegalese migrants unanimously express the eventual goal of return to the home-land. The perceived importance of an anchorage in Senegal is expressed even more strikingly than in words, in the practices of migrant investment in housing. Migrants invest massively in the home country, significantly altering the landscape of local cities. This article shows that the intensity and features of construction activities undertaken by migrants in the capital city of Dakar are provoking a veritable process of urban makeover, which is transforming the physiognomy of the built environment. Alongside transforming the landscape of many peripheral neighbourhoods by altering mainstream architectural features of buildings and importing Western styles and taste in local construction practices, migrants are also contributing towards the creation of new symbols of success.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Marzouk ◽  
Hisham Zein El-Dein ◽  
Moheeb El-Said

Construction of bridges is associated with uncertainties that rise due to unavailability of resources, equipment breakdown and/or working environment. Bridge construction techniques can be grouped into six main categories: 1) cast‐in‐situ on false work, 2) cantilever carriage, 3) stepping formwork, 4) launching girder, 5) pre‐cast balanced cantilever, and 6) incremental launching. The latter technique is characterised by minimising the use of falsework. Further, the fabrication and casting of bridge segments are executed at a stationary location, named casting yard (which includes several facilities), deck form, concrete mixing unit, and pumping system. This paper presents a special purpose simulation model to capture the uncertainty associated with bridge construction. The model accounts for the interaction between the different involved resources in construction of bridges using incremental launching technique. The paper describes two methods (single form and multiple forms) of execution used for the segments fabrication. The proposed simulation model utilises STROBOSCOPE as a simulation engine and is coded by Visual Basic 6.0. An actual case study is presented to illustrate the capabilities of the developed model and validate its performance.


X ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohand Oulmas ◽  
Amina Abdessemed-Fouda ◽  
Ángel Benigno González Avilés

Assassing the defensibility of the pre-colonial defensive architecture in Algeria: case study on the medieval fortified villagesAlgeria’s pre-colonial towns of the medieval period still exist in different typologies, ranging from the isolated buildings (forts, castles) and town enclosures to whole urban units (fortified villages, defensives towns). Indeed, the constituent of these fortresses was their defense system, characterized by its large dimension, constituted essentially by the enclosure wall, and architectural features of defensiveness correlated with the outside and the inside of the fortresses. This paper aims to evaluate the relationship between physical landscape, built defensive features and cultural values of the medieval fortified villages in Algeria, two medieval fortified villages in our case “Kalaa of Beni Abbes” in Bejaia and “Kalaa of Beni Rached” in Oran, that we identified as an evolved landscape and interpreted as complex system (both defensive architecture and continuing cultural landscape). This current study consists of quantifying the defensiveness degree of these sites situated within different contexts, in fact, this method ensures to identify the strategy adopted to be protected against different invasions. However, in order to achieve this we calculate a spatial defensiveness index (DI) of these sites. The parameters of our choice are related to the implantation site, the elevation, the visibility and the geometrical shape, which allow us to estimate the defensiveness degree of the defense system of our case studies.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document