Re-framing the Crusades: The Representation of Space, Landscape and Architecture in the Comics Series Croisade

In both medieval and contemporary culture, defamiliarization in space frames the imagined relationship with the other in fantasized views of the East. This paper addresses ways the creative imagination functions in the contemporary four-volume Belgian comics series Croisade by Dufaux and Xavier (vol I-IV). They foster a self-reflexive vision of competing universes, from the Celtic to the ancient Roman, from the Moorish to the Gothic. The cultural relativism of our contemporary era seems more relevant than any attempt to historicize faithfully the fictional plot. These comic books exploit the visual evidence of space as emblematic natural sites of heterotopias like the desert, and architectural space like Jerusalem, some burial sites, the sultan’s oriental palace and the Crusaders’ fortress, while assessing the changing representation of space from the medieval era to the present.

Chronotopic translanguaging and the mobile languaging subject: insights from an Algerian academic sojourner in the UK

This study discusses the impact of spatial, temporal and virtual mobility on how mobile individuals talk about language in their world, and how they use language offline and online to communicate over time and across space. We introduce the notion of chronotopic translanguaging to highlight the significance of merging time and place in sociolinguistics. Doing so, we present a rather stretched understanding of time to include references to real time, online compressed time, linguistic ideologies and practices carried over time and challenged in recent times, as well as understanding time as an ecological factor. We interviewed Ekram, an Algerian academic sojourner, and observed her Facebook profile before and after coming to the UK. Our findings suggest that the networked lives of the participant beget fluid translanguaging practices that are constantly (re)negotiated depending to the ecology of interaction. Through entering and existing multiple time-space frames, Ekram found herself reunited with communicative repertoires she has not used for years. She also developed new relationships with other repertoires. This study concludes by emphasising the usefulness of chronotopic translanguaging as a conceptual tool that permits, and accounts for, the time-place influence on how mobile individuals deploy their communicative repertoires.

Design Method for End-Plate Bolted Connections

The design of buildings envelopes is more elaborate than it has ever been. Starting from the design method of nodal space frames made of one layer of structure and covered in glass, this paper presents e new type of end-plate beam to beam connection. Specific to this is the fact that both end-plates are welded inside of the tubes, having a minimum gap between them of 2 mm. This will reduce considerably the in-surface and welding-induced end plates tolerances which appear at classical end-plate connections. Through the pre-tensioning of the bolts, a continuous contact surface is assured along the cross-sections of the hollow profiles. Several tests were run with the software Gas Win in order to establish the maximum capacity of the connection. This condition is achieved when the neutral axis goes out of the crosssection and the entire cross-section is compressed. Installation hand-holes were also considered. In order to get a better understanding about the force flow, an FEM analysis was run using the Abaqus software. A comparison between the results followed.

CRUSH CHARACTERISTICS OF ADHESIVELY BONDED COMPOSITE-ALUMINUM TUBES

Tubular members are used in the automotive industry for body, chassis, and powertrain components such as front rails, underbody frames or sub frames, driveshaft structures and space frames. They are also extensively used in buses and other heavy vehicle structures. With focus on light-weighting, there is increasing use of multimaterial structures with aluminum and high-performance composites. Joining a variety of materials with different characteristics and compositions is a major challenge for the design of such structures. Hence, adhesive bonding is emerging as one of the key joining technique for multi-material structures due to their compatibility with commonly used lightweight materials. Since tubular joints in automotive structures may experience crush type load, this study considers the crush characteristics of composite-aluminum tubular adhesive joints using finite element analysis.

Towards Reusable Surrogate Models: Graph-Based Transfer Learning on Trusses

Surrogate models are often employed to speed up engineering design optimization; however, they typically require that all training data conform to the same parametrization (e.g. design variables), limiting design freedom and prohibiting the reuse of historical data. In response, this paper proposes Graph-based Surrogate Models (GSMs) for space frame structures. The GSM can accurately predict displacement fields from static loads given the structure's geometry as input, enabling training across multiple parametrizations. GSMs build upon recent advancements in geometric deep learning which have led to the ability to learn on undirected graphs: a natural representation for space frames. To further promote flexible surrogate models, the paper explores transfer learning within the context of engineering design, and demonstrates positive knowledge transfer across data sets of different topologies, complexities, loads and applications, resulting in more flexible and data-efficient surrogate models for space frame structures.

Two subdivision methods based on the regular octahedron for single- and double-layer spherical geodesic domes

The paper presents the topological–geometric analysis of a selected number of space frames configurations for geodesic domes which are generated from the regular octahedron. Two subdivision methods for spherical triangles, proposed by Fuliński, were used to create two families of structures. The first family consists of six single-layer and six double-layer geodesic domes shaped on the basis of the first method of subdivision, while the second family contains six single-layer and six double-layer geodesic domes shaped on the basis of the second method of subdivision. The calculated results of the geometric parameters of the analyzed structures were used to create original formulas that allow for more advanced structures to be achieved, that is, with a larger number of nodes and struts. The geometric results were also used to create nomograms showing the range of struts of the same length for double-layer geodesic domes. In both single-layer and double-layer domes, the number of groups of struts of equal lengths and the number of faces with different areas are smaller for structures created according to the first method of subdivision. The comparison of the resulting element quantities of two methods shows that the largest differences appear between the domes with a larger number of struts (up to 67%). Here, the analysis might help the designer reach a final decision on the better choice of topology, in particular, when this aspect is combined with other design goals, such as efficiency, economy, utility, and elegance in the design of the structure and the cover of large areas.

Computational design and fabrication of highly customizable architectural space frames: Making a flat-cut Weaire-Phelan structure

This paper documents a computational approach to the design, fabrication, and assembly of customizable space structures built entirely out of flat-cut interlocking elements without the need of nodes, fasteners, cement, or glue. Following a Research by Design (RbD) methodology, we establish a framework comprising geometric and parametric modeling, structural analysis, and digital fabrication stages to examine the following research question: how might the modularity of a construction kit be combined with the plasticity of parametric descriptions to facilitate the design and fabrication of flat-cut space structures? We find that an adaptive joint design that resolves local deformations at the node and element levels can facilitate the construction of flat-cut space structures by making modular components responsive to local geometric, material, and mechanical demands. The research centers on the design and construction of an architecture-scale installation based on the Weaire-Phelan structure—an aperiodic space-filling geometric structure that approximates the geometry of foam—entirely out of flat-cut interlocking elements. Documenting the process in technical detail, as well as some limitations, the paper contributes to recent efforts to develop digital materials suitable for architectural applications. In addition, it contributes to extend the formal and architectural possibilities of flat-cut space structure design by facilitating “bottom-up” design explorations in concert with the structure’s tectonic resolution.