Mies van der Rohe's Illinois Institute of Technology: Analysis and History of a Compositive Development = El IIT de Mies van der Rohe: análisis e historia de un proceso compositivo

The Illinois Institute of Technology (iit) campus, Chicago, by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is often considered as a transitional work, usually acknowledged as significant for the reorientation of his professional career after he emigrated to the United States. Moreover, its favorable recognition today is somehow indicative of its relevance as a model for urban intervention in the contemporary American city and for contemporary city planning in general, not to mention the profound impact that it had on the cityscape of Chicago. However, today we know it was rather the result of a close collaboration between he and Ludwig Hilberseimer —later on, to be completed with Alfred Caldwell— who merged their personal ideas and expertise in the design for the first time. In addition to this, when one tries to locate the design within its own historical context and evaluate the sources of its approach to it, some contradictions arise. The major impact of the images produced by Mies to promote its realization —widely disseminated in most contemporary architectural periodicals— probably outshined the particular circumstances in which the design was conceived. In fact, it would never be materialized as originally presented, but it was, instead, continuously reworked according to land availability in the site —a circumstance often ignored by subsequent architectural critic, that enthusiastically praised the design even before it was fully completed. One of the main consequences of looking at iit from such a standpoint is that, when historically contextualized, one can appreciate that, due to the urban scale of its implementation process, the design had to face a complex reality very different to that initially planned by the architect, often far from his actual possibilities of intervention. Such approach is in contradiction with the common description of the design as a ‘tabula rasa’ that allegedly would have been formulated on the basis of a full denial of its context. On the contrary, the ever-changing circumstances of the design motivated a necessary re-interpretation of the relation between its executed fragments, in order to keep the original identity of the whole in an ever-changing context. This situation implied a continuous transformation of the design by means of a steady re-composition of its elements: as the number of completed buildings increased in its successive stages, their relation to their site-specific context changed, in a very particular process that these lines try to delineate. Requiring decades to be erected, neither of its authors would ever see the design finished as planned, partially because of the difficulties in acquiring the extension of land that it required. Considering the study of this process as able to provide a valuable gateway to understand the urban discourse that the architects entailed, the aim of these lines is to analyze the problems that the iit campus design had to face. As a starting point, a relationship between practice and theory in the activity of the authors implied in iit campus design has been assumed. Far from being interrupted during World War ii, strong historical evidence can be found to infer that both were developed in parallel. Consequently, the historical sequence of the preserved testimonies has been put into context, as well as their transformation while Mies remained in charge for the campus Master Plan. Notably, when seen from this perspective, some ideas already expressed during his previous European practice were still present during the design process. Particularly, Mies's particular understanding of certain architectural concepts — such as those of ‘order’ and ‘structure’—can be traced paralleling the theories about urban planning from his collaborators, a fact that possibly facilitated the campus successful development. The study of the way these ideas were actually redeveloped and modified in the American urban context, added to the specific process of the implementation of iit campus design, sheds a new light for a critical interpretation of the reasons that made it possible, and of the actual responsibility of Mies's collaborators in its overall development and final completion. RESUMEN El campus del Illinois Institute of Technology (iit) de Chicago, obra del arquitecto Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, es a menudo considerado como una obra de transición que, por lo general, ha venido siendo reconocida como relevante para la reorientación de su carrera profesional posterior a su exilio en los Estados Unidos. El reconocimiento del que goza el proyecto es indicativo, de algún modo, de su importancia como modelo para la intervención urbana en la ciudad norteamericana contemporánea y el planeamiento de la ciudad contemporánea en general, sin olvidar el profundo impacto que ha tenido sobre el paisaje urbano de Chicago. Sin embargo, hoy sabemos que el resultado se benefició de su estrecha colaboración con Ludwig Hilberseimer y se completaría más tarde con la de Alfred Caldwell, quienes unieron sus ideas y experiencia profesional en el proyecto por primera vez. Asimismo, cuando se intenta ubicar el proyecto dentro de su propio contexto histórico y evaluar los criterios de su manera de abordarlo, surgen algunas contradicciones. El considerable impacto de las imágenes producidas por Mies para impulsar su ejecución —ampliamente difundidas en la mayoría de publicaciones de arquitectura de la época— probablemente eclipsó las particulares circunstancias en las que el proyecto fue concebido. De hecho, nunca llegó a materializarse tal y como fue inicialmente presentado. Por contra, fue reelaborado de manera continua, de acuerdo a la disponibilidad de suelo en el emplazamiento; una circunstancia a menudo ignorada por la crítica posterior, que elogió con entusiasmo el proyecto antes siquiera de que fuese terminado. Una de las principales consecuencias de contemplar el iit desde semejante punto de vista es que, una vez contextualizada históricamente su puesta en obra, se puede apreciar que el arquitecto tuvo que enfrentarse a una compleja realidad urbana muy diferente a la inicialmente prevista —probablemente debido a la escala del proyecto— a menudo lejos de sus posibilidades reales de intervención. Este enfoque contradice la descripción habitual del proyecto como una ‘tabula rasa’, que supuestamente se habría formulado sobre la base de una negación completa de su contexto. Por el contrario, las circunstancias cambiantes del proyecto obligaron una necesaria reinterpretación de la relación entre sus frag mentos ejecutados, con el fin de mantener la identidad original del conjunto en un contexto en constante cambio. Esta situación implicó una continua transformación del proyecto por medio de una permanente re-composición de sus elementos: según se incrementaba el número de edificios construidos en las etapas sucesivas de desarrollo del conjunto, variaba su relación con el contexto específico en que se emplazaban, en un proceso muy particular que estas líneas tratan de perfilar. Al necesitar décadas para ser levantado, ninguno de sus autores vería el conjunto terminado según lo planificado, en parte debido a las dificultades para la adquisición de la extensión de suelo que demandaba. Asumiendo que el estudio de este proceso es capaz de proporcionar una valiosa puerta de entrada para elucidar el discurso urbano asumido por los Mies, el objetivo de estas líneas es analizar los problemas a los que el proyecto del campus del iit tuvo que enfrentarse. Como punto de partida, se ha supuesto una relación entre la práctica y la teoría en la actividad de los autores implicados en el proyecto del campus del iit. Lejos de interrumpirse durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, existen evidencias históricas sólidas para deducir que ambas vertientes se desarrollaron en paralelo. En consecuencia, se ha contextualizado la secuencia histórica de los testimonios conservados, así como su transformación durante el periodo en que Mies estuvo a cargo del Plan General del campus. Significativamente, al ser contempladas bajo esta perspectiva, algunas ideas ya expresadas durante su práctica europea anterior resultan aún presentes durante la redacción del proyecto. En concreto, se puede trazar un paralelismo entre la comprensión particular de Mies de ciertos conceptos arquitectónicos —como los de ‘orden’ y ‘estructura’— y las teorías sobre el urbanismo de sus colaboradores, hecho que posiblemente facilitó el exitoso desarrollo del proyecto. El estudio de la manera en que estas ideas fueron reelaboradas y modificadas en el contexto urbano estadounidense, sumado al proceso específico de su aplicación en el proyecto del campus del iit, arroja una nueva luz para una interpretación crítica tanto de las razones que lo hicieron posible, como del papel real que los colaboradores de Mies tuvieron en su desarrollo y ejecución final.

Overview of international research in generic competence assessment

The competency assessment is a key issue for improving the quality of teaching and learning within the current European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The aim of this paper is to review the current research on assessment of generic competences, especially through online tools. It has conducted a search of the Web of Knowledge (Thomson Reuters) from keywords. It have been reviewed the abstracts and the results have been classified by time periods, countries and research area. It has selected a set of articles of the period 2010?2012, in which we have analyzed future trends. It is concluded that the research of assessment generic competences is been developing nowadays in educational area, although is still more important in the professional one. Additionally, it is surprising that appears most often used in preuniversity education levels. The academic context has increased research activities over the past five years, with different developments in the Anglo?Saxon countries over that those countries attached to the Bologna Process. The latest reports indicate that the learning competences must meet the individual reality of each person, so that the use of ICTs in their development and evaluation are essential given its immediacy and motivational ability. There is a clear trend towards an evaluation model that includes a 360º specific and generic competences analysis.

News in engineering education in Spain effective from 2010 in presence of external changes and mixed crisis, looking mostly to agro and civil engineers.

The engineering careers models were diverse in Europe, and are adopting now in Spain the Bolonia process for European Universities. Separated from older Universities, that are in part technically active, Civil Engineering (Caminos, Canales y Puertos) started at end of 18th century in Spain adopting the French models of Upper Schools for state civil servants with exam at entry. After 1800 intense wars, to conserve forest regions Ingenieros de Montes appeared as Upper School, and in 1855 also the Ingenieros Agrónomos to push up related techniques and practices. Other Engineers appeared as Upper Schools but more towards private factories. These ES got all adapted Lower Schools of Ingeniero Tecnico. Recently both grew much in number and evolved, linked also to recognized Professions. Spanish society, into European Community, evolved across year 2000, in part highly well, but with severe discordances, that caused severe youth unemployment with 2008-2011 crisis. With Bolonia process high formal changes step in from 2010-11, accepted with intense adaptation. The Lower Schools are changing towards the Upper Schools, and both that have shifted since 2010-11 various 4-years careers (Grado), some included into the precedent Professions, and diverse Masters. Acceptation of them to get students has started relatively well, and will evolve, and acceptation of new grades for employment in Spain, Europe or outside will be essential. Each Grado has now quite rigid curricula and programs, MOODLE was introduced to connect pupils, some specific uses of Personal Computers are taught in each subject. Escuela de Agronomos centre, reorganized with its old name in its precedent buildings at entrance of Campus Moncloa, offers Grados of Agronomic Engineering and Science for various public and private activities for agriculture, Alimentary Engineering for alimentary activities and control, Agro-Environmental Engineering more related to environment activities, and in part Biotechnology also in laboratories in Campus Monte-Gancedo for Biotechnology of Plants and Computational Biotechnology. Curricula include Basics, Engineering, Practices, Visits, English, ?project of end of career?, Stays. Some masters will conduce to specific professional diploma, list includes now Agro-Engineering, Agro-Forestal Biotechnology, Agro and Natural Resources Economy, Complex Physical Systems, Gardening and Landscaping, Rural Genie, Phytogenetic Resources, Plant Genetic Resources, Environmental Technology for Sustainable Agriculture, Technology for Human Development and Cooperation.

Survey on integration of Applied Geology and Geomorphology in Civil Engineering curricula in the framework of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by using practical trips

The engineer must have sufficient theoretical knowledge to be applied to solve specific problems, with the necessary capacity to simplify these approaches, and taking into account factors such as speed, simplicity, quality and economy. In Geology, its ultimate goal is the exploration of the history of the geological events through observation, deduction, reasoning and, in exceptional cases by the direct underground exploration or experimentation. Experimentation is very limited in Geology. Reproduction laboratory of certain phenomena or geological processes is difficult because both time and space become a large scale. For this reason, some Earth Sciences are in a nearly descriptive stage whereas others closest to the experimental, Geophysics and Geochemistry, have assimilated progress experienced by the physics and chemistry. Thus, Anglo-Saxon countries clearly separate Engineering Geology from Geological Engineering, i.e. Applied Geology to the Geological Engineering concepts. Although there is a big professional overlap, the first one corresponds to scientific approach, while the last one corresponds to a technological one. Applied Geology to Engineering could be defined as the Science and Applied Geology to the design, construction and performance of engineering infrastructures in and field geology discipline. There has been much discussion on the primacy of theory over practice. Today prevails the exaggeration of practice, but you get good workers and routine and mediocre teachers. This idea forgets too that teaching problem is a problem of right balance. The approach of the action lines on the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) framework provides for such balance. Applied Geology subject represents the first real contact with the physical environment with the practice profession and works. Besides, the situation of the topic in the first trace of Study Plans for many students implies the link to other subjects and topics of the career (tunnels, dams, groundwater, roads, etc). This work analyses in depth the justification of such practical trips. It shows the criteria and methods of planning and the result which manifests itself in pupils. Once practical trips experience developed, the objective work tries to know about results and changes on student’s motivation in learning perspective. This is done regardless of the outcome of their knowledge achievements assessed properly and they are not subject to such work. For this objective, it has been designed a survey about their motivation before and after trip. Survey was made by the Unidad Docente de Geología Aplicada of the Departamento de Ingeniería y Morfología del Terreno (Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid). It was completely anonymous. Its objective was to collect the opinion of the student as a key agent of learning and teaching of the subject. All the work takes place under new teaching/learning criteria approach at the European framework in Higher Education. The results are exceptionally good with 90% of student’s participation and with very high scores in a number of questions as the itineraries, teachers and visited places (range of 4.5 to 4.2 in a 5 points scale). The majority of students are very satisfied (average of 4.5 in a 5 points scale).