Temporal and Urban Peripheries in Systems Thinking

The “Temporal and Urban Peripheries” is the fall project of the final year of the Architecture program of Izmir University of Economics in Turkey. With a critical and contextual look at the built environment, the studio focuses on the significance of the incorporation of history, urban design, and parametrics in architectural design. This short article presents the thrust of the studio, basic concepts, the process, and outcomes.

Context matters! Thinking about what you give

Many of us when faced with someone who is in less fortunate circumstances than ourselves think what can I do to help? What can I give? But for those of us who are not millionaires much of what we give is related to what we can afford and what we think might be of use to someone. So we may think of giving someone who is hungry some food, sponsoring a child in school, or buying a copy of The Big Issue. For those travelling to low income communities many of us would like to bring something that may be useful to our host communities. But what do we bring?

This article presents some of the findings from the Trickle Out Project fieldwork looking about how we can make donations that are appropriate to on the ground conditions in less developing countries

PROBLEM-SOLVING IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - A SPECIFIC DEFICIT IN PLANNING ABILITY

The study investigated problem solving ability in schizophrenia. Thirty DSM-IIIR schizophrenic patients and 27 matched normal controls were tested on the Three-Dimensional Computerised Tower of London Test (3-D CTL Test) (Morris et al., 1993). The patients took significantly more moves to solve a series of problems and solved significantly fewer problems in the predetermined minimum number of moves. The patients response times, as measured using a control version of the task (the 3-D CTL Control), were longer than those of the controls. However, when latencies were adjusted to take into account the slower responses overall, the patients planning times were not significantly increased. Inaccurate planning, as defined by taking more moves, did not correlate with either positive or negative symptoms, but the response times tended to be longer in patients who had more negative symptoms. The findings suggest that there is a deficit in problem solving activity in schizophrenia that may be associated with translating 'willed intentions' into action, independent of slower motor speed.