A framework for social networked architectural education

Students engage in Social Networks (SN) as a form of interaction with friends and tutors, as news or learning resource, to make their voices heard or to listen to other views and many more. Online SN work in close association with offline SN to form a blended social environment that greatly enables and enhances students' learning. Some Schools of Architecture have struggled or failed to engage in the potential of SN or their respective University's online Learning Management Systems (LMS). Despite efforts to facilitate blended learning environments or to engage students in problem-based learning activities architectural education often fails to tap into the rich resources that online social learning environments offers through their collective and social intelligence of its users. This paper proposes a framework for SN architectural education that provides opportunities for linking the academic LMS with private or professional SN such that it enhances the learning experience and deepens the knowledge of the students. The paper proposes ways of utilising SN supported learning environments in other areas of the curriculum and concludes with directions of how this framework can be employed in professional settings.

Beyond eurocentrism? Heritage conservation and the politics of difference

There is a long-standing debate concerning the suitability of European or ‘western’ approaches to the conservation of cultural heritage in other parts of world. The Cultural Charter for Africa (1976), The Burra Charter (1979) and Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) are notable manifestations of such concerns. These debates are particularly vibrant in Asia today. This article highlights a number of charters, declarations and publications that have been conceived to recalibrate the international field of heritage governance in ways that address the perceived inadequacies of documents underpinning today’s global conservation movement, such as the 1964 Venice Charter. But as Venice has come to stand as a metonym for a ‘western’ conservation approach, intriguing questions arise concerning what is driving these assertions of geographic, national or civilisational difference in Asia. To address such questions, the article moves between a number of explanatory frameworks. It argues declarations about Asia’s culture, its landscapes, and its inherited pasts are, in fact, the combined manifestations of post-colonial subjectivities, a desire for prestige on the global stage of cultural heritage governance and the practical challenges of actually doing conservation in the region.

The design of architectural dialect and local identity as Islam strategy in promoting its thought in Indonesia

The design of mosques in Indonesia uses basic principal form of Hindu temple with its roof taking the form of layered pyramid (3, 5, 7). This architectural dialect design approach was effective in promoting Islam in most regions of the Indonesian Archipelago. The detailed explanation about architectural dialect will be elaborated in my full paper. This paper discuss about a friendly approach by using Hindu Building as mosque. It has given a greatly impact to the surrounding society to Accept new religion. Such temple-styled mosques have a history dating back to 1200 AD and form the basic inspiration for mosque designs in all parts of the country. The layered pyramid mosque’s architectural dialect design proves that architecture has played significant role in promoting Islamic doctrines in Indonesia. 85% of the total Indonesian population is Muslim. Based on these statistics, it is widely evident that the use of dialect design as a political strategy by Muslim scholars was effective in introducing and promoting Islamic ideologies in Indonesia. The strategy facilitated psychological acceptance of Islam by the local populations who were initially Hindu believers and were accustomed to the temple. Additionally, the design ensured the peaceful introduction and spread of Islam in the region. Moreover, the fact that the dialect design was based on local identity, combined with local architecture that had highly recognizable building elements (roof and ornament) promoted the spread of Islam in Indonesia.

Moral rights and Australian contemporary architecture : recent professional dilemmas and the thoughts of Peter Muller in this discourse

The moral rights of contemporary design projects has arisen as a difficult ethical dilemma in Australian architectural discourses, and is more complex when matters of heritage are implicated. This paper considers the position of moral rights under the AustralianCopyright Act 19682 having regard to the Australian exemplars of Peter Muller. Muller is one of the most highly regarded Australian architects of the twentieth century possessing a passion for organic architecture realised in several significant Australian and Indonesian design exemplars. The paper considers recent Australian debates about moral rights and projects that implicate several architectural and landscape architecture projects, the current legal interpretations, and explains the ideas, values, and opinions and practice of Muller in this context. A clear conclusion is that while the Act confers rights, there is no mechanism to ensure adherence to these rights, and particularly in the situation of a living designer where one of their designs is being accorded heritage status.

A review of “Raj Rhapsodies: tourism, heritage and the seduction of history”

A book review of - Raj Rhapsodies: tourism, heritage and the seduction of history, edited by Carol Henderson and Maxine Weisgrau, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2007, xiv + 236 pp., ISBN 13: 9780754670674