Constructed Fashion: The Catwalk System as an Architectural Project

Teniendo en cuenta que no hay nada que se escape de la moda 1, y extendiendonos más allá de esta manida discusión sobre intersecciones formales, esta investigación propone la pasarela como un lugar real de mediación entre moda y arquitectura. Asumiendo esta condición, la pasarela encarna nuevos modos de producción apropiándose de su espacio y estructura, y convierténdose en una máquina capaz de generar múltiples y más bien infinitos significados. La moda es sin duda un proyecto creativo, que ha venido utilizando la pasarela como un marco para la reordenación de su narrativa visual, renovándose asi mismo como fenómeno social. Este proyecto de investigación plantea, que contrariamente las tipologías actuales de las pasarelas no nos facilitan la comprensión de una colección – que suele ser el objetivo principal. Presentan en cambio un entorno en el que se acoplan diferentes formatos visuales, -con varias capas-, conviéndolo en una compleja construcción y provocando nunerosas fricciones con el espacio-tiempo-acción durante el proceso de creación de otros territorios. Partiendo de la idea de la pasarela como un sistema, en el que sus numerosas variables pueden producir diversas combinaciones, esta investigación plantea la hipótesis por la cual un nuevo sistema de pasarela se estaría formando enteramente con capas de información. Este escenario nos conduciría a la inmersión final de la moda en los tejidos de la virtualidad. Si bien el debate sobre la relevancia de los desfiles de moda se ha vuelto más evidente hoy en día, esta investigación especula con la posibilidad del pensamiento arquitectónico y como este puede introducir metodologías de análisis en el marco de estos desfiles de moda, proponiendo una lectura de la pasarela como un sistema de procedimientos específicos inherente a los proyectos/procesos de la arquitectura. Este enfoque enlaza ambas prácticas en un territorio común donde el espacio, el diseño, el comportamiento, el movimiento, y los cuerpos son ordenados/organizados en la creación de estas nuevas posibilidades visuales, y donde las interacciones activan la generación de la novedad y los mensajes. PALABRAS CLAVES moda, sistema, virtual, información, arquitectura Considering that there is nothing left untouched by fashion2, and going beyond the already exhausted discussion about formal intersections, this research introduces the catwalk as the real arena of mediation between fashion and architecture. By assuming this condition, the catwalk embodies new modes of production that appropriates its space and turns it into a machine for generating multiple if not infinite meanings. Fashion, as a creative project, has utilized the catwalk as a frame for rearranging its visual narrative and renewing itself as social phenomena. This research disputes, however, that the current typologies of catwalks do not facilitate the understanding of the collection – as its primary goal - but, instead, present an environment composed of multi-layered visual formats, becoming a complex construct that collides space-time-action in the creation of other territories. Departing from the analysis of the catwalk as a system and how its many variables can produce diverse combinations, this research presents the hypothesis that a new system is being formed entirely built out of information. Such scenario indicates fashion´s final immersion into the fabrics of virtuality. While the discussion about the relevance of fashion shows has become more evident today, this research serves as an introductory speculation on how architectural thinking can introduce methodologies of analysis within the framework of the fashion shows, by proposing a reading of the catwalk as a system through specific procedures that are inherent to architectural projects. Such approach intertwines both practices into a common territory where space, design, behaviour, movement, and bodies are organized for the creation of visual possibilities, and where interactions are triggered in the making of novelty and messages. KEYWORDS fashion, system, virtual, information, architectural

Energy rehabilitation of social housing for rent, as demonstrator in the LIFE 'New4Old' Project

The main goal of the cofounded by the European Commission LIFE Project, New4Old (LIFE10 ENV/ES/439), is to define the most appropriate method and the best available practice in social housing rehabilitation with energy and environmental sustainability criteria, as well as to apply innovative technologies in the fight against climate change through an efficient use of resources and energy. The institutions involved in the Project are the Technological Centre AITEMIN, Madrid Polytechnic University (UPM), Portugal Technological Centre for Ceramics and Glass (CTCV) and the Zaragoza City Housing Society (SMZV). The demonstrator project consists in the energy rehabilitation of a rental social housing building located in Zaragoza?s historic quarter, according to the conclusions and strategies developed for the LIFE project. In actions taken in households of this nature passive design strategies are essential due to the limited income of owners, who often cannot afford energy bills. Therefore, the proposed actions will help improve the building?s passive performance and reach a higher thermal comfort, without increasing the economic cost linked to energy consumption.

The Identification of Best Management Practices in a Materials Recovery Facility to Increase Solid Waste Diversion in the Department of Defense (DoD) Installations along the Front Range of Colorado to Satisfy the DoD Solid Waste Diversion Goal of 40 Percent

The five installations operated by the Department of Defense (DoD) in the Front Range region of Colorado do not meet the DoD non-hazardous solid waste diversion goal of 40 percent, further impacting landfills and generating greenhouse gases. This applied capstone project identifies and evaluates best management practices of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), qualitatively and quantitatively, to increase solid waste diversion at a DoD MRF. An environmental benefits model quantified the externalities of increasing solid waste diversion at the installations. By implementing best management practices at a MRF, the DoD would divert an additional 1,400 tons of solid waste per year, resulting in the equivalent of 1,502,567 gallons of gasoline being saved, among many benefits presented in this capstone.

Goal Orientation Profiles and Self-Concept of Secondary School Students

The objective of this study is to identify possible combinations of multiple goals that lead to different goal orientation profiles and to determine whether there are significant group differences in self-concept dimensions. The Achievement Goals Tendencies Questionnaire (AGTQ) and the Self-Description Questionnaire-II (SDQ-II) were administered to a sample of 2,022 students of Compulsory Secondary education, ranging in age from 12 to 16 years (M = 13.81, SD = 1.35). Cluster analysis identified four profiles of motivational goals: a group of students with a generalized high motivation profile, a group of students with generalized low motivation profile, a group of students with a predominance of learning goals and achievement goals, and a last group of students with a predominance of achievement goals and social reinforcement goals. Results reveal statistically significant differences among the profiles obtained regarding self-concept dimensions.

Project SCORE! Coaches’ Perceptions of an Online Tool to Promote Positive Youth Development in Sport

Research points to the potential of youth sport as an avenue to support the growth of particular assets and outcomes. A recurring theme in this line of research is the need to train coaches to deliberately deliver themes relating to positive youth development (PYD) consistently in youth sport programs. The purpose of the study was to design and deliver a technology-based PYD program. Project SCORE! (www.projectscore.ca) is a series of 10 lessons to help coaches integrate PYD into sport. Four youth sport coaches completed the program in this first phase of this research and were interviewed. The goal of this study was to gain some insights from coaches as they completed the program. Positive comments about the program (i.e. ease of use, success of particular lessons, coach’s personal growth) and challenges regarding teaching positive skills to youth are discussed. These results helped to shape the program and make necessary changes so that it may be used for a larger research study. Other implications and future research directions are discussed.

Community Based Residential Facilities Demonstration Project.

"Public Act 89-530 requires the Illinois Dept. on Aging to report annually to the General Assembly regarding its efforts to implement a Community Based Residential Facilities Demonstration Project (CBRFDP). The goal of the project is to reduce Medicaid expenditures for long-term care by allowing individuals to remain in a community setting, rather than reside in a nursing facility, thus reducing the dependency upon Medicaid."

Using measurement data in a TSPSM project

One of the challenges for software engineering is collecting meaningful data from industrial projects. Software process improvement depends on measurement to provide baseline status and confirming evidence of the effect of process changes. Without data, any conclusions rely on intuition and guessing. The Team Software ProcessSM (TSPSM) provides a powerful framework for data collection and analysis, in addition to its primary goal as a basis for highly effective software development. In this paper, we describe the experiences of, and benefits realized by, a team using the TSP for the first time. By reviewing how this particular team collected and used data, we show features of the TSP that make it a powerful foundation for software process improvement.

Supply chain optimisation of pyrolysis plant deployment using goal programming

This paper presents a goal programming model to optimise the deployment of pyrolysis plants in Punjab, India. Punjab has an abundance of waste straw and pyrolysis can convert this waste into alternative bio-fuels, which will facilitate the provision of valuable energy services and reduce open field burning. A goal programming model is outlined and demonstrated in two case study applications: small scale operations in villages and large scale deployment across Punjab's districts. To design the supply chain, optimal decisions for location, size and number of plants, downstream energy applications and feedstocks processed are simultaneously made based on stakeholder requirements for capital cost, payback period and production cost of bio-oil and electricity. The model comprises quantitative data obtained from primary research and qualitative data gathered from farmers and potential investors. The Punjab district of Fatehgarh Sahib is found to be the ideal location to initially utilise pyrolysis technology. We conclude that goal programming is an improved method over more conventional methods used in the literature for project planning in the field of bio-energy. The model and findings developed from this study will be particularly valuable to investors, plant developers and municipalities interested in waste to energy in India and elsewhere. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hierarchical approach to project planning:the case of a petroleum pipeline construction

Projects exposed to an uncertain environment must be adapted to deal with the effective integration of various planning elements and the optimization of project parameters. Time, cost, and quality are the prime objectives of a project that need to be optimized to fulfill the owner's goal. In an uncertain environment, there exist many other conflicting objectives that may also need to be optimized. These objectives are characterized by varying degrees of conflict. Moreover, an uncertain environment also causes several changes in the project plan throughout its life, demanding that the project plan be totally flexible. Goal programming (GP), a multiple criteria decision making technique, offers a good solution for this project planning problem. There the planning problem is considered from the owner's perspective, which leads to classifying the project up to the activity level. GP is applied separately at each level, and the formulated models are integrated through information flow. The flexibility and adaptability of the models lies in the ease of updating the model parameters at the required level through changing priorities and/or constraints and transmitting the information to other levels. The hierarchical model automatically provides integration among various element of planning. The proposed methodology is applied in this paper to plan a petroleum pipeline construction project, and its effectiveness is demonstrated.

Supporting and Enhancing Research on Cultural Heritage in France: the PATRIMA Project

In this paper, we first overview the French project on heritage called PATRIMA, launched in 2011 as one of the Projets d'investissement pour l'avenir, a French funding program meant to last for the next ten years. The overall purpose of the PATRIMA project is to promote and fund research on various aspects of heritage presentation and preservation. Such research being interdisciplinary, research groups in history, physics, chemistry, biology and computer science are involved in this project. The PATRIMA consortium involves research groups from universities and from the main museums or cultural heritage institutions in Paris and surroundings. More specifically, the main members of the consortium are the two universities of Cergy-Pontoise and Versailles Saint-Quentin and the following famous museums or cultural institutions: Musée du Louvre, Château de Versailles, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Musée du Quai Branly, Musée Rodin. In the second part of the paper, we focus on two projects funded by PATRIMA named EDOP and Parcours and dealing with data integration. The goal of the EDOP project is to provide users with a data space for the integration of heterogeneous information about heritage; Linked Open Data are considered for an effective access to the corresponding data sources. On the other hand, the Parcours project aims at building an ontology on the terminology about the techniques dealing with restoration and/or conservation. Such an ontology is meant to provide a common terminology to researchers using different databases and different vocabularies.

The production of a framework of competences for pharmacy practice in the European Union:the PHAR-QA project

Background and objectives: The goal of the PHAR-QA (Qualityassurance in European pharmacy education and training) project isthe production of a European framework of competences for pharmacypractice. This PHAR-QA framework (www.phar-qa.eu) will beEuropean and consultative i.e. it will be used for harmonization—butwill not to replace existing national QA systems.Methods: Using the proposals for competences produced by the previousPHARMINE(Pharmacy education in Europe; www.pharmine.eu) project, together with those of other sources, the authors produced a listof 68 personal and patient care competencies. Using internet surveytools the stakeholders—European pharmacy community (universitydepartment staff and students, community, hospital and industrialpharmacists, as well as pharmacists working in clinical biology andother branches, together with representatives of chambers and associations)—were invited to rank the proposals and add comments.Results and conclusions: Pharmacology and pharmacotherapy togetherwith competences such as ‘‘supply of appropriate medicinestaking into account dose, correct formulation, concentration, administrationroute and timing’’ ranked high. Other topics such as ‘‘currentknowledge of design, synthesis, isolation, characterisation and biologicalevaluation of active substances’’ ranked lower.Implications for practice: In the short term, it is anticipated that thissurvey will stimulate a productive discussion on pharmacy educationand practice by the various stakeholders. In the long term, thisframework could serve as a European model framework of competencesfor pharmacy practice.Acknowledgements: With the support of the Lifelong Learningprogramme of the European Union: 527194-LLP-1-2012-1-BEERASMUS-EMCR. This publication reflects the views only of theauthors; the Commission cannot be held responsible for any usewhich may be made of the information contained therein.

Improving Student Mathematics Achievement through Self Regulation and Goal Setting

As middle school students’ mathematic scores decline in comparison to other countries, researchers have found self-regulation to be a tool to improve students’ mathematics achievement. The following is an action research project conducted in a middle school where result showed an increase in students’ mathematics achievement.

Integrated construction project delivery system in the U.S. public sector: An information modeling framework

Integrated project delivery (IPD) method has recently emerged as an alternative to traditional delivery methods. It has the potential to overcome inefficiencies of traditional delivery methods by enhancing collaboration among project participants. Information and communication technology (ICT) facilitates IPD by effective management, processing and communication of information within and among organizations. While the benefits of IPD, and the role of ICT in realizing them, have been generally acknowledged, the US public construction sector is very slow in adopting IPD. The reasons are - lack of experience and inadequate understanding of IPD in public owner as confirmed by the results of the questionnaire survey conducted under this research study. The public construction sector should be aware of the value of IPD and should know the essentials for effective implementation of IPD principles - especially, they should be cognizant of the opportunities offered by advancements in ICT to realize this.^ In order to address the need an IPD Readiness Assessment Model (IPD-RAM) was developed in this research study. The model was designed with a goal to determine IPD readiness of a public owner organization considering selected IPD principles, and ICT levels, at which project functions were carried out. Subsequent analysis led to identification of possible improvements in ICTs that have the potential to increase IPD readiness scores. Termed as the gap identification, this process was used to formulate improvement strategies. The model had been applied to six Florida International University (FIU) construction projects (case studies). The results showed that the IPD readiness of the organization was considerably low and several project functions can be improved by using higher and/or advanced level ICT tools and methods. Feedbacks from a focus group comprised of FIU officials and an independent group of experts had been received at various stages of this research and had been utilized during development and implementation of the model. Focus group input was also helpful for validation of the model and its results. It was hoped that the model developed would be useful to construction owner organizations in order to assess their IPD readiness and to identify appropriate ICT improvement strategies.^

Integrated Construction Project Delivery System in the U.S. Public Sector: An Information Modeling Framework

Integrated project delivery (IPD) method has recently emerged as an alternative to traditional delivery methods. It has the potential to overcome inefficiencies of traditional delivery methods by enhancing collaboration among project participants. Information and communication technology (ICT) facilitates IPD by effective management, processing and communication of information within and among organizations. While the benefits of IPD, and the role of ICT in realizing them, have been generally acknowledged, the US public construction sector is very slow in adopting IPD. The reasons are - lack of experience and inadequate understanding of IPD in public owner as confirmed by the results of the questionnaire survey conducted under this research study. The public construction sector should be aware of the value of IPD and should know the essentials for effective implementation of IPD principles - especially, they should be cognizant of the opportunities offered by advancements in ICT to realize this. In order to address the need an IPD Readiness Assessment Model (IPD-RAM) was developed in this research study. The model was designed with a goal to determine IPD readiness of a public owner organization considering selected IPD principles, and ICT levels, at which project functions were carried out. Subsequent analysis led to identification of possible improvements in ICTs that have the potential to increase IPD readiness scores. Termed as the gap identification, this process was used to formulate improvement strategies. The model had been applied to six Florida International University (FIU) construction projects (case studies). The results showed that the IPD readiness of the organization was considerably low and several project functions can be improved by using higher and/or advanced level ICT tools and methods. Feedbacks from a focus group comprised of FIU officials and an independent group of experts had been received at various stages of this research and had been utilized during development and implementation of the model. Focus group input was also helpful for validation of the model and its results. It was hoped that the model developed would be useful to construction owner organizations in order to assess their IPD readiness and to identify appropriate ICT improvement strategies.

Project SCORE! Coaches’ Perceptions of an Online Tool to Promote Positive Youth Development in Sport

Research points to the potential of youth sport as an avenue to support the growth of particular assets and outcomes. A recurring theme in this line of research is the need to train coaches to deliberately deliver themes relating to positive youth development (PYD) consistently in youth sport programs. The purpose of the study was to design and deliver a technology-based PYD program. Project SCORE! (www.projectscore.ca) is a series of 10 lessons to help coaches integrate PYD into sport. Four youth sport coaches completed the program in this first phase of this research and were interviewed. The goal of this study was to gain some insights from coaches as they completed the program. Positive comments about the program (i.e. ease of use, success of particular lessons, coach’s personal growth) and challenges regarding teaching positive skills to youth are discussed. These results helped to shape the program and make necessary changes so that it may be used for a larger research study. Other implications and future research directions are discussed.