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Can regional railway become emission-free with recently announced vehicles? - A case study of Bavaria
Get PDFSignificant shares of regional passenger railway still rely on pollutive diesel vehicles. Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens, and Stadler have reacted and recently announced Battery Electric and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (BEVs and FCEVs). In this paper, we analyze to what extent these new vehicles can replace diesel technology on a large variety of regional railway lines in Bavaria, Germany. Our approach is based on two databases that we build: One for the announced emission-free vehicles and one for existing lines. We compare the lines and vehicles in terms of range, axle load, velocity, and specific power. The study reveals that 72 out of the 73 lines can be operated with an emission-free vehicle. The main driver for BEVs is their range and maximum velocity. Depending on these characteristics, they can operate between 53% and 82% of all lines. The main driver for FCEVs is their specific power and maximum velocity. One vehicle, the Alstom iLint, can only operate 18% of all lines due to its limited performance. The Siemens Mireo Plus H series has higher performance and can operate 97% of the lines
Hofjes van liefdadigheid: De vereniging van arm en rijk in stadsjuwelen
No full textA hof is an architectural unit of buildings surrounding a court with restricted traffic (Van Dale Dictionary of the Dutch Language)
Throughout the years, the hof has regularly been proposed as a model for urbanization in the Netherlands. In 1916, for example, the architect Mels Meijers pointed to the hofjes van liefdadigheid dating from the Middle Ages as the only Dutch example of residential blocks suited to the public housing task ensuing from the Dutch Housing Act of 1901. He predicted that the hof model would ‘find a new application’.
The hof is also receiving lots of attention in contemporary residential architecture. One might propose the economic argument of high density in inner cities as reason for this, but there are also other considerations. Courts offer a semipublic, closed environment in which there are no cars. The social safety offered by this typology makes the hof increasingly attractive in a nation whose population is growing older and more individualized. The recent interest shown by architects and developers in the architectural representativeness of the residential environment is also a possible reason for the revaluation of the court model.
Hofjes van liefdadigheid are a typical Dutch phenomenon. This particular form of charitable housing for the poor, in which a courtyard is surrounded by almshouses, has existed since the 14th century and became popular in the Dutch Golden age of the 17th century and in the 18th century. The cities of Amsterdam, Leiden and Haarlem have the most hofjes, but they can be found from Groningen to Maastricht. A special characteristic of the hofje van liefdadigheid is that charitable housing was coupled with the fact that it represented the founder. Rich people from the upper classes who had no heirs would, while still alive, bequeath their capital to the construction of a new hofje, where poor elderly people (usually women) could live for free. Most of the hofjes are named after their founder, whose name would thus live on and whose reputation would be exemplified by the architecture. The ‘plainest’ of the hofjes are tucked away on an inner parcel of land and only accessible from the street via a nondescript gate. The ‘richest’ of the hofjes manifest themselves as stately buildings along the canals.
Hofjes van liefdadigheid are a typical Dutch phenomenon. This particular form of charitable housing for the poor, in which a courtyard is surrounded by almshouses, has existed since the 14th century and became popular in the Dutch Golden age of the 17th century and in the 18th century. The cities of Amsterdam, Leiden and Haarlem have the most hofjes, but they can be found from Groningen to Maastricht. A special characteristic of the hofje van liefdadigheid is that charitable housing was coupled with the fact that it represented the founder. Rich people from the upper classes who had no heirs would, while still alive, bequeath their capital to the construction of a new hofje, where poor elderly people (usually women) could live for free. Most of the hofjes are named after their founder, whose name would thus live on and whose reputation would be exemplified by the architecture. The ‘plainest’ of the hofjes are tucked away on an inner parcel of land and only accessible from the street via a nondescript gate. The ‘richest’ of the hofjes manifest themselves as stately buildings along the canals.
This article gives a brief overview of the charitable hofje as an architectural and urban artefact. The representative aspect is discussed on the basis of three hofjes in Haarlem, each with a distinctive character, that were founded by wealthy private individuals. The fourth example in this analysis is the Proveniershof in Haarlem, which was established by the municipal government. This overview is predicated upon a number of spatial elements that are considered characteristic of the hofje typology. They are found in all four examples, albeit in varying forms, materials and similarities. Moreover, the hof’s location in the urban fabric and its accessibility has been an important factor in the analysis of the hofjes in our study.Een hof is een architectonische eenheid van bebouwing rondom een (autoluw) plein (Van Dale – Groot woordenboek der Nederlandse taal)
Door de jaren heen is de hof in Nederland regelmatig naar voren geschoven als model van verstedelijking.1 Zo bestempelt de architect Mels Meijers in 1916 hofjes van liefdadigheid als het enige Hollandse voorbeeld van ‘blokbouw’ voor de opgave van de massawoningbouw die voortkwam uit de Woningwet van 1901. Hij voorspelt dat hofbebouwing als typologie ‘een nieuwe toepassing gaat vinden’.
Ook in de hedendaagse woningbouwarchitectuur staat de hof in de belangstelling. Je kunt daarvoor het economische argument van hoge dichtheden in binnenstedelijke situaties aandragen, maar er zijn ook andere overwegingen. Hoven bieden een semi-openbare, besloten woonomgeving, waarin de auto buiten beeld is. De sociale veiligheid die in de typologie besloten ligt, maakt de hof voor een vergrijzend en individualiserend Nederland steeds aantrekkelijker. De recente belangstelling van architecten en ontwikkelaars voor de architectonische representativiteit van de woonomgeving is ook een mogelijke reden voor de herwaardering van de hof.
Hofjes van liefdadigheid staan bekend als een typisch Hollands fenomeen. Deze particuliere vorm van armenhuisvesting bestaat sinds de 14e eeuw en komt tot bloei in de (Gouden) 17e en 18e eeuw. Amsterdam, Leiden en Haarlem tellen er de meeste, maar ze zijn van Groningen tot Maastricht te vinden.
Bijzondere eigenschap van de hofjes van liefdadigheid is dat armenhuisvesting gepaard ging met de representatie van de stichter. Rijke lieden uit hogere burgerlijke kringen, zonder erfgenamen, besloten al bij leven hun kapitaal na te laten aan een nieuw te bouwen hofje, waar arme bejaarden (meestal vrouwen) kosteloos konden wonen. De meeste hofjes dragen de naam van de stichter, wiens naam zo voortleeft en wiens reputatie tot uitdrukking kon worden gebracht in de architectonische verschijning. De ‘eenvoudigste’ hofjes liggen verstopt op binnenterreinen en zijn vanaf de straat slechts via een onopvallend poortje toegankelijk. De ‘rijkste’ hofjes manifesteren zich als statige panden langs de gracht.
In deze bijdrage wordt een beknopt typologisch overzicht gegeven van het charitatieve hofje als architectonisch en stedelijk artefact. Het aspect van de representatie wordt besproken aan de hand van drie, door rijke particulieren gestichte, Haarlemse hofjes, met ieder een eigen karakter. De door de stedelijke overheid gestichte Proveniershof in Haarlem is het vierde voorbeeld dat in deze analyse is meegenomen. Aan de basis van het overzicht ligt een aantal ruimtelijke elementen dat kenmerkend wordt geacht voor de hofjestypologie. In alle voorbeelden komen ze terug, zij het in verschillende vorm, materialisering en onderlinge afstemming. Daarnaast is de positie van de hof in het stedelijk weefsel en de toegankelijkheid belangrijk geweest in de analyse van de onderzochte hofjes.
 
Architecture and the Time of Space: The Double Progression of Body and Brain
Get PDFDuring my early introduction to architecture I found that I was motivated not only by matters pertaining to what architecture is, but also, to what it can do. Thus, the questions motivating this work derive from my education in architecture which, at their most rudimentary level, entail a deep fascination with the nature of space, and thus the problem of time. And, subsequently, a practical desire to understand the conditions that constituted experience, and thus perception, sensation and mind. My interest also developed from a general disposition towards others and world founded in principles of human equality and rights with respect to both freedom and responsibility. During my years practicing architecture, these questions as they were brought through the perspective of design continued to inspire me. At the same time, my interest in investigating these questions through theoretical and philosophical research persisted until my aspiration to engage in critical thought outpaced my desire to practice. Hence, a turn in career to work as an academic in the discipline of architecture and the area of architecture theory.
This research may be perceived by some as situated outside the realm of architecture. However, this is not the case. My approach to architecture theory is not one that begins with a study of the object, or, for some, one might say the subject of architecture. That is, if the object is understood as the manifestation in thought, process or form of the building or built environment (real or conceived) itself; and if the subject is understood as the thought or idea emanating from the mind of the architect (as author). While there is much architecture theory advanced from this perspective lining my own bookshelves and utilized in my work as an educator. The concerns that have always called me towards thinking about architecture as the imagined and constructed world in which we live are those that query the very nature of concepts, notions, ideologies and intellectual constructions and beliefs upon which culture and society – architecture as both a cultural product and a social actor – are formed. This goes, as well, to the considerations that motivate my concern for people, not users or inhabitants as such, but as ontologically situated beings in the world. Accordingly, my work primarily deals with the content, history and effects of architecture as it relates to theories of space, time, the body, and cognition. Employing and developing theories and methods from disciplines including philosophy, cultural studies, literary theory, political, social and economic theory, cognitive psychology, and the neurosciences in the broadest sense.
Admittedly, the nature of theoretical discourse has shown itself to be problematic over the past fifty-plus years; it has also proven to be transformative. Critical thinkers in the late 1960s developed a sustained critique of their philosophical predecessors – primarily in regard to Marx on one hand and Heidegger on the other – with a critique of social history and a displacement of metaphysics resulting in a repositioning of social and cultural discourse. Of course, the debate unfolded against the philosophical and aesthetic background of not only Marx and Heidegger, but also Nietzsche, Hegel and Freud on one hand, and Manet, Cézanne, Baudelaire and Mallarmé, Wagner and Debussy on the other. In architecture, the debate extended to Ruskin and Wölfflin, and to Wright and Corbusier, amongst others. This period, in itself, refers to an unprecedented artistic, scientific, economic, and technological mutation. Prevalent underpinnings remain identifiable, for instance an attack on the absolute nature of knowledge, which has brought about a fundamental rethinking of both the nature of consciousness, as well as a critique of science. As Foucault suggested, one of the great problems that arose in the 1950s was that of the political status of science and the ideological functions that it could serve. Another rebuke can be seen as the challenge to the primacy of truth as an adequation of subject to thing. This culminated in a radical critique of subjectivity resulting, some years later, in the so-called post-humanist-subject. In order to be rid of the subject itself, Foucault, in ‘Truth and Power’ (1977) argued that it was necessary to dispense with the essentialist subject both at the extremes and in-between the enlightenment’s humanist subject and its ideals of knowledge as self-constituting; as well as phenomenology’s fabrication of the subject as evolving through and embodying the course of history.
Reflecting on this history, that post-war moment of theory, one cannot help but be struck by the complexity and the ambiguity of the adventure; qualities most evident in the fact that new spaces and new means of writing and drawing, of thinking and making emerged. Ideas that modified our understanding of both communication and the image, of both space and time. Discourses, when combined with a reflexivity within certain architectures and certain texts, rendered them somehow indefinitely open. In the 1960s, literary theory transformed thought on both sides of the Atlantic. For instance, Roland Barthes’s de-sanctioning of the biography-centric author, or the removal of authority from the author turned scriptor in ‘The Death of the Author’ (1967), or Julia Kristeva’s concept of intertextuality with ‘Word, Dialogue and Novel’ (1969). These works impacted our thinking on linguistic phenomena and the origin (or non-originality) of textual content and further, on the invention of new forms of writing and affective relations. Such theories informed and redirected thinking in architecture, for instance, Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas’s work ‘Semiotics and Architecture: Ideological Consumption or Theoretical Work’ was published in the first issue of Oppositions, an architectural journal produced between 1973 and 1984 by the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York. With this, the influence of the French intellectual climate as well as the Italian discourse on semiotics was brought to the centre of Anglo-American discourse in architecture theory.
The intellectual trajectory along which this history is traced and the terrain on which it now takes place will be recognisable to anyone familiar with the work of such thinkers as Henri Bergson, Louis Althusser, Gabriel Tarde, Walter Benjamin, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, Jean-Francois Lyotard, and, of course, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, and Maurizio Lazzarato. The importance of the radically original works that emerged in the seventies and eighties cannot be overestimated, for instance: Foucault’s Discipline and Punish and his lectures at the Collège de France, The Birth of Biopolitics, and Deleuze and Guattari’s Capitalism and Schizophrenia volumes Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus. These works, translated into English shortly after their original publication, were being read throughout many disciplines outside of philosophy including schools of architecture, and their influence can only be said to have increased.
I share the above brief history so as to situate my work for those less familiar with the work of theory – whether architecture or otherwise – as this, too, is the intellectual trajectory and exploration along which my own work, as well as many of my contemporaries, travels. In my own work, the influence of the nineteenth/ twentieth-century French vitalist philosopher Henri Bergson – the great thinker of time and, as Walter Benjamin suggested, a seminal source to consult in considering the problem of experience – has quite profoundly informed my thinking and shaped its outcomes. Both with respect to time and space as well as body and brain, his influence is reflected in the title of this volume. That said, this is not a collection of chapters on Bergson’s philosophy. It is a collection on critical concepts I believe to be of importance for contemporary critique, delivered through topics that are relevant – at times directly and at others indirectly – to our current moment. This is a work of great commitment and it has sustained itself over time. It is my hope the reader finds some value in this as well
Urban policy and transformation of immigrant neighbourhoods in the Netherlands
Get PDFThis paper reviews the relationship between immigrant integration and urban policies in the Netherlands in the period between the post-war until the 2010s. It shows how the gradual shift from a social democratic towards a liberal welfare regime since the 1980s has influenced urban policies, which in turn, have had a direct impact on the location and transformation of immigrant neighbourhoods. The review suggests that the outcomes of the urban transformation processes are detrimental for the social inclusion of the immigrant groups, which is the main objective of the integration policies
Public Life, Immigrant Amenities and Socio-cultural Inclusion: The presence and changes of Turkish amenities in Amsterdam
Get PDFImmigrant amenities contribute to the public life of the street by supporting its diversity and vitality, which is crucial for the sociocultural inclusion of immigrants into mainstream society. However, immigrant amenities change within urban transformation processes, many times in the context of urban renewal. These changes influence their contribution to the public life of the street. How do these changes in immigrant amenities relate to the sociocultural inclusion of immigrants? This study focuses on the changes of Turkish amenities in Amsterdam at street and city levels. It concludes that the decline of immigrant amenities contradicts policy aimed at supporting the socio-cultural inclusion of immigrants
Architecture Competitions as Pedagogical Tools: Bridging the Unit and the Office
Get PDFArchitecture competitions are considered an essential part of the profession. But when entering the realm of pedagogy, can competitions be understood and used as tools to expand architectural practice and intertwine its professional and pedagogical strands? In this article I question and examine the sites of knowledge production that bridge the gap between academic and professional practice, and explore the idea that architecture competitions can become tools for interconnecting the traditionally separated ways of producing architecture.
I explore a case study in which a pedagogical unit and a professional architecture office come together by using professional architecture competitions as pedagogical tools. Following the first ten years of Elia Zenghelis’s simultaneous pedagogical and professional practice at the Architectural Association’s Diploma Unit 9 and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, I trace the original premises and the outcomes of this fruitful relationship. Four architecture competitions that were part of both the academic exercises of the Unit and the professional practice of the Office are explored in detail using archival documents from the Architectural Association. Examining the shifting nature of roles, viewpoints and ideas in this historical account, the professional mechanism of architecture competitions is seen as a crucial tool for collective knowledge production in the space of architecture education, and vice versa.
This essay explores a case study in which a pedagogical Unit and a professional architecture Office come together by using professional architecture competitions as pedagogical tools. Following the first ten years of simultaneous architecture pedagogical and professional practice of Elia Zenghelis at the Architectural Association’s Diploma Unit 9 and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, this article traces original premises and the outcomes of this fruitful relationship. Four architecture competitions that were part of both the academic exercises of the Unit and the professional practice of the Office are explored in detail using archival documents from the Architectural Association. Examining the shifting nature of roles, viewpoints and ideas in this historical account, the professional mechanism of architecture competitions is seen as a crucial tool for collective knowledge production in the space of architecture education, and vice versa
The Hannes Meyer Seminars at the Bauhaus Dessau (1980–1986) as a Contact Zone for Finnish and East German Architects
Get PDFThis article charts transnational exchanges between East German and Finnish architects in the development of adaptive housing solutions for urban sites. It focuses on the Hannes Meyer Seminars – a series of annual international design workshops held at the Bauhaus Dessau from 1980 to 1986 – as a contact zone. The seminars challenged dominant forms of mass housing, and put forth alternative models to suit historic contexts. These exchanges went beyond previous (one-directional) material and technical exports that stretched back as far as the mid-1950s. As a result of the policy of détente in the early 1970s, relations between Finland and the GDR began to form an ever more complex and entangled network, with greater emphasis on knowledge transfer and collaboration. Formal agreements on ‘scientific and technical cooperation’ thus provided the framework for the intensification of contacts between design schools such as the College for Architecture and Civil Engineering (HAB, Hochschule für Architektur und Bauwesen) in Weimar and the Technical University Tampere. This opened a dialogue about contextual design (the adaptation of industrialised housing to the different needs and lifestyles of individual users), as well as historic settings, new tools such as CAD/CAM, sociological and historical research, and the discourse of postmodernism
Trading Zones and the Stickiness of Ideas
Get PDFFollowing up on her description of architecture as a discourse, or a long and complex conversation sustained by a multitude of professionals, Sarah Williams Goldhagen elaborates on the way this discourse has evolved over the decades, shifting from style as conveyor of meaning, to climate and technique as central concerns of the contemporary architect. Ranging from current historiography and its role in pedagogy, to the different agendas that inform architecture practice and the architecture competition in our time, this conversation provides a series of powerful leads for further investigation
Seamless interoperability in logistics by ontology alignment
Get PDFThis paper is dedicated to applying ontology alignment systems to the heterogeneity problem in logistics. The primary motivation for doing so is to enable interoperability among different IT systems in logistics, all with their own database scheme. We first analyze different standards for logistics interoperability, which are implemented by XML schema definition (XSD) or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) with implicit and inconsistent semantics across these open standards. To analyze the applicability of ontology alignment, we create two ontologies from two well-known standards that are rich in terms of semantic relations between entities. These ontologies are subjected to the state-of-the-art alignment systems, applying matching with and without logistics background knowledge. Our experimental analyses show that the alignment using background knowledge with some annotations finds better mappings between the given logistics standards and is thus applicable to real-world situations under particular conditions
Technology acceptance and return management in apparel e-commerce
Get PDFReturns management, especially in apparel e-commerce, has gained increased attention due to the ecological and economic implications it imposes. However, research which explores the relationship between (i) reasons which drive customers’ apparel returns and (ii) customer-based instruments designed to reduce online apparel returns, has not yet been empirically examined in literature, especially from the point of view of customers. This research aims to examine the customers’ technology acceptance of four technological alternatives designed to prevent unnecessary apparel returns. To determine the customers’ technology acceptance, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is used. To operationalize TAM, a Multi-Criteria Decision-Analysis (MCDA) approach is applied, wherein the Bayesian group Best-Worst Method (BWM) is used to infer the weights of the indicators (i.e. criteria) that contribute to the customers’ (users’) technology acceptance. This is done within the context of apparel e-commerce and with the application of qualitative tools such as an online BWM survey and expert interviews. The results show that reliable fit & size information is the most important sub-indicator contributing to the customers’ technology acceptance. Furthermore, it seems that whilst per subsequent alternative, the reliability of information provision regarding apparel attributes increases, the perceived user-friendliness (ease of use) of the technologies decreases, privacy and security concerns increase and the managerial implications increase as well
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