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Disobedient theatre
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION
How can architecture support and embody activism?
ABSTRACT
When issues or conflicts arise within our society, change is pursued. The right is given to every person in this world today to become politically engaged. Society witness a power shift, and activists demand their thoughts to be heard. However, a singular person cannot understand or be engaged in every matter. It is often overwhelming to hear and see an abundance of issues equally relevant and worth fighting to change.
What should we care about?
The action of communicating with people in a physical setting holds immense value, mainly when communicating for change. When change is sought out, the equilibrium of our public space is disturbed. Protests such as marches and rallies, and demonstrations are often actioned. The artistic field has a significant role in protests and social movements. A variety of dynamic mediums such as street art and visual art come together to address ideas of culture and politics. The intertwining of the act of protests and art transforms the conventional public space – a disobedient theatre.
The project aims to design an intervention of activism. First, the intention is to present a setting supported with a creative intervention where discourse is encouraged. This is described as physical activism, a “performance,” where the project acts as a “theatre” for disobedience. Activists will occupy this space and perform during events such as protests and marches. The project will also provide facilities for artists, such as social and political artists who contribute to these performances. Secondly, the project aims to produce a piece of architecture that performs with its own activist voice. The architecture itself is an actor in the space and works in a disobedient manner disturbing normative urban organisation.
The project require methods that will support its disobedeint aims. Collage is a disruptive form of representation and will produce a disruptive outcome from its root. Model making will materialise two-dimensional collages into occupiable space, which eventually led to a final design outcome.
The project challenges the association of protest and architecture in the urban fabric through research across multiple theoretical fields, including sociology, political science, urban and architectural theory. This project uncovers relevant philosophies within public space, the sociopolitical realm and activism. The relevant figures addressed include Jürgen Habermas’, Tali Hutaka, Lebbeus Woods and Haus-Rucker-Co. Habermas’ expresses the importance of communication in the public sphere to lead our society towards a democratic future. Tali Hutaka provides vital insight into protests by breaking down spatial choreographies. Her work provides a crucial link between architecture and activism in the field of research. The work of Lebbeus Woods and Haus-Rucker-Co present radical imagery that challenges a normative perspective on architecture. Their work provides an example of spatial activism to assist the project in materialising its message.
SITE: Queen Street, Auckland, New Zealan
Application of spectroscopy in additive manufacturing
Get PDFAdditive manufacturing (AM) is a rapidly expanding material production technique that brings new opportunities in various fields as it enables fast and low-cost prototyping as well as easy customisation. However, it is still hindered by raw material selection, processing defects and final product assessment/adjustment in pre-, in- and post-processing stages. Spectroscopic techniques offer suitable inspection, diagnosis and product trouble-shooting at each stage of AM processing. This review outlines the limitations in AM processes and the prospective role of spectroscopy in addressing these challenges. An overview on the principles and applications of AM techniques is presented, followed by the principles of spectroscopic techniques involved in AM and their applications in assessing additively manufactured parts
How to make graduate attributes attractive to students?
No full textWhat are graduate attributes?
Engineering programmes offered by Unitec
Graduate attributes of the Engineering Programmes
An assessment method of graduate attributes
Students engagement with the graduate attributes
A simple innovative method of making the graduate attributes attractive to student
An agent for change : a legacy of dance education in Aotearoa
No full textThirty-one years on from the founding of the National Diploma of Contemporary Dance (which is currently the Unitec Bachelor of Contemporary Dance—School of Performing and Screen Arts) this reflection celebrates the legacy of dance educator and eco choreographer Alison East. Initiated by a panel presentation at the Leap Symposium held at the end of 2019 at The University of Otago, in Ōtepoti/Dunedin, the panel also marked the thirty years celebration of the Unitec Bachelor of Contemporary Dance and the cessation of the Dance programme within the School of Physical Education, University of Otago. My input to this panel focused on the unique contribution to dance education that Alison East fostered in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This personal written reflection delves into the currency of East’s pedagogy in today’s context; its beginnings, the position and relationship of the school to the global scene, its visionary concerns for land, place and a more than humani and more than dance positioning, with vanguard approaches to dance education and the embodied legacy of dance training that survives in a community of practitioners touched by East’s pedagogy over the years
House for all: How can visual art act as a catalyst to inform and enrich the design of a sacred space?
No full textArt is a way of expression, and our senses help us to experience it.
In a similar way, sacred architecture allows for a space that creates a sense of wonder, reflection, and a glimpse of clarity. However, according to Andrew Crompton’s paper “The Architecture of Multifaith Spaces: God Leaves the Building,” multifaith centres are usually empty white rooms and mundane spaces without an aura. Without a specific user in mind, the challenge of the architecture of multifaith centres is designing it to enhance spirituality. For example, Unitec Institute of Technology currently has the Multifaith Chaplaincy Centre, which is a makeshift classroom. In this institutional setting, accommodating for students and staff of various backgrounds and religions, there is a need for a multifaith space with an aesthetic and atmosphere that provides a refuge and retreat for all. One possible solution is for visual art to influence multifaith architecture so that is grows its ability to harness spirituality and emotions.
This research project is concerned with the translation of visual art techniques into the architectural practice to enrich the design of sacred spaces. Specifically, these visual art techniques can act as tools for the distillation, generation, and communication of an architectural idea.
An example of this may be the way Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron often use art techniques – repetition, abstraction, and variation – as a catalyst in the development of an architectural concept which they then translate into the design of a building.
If art is able to express and communicate – an aspect that the current multifaith design lacks – then how can visual art act as a catalyst to inform and enrich the design of a sacred space
A content analysis of social media usage by local governments in New Zealand
No full textThis research investigated if New Zealand’s local governments were exploiting social media platforms for public engagement. Its primary purposes were: 1) to provide an overview of the social media usage; 2) to understand the preferences and influences of
content format on engagement; 3) to assess the opportunities presented to citizens to engage and collaborate with policy-making processes. A content analysis was run under the Coronavirus scenario, and collected quantitative and qualitative data from seven social networks, assessing 1,101 posts.
Findings revealed an average of three platforms per Council. Nevertheless, Facebook was the one that received more attention from public bodies. This fact resulted in low engagement rates across platforms and a considerable number of outdated social network pages. There was little concern about content planning, with publications being frequently cross-posted across platforms, resulting in duplicated messages. Content formats were limited to the traditional ones, such as Image, Video and Text. Although Image was the most used type, Live was the best format for promoting public participation. Regarding public participation, findings were in alignment with literature, confirming that local governments’ primary objective on social media was to inform rather than promoting a real dialogue.
The research concluded that there is a potential to improve social media management to promote civic engagement. Recommendations suggest that local governments should create a social media strategy, focus on crucial platforms, apply content marketing techniques, and explore new content format
Dirty electricity : a literature review
No full textIntroduction
"Clean” electricity enters buildings at a frequency of 50-60 Hz
"Dirty electricity” refers to electromagnetic energy that flows along a conductor and deviates from a pure 50-60-Hz sine wave
o High-frequency voltage transients (HFVT)
o Impacts of HFVT on the human and animals health
o Methods of Measuring Dirty Electricity
o How to mitigate Dirty Electricity?
o Conclusion
Impacts of installation of smart automated teller machines (ATMs) on frontline banking staff in India: A change management perspective
No full textThe banking sector in India has embarked upon computerization and automation on a vast scale in the last decade. The most notable one is the introduction and progressive application of information and communication technology (ICT) related automation in the form of multifunctional Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) installed in the retail banking branches. Banks gradually reduced the number of frontline staff because there is less need to interact face-to-face with the customers due to automation. Bank management applied organisation development (OD) interventions such as job redesign and training to handle the consequences of these changes.
The literature review revealed numerous studies on the impact of ICT on the banking sector. However, limited empirical literature exists regarding the impact of the introduction of SAM (semi-automated machines) on frontline banking staff in India. This research study analysed the impact of the introduction of ATMs in bank branches on the frontline banking staff in a public sector bank (G) and a private sector bank (P) in India from a change management (CM) perspective. The age-old question of whether machines can replace human resources is also explored. A qualitative research approach was applied, with an instrumental case-study method in which a semi-structured interview technique was used to collect data from six respondents from banks G and P.
The findings revealed that the installation of ATMs resulted in job enlargement for the frontline staff with horizontal job loading. While the frontline staff offered meagre resistance to this technological change, they had concerns about the top management's lack of a proactive approach towards implementing effective HRM policies for managing this change effectively. The fear that the introduction of smart ATMs would altogether dispense with the need for frontline staff is unfounded as the value of ‘human touch’ in retail banking was recognized,especially in rural and semi-urban branches. The findings also indicated an
increased level of stress, out-of-sync recruitment policies, and vague training programmes for frontline staff, indicating a lack of participative decision-making. The recommendations suggest various ways to manage this technological change by designing and implementing focused HRM policies with effective OD interventions mechanisms
Weaving the mat: Enablers for Pasifika midwifery students
No full textBACKGROUND:
Despite there being a large, and increasing, Pacific birthing population in Aotearoa, Pasifika midwives are a minority within the midwifery workforce. There are low numbers of Pasifika students entering and completing midwifery education, and consequently an under-representation of Pacific peoples in the midwifery profession. There is a very real need to attract, educate, and retain greater numbers of Pasifika midwifery students in order to grow the Pacific midwifery workforce.
AIM:
This study investigates the sources of support for Pasifika midwifery students in Aotearoa that contributed to their academic achievement, enabling them to successfully complete their undergraduate midwifery degree.
METHOD:
Using a qualitative approach, informed by the Pacific Talanoa Research Methodology (TRM), the sources of support that contributed to Pasifika midwives’ successful completion of their undergraduate degree were investigated. Talanoa/informal interviews were conducted with 10 participants, who qualified between 2013 and 2019. Talanoa took place face-to-face, either individually or in small groups. Interview data were transcribed and coded using thematic analysis.
FINDINGS:
The findings of the research show that family and cultural support was paramount for student success. Having close connections with the Pacific community was enabling for Pasifika midwifery students. These connections included the sistership with other Pasifika midwifery students, ‘Aunties’ who offered pastoral and academic support, and Pacific midwifery educators who provided cultural support within the institution. Pasifika staff offered more personalised support and bridged the gap between Pasifika students and non-Pacific academic staff. Foundation courses were deemed beneficial for building knowledge and skills prior to undertaking the midwifery degree. Successful Pasifika students also engaged with learning support services. Financial support, by way of scholarships and subsidies, relieved some of the significant financial pressure that Pasifika midwifery students faced.
CONCLUSIONS:
Pasifika midwifery students are enabled by support from their family, close connections with the Pacific midwifery community, a Pasifika presence at their institution, and financial assistance. A wrap-around approach is recommended for providing culturally appropriate support for Pasifika midwifery students. The findings from this research will enable more tailored support for their needs. A growth in the number of Pasifika midwives will be positive for the midwifery workforce, and the health and wellbeing of all birthing communities in Aotearoa
Unitec Research Symposium Proceedings 2020. 9 October and 7 December, 2020.
No full textUnitec Research Symposium 2020 was held at Unitec New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand, 9 October and 7 December, 2020
The papers in this publication comprise the proceedings of the Unitec Research Symposium 2020. They reflect the authors’ opinions and their inclusion in this publication does not necessarily constitute endorsement by the editors, ePress or Unitec New Zealand.
It is exciting to see the ITP sector increasingly collaborating in its research endeavours. Unitec’s annual Research Symposium, held in October 2020, was opened up to the sector for the first time, and was lucky enough to be able to run as a live event. There were around 21 presentations from outside of Unitec, with some guests presenting in person and others online. For obvious reasons, there was a strong physical presence from NorthTec Tai Tokerau Wānanga, Manukau Institute of Technology, and Whitireia and WelTec. In total, eight presentations were accepted for publication in the proceedings by Unitec ePress, four of which represent authors from NorthTec, Manukau Institute of Technology, Whitireia and WelTec, and Otago Polytechnic Te Kura Matatini ki Otago; a strong start for collaborative national research publication in Te Pūkenga going forward into the future. This future has strong potential for applied research in Aotearoa, Te Pūkenga forming as it will the largest tertiary institute in Aotearoa with a network of research hubs stretching from Kaitāia to Bluff