1,720,973 research outputs found
Early-stage material selection based on life cycle approach: tools, obstacles and opportunities for design
Full text linkMaterial selection plays an essential role in environmental product performances; however, choice and comparison between different materials' environmental features are not trivial for designers. Academic and grey literature reviews were used to provide an overview of the main types of software, using a life cycle approach, supporting material selection decisions since the early design stages, highlighting pros and cons of the different tools from a designer's perspective. Three main typologies of software emerged from the study, defined by different usability and completeness degrees. Obstacles and opportunities were noted on four main aspects which influence the choice of the most sustainable material: on the educational level, on the analysis level, on the material selection level, and on a system level. Tools for in depth LCA can be used for material selection; although difficult for designers to use, these software are essential to create a more critical awareness for the application of both conventional and new materials. Simplified LCA Tools with limited impact categories, and simplified tools explicitly dedicated to material selection from a life cycle thinking perspective, better respond to the usability needs of designers, who must, however, consider the limits of precision of these tools, combining their use with a life cycle design approach and applying ecodesign strategies. To date, little effort has been made to integrate such tools properly in the design practice; therefore, multidisciplinarity between LCA experts and designers is strongly recommended, especially to avoid misleading aspects in assessing the growing number of materials that tend to be considered a key for sustainable innovation
Generative and Bioreceptive Design
Full text linkL’urgenza di soluzioni sostenibili sta spingendo molti settori, tra
cui la ricerca sul design, verso approcci innovativi transdisciplinari.
L’ultimo decennio è stato caratterizzato da una crescente interazione
tra design e discipline scientifiche, consolidata nell’approccio del
biodesign. Il contributo si concentra sullo studio e lo sviluppo prototipale di piastrelle biorecettive attraverso il computational design per
migliorare la propagazione di licheni e muschi per il loro utilizzo come
biosensori della qualità dell’ari
Bioreceptive interfaces for biophilic urban resilience
No full textThe emerging field of Biodesign sees living organisms as embedded in the design process to create bio-generated materials and artefacts. To support the growth and maintenance of
these organisms, designers can adopt a Bioreceptive Design
(BD) approach, recently defined as a design approach occurring every time materials or artefacts are intentionally designed to be colonized by life forms. Through this approach,
the inert counterpart undergoes specific studies to reach
the best bioreceptive potential for the designated life form,
also considering the environment in which the artifact will be
placed. In urban environments, BD examples tackle vegetation to create greener spaces and provide phytoremediation
for better air quality and biodiversity in the built environment,
in the wider view of nature-based solutions and climatic transitions of cities.
This study addresses the possibility of developing bioreceptive interfaces for mosses and lichens to respond to biophilic and regenerative sustainability needs in urban contexts.
These organisms have contributed as pioneers, during the
evolution of life on our Planet, in the formation and regulation
of soil and atmosphere; moreover, they are currently used in
biomonitoring actions, also contributing to the environmental
awareness of the built environment. The paper proposes BD as
a design approach of mutual interest, aiming at responding to
the host needs and preferable environmental conditions, serving multiple species that act as co-authors of an open-ended
design, increasing urban biodiversity, and providing resilient, restorative, and regenerative environments.
In particular, we present some of the results of an interdisciplinary research through design, born from the collaboration
between design and biology, aiming both to bring sustainable
and innovative solutions for the Biodesign and architecture
sectors, but also to positively affect biological activities of biomonitoring and citizen awareness. From the design perspective, BD is applied for the selection of those material features
that match the needs of the selected organism (e.g., porosity,
color). Moreover, the use of Computational Design has played
a crucial role in designing and prototyping bioinspired, organic shapes and textures. From a biological perspective, the research compares different methodologies for the bio-colonization of artefacts to obtain the best results for the timing and
survival of the organisms. The prototypes were therefore exposed open-air with no protection or superficial treatments in
a highly colonized area (from mosses and lichens), favoring the
attachment of spores and propagules on the surfaces. On the
other hand, some prototypes were used to test the transplant
of the organisms as an alternative and faster possibility, also
suitable for interior design.
This study points out how BD can be applicable when designing for the living, making clear the designer’s possibilities
for adopting this approach: ranging from material design to biomimicry, designing for not-only-human users, considering the
host’s needs and preferable growth conditions, adopting a multispecies design approach while suggesting new relationships
among biotic and abiotic agents. The paper highlights how BD
can provide sustainable, low-maintenance, and regenerative
nature-based solutions to foster resilient urban environments
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
From biodesigners to designers in lab : testing the nuances of an emerging profession through autoethnography
No full textBiodesign is emerging as a radical design approach with great potential for the ecological turn, finally endorsed by some first academic courses providing designers with hybrid skills to embrace scientific disciplines. However, the resulting professional figure, the biodesigner, still needs to be better defined in the academic and grey literature, also considering the different and multiple facets that working between design and science may entail. This study presents four case studies of research through design (RTD), addressed by the author as an autoethnographic form of inquiry to clarify the roles a biodesigner could assume, emphasising the differences in methods, tools and workplaces, which inevitably affect the Biodesign outcomes. The author analyses her role as a biodesigner and designer in lab, working in teams and environments requiring different degrees of interdisciplinarity. Far from adopting a speculative approach, the RTDs focus on sustainable Material Design and Biodesign solutions that might be feasible in the short run, aiming to test the designer’s abilities in enriching scientific research and investigating the role and contribution designers can play in scientific contexts of different intensities. The study demonstrates the possibility of a reciprocal knowledge transfer between design and science, highlighting the potential of the designerly way of knowing in bringing innovation to the scientific field.Peer reviewe
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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