Application of Non-Destructive Techniques in the Inspection of Wooden Structures of Protected Buildings: The Case of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores Church (Isla Cristina,Huelva)

This study describes a thorough inspection of a 20th century church in the town of Isla Cristina (in the province of Huelva, southwestern Spain), which is currently awaiting restoration. The study indicates the damage processes at work in the building structure materials (brick, concrete, steel, and wood), which are closely related to its geographical location, and analyses the deterioration of the wooden roof structure. The analysis of the wooden roof includes the results of an inspection methodology on a protected building based on traditional techniques such as visual inspection and innovative non-destructive inspection techniques (visual classification, ultrasounds and thermography). Fieldwork consisted of the visual classification of the wooden pieces according to Spanish standard UNE 56544:2007 specifications after which ultrasound and thermography techniques were applied on-site. A second stage involved laboratory tests (anatomic identification, density and bending strength) using wood samples extracted from the structure in order to check the values for the physical and mechanical properties previously recorded by non-destructive techniques (NDT). These non-destructive techniques are used in inspections of the wooden roofs of buildings to identify dampness, deterioration, density loss and defects as a means of assessing their conservation status. This work concludes that the use of ultrasound and thermography techniques constitute an accurate diagnostic tool for the on-site inspection of wooden structures and the evaluation of their condition. Thermography identifies different materials and moisture content while ultrasound detects the various degrees of deterioration and density-loss in areas of the wood with high moisture content.     

Influence of Short Segments in the Trabeation With Opposing Inclined Edges on the Seismic Vulnerability of the Marble Blocks Colonnade in the Archaeological Site of Pompeii

This study presents the vulnerability analysis of a masterpiece of the architectural heritage of the ancient city of Pompeii in Italy. First, a historical analysis of the structure is proposed; then finite element analyses are discussed to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of the colonnade today, including the effect of water leakage and pollutants in between the marble blocks of the structure. Pompeii, in fact, is a partially buried Roman town-city; after suffering many earthquakes in the past it was destroyed during a long catastrophic eruption of the Vesuvius volcano in 79 ad and remained covered until its accidental rediscovery in 1749. After excavations, the ruins of the ancient town present many partially collapsed buildings, not only due to other earthquakes during the past three centuries, but also due to rapid degradation of the archaeological material. Temples and public places mainly present slender columns and typical shapes of discrete marble overlaying blocks. In the case of the colonnade of the Forum, residing in the main square of the town, an “innovative solution” was adopted for the trabeation. To avoid long span beams over the columns, short segments were built up providing opposing inclined patterned edges. Numerical analyses show the seismic vulnerability of a colonnade, in order to understand how a UNESCO World cultural heritage site can be preserved. The beam segmentation was an “innovative solution” for that period aiming to simplify the constructability of those structures. This solution did not substantially alter the colonnade current seismic vulnerability. Nevertheless any contemporary alteration between blocks could potentially increase the colonnade’s seismic vulnerability, potentially putting at risk cultural heritage and human life.     

A geographical approach to trust in tourism

Abstract

Within tourism research, trust has largely been conceptualised from psychological perspectives, allowing insights into the mechanisms through which resident/stakeholder relations generate trust. Whilst this work is valuable in understanding dynamics of trust relations, such focus has meant less attention and has been given to the ways space influences trust in tourism contexts. Thus, a geographical approach is put forth to understanding trust in tourism. Through observation and semi-structured interviews concerned with the implementation of a community tourism project in southwest China, insights are provided illustrating how trust is inscribed in place. It is shown that in the Chinese context, cultural place-based specificities relating to pre-existing governance structures, social hierarchies, and the intersection of power, knowledge and trust influence the (in)abilities of NGOs to develop trust with specific residents. More meaningful dialogue between tourism research and geographical conceptualisations of trust is called for – as a way to attend to spatial and scalar differences in understanding of trust within tourism contexts.     

Tackling gender inequalities in music: a comparative study of policy responses in the UK and Sweden

Cross-disciplinary research has highlighted the persistence of gender inequalities across music scenes. However, the way in which cultural policy shapes responses to gender inequalities in music has been relatively underexplored. This article draws on research from Swedish and UK contexts, supporting analysis with reference to 9 key-stakeholder interviews from both. Comparing perspectives from ‘more’ and ‘less’ gender-equal contexts, with sufficiently different cultural policy traditions, the article explores how responses to gender inequalities in music are influenced by ‘cultural democratic’ and ‘arm’s length’ approaches. It demonstrates that, as a result of these traditions, there is a comparatively more interventionist approach in Sweden at a national level, whereas the lack of central government response in the UK has encouraged more market-oriented solutions. It suggests that this ‘arm’s length’ approach necessitates different grassroots organisational strategies in order to affect change but notes that these, alongside austerity agendas, are insufficient in the long term.     

Critical geographies and geography’s creative re/turn: poetics and practices for new disciplinary spaces

We are two feminist geographers working as practitioners and researchers in creative geographies and the discipline’s creative re/turn. Human geographers interested in new representational and non-representational methods and methodologies are, as we explore in this article, increasingly turning to artistic and creative modes of expression, including (amongst others) literary and visual arts, in which we are both involved. For some time now, we have been curious about what we experience as a lack of expressly politicized critical interrogations of the discipline’s creative re/turn and a shortage of expressly critical and politicized creative outputs. In this article, then, we explore geography’s embrace of creative practices as research methods and as means of developing outputs but, more specifically, we ask about where and how decolonizing, feminist, anti-racist, and/or queer voices, practices, and theorizations might fit within the creative re/turn. Using two different creative geographic works (one a book of poetry, the other a curation project), we trouble what we conclude may be ongoing (perhaps unconsciously) masculinist, often White and colonial, perhaps overly heteronormative, modes of geographic inquiry and practice within geography’s creative re/turn. In this context, we reflexively consider our own creative practices as ones that may offer examples to open new critical spaces and modes of representation for creative geographers.     

Explaining age differences in positive attitudes towards national commemorations: the role of what people commemorate

Commemorations of shared national history are important to the process of nation‐building. Support for such national commemorations is not, however, evenly distributed in societies. Because this could endanger the possible integrative function of commemorative ceremonies, it is important to understand the sources of structural differences in support. In this article, age differences in support for national commemorations in the Netherlands are examined. It is argued that because age cohorts grow up with different ideas on what should be commemorated they also differ in value attached to such commemorations. Data from the National Freedom Enquiry 2012 show that older persons more often associate national commemorations with the Second World War than younger persons do, and that this is the reason why they are more supportive of the annual celebration of Liberation Day. In the concluding section, it is argued that more (quantitative) studies should be conducted in order to truly understand the mechanisms behind support of national commemorations as this may help us to better comprehend the processes construing feelings of national belonging.     

Review of Out-of-Plane Seismic Assessment Techniques Applied To Existing Masonry Buildings

ABSTRACT

Observations after strong earthquakes show that out-of-plane failure of unreinforced masonry elements probably constitutes the most serious life-safety hazard for this type of construction. Existing unreinforced masonry buildings tend to be more vulnerable than new buildings, not only because they have been designed to little or no seismic loading requirements, but also because connections among load-bearing walls and with horizontal structures are not always adequate. Consequently, several types of mechanisms can be activated due to separation from the rest of the construction. Even when connections are effective, out-of-plane failure can be induced by excessive vertical and/or horizontal slenderness of walls (length/thickness ratio). The awareness of such vulnerability has encouraged research in the field, which is summarized in this article. An outline of past research on force-based and displacement-based assessment is given and their translation into international codes is summarized. Strong and weak points of codified assessment procedures are presented through a comparison with parametric nonlinear dynamic analyses of three recurring out-of-plane mechanisms. The assessment strategies are marked by substantial scatter, which can be reduced through an energy-based assessment.     

Violence in the Atacama Desert during the Tiwanaku period: social tension?

Tiwanaku influence significantly affected the lifestyle of the prehistoric peoples of the Atacama Desert as it represented an important period of social and economic change. Such intense changes as social stratification and new religious and ideological influences have always been characterized as peaceful ones. Palaeopathological studies based on the violence‐induced traumatic lesions of 64 well‐preserved human skeletons from an excavated funerary site named Solcor‐3 have facilitated a comparison between Pre‐Tiwanaku and Tiwanaku periods. Results show an increase in violence between males represented by low‐intensity skull traumas, arrow wounds and a high mortality rate between 20 and 30 years of age during the Tiwanaku period. The interpretation of this data is contrary to the model of peaceful acceptance of the changes that followed the Tiwanaku influence into the Atacama. At least for Solcor‐3, economic and political factors should be re‐considered in order to explain the emergence of social tension during the Tiwanaku period. In the future, more detailed studies will probably help to clarify if conflicts had also extended to other sites in San Pedro de Atacama under Tiwanaku influence. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.