Uses of Gypsum in Spanish architectural heritage: Typologies and some unique construction techniques

ABSTRACT

In Spain, gypsum and its many typologies play an important role as a construction material in Spanish architectural heritage. Its historical use is mainly a direct consequence of the abundance of gypsum deposits and a constructive tradition which began in ancient times. In addition to being a sign of constructive identity, gypsum is a clear example of the strong link between traditional architecture and the natural resources of the territory. The aim of this article is after to identify gypsum deposits and gypsum architectural heritage found in different parts of Spain and to explain the different gypsum typologies—other than powdered gypsum—used. Finally, the most unique construction techniques are described, differentiating between structural elements, partitions, and enclosures, as well as architectural elements and surface finishes.     

Cellular Automata for Studying Historical Spatial Process of Traditional Settlements Based on Gaussian Mixture Model: A Case Study of Qiaoxiang Village in Southern China

ABSTRACT

The spatial evolution of traditional rural settlements is a natural process that occurs without professional development planning. With rural spatial organization now being stimulated by China’s economic structure adjustment, making top-down plans match bottom-up spatial principles is important for the continuity of rural communities. In this research, a Cellular automaton based model was introduced to describe the historical spatial rules of rural settlements based on a traditional village in Southern China. In order to reproduce the rural spatial characteristics and laws that were close to the actual situation truthfully and distinctly, in this model, we refined the growth process into three cyclical steps, and used a Multivariate Gaussian Mixture Model for the evaluation of spatial transition potential. Through historical simulation, evaluation of the current status, and future spatial predictions, results showed that: (1) the growth during the whole spatial process maintained logical consistency for optimal selection; (2) certain houses in the southeast region should be carefully protected as a core living culture exhibit, while the best utilization of other homes should be considered; and (3) the most probable region of growth for tourist services or new housing estates is scattered along the river in the central area of the village.     

Encountering Alan Wilson,filling the gaps in data sets (from the knowns to the unknowns) … and disciplinary history/progress

ABSTRACT

This essay outlines my interactions with Alan Wilson over more than four decades, focusing on my early work on gravity models and then my adoption of his entropy-maximizing procedure in the study of disaggregated voting patterns. Using that example, the essay explores its implications for the study of disciplinary history.     

Cultural policy archetypes: the bathwater and the baby

ABSTRACT

Cultural policy archetypes have been fundamental to comparative cultural policy study and continue to be influential in both everyday and scholarly characterizations of national cultural policy systems. This paper explores the proposition that cultural policy archetypes reflect what people believe to be true about culture – their cultural ideologies. Cultural ideologies are integral to the formation of cultural policy and, thus, must be considered in any theory that hopes to measure the extent to which and explain why cultural policies differ. Cultural ideologies embody ideas about why culture is important and how it should be governed. Those ideologies spotlight certain administrative mechanisms, overemphasizing their role in systems that actually are deeply administratively hybrid. This makes archetypes poor tools for analyzing the mechanisms of cultural policy; however, because archetypes tell us about cultural ideologies in straightforward and powerful ways, it is essential that they continue to be a part of comparative cultural policy study.     

日常消费空间中的情绪产生与作用机制——基于南京的实证研究

本研究引入消费者行为学的"认知-情绪-行为"模型，并加入空间要素建立整体框架，采用结构方程模型与质性研究相结合的方法，探讨消费空间中影响消费者情绪产生的因素以及情绪对居民生活满意度的作用。研究表明，积极情绪的产生主要受到个人价值观的鲜明度、消费场所物质环境的宜人度和消费场所中社会交往的深度影响；消极情绪的产生主要受到个体经济地位和个人价值观的鲜明度影响；积极情绪与消极情绪均显著影响消费者的生活满意度，积极情绪会导致较高生活满意度的产生。本研究从情绪的角度阐释消费空间和人的关系，是从微观尺度上对情绪地理学研究的新探索，同时也为城市消费空间研究与规划提供了人本主义的新视角。