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This study is an attempt to understand and describe the compositional principles of Chaoshan traditional houses (CTH) through a computational space syntax. In this approach, the space syntax is used to describe and verify the compositional rules of Chaoshan houses. Chaoshan rural residence is a classical Lingnan style building in Chaoshan area of eastern Guangdong province, associated with Teo-Swa people, a Han Chinese minority. This study takes the example the prototypes existing in the village of Zhupu, Haojiang District, Shantou city as a case study, to analyse the spatial form of the residences. The Zhupu village houses date from the Qing Dynasty - Qianlong period, around 1700 AD. The hypothesis of this study is that CTH buildings are a result of a space compositional rule system that can be described and replicated through a computational design methodology. This study will establish a computational architectural syntax, and is the first stage of an extended research work on the evolution of Chaoshan residential types. The understanding of this evolution may help, as future work, to develop urban strategies for adaptation of the CTH heritage buildings to the contemporary living conditions. As the result of this study is a computational 3D graphics modelling algorithm, the ability of the system to generate the house layouts is not limited to the reconstruction of existing typologies of CTH and its variations. The same algorithm will allow the generation of new housing schemes, with adaptation to design variables extracted from a particular site and region.
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Air pollution is a major concern issue on Macao since the concentration levels of several of the most common pollutants are frequently above the internationally recommended values. The low air quality episodes impacts on human health paired with highly populated urban areas are important motivations to develop forecast methodologies in order to anticipate pollution episodes, allowing establishing warnings to the local community to take precautionary measures and avoid outdoor activities during this period. Using statistical methods (multiple linear regression (MLR) and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis) we were able to develop forecasting models for the main pollutants (NO2, PM2.5, and O3) enabling us to know the next day concentrations with a good skill, translated by high coefficients of determination (0.82–0.90) on a 95% confidence level. The model development was based on six years of historical data, 2013 to 2018, consisting of surface and upper-air meteorological observations and surface air quality observations. The year of 2019 was used for model validation. From an initially large group of meteorological and air quality variables only a few were identified as significant dependent variables in the model. The selected meteorological variables included geopotential height, relative humidity and air temperature at different altitude levels and atmospheric stability characterization parameters. The air quality predictors used included recent past hourly levels of mean concentrations for NO2 and PM2.5 and maximum concentrations for O3. The application of the obtained models provides the expected daily mean concentrations for NO2 and PM2.5 and maximum hourly concentrations O3 for the next day in Taipa Ambient air quality monitoring stations. The described methodology is now operational, in Macao, since 2020.
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Sounding Architecture, is the first collaborative teaching development between Department of Architecture and Department of Music at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), introduced in Fall 2016. In this paper we present critical observations about the studio after a final public presentation of all projects. The Review was conducted with demonstrations by groups of students supervised by different Lecturer, in each case focusing on a different strategy to create a connection between Sound, Music, Acoustics, Space and Architectural Design. There was an assumption that the core working process would have to include the design of a new musical instrument, which in some cases became the final deliverable of the Studio and in other cases a step in a process that leads to a different outcome (such as an architectural Design, a performance or social experiment). One other relevant aspect was that Digital technology was used in the design and fabrication of the physical instruments' prototypes, but in very few cases, it was used in the actual generation or enhancement of sound, with the instruments relying almost exclusively in acoustic and mechanical sound.
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The contemporary city is a complex system where a multitude of factors and dwellers interact, creating a multi-layered spatial structure that supports the urban life. To successfully research and intervene in this context, one needs to develop fitting approaches and methods to be able to analyze it in depth.
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In this paper, the repertory grid is presented as a technique to explore novice programmers' experiences within the context of an action research project. The theoretical and methodological aspects of the technique are discussed. The findings from the technique that combined quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods are provided. These findings relate to the learning process, learning content, and learning support as experienced by the students in an introductory object-oriented programming course. The repertory grid technique is then appraised for its relevance and usefulness to the project, and for its contribution to the diversity of computer science research methods. Insights gained from the use of the technique are shared with the community of computer science educators.
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Research in ubiquitous networked music systems has unveiled the potential of behavioural-driven interaction interfaces as an effective model to cope with network communication delays in remote musical performances. Most of the techniques developed under these premises are based on digital music interfaces implemented on laptop computers or tablet devices, where a certain degree of gestural control comes as an added dimension. The purpose of this paper is to present an implementation of such type of interfaces in the form of a physical tangible musical instrument, contemplating multiple expressive possibilities. This is viable at the current stage of technological development thanks to leveraging 3D printing and laser cutting technologies for effective prototyping and testing of such a device. The paper seeks to demonstrate that this approach opens a wide range of possibilities for creating musical instruments with versatility and expressiveness beyond what is usually accomplished in traditional instruments. This implementation, entitled “Radial String Chimes,” is presented with its advantages, the challenges it faces, and the methods used to create it. Finally, the paper will offer suggestions for further developing such an instrument to unlock its potential.
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At EA/CITAR (School of Arts/Research Centre in Science and Technology of the Arts), sound has always assumed a fundamental role, both in academic research and curricular offer, featuring a Master Program in Sound Design and a Doctoral Program Specialization in Computer Music. This paper presents an overview of some recent artistic/research projects undertaken by students and researchers at this institution, which stimulate the user/listener awareness for the acoustic phenomenon. Furthermore, we describe three pedagogical practices, stemming from Soundscape and Film Sound studies, which aim at training students to avoid the devious influence of sight on the assessment of soundscapes.
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Phenomenography is a well-known empirical research approach that is often used to investigate students' ways of learning programming. Phenomenographic pedagogy is an instructional approach to plan learning and teaching activities. This theoretical paper gives an overview of prior research in phenomenographic studies of programming and shows how the results from these research studies can be applied to course design. Pedagogic principles grounded in the phenomenographic perspective on teaching and learning are then presented that consider how to tie students' experiences to the course goals (relevance structure) and how to apply variation theory to focus on the desired critical aspects of learning. Building on this, an introductory object-oriented programming course is described as an example of research-based course design. The insights gained from the experience of running the course are shared with the community of computer science educators, as also the benefits and responsibilities for those who wish to adopt the phenomenographic perspective on learning to plan their teaching. The development of an increased awareness of the variation in students' ways of experiencing programming and the need to broaden the context of the programming course are discussed.
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As an incomparable implication of industrial culture, the industrial heritage has a wide range of historical, technological, social, architectural or scientific values. With the process of large-scale contemporary urban revitalization, abandoned industrial buildings and areas always become the targets of urban renewal and redevelopment due to the ongoing transformation on structural changes of economy and adjustments of plot usage. Although the research and discussion on preservation of industrial heritage have been launched in the fields of theory and practice in China, many former industrial areas and buildings are still undergoing extreme threats and irreversible damages. Taking Iec Long Fireworks Factory which is the only well preserved survivor of industrial heritage in Macao as a case study, this paper presents its historic background, present challenges and future envisions of development. Based on group investigations and SWOT analysis, integrated strategies are proposed to preserve and revitalize the old factory ruins and their landscape settings. The conclusions show the significance to preserve and reuse industrial heritage opened for the urban renewal, which also could be a good contribution for sustainability of history and culture, environment, society and tourism.