A considerable number of papers have already been published on land use changes in the past 200 years on the territory of Central Europe. All these studies basically draw on the Franciscan Cadastre, made in the first half of the 19th century for the area of the then Austrian Empire. Some of them clearly present land use changes in the area of entire states or regions of today; the most often studied countries are Bohemia, Slovenia and Austria. Land use changes in the current research were studied on terraced terrains which predominantly mark the image of the Mediterranean landscape. Special factors of land-use changes are related exactly to terraces. The village Ostrožno Brdo, which is located in the transition zone between the Mediterranean and the Dinaric world, was one of the villages selected for the case study. Land use of the studied area was significantly influenced by political changes, since after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the studied area was, in turn, part of three different states. The terraced area in the cadastral municipality of Ostrožno Brdo accounts for mere 10% of the total area or 93.6 ha of land. A typical feature of the Brkini terraces is the length of terrace platform or the whole terrace; terraces are usually about 150 m long, while in the landscape most expressive areas, terraces are even longer than 300 meters. During almost 200 years the terraces and their slopes have preserved the same forms. Afforestation is an explicitly recognizable process of land-use changes in the entire cadastral municipality. The present forest cover amounts to as much as 82%. The percentage of woodland increased even on terraces, i.e. from 1% to 8%; the data show the overgrowing of cultural terraces. Due to the changes in demography, the land-use category of grassland has decreased more than four times since the Franciscan Cadastre, and also fields and gardens do not exceed 2% today. The present terrace orchards represent an important land category, since they amount up to 12%. In past times, more than two-thirds of terraced land were used for fields and gardens, but their percentage is now slightly lower than that of orchards. In addition to the increase in orchards and woodland, the percentage of grassland also increased, almost three times. Insulation of terraces is important information with regard to land use, since most of the terraces are oriented towards the north. At Ostrožno Brdo landforms mainly influence the distribution of terraces, and altitude above sea level influences the selection of farming cultures. Though the data on the current actual land use determine the utilisation of individual parcels more precisely than the Franciscan Cadastre did, the present interpretation key for determining the use in terraced areas is not completely accurate. The rules for specifying land use on terrace slopes in the Register of Actual Utilisation of Farming and Woodland have not been formulated consistently. In the case of vineyards, intensive orchards and olive groves, the provision applies that overgrown and grassed terrace slopes are also included in land use, while in the case of fields the provision says that it only relates to terrace slopes with the maximum ground plan width of 2 metres. In the case of other types of utilisation, land use on terrace slopes should be mapped separately in accordance with instructions. With the known methodologies of mapping and inventorying terraced areas and their use, any exclusion of parts of terraces is all but impossible.
F.27 Contribution to preserving/protecting natural and cultural heritage
COBISS.SI-ID: 37561645During the 2013-2014 academic year, the 13th annual test of spatial ability is being performed at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana. The first goal of the test is to obtain information about spatial ability of first-year students. The test is performed at the beginning of the academic year and covers the population of first-year students. In a complex field that contains various aspects of spatial ability there are several ways of checking it. At the Faculty of Architecture, we use the Mental Rotation Test, which is one of generally recognized tests for checking spatial ability. The way of testing remained the same throughout the years (time, exam papers etc.) which enables us to objectively compare different generations. Primary goal of test is to check the capability of mental rotation, which is an integral part of spatial ability. More than 2000 (n=2094) students have performed the test up to now. For the past three years we have also been comparing results between two groups: left-handed and right-handed students. The results show no statistically provable differences. But it is true that the tested population of left-handed students is, despite the above, relatively small (n=66) even though it proportionately does not deviate from the share of the entire population. An interesting phenomena occurred throughout the years, that every third generation has worse results. This difference has been statistically proven for 2009 and 2012, while the difference for 2003 and 2006 has not yet been statistically proven. Processing of results with the help of statistical software makes it possible to check various hypotheses from the area of spatial ability and provides interesting conclusions, presented in the article. A large digital database also makes it possible to evaluate the test and the students’ approach towards solving it. This opens up new possibilities in the area of comprehensively treating spatial ability and, at the same time poses new questions and dilemmas. One such dilemma is the existing scoring system. Results obtained in the joint project of the Ybl Miklos Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering of the Szent Istvan University in Budapest and the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, namely show that the existing scoring system is not the most appropriate since it does not provide the envisaged normal distribution of the sample. Based on obtained data, a new scoring system has been proposed which enables a normal sample distribution.
F.01 Acquisition of new practical knowledge, information and skills
COBISS.SI-ID: 37601541"Tectonics: constructing architectural materiality" is an introductory study in the book Tectonics in Architecture, a selection of fundamental texts in architectural theory that propose tectonics as the material base of architecture. The book advocates the view that architecture is a skill in the ancient Greek sense of the term poiesis, the making of material objects. This skill is defined more precisely with the term tectonics (tekton – carpenter, builder). Products of successful tectonic construction are objects that aren't simply useful, economically-sound, well built, etc., but are actually objects of a special kind. K. Frampton, building on the philosophy of M. Heidegger, defines such objects as things. These are buildings, bridges, structural details that are characterised by a certain resistance to temporal and situational determination. In other words, they are sustainable objects in the sense that they persist in different times and different situations as something important for architecture and human society, sometimes for centuries or millennia. The central thesis of the introductory study is that this special characteristic of the products of architecture is a consequence of them having a special kind of materiality – an architectural materiality. This materiality is produced through the process of tectonic construction; more precisely, through the articulation of architectural joints in various scales. These joints can also be described as objects with an inner difference, and it is this difference which gives them their specific materiality and presence that resists mere spatio-temporal determination.
F.02 Acquisition of new scientific knowledge
COBISS.SI-ID: 37449221The built environment has direct and indirect adverse impacts on the environment and human beings. It directly affects us through contaminated air, soil and groundwater, while indirectly through emissions of harmful substances released from the materials. The most of the negative potential comes from materials that buildings consist of and from energy to which the buildings are linked to throughout the life cycle. Negative potentials of materials are: a) environmental interventions (mines, erosion, cleaning of virgin forest, exploitation of forest…), b) great consumption of energy (exploitation of sources of energy, atmospheric warming, acid rain, smog, ), c) harmful emissions (fumes, dust, fibers and poisonous or radioactive substances), d) waste. Mentioned negative potentials are sufficient grounds for ecological assessment of materials. A large part of negative impacts on the environment and human beings arise from energy needs. Energy can be bound to a building in two forms: 1) embodied energy – energy is used to obtain the raw materials and manufacture the materials necessary to make the building and its technical installations functional; 2) operational energy – energy is needed in the construction, use and maintenance (heating, cooling, lighting…) Sustainable buildings There are various concepts that determine the building as sustainable. Ecological house is built from materials that do not pollute the environment. An important measure to reduce the amount of required operating energy is to increase the energy efficiency of the building: with greater thickness of thermal insulation and windows with higher thermal insulation, air-tight building envelope, building envelope without thermal bridges and a system of controlled ventilation with heat recuperation. Numerous types of energy-efficient houses have been developed. All of them can be labeled as sustainable buildings. • Low energy house • Passive house • Zero energy house • Self-sufficient house • Plusenergy house Designing of sustainable buildings Sustainable buildings must be designed in such a way that during their life cycle, the amount of negative impacts on human beings and the environment will be minimal. The architectural design should include the following principles: Use of ecological building materials Ecological building materials are materials with no harmful effects on the environment and man. The following four principles are known in the ecological selection of building materials: • building materials are based on building materials that use minimal quantities of raw material sources, can be recycled or re-installed, • energy required for the production, working and installation should be minimal, • use of local building materials is very suitable, since it does not require any transport and contributes to regional identification of a building, • building materials used should not release any hazardous emissions. Use of ecological technologies • Active consumption of the sun is transformation of energy of direct solar radiation to other kinds of energy by means of special transformers built in (windows, walls, roofs, collectors along a house, etc.) • Passive consumption of natural resources dictates such concept of a building that allows exploitation of advantages in the location selected. • Use of decomposable building materials and constructions. The background of this phenomenon is the ecological judgment of recycling principle and re-use. • Re-use of building material exploited after a building has been pulled down some of the elements can still serve their purpose. Some elements can be reused without preliminary working (e.g. clay, full brick, cubes and blocks of solid stone, some metal elements), some can be recycled and then built in again (wooden elements serve as raw material for fiber panels, chip-boards, ... metal, glass, partially plastics can be recycled). • Selection of environmentally friendly materials Sustainable materials Synt
F.17 Transfer of existing technologies, know-how, methods and procedures into practice
COBISS.SI-ID: 3089284In 2014, the third scientific conference SMART URBANISM explores the theme Teaching for sustainable architecture and urbanism. The starting position has been previously well defined in the UNESCO programme TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE, which has been established for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development in 2002 and is a major contribution to the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, September 2002). “… The programme can be used as it is, or adapted to local, national or regional needs. It provides professional development for student teachers, teachers, curriculum developers, education policy makers, and authors of educational materials. The modules are divided into 4 themes: Curriculum rationale, Sustainable Development across the curriculum, Contemporary issues and Teaching & learning strategies.” In the frame of improving architectural and urban studies, the fourth theme “TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES” is particularly important. We have decided to use some of the starting points from the UNESCO programme to kick off this year’s discussion on how to implement the general guidelines in urban and architectural education. The set of modules TEACHING & LEARNING STRATEGIES develops professional skills for using teaching and learning strategies that can help students achieve the wide range of knowledge, skill and values objectives of Education for Sustainable Development. The UNESCO programme proposes eight important strategies: experiential learning, storytelling, values education, enquiry learning, appropriate assessment, future problem solving, learning outside the classroom and community problem solving. For empirical learning the ‘experience’ itself is just as important as the process of the reflection and the transmission of experience into a new process of thinking, researching, exploring, creating new ideas etc. With experiential learning, an individual forms values, skills and knowledge through daily work and social experience develop. This manner of education deepens the knowledge when students and all those included in the educational process are given an opportunity to discuss or verify the experience which was obtained through practical work. At the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture (UL FA), student urban design and architectural workshops have had a long tradition of more than 40 years. Students of different years and study programmes (architecture, urban design, spatial planning, landscape architecture etc.) are included together in the research and experiential work, where the classical meaning of education comes in second. One of the main starting points, containing the description of methods in experiential learning, was David Kolb’s highly influential book entitled ‘Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development’ (1984). Of course, David Kolb’s work can be traced back to the famous dictum of Confucius around 450 BC: “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.” For empirical learning the “experience” itself is just as important as the process of the reflection, observation with thinking and the transmission of experience into a new process of thinking. This is only possible when we have something to think about, when our thoughts can be connected to the recognitions, own experience or with someone else’s recognized situation. Creativity is tightly connected to empirical methods of learning, where the involvement of an individual in the experience and thinking is important. Creativity is considered more important than productivity, whereby the latter is the result of the former (Mulej, 1994). Creativity is often confused with originality, which is not the same, nevertheless, it is its constituent part, (...) however, creative things are more than just original (...) (Guštin, 2007). With this method of learning, an individual forms value
C.01 Editorial board of a foreign/international collection of papers/book
COBISS.SI-ID: 274206720