design, utopia, alteration, prototyping, progetto, and alterazione

The purpose of this paper is to re-explore the relationship between utopia and architecture, trying first and foremost to challenge the way utopia has been conceived by architectural thought: i.e., as the prefiguration of a future seen as an ‘otherness’ distinct from the present, as far as the totality of its spatial, social, and political dimensions are concerned. Such vision – as we will argue – turns out to be deeply linked to a design logic of ‘projection’ and ‘prescription’; this, however, is not the only possible logic of design. Through a reflection upon some contemporary architectural practices, we will try to highlight a new horizon for design action, in which even utopia abandons its traditional ‘projective’ role and takes on a new meaning: rather than being the non-place of a possible future, utopia stands for what doesn’t have place in the present but can emerge from its alteration. Such notion of utopia as a form of ‘situated critique’, in a concrete space and time, helps to dig more deeply into the political potential of many contemporary forms of architectural and urban design.
Il proposito di questo contributo è tornare a esplorare la relazione tra utopia e architettura, cercando innanzitutto di mettere in questione il modo in cui l’utopia è stata concepita tradizionalmente nel pensiero architettonico: vale a dire, come la prefigurazione di un futuro concepito come alterità rispetto al presente, nella totalità delle sue dimensioni spaziali, sociali e politiche. Tale visione - come si cercherà di illustrare - è intimamente legata a una certa logica “proiettiva” e “prescrittiva” che, tuttavia, non è l’unica logica possibile del progetto. Attraverso una riflessione su alcuni modi del progetto di architettura contemporaneo, si cercherà infatti di mettere in evidenza una nuova logica progettuale, in cui anche l’utopia abbandona il suo carattere proiettivo tradizionale per acquisire un nuovo senso: non più il non-luogo di un futuro possibile, bensì ciò che non ha luogo nel presente e che può tuttavia emergere dalla sua alterazione. Questa nozione di utopia come “critica situata” concretamente in uno spazio e in un tempo aiuta a comprendere più in profondità il potenziale politico di molte delle forme contemporanee di progetto architettonico e urbano.

Algorithm, System design, Algorithms -- Research, System design -- Research, and Systems analysis -- Research

1. INTRODUCTION Teaching modeling and requirements analysis in an experiential manner in a systems analysis and design course has its challenges. A typical systems analysis and design course in the [...]
We describe the use of rapid game prototyping as a pedagogic technique to experientially explore and learn requirements discovery, modeling, and specification in systems analysis and design courses. Students have a natural interest in gaming that transcends age, gender, and background. Rapid digital game creation is used to build computer games quickly and easily using game creation software that requires little or no programming knowledge. It enables the developer to build a quick prototype game and to view the effects of changes almost immediately. The process can be seen as learning-by-making and learning-by-design, which are grounded in the learning theories of social constructivism and constructionism. Viewing the game as a system, students worked on an assignment to create a game prototype for a user, determine requirements, and specify the requirements using use-case diagrams and UML class diagrams. Students found this approach innovative, instructive, and entertaining. We describe this approach and outline its benefits. Keywords: Systems analysis and design, Systems thinking, Modeling, Requirements analysis & specification, Teaching tip, Game theory

Rapid application development and Management issue

Dropping prices and technological refinements will bring rapid prototyping into the manufacture of production parts. Countless companies around the world have discovered methods of rapid prototyping (RP) and are using [...]

Shopping for rapid prototyping (RP) services expands on the Internet with two new Web sites that facilitate service information, price quoting, and transactions between manufacturers and RP bureaus. Bits2Parts.com, which [...]

Rapid application development, CAD software, Trade show report, and Modeling

The Rapid Prototyping Manufacturing 2000 (RPM 2000) show will be held April 11-13 in the Chicago area. That's a good excuse to review the progress and potential of this technology. [...]

CAD/CAM/CIM system, Technology development, and Technology overview

Companies that have invested in rapid prototyping (RP) equipment can attest to its value: such systems enable users to create 3D prototypes early in the design cycle so that flaws [...]

Créativité, responsabilité, interaction laser-matière, prototypage rapide, fabrication additive, Creativity, responsibility, interaction between laser and matter, rapid prototyping, and additive manufacturing

L’émergence de procédés de fabrication additive au travers de la stéréo-lithographie laser sert de fil conducteur à cet article. Quand la situation de liberté des chercheurs le permet, la créativité peut conduire à des innovations technologiques. La pression liée à la compétitivité est un stimulant pour la fabrication additive mais tous les champs applicatifs ne sont pas couverts et de nombreux progrès sont encore à faire sur un thème où la créativité et l’interdisciplinarité sont à soutenir. Mais est-ce possible avec le « New Public Management » ?
The emergence of additive manufacturing processes through laser stereo - lithography is the central theme of this paper. When researchers’ freedom allows , creativity can act as a catalyst for additive manufacturing but the scope for its application has not yet been exhausted and there is still room for progress to be in a field that demands creativity and interdisciplinary action. But is that possible with the Frances’s conception of "New Public Management"?

pensée design, approche créative, approche participative, résolution de problème environnemental, Facebook, inondations, design thinking, creativity, participatory approach, environmental problem solving, and floods

Au Maroc, les inondations aggravées par les changements climatiques endommagent ou polluent les sources d’eau potable. Alors que les victimes cherchent des mesures d’adaptation, on se demande comment accompagner adéquatement des citoyens dans la résolution de tels problèmes environnementaux complexes. L’approche créative de la pensée design et l’usage participatif de Facebook ont été choisis pour accompagner dix femmes marocaines dans la résolution d’un problème d’eau potable causé par les inondations. En pensée design, l’analyse des besoins, l’abduction et le prototypage rapide sont promus. Facebook, comme d’autres outils numériques, peut faciliter la définition d'un problème, la discussion et l'élaboration de solutions. À l’aide de vidéos, de photos et de commentaires, les participantes ont partagé sur Facebook leur expérience des inondations, puis résolu ensemble le problème de la piètre qualité de leur eau potable. La pensée design et Facebook ont permis aux femmes d’explorer plusieurs dimensions du problème, puis de prototyper et d’appliquer des solutions de purification d’eau réalistes pour leur milieu. C’est la dimension créative de la démarche et l’utilisation de divers médias qui permet d’établir ici un lien avec le processus artistique.
In Morocco, floods worsened by climate change damage or pollute drinkable water sources. While victims seek accommodation, there is a question of how to adequately support citizens in addressing such complex environmental issues. Design thinking and Facebook were chosen in order to accompany ten Moroccan women in solving a problem with drinking water caused by flooding. In design thinking, needs analysis, abduction and rapid prototyping are promoted. Like other social networks, Facebook could facilitate problems definition, discussion and elaboration of solutions. With the help of videos, pictures and comments, the participants shared on Facebook their experience on flooding, and tried to solve together their drinking water problem. Design thinking and Facebook allowed these women to explore many aspects of the problem, and to prototype and implement diverse realistic and locally adapted water purification solutions. It is the creative dimension of this initiative, and the use of diverse media that allows establishing here a link with the artistic process.

L’activité de recherche et développement (R&D) regroupe les travaux de la recherche fondamentale, de la recherche appliquée et du développement expérimental. Ce dernier concerne les travaux d’expérimentation pratique obtenus à partir d’installations pilotes ou de prototypes. Cet article vise à explorer cette notion de développement expérimental appliquée à l’architecture grâce à l’analyse détaillée de trois projets de l’agence Lipsky+Rollet : les logements étudiants du campus de Troyes, la Maison de l’Inde à la Cité universitaire de Paris et le concours « Habitat positif » à Boulogne. Chacun de ces trois projets repose sur des modes constructifs en bois innovants qui expérimentent les qualités techniques, physiques et écologiques du matériau. Le travail des architectes porte sur la recherche de compatibilités possibles entre des dispositifs constructifs initialement développés dans l’isolement de leurs secteurs industriels réciproques. Ces sous-ensembles techniques préfabriqués doivent alors trouver leurs places dans la complexité du projet d’architecture qui les assemble selon ses propres règles et ses objectifs multiples. Cette étape de prototypage en situation de projet est cruciale car, selon la formule d’Edgar Morin, « une société qui n’expérimente plus n’innove plus, elle doit alors importer des modèles ». Cette activité expérimentale fait du projet architectural un outil de connaissance. L’édifice ne doit plus être compris comme un simple domaine d’application de solutions techniques élaborées en amont, mais comme un milieu d’expérimentation nécessaire à leur développement. Son objet porte sur les synergies architecturales et techniques possibles entre des systèmes et des modes constructifs d’origines diverses qui n’ont jamais été pensés ensemble au préalable dans les domaines des recherches fondamentale et appliquée. L’exemple du travail de l’agence de Lipsky+Rollet nous montre ce que pourrait être une forme de R&D spécifique à l’architecture pour autant qu’elle parvienne à réformer un cadre professionnel inadapté, et à rendre explicites ses méthodes.
Research and development (R&D) activity helps to consolidate the work of fundamental research, applied research, and experimental development - the latter dealing with experimental work practice obtained at pilot installations or prototypes. This article seeks to explore this notion of applied experimental development within architecture through the examination of three detailed projects from Lipsky + Rollet’s agency which are: Student housing on Troyes campus, the Indian House at La Cité Universitaire de Paris, and the “Positive Habitat” competition in Bologne. Each of these projects explore different means of innovative construction, all of which use wood as their primary building material and experiment with its technical, physical and ecological qualities. The work of these architects poses research enquiries about the compatibility between construction materials that were initially developed in isolation from their reciprocal industrial sectors. These prefab technical sub-assemblies must find their place within the complexities of architectural projects which are assembled based on their own rules and objectives. According to Edgar Morin’s formula, a company that no longer experiments is no longer innovative and must therefore import other models externally, making this step in situational prototyping of projects crucial. This experimental activity creates a tool for knowledge out of architectural projects and thus the edifice should no longer be understood as a simple domain for applying upstream elaborated technical solutions, rather as an experimental milieu which is necessary for its development. Its purpose is to bring diverse systems and original constructive means to architectural synergies as well as possible techniques that have yet to be seen together in fundamental and applied research domains. The example of Lipsky + Rollet’s work shows us what could be a form of R&D particular to architecture for those who have managed to reform unsuitable professional frameworks and to explicitly render its methods accordingly.

BIBA Rapid Prototyping Page www.biba.uni-bremen, de/groups/rp/rppage.html This rapid prototyping (RP) information source is provided by the Bremen Institute of Industrial Technology and Applied Work Science (BIBA) at the University of [...]

design-based research, training of trainers, socio-constructivism, community portal, design rules, instructional design, conference interpreting, formation de formateurs, socio-constructivisme, portail communautaire, règles de conception, ingénierie pédagogique, and interprétation de conférence

L’hybridation de la formation de formateurs fait partie des questions d’actualité. Cette étude porte sur une recherche de type « design-based research » comportant trois volets : la conception, la mise en œuvre et l’évaluation d’un design et d’un environnement de formation. Pour la mise en place de cette formation hybride pour formateurs d’interprètes de conférence, des méthodes d’ingénieries pédagogiques « whole scale » et de prototypage rapide ont été utilisées. La recherche s’est déroulée sur deux promotions, et a impliqué un total de 55 apprenants, 7 enseignants et tuteurs, un technicien et un conseiller pédagogique. Le cycle de la recherche rapporté ici se conclut par deux résultats. D’une part, le design d’un modèle en différents composants, conçu pour une formation centrée sur l’activité. Et d’autre part, la formulation de vingt-huit règles de conception, applicables dans d’autres contextes de formation d’adulte.
Hybrid courses for trainers remain a central question in educational technologies. This design-based research project describes and evaluates the design and the implementation of a hybrid learning environment for interpreter trainers. Development of the design and the learning environment was based on whole scale and rapid prototyping design models and methods. Collected data concerns two editions of the training with 55 learners, seven teachers and tutors, a technician and a pedagogical advisor. Two major outcomes conclude the present cycle of this research: a new component model for the design of activity-based pedagogy and a set of 28 design rules that could be applied to similar adult trainings.

System Development, Comparative Study, System Design, Design, Methods, Project Management Software, Requirements Analysis, Research and Development, and Prototype

This article presents a retrospective comparative study of the use of the system development life cycle (SDLC) and prototyping methods to help select a development approach for a given information systems (IS) project. The respondents were asked (a) to decide independently whether one of their recent IS projects was developed using either the SDLC or prototyping approach and if so, (b) to evaluate the merit of that approach in terms of ease of project management, project requirements, project characteristics, impact on decision making, and user and designer satisfaction. The results indicate: (1.) Design methods cannot be considered apart from project, environment and decision characteristics. (2.) A clear cut preference of one method over the other could not be established. Each method performed better in some areas that in others. (3.) A framework that can be used by a project director for selecting a design method to develop a system could be postulated. (Reprinted with permission of the publisher.)

culture matérielle, fabrication rapide, icône, immatériel, présence, propinquité, icons, immaterial, material culture, presence, propinquity, and rapid manufacturing

La culture matérielle, la numérisation et le problème de l’artefact. Les récentes innovations dans le domaine de la numérisation de la fabrication d’objets posent de nouvelles questions concernant notre conception de la nature de l’artefact. Elles posent également la question de l’élargissement de notre conception de la culture matérielle. Cet article a pour objet d’examiner l’émergence de la Fabrication rapide dans le domaine du Prototypage rapide, ce qui permettra d’appréhender la question de la numérisation et, plus généralement, notre conception de la culture matérielle. Étant donné qu’il s’agit d’une technologie fondée sur le concept de prototype, je la mettrai en parallèle avec une conception plus ancienne de prototype, à savoir le prototype chrétien, dans le but d’aborder les questions plus larges de matérialité et de présentification dans le cadre de ces deux technologies qui sont apparues au début et à la fin de l’ère chrétienne. Mon propos se focalisera plus particulièrement sur la question de l’immatériel, qui est au cœur des deux technologies du prototype, et sur la façon dont une technologie particulière de présentification liée à certaines conceptions de l’immatérialité exemplifie les dualismes productifs nécessaires à la structure de la vie sociale (Miller 2005).
Material Culture, Digitization and the Problem of the Artefact. Recent innovations in the digitization of manufacturing have posed new problems for how we understand the nature of the artefact and the way material culture might be conceived more broadly. In this paper I want to address the emergence of Rapid Manufacturing from the area of Rapid Prototyping to consider the question of digitisation and our understandings of material culture more broadly. As this is a technology based on the concept of the prototype I want to consider it alongside a more ancient technology of the prototype, that is the Christian Prototype to engage larger questions of materiality and presencing that the two technologies address and which have emerged at the beginning and end of our Common Era. In particular I want to focus on the question of the immaterial which is at the heart of both technologies of the prototype and how a particular technology of presencing dependant on contingent understandings of the immaterial construct the productive dualisms necessary for the structure of social life (Miller 2005).

ELSA Inc.

BIBA Rapid Prototyping Page www.biba.uni-bremen.de/groups/rp/rppage.html This rapid prototyping (RP) information source is provided by the Bremen Institute of Industrial Technology and Applied Work Science (BIBA) at the University of Bremen, [...]

Executive Information Systems, System Design, Applications, Government Agency, State Government, New York, Strategic Planning, Management of EDP, and MIS

Advances in the development of executive information systems (EIS) have predominantly occurred in the private sector, with far less progress taking place in the public sector. Surely, the need for EIS in the public sector exists. Despite problems of EIS development in the public sector, successful systems can be built. This paper explores the differences between public and private systems and describes an EIS developed for a large agency of the New York state government. The system is being used in different and creative ways, leading to a change in the organization's culture, with implicit and explicit impact on the focus of the organization and its measurement systems. A key feature of the system is its very low development cost. Sensitivity to cost and risk inhibits development in public agencies, and in the private sector as well. The approach described includes the use of standard, easily available programming and software tools for development and prototyping with live data. An iterative process was employed to develop new data where none previously existed. The experience reported here highlights how commitment from top management is a primary factor for EIS success in the public sector, even more so than in the private sector. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Company product planning, CAD software, Research and development, Cardianove Inc. -- Planning, Dassault Systemes S.A. -- Services, International Business Machines Corp. -- Services, CATIA (CAD software) -- Usage, Medical equipment and supplies industry -- Planning, Computer-aided design, High technology industry -- Research, and Computer software industry -- Product information

Companies that serve the medical industry rely on CAD, CAM, and rapid prototyping to develop medical devices quickly and effectively. Medical product designers know the pressures of shortening a new [...]

Company product planning, CAD/CAM/CIM system, DTM Corp. -- Product introduction, DTM Sinterstation (CAD/CAM/CIM system) -- Equipment and supplies, CAD-CAM systems industry -- Equipment and supplies, and CAD-CAM systems -- Equipment and supplies

A powdered metal material called LaserForm ST-100 is now available from DTM Corp. for use with its Sinterstation rapid prototyping systems. This material, which is made with a stainless steel [...]