Search Results (1,558)

In the current context where China is continuously emphasizing the construction and supply of indemnificatory housing, and actively promoting the construction of “Better Housing” for such housing, the development experiences of Japan and South Korea in the field of public housing reveal that the construction and supply of public housing cannot be separated from the interaction and coordinated development of the policy system, spatial composition, and cultural factors. Based on this, this study takes the public rental housing in China, Japan, and South Korea as the research objects, through comparative analysis of their policy systems, cultural backgrounds, and spatial composition characteristics of unit plans, to explore the implications for the development of China’s indemnificatory housing, and provides theoretical basis and practical references for optimizing the supply system and space design of China’s indemnificatory housing. The study selects typical cases of public rental housing from the three countries, and conducts comparisons from dimensions such as unit plane shape, L.D.K. layout, bedroom configuration, transitional space, balcony design, and bathroom composition. Findings indicate that Japan’s UR rental housing focuses on refined and diversified design, South Korea’s public housing emphasizes spatial flexibility, while China’s indemnificatory housing, while pursuing standardized construction, faces challenges of area limitations and insufficient functional adaptability. Based on the experiences of the three countries, this study proposes a tripartite guidance suggestion of “Policy–Space–Culture” to advance the realization of “Better Housing” objectives and ensure that China’s indemnificatory housing meets both international advanced experience and local social and cultural specific needs: (1) policy systems—strengthening legalization and long-term sustainability in governance; (2) spatial composition—incorporating flexible layouts and human-centric detailing; (3) cultural adaptability—balancing traditional living habits with contemporary needs. Full article

Parametric design stands out in contemporary landscape facilities design with its distinctive beauty sense. However, understanding this beauty sense and establishing an aesthetic design method is one of the problems needed to be solved. In this context, this study integrates the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model and hybrid Kansei Engineering establish the aesthetic design method for parametric landscape facilities from the perspectives of cognition and positivist design. Firstly, the SOR model is used to reveal the aesthetic cognitive mechanism of parametric landscape facilities. Secondly, the forward Kansei Engineering is used to extract design features. Thirdly, the extracted design features are combined with shape grammar for parametric modeling in the Grasshopper platform. Fourthly, backward Kansei Engineering is used to evaluate design schemes and analyze their data of beauty sense. Finally, this study takes the landscape corridor as a case to illustrate the proposed method. The results show that (1) in aesthetic cognition, dynamic visual forms, transparency of spatial feeling, and abstract style have a significant positive impact on the beauty perception of parametric landscape facilities, and the beauty perception of parametric design has a unique appeal to the general public. (2) The design case verified the effectiveness of this method, and this study can provide a valuable reference for parametric landscape facilities. Full article

In the context of the energy crisis and the urgency of passive design in contemporary architecture, this study focuses on the Tujia-style Sanheyuan in southeastern Chongqing, China, which is highly adaptable to local climatic conditions. Using field surveys, architectural mapping, computational fluid dynamics numerical simulations, and multi-parameter comparative analysis, this study systematically explores the relationship between the geometric form of the Sanheyuan and its courtyard ventilation performance. Based on the Tujia construction scale modulus, this study summarizes the basic prototype of the Sanheyuan, analyzes the selection paths of its three sets of construction parameters, and constructs 48 typical courtyard models for wind environment simulation. By introducing five evaluation indicators—wind speed uniformity coefficient, proportion of strong wind zone area, proportion of calm wind zone area, and unit area wind rate—this study comprehensively assesses the impact of Sanheyuan design parameters on courtyard wind environment adaptability. This study concludes that specific spatial design parameters of the Tujia-style Sanheyuan significantly influence wind environment adaptability, offering quantitative guidance for climate-responsive and culturally informed architectural design. This study found that the optimal side room width-to-depth ratio is [1.00, 0.86, 0.83]; the optimal ridge height-to-stilt height ratio is [4.29, 8.00, 2.96]; and the optimal building footprint-to-side room area ratio is [3.01, 5.06, 4.75]. Full article

The construction industry is recognized as high-risk due to frequent accidents and injuries, prompting extensive research and bibliometric analysis of construction safety. However, little attention has been given to the evolution and interconnections of key research topics in this field. This study applies semantic network analysis (SNA) to examine relationships and trends in construction safety research over the past 30 years. SNA enables quantitative exploration of topic interrelationships that is difficult to achieve with other approaches. Chronological network graphs are evaluated using the number of nodes, edges, density, average clustering coefficient, and average path length. Prominent topics are identified through degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality measures. The analysis combines a global overview of the main network, a chronological perspective, and local examination of clusters based on five macro keywords: accident, safety management, worker behavior, machine learning, and safety training. Results show a shift from traditional concerns with mortality and injuries to contemporary issues, such as safety climate, worker behavior, and technological innovations, including building information modeling, machine learning, and real-time monitoring. Topics with lower centrality scores are identified as under-researched. Overall, SNA offers a comprehensive view of the construction safety knowledge system, guiding researchers toward emerging topics and helping practitioners prioritize resources and design integrated safety risk strategies. Full article

Camouflaged object detection (COD) represents one of the most challenging tasks in computer vision, requiring sophisticated approaches to accurately extract objects that seamlessly blend within visually similar backgrounds. While contemporary techniques demonstrate promising detection performance, they predominantly suffer from computational complexity and resource requirements that severely limit their deployment in real-time applications, particularly on mobile devices and edge computing platforms. To address these limitations, we propose LiteCOD, an efficient lightweight framework that integrates local and global perceptions through holistic feature fusion and specially designed efficient attention mechanisms. Our approach achieves superior detection accuracy while maintaining computational efficiency essential for practical deployment, with enhanced feature propagation and minimal computational overhead. Extensive experiments validate LiteCOD’s effectiveness, demonstrating that it surpasses existing lightweight methods with average improvements of 7.55% in the F-measure and 8.08% overall performance gain across three benchmark datasets. Our results indicate that our framework consistently outperforms 20 state-of-the-art methods across quantitative metrics, computational efficiency, and overall performance while achieving real-time inference capabilities with a significantly reduced parameter count of 5.15M parameters. LiteCOD establishes a practical solution bridging the gap between detection accuracy and deployment feasibility in resource-constrained environments. Full article

Cities play a central role in territorial development, acting as engines of economic growth, innovation, and social well-being. However, contemporary urban challenges, such as socio-spatial segregation, environmental degradation, and mobility constraints, necessitate innovative planning approaches. The “15-minute city” model, conceptualised by Moreno, seeks to reorganise urban spaces to enhance proximity, sustainability, and quality of life by ensuring that essential services are accessible within a short walk or bike ride. This study examines the applicability of this model in Portugal, analysing its presence in national scientific research and its integration into recent Sustainable Urban Mobility Action Plans. Additionally, a spatial analysis using pedestrian-based isochrone mapping assesses accessibility to education and health services, identifying areas with potential for implementation. The results indicate a selective adoption of the model’s operational dimensions, with an emphasis on fare integration and soft mobility infrastructure. However, there is a noticeable deficiency in regulatory instruments designed to promote multifunctionality and social–spatial inclusion. The spatial pattern in northern Portugal reveals disparities in pedestrian accessibility. This study highlights the stronger need for context-sensitive urban strategies, emphasising that while the 15-minute city offers a promising framework, its success depends on local adaptations and governance models. Full article

Scene text understanding, serving as a cornerstone technology for autonomous navigation, document digitization, and accessibility tools, has witnessed a paradigm shift from traditional methods relying on handcrafted features and multi-stage processing pipelines to contemporary deep learning frameworks capable of learning hierarchical representations directly from raw image inputs. This survey distinctly categorizes modern scene text recognition (STR) methodologies into three principal paradigms: two-stage detection frameworks that employ region proposal networks for precise text localization, single-stage detectors designed to optimize computational efficiency, and specialized architectures tailored to handle arbitrarily shaped text through geometric-aware modeling techniques. Concurrently, an in-depth analysis of text recognition paradigms elucidates the evolutionary trajectory from connectionist temporal classification (CTC) and sequence-to-sequence models to transformer-based architectures, which excel in contextual modeling and demonstrate superior performance. In contrast to prior surveys, this work uniquely emphasizes several key differences and contributions. Firstly, it provides a comprehensive and systematic taxonomy of STR methods, explicitly highlighting the trade-offs between detection accuracy, computational efficiency, and geometric adaptability across different paradigms. Secondly, it delves into the nuances of text recognition, illustrating how transformer-based models have revolutionized the field by capturing long-range dependencies and contextual information, thereby addressing challenges in recognizing complex text layouts and multilingual scripts. Furthermore, the survey pioneers the exploration of critical research frontiers, such as multilingual text adaptation, enhancing model robustness against environmental variations (e.g., lighting conditions, occlusions), and devising data-efficient learning strategies to mitigate the dependency on large-scale annotated datasets. By synthesizing insights from technical advancements across 28 benchmark datasets and standardized evaluation protocols, this study offers researchers a holistic perspective on the current state-of-the-art, persistent challenges, and promising avenues for future research, with the ultimate goal of achieving human-level scene text comprehension. Full article

Litz wires are extensively employed in contemporary high-frequency switching power electronics to mitigate conductor losses. Minimizing additional winding losses caused by high-frequency phenomena, such as skin and proximity effects, is a critical design consideration for achieving high power density in modern power electronics. However, accurately predicting losses in structures composed of numerous twisted and insulated strands remains a challenge. With the increasing accessibility of commercial numerical tools, such as finite element method (FEM) solvers, simulation-based approaches have become indispensable tools for analyzing electromagnetic phenomena in complex magnetic device structures under high-frequency conditions. In parallel, data-driven modeling has emerged as a powerful method, enabling pattern identification based on datasets; however, such approaches rely on the availability of large amounts of reliable high-quality data. Generating such large-scale FEM datasets, however, is often constrained by long computation times and high memory consumption. Despite the remarkable advancements in computing power, full three-dimensional (3D) FEM analysis at the strand level for Litz wire windings often remains infeasible within personal computing environments. To address these challenges, this study presents a computationally efficient two-dimensional FEM-based framework that integrates a data-driven fitting model with optimized geometric discretization and meshing strategies, enabling accurate analysis with reduced computational load. The proposed approach, which incorporates optimal meshing conditions into commercially available 2D FEM tools and a simple data-driven fitting model, enables accurate prediction of the frequency-dependent AC resistance of multi-turn Litz windings using a typical personal computer. Its feasibility is further demonstrated through experimental frequency response measurements on both 12-turn and 21-turn windings fabricated with 150-strand Litz wire, which show strong agreement with the corrected simulation results, confirming the model’s accuracy and practical applicability. Full article

The field of electric vehicles and electric mobility, like other modern engineering practice, not only requires deep analytical skills but increasingly demands the ability to synthesise and integrate knowledge across multiple disciplines (e.g., electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, sustainability engineering, design engineering) to create innovative systems. Education today, however, still has a strong analysis focus: learning, exploring, and understanding theories and concepts is the main drive. Design and synthesis build on those and aim at bringing together theories and concepts into creative and innovative systems. Teaching design and synthesis is notoriously hard. The design of electric vehicles exemplifies the complexity of contemporary engineering problems, requiring the integration of multiple domains to experience the challenges connected to design and synthesis. This paper presents the need for, rationale behind, setup of, and experiences with a 5 European Credit (140 h) Master’s-level (postgraduate) course named “Electric Vehicle System Design” that we developed as a joint effort for the University of Twente and the University of South-Eastern Norway. The course is specifically designed to immerse students in the multidisciplinary design and synthesis processes central to electric mobility. In the paper, the course framework, project-based approach, and lessons learned are discussed. This highlights how engineering students can be equipped for the challenges inherent to designing electric vehicles. Full article

Biomimetic design, derived from the study of biological systems, has emerged as a pivotal methodology in contemporary art and design. By systematically integrating the morphological traits, structural principles, and functional mechanisms of living organisms into design thinking, it provides both a novel theoretical perspective and methodological support for modern design practice. This design philosophy draws abundant inspiration from nature’s aesthetics and achieves a profound fusion of organic form and artistic expression. This study systematically traces the theoretical evolution of biomimetic design—from its early phase of direct form-mimicry to today’s holistic, systems-based approach—and clarifies its interdisciplinary logic and developmental trajectory. We examine its applications in public installations, product development, architecture, and fashion. Through a structured analysis of plant-inspired, animal-inspired, and ecosystem-inspired strategies—linked with the aesthetic demands and cultural contexts of design—this study uncovers the underlying mechanisms by which biological models drive innovation. The findings demonstrate that, by organically combining form simulation, function optimization, and ecological awareness, biomimetic design not only elevates the aesthetic value, visual impact, and emotional resonance of design works but also amplifies their social role and cultural significance. Moreover, its interdisciplinary potential in materials innovation, technological integration, and environmental sustainability highlights unique pathways for addressing complex contemporary challenges. This study adopts a methodology that blends case-study analysis and theoretical interpretation. Through an in-depth examination of exemplar projects, it validates that biomimetic design not only achieves a seamless unity of function and form but also offers a robust theoretical framework and practical strategies for sustainable design implementation. These insights advance both the theoretical depth and practical innovation of the design discipline. Full article

The accelerating pace of urbanization and population growth has increasingly disrupted the relationship between the built environment and nature, contributing to a decline in individuals’ psychological and spiritual well-being. Religious buildings—particularly mosques—have the potential to serve as restorative environments that support spiritual reflection and emotional balance. Within this context, the integration of biophilic design principles into sacred architecture has emerged as a significant area of contemporary research. This study investigates how biophilic elements in mosque interiors influence individuals’ perceptions of spirituality and the restorative quality of the space. Mosque interior images were generated using artificial intelligence tools (Midjourney V6.1 and DALL·E 3), informed by biophilic design theory. Grounded in Attention Restoration Theory (ART), the study utilized a quantitative research framework to explore how biophilic elements influence spiritual and restorative perceptions in sacred architectural spaces. Data were collected from 390 individuals in Türkiye with prior worship experience in Republican-era mosques—structures marked by ideological and spatial transformations. Two instruments were used, the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS) and the newly developed Biophilic Spiritual Perception Scale (BSPS), which demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.981). Analyses included exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, as well as parametric and non-parametric statistical tests. Findings suggest that biophilic design in mosque interiors positively influences both spiritual experience and perceived environmental restorativeness. These results support the view that biophilic design should not be seen merely as an esthetic or ecological approach but as a multidimensional strategy that enhances the emotional and spiritual quality of sacred spaces. Implications for future mosque design in Türkiye are discussed. Full article

This study critically examines the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into education through the lens of Marx’s theory of alienation, engaging with contemporary critiques of digital capitalism and academic labour. Drawing on an exploratory survey of 395 educators in Northern Cyprus, a context of early-stage AI adoption, the paper identifies four distinct forms of alienation exacerbated by AI: from the product of academic labour, from the educational process, from professional identity (species-being), and from interpersonal relations. Findings suggest that while educators who view AI more positively tend to report lower levels of alienation, particularly with respect to their pedagogical outputs, this association is tentative due to the low reliability of the AI perception scale (Cronbach’s α = 0.42). The results, therefore, serve as hypothesis-generating rather than conclusive. Situating the empirical findings within broader critiques by Noble, Hall, Preston, and Komljenovic, the study highlights how algorithmic governance, commercial platform logics, and data-driven performance regimes threaten teacher autonomy, creativity, and relationality. The paper concludes with a call for participatory governance, ethical oversight, and human-centred design to ensure that AI integration supports, not supplants, educators. In doing so, it contributes to critical debates on the ethical sustainability of digital education under conditions of intensifying automation. Full article

Digital twins play a crucial role in linking data with practical solutions. They convert raw measurements into actionable insights, enabling spatial planning that addresses environmental challenges and meets the needs of local communities. This paper presents the development of a digital geospatial twin for a residential district in Burgas, the largest port city on Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast. The aim is to provide up-to-date geospatial data quickly and efficiently, and to merge available data into a single, accurate model. This model is used to test three scenarios for revitalizing coastal functions and improving a waterfront urban park in collaboration with stakeholders. The methodology combines aerial photogrammetry, ground-based mobile laser scanning (MLS), and airborne laser scanning (ALS), allowing for robust 3D modeling and terrain reconstruction across different land cover conditions. The current topography, areas at risk from geological hazards, and the vegetation structure with detailed attribute data for each tree are analyzed. These data are used to evaluate the strengths and limitations of the site concerning the desired functionality of the waterfront, considering urban priorities, community needs, and the necessity of addressing contemporary climate challenges. The carbon storage potential under various development scenarios is assessed. Through effective visualization and communication with residents and professional stakeholders, collaborative development processes have been facilitated through a series of workshops focused on coastal transformation. The results aim to support the design of climate-neutral urban solutions that mitigate natural risks without compromising the area’s essential functions, such as residential living and recreation. Full article

This paper presents the development and structure of a geospatial (work in progress), architectural heritage database designed to document, interpret, and valorize Second World War military fortifications in Sardinia. Currently hosting over 1800 georeferenced entries—including bunkers, artillery posts, underground shelters, and camouflage systems—the database constitutes the analytical core of an interdisciplinary research framework that interprets these remnants as a coherent wartime palimpsest embedded in the contemporary landscape. By integrating spatial data, archival sources, architectural features, conservation status, camouflage typologies, and both analog and digital graphic representations, the system operates as a central infrastructure for multiscale heritage analysis. It reveals the interconnections between dispersed military structures and the wider territorial fabric, thereby laying the groundwork for landscape-based interpretation and site-specific reactivation strategies. More than a cataloging tool, the database serves as an interpretive and decision-making interface—supporting the generation of cultural itineraries, the identification of critical clusters, and the design of adaptive reuse scenarios. While participatory tools and community engagement will be explored in a second phase, the current methodology emphasizes landscape-oriented reuse strategies based on the perception, spatial storytelling, and contextual reading of wartime heritage. The methodological synergy between GIS, 3D modeling, traditional drawing, and archival research (graphic and photographic documents) contributes to a holistic vision of Sardinia’s wartime heritage as both a system of knowledge and a spatial–cultural resource for future generations. Full article

Opening titles are more than introductory devices supporting the film they have been produced for; they are artistic and cultural artefacts with a powerful visual identity. Among the most emblematic figures in this design field, the graphic and motion designer Saul Bass (1920–1996) pioneered an approach that redefined the identity, the design, and the experience of cinematic title sequences, opening a path of experimentation aimed at bridging visual communication, moving images, stylistic innovation, and aesthetic synaesthesia, through a combination of sound, movement, and image into a single expressive unit. This article investigates Bass’s contribution through a historical-critical and comparative lens, reconstructing the network of artistic and technological influences that shaped his design philosophy. It analyzes a selection of Bass’s title sequences, highlights his connection to European modernism, and identifies the seeds of postmodern culture in several aspects of Bass’s work such as the merging of principles coming from design and animation studies, the ambition for technological experimentation, and the openness towards a mass audience. By framing Bass’s creative legacy as a form of visual heritage, the article examines the ways in which his kinetic typography and moving compositions can be, therefore, recognized as resources for art historians, media scholars, designers, and visual communication theorists to track down the first and impactful aesthetic and narrative experiments conducted in the postmodern and contemporary motion graphic design field. Full article