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This article introduces BioZero, a nature-inspired near-zero building proposed for Quay St, Brooklyn, New York. The building is designed for the maximum use of daylight and natural ventilation. This is the result of its shallow plan depth and the inner light wells/ventilation stacks, which also serve the inner circulation space. The light wells/ventilation stacks are created as a result of the organic shape of the internal partitions. The building is constructed from a steel frame and hemp-lime bio-composite material (hempcrete), which smooths out the fluctuations of internal air temperature and relative humidity. The south facing façade is fitted with the Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic array that covers 90% of the opaque surface area of the façade. The design was based on nature-inspired computation, with sustainability principles as guiding constraints. The main findings are that the building achieves −227 tonnes of negative embodied carbon due to sequestration of CO2 in the hemp plant from which the material was harvested, and a net-zero operation. The main conclusions are that in the context of climate emergency, nature inspired design leads to energy efficient buildings with a high level of thermal comfort, which are buildable and sustainable.
Ljubomir Jankovic; Silvio Carta. BioZero—Designing Nature-Inspired Net-Zero Building. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7658 .
AMA StyleLjubomir Jankovic, Silvio Carta. BioZero—Designing Nature-Inspired Net-Zero Building. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (14):7658.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLjubomir Jankovic; Silvio Carta. 2021. "BioZero—Designing Nature-Inspired Net-Zero Building." Sustainability 13, no. 14: 7658.
This paper presents and discusses an optimisation approach applied to spatial layouts in care home building design. With this study, we introduce a method for increasing the floor plan efficiency using a self-organising genetic algorithm, thus reducing energy consumption, improving the wellbeing of residents and having an implicit impact on the costs of energy and health care. In order to find an optimal spatial configuration, we elaborated and tested a number of design criteria based on existing literature reviews and interpreted through initial considerations of care home layouts. These are used as objectives in a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to evaluate the best design solution. The self-organised floor plan is then used to run a final simulation to observe how residents could use the optimised spaces and to measure the improved efficiency of the new plans. The paper concludes with the discussion of the results and some considerations for future studies and experiments using emergence behaviour models to improve sustainable development in design.
Silvio Carta; Stephanie St Loe; Tommaso Turchi; Joel Simon. Self-Organising Floor Plans in Care Homes. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4393 .
AMA StyleSilvio Carta, Stephanie St Loe, Tommaso Turchi, Joel Simon. Self-Organising Floor Plans in Care Homes. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (11):4393.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSilvio Carta; Stephanie St Loe; Tommaso Turchi; Joel Simon. 2020. "Self-Organising Floor Plans in Care Homes." Sustainability 12, no. 11: 4393.
This paper presents a theoretical framework that helps identify visual sustainability in urban projects and evaluates its relevance for the use, design and making of public space. It is aimed at showing how the process of urban regeneration is far more nuanced and sophisticated than much of today’s building industry allows for. The first part of the article provides an outline of this framework, by drawing from the notion of ambiguity and discussing regeneration around a concept of trojans of ambiguity: by which we simply mean that modern-day regeneration projects are often a confusion of meaning. The framework is then applied to two case studies: Heygate, and Sidewalk Labs Toronto. The Heygate regeneration produced a negative emotionally charged process and social displacement. By contrast Sidewalk Labs Toronto exemplifies a technologically clean start for regeneration, on a site with little social vitality or history. The starting points for each ultimately point to two very different outcomes. Visual sustainability represents ‘the technology before the technology’ and future research must recognise how human needs, not technology, provide the meaning into ‘how’ we may create a successful, smart, and sustainable urban environment.
Pieter Marthinus De Kock; Silvio Carta. Trojans of ambiguity vs resilient regeneration: visual meaning in cities. Construction Economics and Building 2020, 20, 1 .
AMA StylePieter Marthinus De Kock, Silvio Carta. Trojans of ambiguity vs resilient regeneration: visual meaning in cities. Construction Economics and Building. 2020; 20 (2):1.
Chicago/Turabian StylePieter Marthinus De Kock; Silvio Carta. 2020. "Trojans of ambiguity vs resilient regeneration: visual meaning in cities." Construction Economics and Building 20, no. 2: 1.
Although in several forms and in different terms, the notion of generosity in architecture has recently received increased attention in contemporary debates, definitions of generosity and its cognates remain sparse and perfunctory, and their connotations generally unclear and in most cases subjective, hinged in the emotional sphere and thus resistant to being measurably related to projects. Moreover, no theoretical framework of architectural generosity has to date been articulated. This article collects the various definitions of generosity, including such cognate terms as abundance, surplus, or superfluity, and deduces the patterns therein to produce a schema of the qualitative characteristics of architectural generosity. By qualitatively describing how scholars apply the notion of architectural generosity, this article provides a theoretical framework for further studies of the phenomenon.
Silvio Carta. Architectural Generosity: A Preliminary Attempt at a Qualitative Definition. Space and Culture 2017, 20, 260 -270.
AMA StyleSilvio Carta. Architectural Generosity: A Preliminary Attempt at a Qualitative Definition. Space and Culture. 2017; 20 (3):260-270.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSilvio Carta. 2017. "Architectural Generosity: A Preliminary Attempt at a Qualitative Definition." Space and Culture 20, no. 3: 260-270.
Background In recent years, Dutch architect Maurice Nio has built an array of projects in the Netherlands, which have generally been considered within the spectrum of the Superdutch phenomenon, and more broadly, within Iconic Architecture. Seemingly, to his Dutch colleagues, Nio's work is on the track of liberating architecture from the burden of cultural responsibilities (Ibelings Supermodernism: Architecture in the age of globalization: Nai Uitgevers Pub, 1998), yet it evinces significant differences from other work in that vein. Methods Nio’s projects are compared with Jencks' phenomenology of iconic architecture (Jencks The iconic building: Rizzoli New York, 2005), in order to demonstrate the importance and peculiarity of Nio’s work within the context of Iconic Architecture and the Superdutch period, and the extent to which his work can be considered different. Results This article argues that Nio’s architecture is not based on the production of outstanding shapes (Lootsma SuperDutch Afterthoughts Post. Rotterdam. Rotterdam: 010 Publisher, 2001), or the clever interpretation of a given program (Betsky Reading MVRDV: NAi 2003), but on the creation of disquieting presences in the built environment. Most of his work consists of pieces of architecture each of which has its own name, character and identity and seems to rely on disrupting the expected and disturbing the quiet. Conclusions This paper examines Nio’s work, with particular attention to three case studies, in order to generate a series of qualitative characteristics that define his idiosyncratic architecture. Keywords Dutch architecture Superdutch Supermodernism Iconic architecture Maurice Nio
Silvio Carta. Disquieting presences: the ambiguity and indeterminacy of Maurice Nio’s architecture. City, Territory and Architecture 2016, 3, 40 .
AMA StyleSilvio Carta. Disquieting presences: the ambiguity and indeterminacy of Maurice Nio’s architecture. City, Territory and Architecture. 2016; 3 (1):40.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSilvio Carta. 2016. "Disquieting presences: the ambiguity and indeterminacy of Maurice Nio’s architecture." City, Territory and Architecture 3, no. 1: 40.
Accounting for stock options and executive remuneration have been one of the most debated and controversial issues in accounting regulation and corporate governance. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the mandatory adoption of IFRS 2 for accounting of stock options in Italian non financial listed companies. This paper has investigated the economic consequences of recording the cost of stock options at its fair value, in terms of its impact on the companies‟ reported earnings, and other key financial performance indicators, such as diluted earnings per share (EPS) and return on assets. The impact of the mandatory recording of the cost of stock options measured at its fair value has generally reduced the reported earnings and other key performance measures moderately. Despite some evidence of creative accounting which was found concerning the elusion of the substance over form principle for the accounting of stock options plans set up before 7th November 2002, accounting regulation has increased the level of disclosure by making companies report the “true” cost of stock options in their Profit or Loss. Based on 2004 stock-based remuneration disclosures of the value of options given to directors and employees, the expensing of options have a material negative impact on nearly 30 per cent of the sample firms‟ reported income and diluted EPS. The mandatory adoption of IFRS 2 seems to have relevant implications for corporate governance as it has reduced the information asymmetry between corporate insiders and outsiders on the “true” cost of stock-based remuneration
Andrea Melis; Silvia Carta. The impact of expensing stock options in blockholder-dominated firms. Evidence from Italy. Corporate Ownership and Control 2008, 6, 107 -114.
AMA StyleAndrea Melis, Silvia Carta. The impact of expensing stock options in blockholder-dominated firms. Evidence from Italy. Corporate Ownership and Control. 2008; 6 (1):107-114.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndrea Melis; Silvia Carta. 2008. "The impact of expensing stock options in blockholder-dominated firms. Evidence from Italy." Corporate Ownership and Control 6, no. 1: 107-114.