Bauhaus University, Weimar

About: Bauhaus University, Weimar is a education organization based out in Weimar, Thüringen, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Finite element method & Isogeometric analysis. The organization has 1421 authors who have published 2998 publications receiving 104454 citations. The organization is also known as: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar & Hochschule für Architektur und Bauwesen.

Urban Social Movements and the Struggle for Affordable Housing in the Globalizing City of Tel Aviv-Jaffa

Abstract: Facing a severe housing crisis since 2008 and under pressure from an unprecedented social protest movement (particularly in 2011), the city of Tel Aviv has become an institutional laboratory for innovative experiments in housing regulation. Against this background, the author analyzes whether these recent shifts point towards a post-neoliberal transformation and a partial decommodification of housing in the interest of both middle-class and lower-class households. The empirical evidence used in this research stems mainly from a media analysis and thirty-three semistructured interviews conducted with political activists, housing experts, local politicians, and urban planners. This study shows that local political elites did indeed develop a number of affordable housing projects, while being less reluctant than their national counterparts to intervene in market pricing. However, these pioneering regulatory experiments hardly point towards a post-neoliberal direction. Despite small-scale market interventions, local decision makers define 'affordable housing' not in terms of social justice but, rather, by emphasizing the negative impact of rising housing prices on the global competitiveness of Tel Aviv. Accordingly, all innovative experiments in housing regulation focus exclusively on the needs and possibilities of middle-class households whose skilled labor power is seen as an essential economic asset for Tel Aviv's global city strategy. In addition to this, affordable housing projects are framed as tools to redevelop and gentrify the city's poorer southern and southeastern neighborhoods. As such, the author concludes that this clear class bias reflects a continuity of urban neoliberalism. Due to pressure from mass protests, the political elites may have changed their discourse but not their basic political agendas. These outcomes are explained by the lingering cohesion of local power relations and the strategic selectivity of the local state, since municipal public finances in Tel Aviv are heavily dependent on ground rent appropriation and, thus, entrepreneurial urban development strategies.

Enabling functional validation of virtual cars through Natural Interaction metaphors

Abstract: Natural Interaction in virtual environments is a key requirement for the virtual validation of functional aspects in automotive product development processes. Natural Interaction is the metaphor people encounter in reality: the direct manipulation of objects by their hands. To enable this kind of Natural Interaction, we propose a pseudo-physical metaphor that is both plausible enough to provide realistic interaction and robust enough to meet the needs of industrial applications. Our analysis of the most common types of objects in typical automotive scenarios guided the development of a set of refined grasping heuristics to support robust finger-based interaction of multiple hands and users. The objects' behavior in reaction to the users' finger motions is based on pseudo-physical simulations, which also take various types of constrained objects into account. In dealing with real-world scenarios, we had to introduce the concept of Normal Proxies, which extend objects with appropriate normals for improved grasp detection and grasp stability. An expert review revealed that our interaction metaphors allow for an intuitive and reliable assessment of several functionalities of objects found in a car interior.

Hierarchical structuring of layout problems in an interactive evolutionary layout system

Abstract: This paper focuses on computer-based generative methods for layout problems in architecture and urban planning with special regard for the hierarchical structuring of layout elements. The generation of layouts takes place using evolutionary algorithms, which are used to optimize the arrangement of elements in terms of overlapping within a given boundary and the topological relations between them. In this paper, the approach is extended by a data structure that facilitates the hierarchical organization of layout elements making it possible to structure and organize larger layout problems into subsets that can be solved in parallel. An important aspect for the applicability of such a system in the design process is an appropriate means of user interaction. This depends largely on the calculation speed of the system and the variety of viable solutions. These properties are evaluated for hierarchical as well as for nonhierarchical structured layout problems.

The Scales Project, a cross-national dataset on the interpretation of thermal perception scales

Abstract: Thermal discomfort is one of the main triggers for occupants' interactions with components of the built environment such as adjustments of thermostats and/or opening windows and strongly related to the energy use in buildings. Understanding causes for thermal (dis-)comfort is crucial for design and operation of any type of building. The assessment of human thermal perception through rating scales, for example in post-occupancy studies, has been applied for several decades; however, long-existing assumptions related to these rating scales had been questioned by several researchers. The aim of this study was to gain deeper knowledge on contextual influences on the interpretation of thermal perception scales and their verbal anchors by survey participants. A questionnaire was designed and consequently applied in 21 language versions. These surveys were conducted in 57 cities in 30 countries resulting in a dataset containing responses from 8225 participants. The database offers potential for further analysis in the areas of building design and operation, psycho-physical relationships between human perception and the built environment, and linguistic analyses.