In Media Res, or Beginning in the Middle of Things

This study of architectural education argues there is no first beginning for the discipline. Instead, the student always begins in the middle of things, the pre-disciplinary context that surrounds the field. Accordingly, the effort of education is to discover possibilities for acting and understanding within those conditions, the way things are here and now, not elsewhere in some more propitious location, nor nowhere, on the open plane of the famous tabula rasa. This approach—beginning not with radical foundations or ultimate goals but in the middle of things—widens teaching’s target to broad topics of inherited culture and the natural world.

THE STRUCTURE OF ARTISTIC SPACE IN PAVEL VEZHINOV’S NOVELLA “THE BARRIER” AND “A GENTLE CREATURE” BY FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY

Background: The article deals with the intertextual analysis of two novellas: The Barrier by Pavel Vezhinov and A Gentle Creature by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The methodological basis of the study is the interpretation of intertextuality as a product of reading (not the phenomenon of “writing”), according to which Vezhinov and Dostoevsky – writers belonging to different national cultures and historical eras – in some sense become contemporaries. Accordingly, A Gentle Creature, written earlier, is enriched by the meaning as a result of its comparison with The Barrier, as well as the latter by comparison with the story of Dostoevsky. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the intertextual connections of Pavel Vezhinov’s novella The Barrier and A Gentle Creature by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and to show how they deepen the content of both works in the reader’s perception. The analysis of texts is carried out within one level – the artistic space, which is “an author’s model of the world, expressed in the language of his spatial representations”. Results: Comparative analysis of the elements of spatial code and analysis of the characters’ behavior through the type of artistic space corresponding to each of them allows to understand the in-depth content of each of the two works. The storyline of both stories is based on one type of rite de passage – the transition from life “to another life”. The expected result of this transition is a radical spiritual transformation of the character and a new identity acquired by them. The events that make up the plot, in the two stories largely coincide and the last in their series is the suicide of the female character. The main character of The Barrier is a person who has gone astray and wanders within an open plane space. Meeting him with Doroteya, the character of the “vertically directed path” within the “open, voluminous space”, provokes the beginning of the “spiritual transformation” in him. However, the suicide of the female character again throw Antoni over the "barrier" of social conditioning that he managed to overcome with the help of Doroteya, and makes it impossible for him to acquire a “new identity”. The pawnbroker from A Gentle Creature is a “character of the point space” who has never been able to “expand the space” throughout the story. However, the suicide of the female character is reported as such an event, from which a real rite de passage can begin for the character, culminating in his acquisition of a way up and a radical spiritual transformation. Key words: intertextuality, artistic space, rite de passage, spiritual transformation, transfiguration.

Electrowetting on Dielectric Based Droplet Transport Inside a Closed-Channel

The paper reports Electrowetting on Dielectric (EWOD) actuated droplet transport characteristics inside a closed-channel. Traditional EWOD devices are open-plane wall-less devices within which droplets are either sitting on a substrate or sandwiched between top and bottom substrates. We investigated droplet motion by EWOD actuation inside a sealed closed-channel. Closed-channel EWOD actuation is useful for interfacing open-plane EWOD (digital) designs to closed continuous (analog) microfluidic devices. Some transport characteristics of the closed-channel EWOD actuation were investigated. Actuation voltage was varied between 85–120 VRMS. Channel height was varied between 90–150 μm. The electrodes were square shaped and 2 mm across. Within these range of design parameters the droplet velocity profile showed no steady state constant velocity. And it accelerated to the peak value near the midpoint of the energized electrode then decelerated for the rest of the travel.

A Numerical Study of the Effect of Blind Opening on Laminar-to-Turbulent Transition in the Flow Over a Simple Recessed Window-Plane Blind System

Most numerical studies of convective heat transfer between a window-blind system and a room are based on the assumption that the flow remains laminar. However, in the case of larger windows it is to be expected that transition to turbulent flow will occur in the system. The aim of the present study was to numerically determine when transition to turbulent flow occurs in a recessed window system and the effect of a simple partially open plane blind on when transition occurs. An approximate model of a recessed window that is covered by a partially open plane blind has been considered. The inner surface of the window is modeled as a plane vertical isothermal surface and the blind as a thin plane surface that offers no resistance to heat transfer. The fluid properties have been assumed constant except for the density change with temperature that gives rise to the buoyancy forces, this being dealt with using the Boussinesq approach. Radiant heat transfer effects have been neglected. The k-epsilon turbulence model with the full effects of the buoyancy forces being accounted for has been used in obtaining the solution. The governing equations have been solved using the commercial finite-volume based cfd code FLUENT. The solution has as parameters: (1) the Rayleigh number, (2) the Prandtl number, (3) the dimensionless ‘window’ recess depth, (4) the dimensionless blind opening, and (5) whether the ‘window’ surface is at a higher or lower temperature than the room air. Because of the application being considered results have only been obtained for Pr = 0.7 and for the case where the ‘window’ surface is at a higher temperature than the room air. The effect of transition on the mean Nusselt number variation with Rayleigh number with various blind openings for various dimensionless window recess depths has in particular been studied.

A Numerical Study of Three-Dimensional Convective Heat Transfer From a Window Covered by a Simple Partially-Open Plane Blind

Heat transfer from the room-side surface of a window covered by a plane blind to the surrounding room has been considered. The window is at a higher temperature than the air in the room. There is an open gap between the blind system and the window at the top of the window and the effect of the size of this gap on the window-to-air heat transfer rate has been numerically examined. Three-dimensional flow has been considered. The flow has been assumed to be steady and laminar and it has been assumed that the fluid properties are constant except for the density change with temperature which gives rise to the buoyancy forces, this having been treated by using the Boussinesq approach. It has also been assumed that the flow is symmetrical about the vertical centre-plane of the window. The solution has been obtained by numerically solving the full three-dimensional form of the governing equations, these equations being written in terms of dimensionless variables. Results have only been obtained for a Prandtl number of 0.7. The effects of the other dimensionless parameters on the window Nusselt number have been numerically determined.