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This thesis provides a new interpretation of Henri Lefebvre’s Critique of Everyday Life (1933–1981), in order to develop a new method of research that locates the critique of the historical objects and practices of construction as ‘architecture in production’. To achieve this, the thesis presents a close examination of key concepts in Lefebvre’s Critique—‘alienation’, ‘production’, and ‘critique’ itself—and uses these concepts in the investigation of a particular construction process—the production of building sites for London’s South Bank, between 1948 and 1951. The thesis is composed in three parts. Part One argues that a general concept of production is recoverable from Lefebvre’s Critique, through the Marxist concept of ‘alienation’. This concept is developed by Lefebvre in a series of different spheres —‘praxis’, ‘everyday life’, ‘space’ and ‘the state form’. In each case, Lefebvre asks how it is possible to gain critical knowledge of production through its ‘alienated expression’. Lefebvre’s response to the epistemological and methodological problems raised, are shown to operate in dialogue with select works of Karl Marx and Bertolt Brecht. Part Two argues that the epistemological and methodological problematics of Lefebvre’s Critique remain incomplete until mobilised through an investigation of the particular. Through a critical literature review, the South Bank is shown to provide a unique site for such a mobilisation—an architectural production process expressed in a range of technical literatures and archival sources. A critique and history of the early phases of construction at the South Bank (1948–1951) is developed. Practices of demolishing, stripping out, excavating, and ground exploration, are explored through a careful selection of primary sources and archives—including news items, articles and memoirs, drawings, photographs, contracts and works reports. Part Three considers these sources as ‘alienated expressions’, presenting a history of ‘architecture in production’ through their critique.

Drawing on a social and cultural analysis of the architecture designed and built by the state during the Colombian military dictatorship of the 1950s, and based on original sources, including historical archives, declassified official reports, oral history, and raw blueprints, this PhD research project traces relationships between architecture, and the national and international politics of that time. In doing so, this research analyses the relation between the built environment and power, questioning traditional concepts of representation and identity. It will be argued that behind the nationalist discourse, the nationwide consolidation of modern architecture should also be seen as a camouflaged instrument of the Cold War. As part of the contemporary debate about the worldwide impact of the Cold War, this research focuses on the architecture of the 'National Policy of Public Works' developed during Rojas Pinilla's dictatorship (1953-1957). It takes as a case study one of the regime’s most emblematic projects: the Naval College 'Almirante Padilla' - ENAP, using it as a methodological instrument through which larger issues can be traced: the architecture is taken to be a materialization of the political project of a ‘new state’ in Latin America, according to the policies implemented across the hemisphere during the Cold War. State architecture was explicitly used as a political device of the aspiring 'welfare state' amidst a social and governmental controversial context. This state architecture co-opted the Modern Movement, simultaneously developing modern facilities, and following other agendas. What will be articulated here is a critical view of this seemingly neutral infrastructure by questioning how this shaped what I will refer to as a ‘conflictual identity’.

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These last ten years, in Algeria noise pollution has become an environmental issue where people are exposed to unacceptable levels of noise. The main noise source is from traffic, from neighbourhood and domestic noise particularly {entertainment premises known as wedding halls}. Other significant sources of noise annoyance in Algeria include building construction and household noise as well as car alarms and even barking dogs. In this present study, my concern will be on one of the main noise source in Algeria which is noise from entertainment halls. In Algeria, there is no existing framework or enforceable code for noise control. In view of the absence of a proper noise control standard in Algeria, a large number of wedding halls have been built without any protection {insulation, double glazing ... } causing disturbance and annoyance in the neighbourhood. The noise from these wedding halls is badly affecting neighbours. Modern amplification and music styles make this an increasing problem. Therefore local people saw their lives disturbed by the noise caused by these kinds of recreational halls. As a result of the lack of standards, this study was conducted. A noise survey has never been previously attempted in Algeria. The aim of this survey is to establish noise level limits and measurements according to the WHO guidelines recommended to create the necessary set off regulations and guidelines on which we could rely in treating the different noise problems in Algeria. During my investigations in Algiers concerning this subject I have understood that all the entertainment premises I have visited in the centre of the capital and its suburbs have been working without applying any true ,clear regulations concerning noise in general . I have found out that unfortunately {for these premises neighbourhood} no serious standards or codes of practice have been written in Algeria for the purpose of giving guidance or an objective assessment methodology to assist officers investigating neighbour and neighbourhood noise when they happen to deal with noise complaints. Up to now the only body noise complainers could refer to solve their noise problem is the police who most of the time resolve to make the antagonists meet, to cut the matter short they usually order them to reach a mutual compromise and resolve the problem amicably. In fact, most of the wedding halls which have sprung up everywhere and everyday between 2000 and 2008 have opened up in centre of towns close to places of residence entailing extreme noise nuisance to the neighbourhood. The people affected by noise disturbance do not know who can settle their complaints, except of course, a legal action which of course involves a loss of time and money. The measurements show a considerable increase in the noise level when the 'weddings' are on. This would not prove acceptable in the UK. Arguments will need to be advanced as to the correct criteria to be used in the specific circumstances of Algeria and how they can be achieved using local materials and construction practices.

Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia includes a wealth of information on ancient architecture. The books on mineralogy are particularly plentiful on the subject: Books XXXIII-XXXV contain numerous entries on architectural ornament, while at the heart of Book XXXVI lies a lengthy account of Wonders of the World, fourteen of which are located in the East, eighteen in Rome. As yet, no study exists on the reception of these passages during the Italian Renaissance. This dissertation explores how and why, between roughly 1430 and 1550, humanists, antiquarians, architects and draughtsmen tapped into this rich vein of material. There were two main approaches to Pliny's account. In the mid-Quattrocento, writers tended to concentrate on the wondrous aspects of Plinian architecture. Towards the end of the century, however, perhaps in response to the publication of Vitruvius's De architectura around 1486, various attempts were made to visualise the appearance of these marvels and to understand the method of their construction. The dissertation is divided into three parts. The first, entitled `Antiquarian Studies in Rome', examines the contribution of Pliny to the Renaissance understanding of the Roman ruins. It commences in the 1440s with the three curial humanists, Flavio Biondo, Poggio Bracciolini and Giovanni Tortelli, and concludes with the works published in the 1540s by Bartolomeo Marliani and Sebastiano Serlio. The second part, `Writings on Architecture', examines the extent to which Pliny was employed by writers on architecture such as Leon Battista Alberti, Filarete and Cesare Cesariano. The third, `Architectural Drawings', begins in the early 1430s, with sketches made by Ciriaco d'Ancona of Greek monuments mentioned by Pliny, and ends around 1550, with the deaths of architects from the so-called setta sangallesca who reconstructed three of the Plinian marvels on paper

This thesis will consider the competing imperatives of past and future that are materialised in five interconnected but distinct architectural sites within the city of New York following the attacks on the World Trade Center. Its principal concern is the manner in which the radical changes to New York's built environment force an encounter between two traditions of thought previously held to be distinct, if not directly opposed. The design challenges currently facing the city have initiated an unprecedented dialogue between philosophies of memory and mourning on the one hand and theories associated with vitalism, innovation and creativity on the other. The division between these two philosophical camps has been particularly acute within the domain of architecture, each one informing a separate set of design tropes and building types. Memory oriented deconstructive and psychoanalytic theories motivate the aesthetics of voids and absences featured in much contemporary memorial and museum design, while the writings of Gilles Deleuze influence novel experiments in digital form creation and non-linear urban planning. The political, economic and affective complexity ofpost-9111 New York necessitates a response that rethinks the traditional boundaries between these previously independent design approaches. An architecture is required that mobilizes memory, not as the conservation of the past, but as a mode of living historically that is the precondition for change. The thesis is developed across five architectural examples ranging in magnitude from the small spontaneous memorials that emerged in the weeks following 9/11 to the large-scale landscape urbanism project that is transforming the Fresh Kills landfill (containing WTC debris) into a public park. Consideration of these sites pushes philosophy on both sides of the memory/innovation divide into new configurations: Giorgio Agamben's aesthetic theory ofpoiesis suggests an as yet unrealized potential for community within memorial design; Jacques Derrida's concept of autoimmunization presents a link between deconstruction and the politics of life; and the recognition of the place of memory within the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze establishes an alternative relationship between his thought and the practice of architecture.

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The use of new media such as massively multi-user 3D virtual environments; ‘virtual worlds’, in design learning is directed by expectations that they have the potential to simulate human characteristics via Avatars. The three dimensional spatial and communicational properties afforded by this virtual environment provide an opportunity to distantly interact, visualise and keep records of the students’ design reviews, while reducing the levels of tension, defence and shyness experienced by some students in traditional face-to-face design reviews. This thesis proposes that despite these potentials for a successful interactional medium, properties of mediation, virtuality and remoteness of mediated design reviews affect how learning interactions are communicated and delivered; changing the overall learning experience, and thus its effectiveness. In order to determine the effectiveness of the mediated learning interaction process in 3D virtual worlds, this research performs a protocol analysis study where it proposes an assessment framework that examines indicators of effectiveness of three constituting processes; communication efficiency, learning effectiveness and learner-technology interaction. The study hypothesises that the availability and limitation of certain communication modes afforded by the virtual environment may affect the flow and sequences of synchronous communication, but not necessarily the quality and content of mutually communicated information. It proposes that certain properties of the technology, specifically those which aim to support different forms of interaction, such as embodiment, presence and remoteness will play a positive role in the effectiveness of the learning interaction process. This thesis hypothesises as well that students and tutors will continue to interact effectively and create a shared language of communication despite some communicational challenges. To test these hypotheses and examine the effectiveness of the learning interaction process, this thesis adopts an exploratory methodology. Varying in the degree of mediation, three categories of small size design review groups of students and tutors were conducted and closely observed. A coding scheme specific to the design review protocol was designed and developed in this thesis based on observations of the first category; face-to-face design reviews. Two other virtual reviews performed at two degrees of mediation/remoteness, allowed us to explore mediated interactions ‘within’ the 3D virtual world and ‘with’ the physical computer. Qualitatively-based interaction and content analyses of the recorded activities, in addition to questionnaires and focus groups with the participants, provided evidence that there are noticeable differences in both; verbal content and nonverbal interactions between the three design review categories, hence variations in learning effectiveness. It was found that not only the availability or restriction of certain communication modes that had caused these differences, but the way the users used, adopted and perceived the virtual properties of the medium, had played a significant role as well. It is hoped that the method developed in this thesis can shed more light upon the neglected communicational aspects of final design reviews and come closer to enhance the delivery of learning in the design studio. It is hoped as well that this research can inform the literature on virtual worlds as online-learning environments in design-based disciplines, by probing deeper than simply accepting or rejecting the use of the technology, but rather to analyse the properties they afford or deny within context. Furthermore, it is hoped that the recommendations of this research be employable to aid virtual world and Avatar designers to develop interactional aspects of virtual worlds to be considered for a wider range of more complicated interaction processes such as the architectural design review.