This thesis proposes five new dwellings be constructed within Maggia, a medieval village in Italian-speaking Ticino, Switzerland. The modern scheme placed within Maggia's old town outlines an attempt to revitalize the village's life by providing places for individuals, families, groups of families, and the whole village community. The act acknowledges a process of evolution which integrates old and new to continually generate livable places. Building a new element into the fabric of an old village requires an understanding of the existing place and the forces which contributed to its making. An architect designing within such a context should question the physical characteristics of the built environment and also examine natural and historical factors which may have influenced previous building. The historical, natural, and built environment contributes to forming the spirit, or experience, of the place. By attempting to define and name the elements which have created this spirit, the architect may begin to develop a design uniquely specific to its locale which contributes to the built community. A study of Maggia's existing structure reveals a widening gap between the town's old and new architecture. The proposed design attempts to mediate this separation between medieval and modern design. The project acts as a bridge, both physically and metaphorically, between the central town and newer surrounding development. While the project recognizes the medieval village as the essential monument which guides and informs new design, it simultaneously integrates modern concerns which influence the inhabitants' quality of life. / Master of Architecture

No description available.

The period between the 1750s and 1830s witnessed a major change in travel practices in Europe, moving away from the traditional Grand Tour and focusing more on natural places, their visual power, and their influence on individual emotions. Such changes meant that the Alps ceased to be seen as a natural obstacle that had to be crossed in order to access Italy, and became a place to explore and a mountainous space par excellence. This thesis addresses the importance of mental mapping in travel literature and its impact on the construction of the Alps as a transnational space, which eventually facilitated the creation of a viable touristic market in the Alps as we know it today. The first part of the thesis analyses the transformation of the Alps from a natural frontier to a border region explored by travellers and their networks. The second part discusses the consequences of these changes on mental mapping and spatial representations of the Alps by travellers: it highlights the way external visitors often had very subjective interpretations of what the Alps meant as a term and a place, and conveyed those to other travellers through travel writing. Finally, the third part of this work investigates the development of an Alpine myth as a product of these shifting mental representations: the Alps became a set of expectations, typical images, and encounters to be expected.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Vertically propagating waves (VPWs) generated by prominent mountain ridges are a severe hazard to military aircraft operations. Properly forecasting the initiation and duration of such a phenomenon is critical, yet quite often missed by turbulence forecasters. A primary reason for poor forecast skill is vague VPW forecasting guidelines at the Air Force operational centers, focusing a majority of attention on the less severe, more common trapped lee wave response. The United States Air Forces in Europe Operational Weather Squadron (USAFE OWS) has requested a tool to aid in improving forecast ability of VPW events. Satellite analysis from October 2003 through March 2004 indicated an occurrence of six major VPW events to the lee of the Alps. Actual verification of turbulence in each VPW was unavailable due to the minimal pilot report (PIREP) database kept for military flights over Europe, therefore, a subjective assessment of turbulent conditions was determined depending on the resulting cloud signature. Using NCEP GFS model analysis and upstream upper air soundings during these events, an average synoptic condition and critical weather parameters were created. These developed tools were then tested from October 2004 through March 2005 to prove their reliability. In a limited data set these tools identified all VPW events, with only a 25% false alarm rate. This is compared to a 6% forecast ability with 0% false alarm rate determined during the 2003-2004 winter season by USAFE OWS forecasters. These new rules should be valuable in that they will provide a much needed capability for synoptic scale turbulence forecasters to better determine hazardous aviation conditions associated with VPWs. / Captain, United States Air Force

This thesis examines scientific research undertaken by British travellers in the higher regions of the Alps from c.1815 to c.1880. Within this spatial backdrop I study how bodily habits and physical practices were used in the formation of a distinct observational style, how this style was transferred to other individuals and other social groups, and how they could be called upon to legitimate the knowledge produced. Mountain regions provide an ideal space to examine the role of physical practices in the production of scientific knowledge. Difficult geography and unpredictable weather make the Alps a very hostile environment. The period between 1815 (the end of the Napoleonic wars) and 1880 (when 'guideless' climbing was introduced) was a period of considerable change for Alpine research and mountain travel. It was during this period that scientific research was shifted from the lower Alpine valleys towards the higher regions of permanent snow and ice. But before the higher regions could be observed, individuals were first required to learn bodily habits and physical practices. To further these aims this study will the broadly based around the Alpine Club. Formed in 1857, it was the premier authority on high mountain travel. Though knowledge production formed a strong part of its outlook, the Club also contained members intent on pursuing mountain travel for pleasure. As a result the Club placed scientific activities alongside the unique physical skills and the technical experiences of its membership. Members interested in producing scientific research in the higher Alps used the Club to extend participation in observation gathering. To do so they used the Club's rules and regulations, meetings and committee structure as well as its publications to define and articulate how this knowledge should be collected.

Thesis ( M.A.). / Written for the Dept. of History. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/01/14). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Paris X, Nanterre, 1988? / At head of title: Ministère de l'Education nationale. Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. 243-249).

Si la montagne est un objet qui n'a cessé d'accompagner la discipline géographique et ses évolutions, la question des seuils de la montagne est toujours restée relativement marginale. Pourtant, un intérêt croissant pour ces espaces est à noter. De nombreux concepts animant la discipline (interface, interspatialités, espaces intermédiaires…) poussent à reconsidérer ces espaces flous, au seuil de « l'espèce d'espace » ou catégorie spatiale qu'est la montagne. C'est dans ce cadre qu'est menée cette étude croisée entre terrain des Alpes du Nord franco-suisses et terrain des Carpates roumaines. Ce seuil de la montagne, appelé ici piémont, ne saurait émerger selon des critères exclusivement physiques ou topographiques qui n'ont plus lieu d'être au sein d'une discipline toujours plus ancrée dans les sciences humaines. Le piémont peut alors être défini comme l'espace sur lequel se déploie un ensemble de fonctions dites « piémontines ». Ce sont ces fonctions qu'il s'agit ici de saisir, de définir, afin d'en identifier les acteurs et d'en expliquer les dynamiques spatiales et temporelles. Ce sont aussi les logiques territoriales et métropolitaines qui sont à interroger, puisque ces fonctions « piémontines » peuvent constituer autant d'occasions de développement, de rapprochements mais aussi de concurrences entre territoires et/ou entre métropoles. Par conséquent, ce sont également la genèse et le fonctionnement des territorialités et, plus spécifiquement, des processus d'urbanisation et de métropolisation qui sont obligatoirement envisagés lorsque l'on s'intéresse à ces fonctions « piémontines ». Enfin, l'étude croisée permet, au moins dans une certaine mesure, d'envisager la comparaison, malgré tous les écueils et limites que celle-ci présente. Les paradoxes émergeant de cette volonté de comparaison constituent alors autant d'éléments susceptibles de mieux saisir ce que peuvent être les seuils de la montagne, mais aussi de proposer une approche renouvelée de ces terrains d'étude. / If the mountain is an object that has continued to support the geographical discipline and its developments, the issue of thresholds the mountain has remained relatively marginal. Yet a growing interest in these areas is noteworthy. Many concepts animating discipline (interface, interspatialités, intermediate spaces ...) push to reconsider these blurred areas, the threshold of "the kind of space" or spatial category what the mountain. It is in this context what this crossover study conducted between land North of the Alps in France and Switzerland and field of Romanian Carpathians. This threshold of the mountain foothills called here, can not emerge as exclusively physical or topographical criteria that have longer relevant in an increasingly rooted in the humanities discipline. The foothills can then be defined as the space on which deploys a set of functions called "foothill's functions". It is these features that this is to capture, define, in order to identify the players and explain the spatial and temporal dynamics. These are also the territorial logic and metropolitan which are to be questioned, as these "foothill's functions" can be as many development opportunities, but also of reconciliation competition between territories and / or between cities. Therefore, it is also the genesis and operation of territoriality and, specifically, the process of urbanization who must be considered when we look at these "foothill's functions". Finally, crossover study allows, at least to some extent, to consider the comparison, despite all the pitfalls and limitations that it presents. Emerging paradoxes of this comparison will then constitute elements that may better understand what can be the thresholds of the mountain, but also to propose a new approach to study these courses.

The solution of the motion detection system with the parallel radio identification on the same channel/carrier. The work is based on the RF sensor from ALPS Electric (product still in development phase), which works as an RF motion sensor and a digital transceiver as well. System can differenitiate general moving object from an object with active key. First part of this work describes the sensor module and the internal Nordic nRF24LE1 transciever (physical layer). Design of packet based communication protocol which does not influence motion sensing (communication layer) is discussed. Next part consist of FW design of application and identification protocol for sensor and key (application layer) and reference HW design of the active key. There are series of tests in every section.

No description available.