Thesis (M.E.F.E.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). "April 2007." "Fire engineering research report." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-179). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lunds universitet, 1990.--Additional page with thesis statement inserted. / Cover title. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. 284-288).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-216). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

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STATIC DYSTOPIA   One of the greatest transformations of our constructed physical spaces is taking place now and for a long time to come. The buildings we have created do not serve the needs and conditions of our time. They are exhausted of recurrent renovations and inexhaustible attempts to remodify already given forms, which result in expensive contracts. According to new EU-requirements scheduled 2019, no new buildings are allowed to consume more energy than they produce. And more restrictions concerning energy consumption of our existing buildings are raised around the western world to better match our present conditions regarding our decreasing resources. We have overbuilt ourselves with impractical structures that can not be modified for a natural change of our living conditions. They are too static and lack the possibility for rational reprogrammation. Instead of adapting them to future inevitable restruction, we make them even more static through passive housing.   Relevant architectural intelligentsia seem to be a thing of the past where we can find numerous examples of buildings that allows adaptability and room for reprogrammation. Meanwhile temporary refugee camps turn into constant growing cities. Whole cities and landscapes are changed during a day due to natural activities. They too lack potential reprogrammability because of its poor and barbarous approach to human living conditions. Our civilization has all the tools for changing this situation by building in a format that calculates the process of reprogrammation of physical environments. This problematic is not as relevant in furniture or interior, but can still be used with great success to improve our homes and working places. Staticism, in contradiction to reprogrammability, have fundamental values that can not be questioned when used for its’ right purpose, and it is not my intention to replace it. With rational solutions containing the combination of them both we can, and will have to, revaluate the way we construct our physical surroundings.   In my master degree project I am using my theory about reprogrammability to create a set of furniture that allows change in materiality, use, and function. This example should be considered as an exemplification of the thesis in a minor simplified scale rather than an object for actual use. The mounting of the furniture is based on a grid that allows easy assembly and reassembly of the various parts. The separated grids are shaped by their appurtenant c/c measurements (280 mm, 70 mm etc.), and are overlapping each other to allow construction symbiosis.

Orientador: Maria do Socorro Nogueira Rangel / Banca: Marcos Nereu Arenales / Banca: Valeriano Antunes de Oliveira / Resumo: O problema integrado de dimensionamento de lotes e corte de esto que (PIDC) é um problema de otimização da pro dução que considera de forma simultânea decisõ es rela-cionadas ao problema de dimensionamento de lotes (PDL) e ao problema do corte de esto que (PCE). O ob jetivo é capturar a interdep endência entre essas decisõ es de forma a p ossibilitar economia de matéria-prima e diminuição de custos de pro dução e esto que. Neste trabalho o PIDC é tratado no contexto de uma fábrica de móveis de p equeno p orte na qual as decisõ es asso ciadas ao dimensionamento de lotes e ao corte de esto que são tomadas p elo gerente de pro dução. Um estudo de caso foi feito em uma fábrica carac-terística que pro duz móveis de diversos tip os (e.g. guarda-roupas, p enteadeiras e camas) a partir de placas retangulares de madeira de diferentes esp essuras. Três mo delos matemáti-cos são formulados. Um para o PDL e um para o PCE como forma de representar uma prática (melhorada) da fábrica; e um mo delo inteiro misto que integra o PDL e o PCE é prop osto como alternativa na tomada de decisõ es. A técnica de geração de colunas é usada para resolver a relaxação linear de dois dos mo delos prop ostos. Comparamos os resultados do mo delo integrado com a prática da fábrica e analisamos o estudo computa-cional sob diferentes asp ectos. Foi p ossível obter uma solução passível de implementação tanto na estratégia integrada quanto na resolução em separado. De maneira geral, o mo-delo integrado... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The integrated cutting-sto ck and lot-sizing problem (PIDC) is an optimization prob-lem that simultaneously considers decisions related to the lot sizing problem (PDL) and the cutting sto ck problems (PCE). The goal is to capture the interdep endence b etween these decisions in order to enable economy of raw materials and reduction of pro duction and inventory costs. In this work the PIDC is treated in the context of a small scale furni-ture plant in which decisions asso ciated with the lot sizing and cutting sto ck are taken by the pro duction manager. A case study was conducted in a plant that pro duces furniture of various kinds (in general wardrob es, dressing tables and b eds) from rectangular wo o d plates of different thicknesses. Three mo dels are formulated: one for the PDL, one for the PCE and a mixed integer mo del that integrates the PDL and the PCE.The column generation technique is used to solve the linear relaxation of two mo dels. We compare the mo dels results with the practice and analyze the computational study in different ways. It was p ossible to obtain a solution capable of implementing b oth the strategy... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Over the last two decades a category of artefact has appeared that has come to be termed 'design art': highly expressive furniture and domestic products that are created as self-initiated, often limited edition designs, sold through galleries, exhibited in museums and collected in the manner traditionally ascribed to art. To date no in-depth theoretical analysis of the growth of such design has been conducted and key protagonists such as Droog Design have received little critical attention, as those involved have been largely left to write their own history. Consequently, the aim of this thesis is to account for the development of these objects as the products of particular cultural and historical conditions and ask what the implications of the rise of these particular practices of making, distribution and use may be. This thesis proposes that close analysis of the objects, their form and functional potential, reveals their dialectical qualities, in that in their materiality the tensions and conflicts of the period of their development can be discerned. Through an account of the development of the market for such goods it examines the way in which these things can be studied as commodities, in that they can clearly be understood as status symbols or a form of cultural capital. It is also asserted that by regarding such design as having the potential to impact upon everyday life, and not just as existing as something to be consumed by an elite, such practices illuminate broader problems of the ethics of design in a wider sense. In this way it is argued that these communicative objects, in their ambiguous form and problematic relationship to function, can give an insight into the way we live with performative things: the ideological products of modernity that act upon us as we use them and which contain in their being the protocols and disciplinary forces of their time. The intention therefore is to ask whether design art can be seen as a politically radical practice that suggests ways in which both makers and users can assert a new relationship to the things with which we live.

The Earwitness endeavours to explore the sonic qualities of the city, the spaces that sounds occupy and possibilities of how these spaces can be inhabited. The ability of sound to travel around corners and through walls led to a process of urban exploration within the Pretoria Central Business District that identified a diverse range of ‘inbetween’ spaces that are not traditionally seen as inhabitable. The diversity of these spaces led to the development of an architectural strategy based upon the chair as a spatial device. Its ability to be interpreted on an individual level and employed in the widest range of scenarios makes the chair an ideal candidate to respond to the unique acoustic qualities of the spaces identified. The chair is thus seen as the earwitness to the acoustic qualities of the city and, through a process of transformation and mutation, begins to respond spatially to the personalities of the spaces encountered, taking on mythical personalities of its own. Through occupying the inbetween spaces of the city block, the chairs become a subversive inhabitant of the city – locating spaces that can be listened to. The investigation of the chair as a spatial device is grounded within a sonic festival scenario for the city of Pretoria that aims to re-establish the relationship between the user, sound and the spaces of the city. The festival is operated from a proposed infill typology that completes a more traditionally architectural element to the thesis, whilst maintaining the initial conceptual integrity of the exploration. The process of critical investigation and exploration followed in the thesis aims to reveal methods with which architectural-acoustic installations can promote user engagement with, and awareness, of the city. The Earwitness thus explores the fictions and fragments inherent in the experience of the city through probing the effects of audio culture and architecture. It hosts a set of curious confrontations between the field of the real and imaginary through a collection of quasi-cultural artefacts. These artefacts range from object to installation to event and engage the auditory aspects of the city – questioning the role of design in an immersive world in which freak mutations and mistakes are the norm, perhaps even the key, to success. Copyright / Dissertation (MInt(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Architecture / unrestricted

In this study, over two hundred furniture manufacturers throughout China were surveyed regarding their raw wood material use in 1996 and their estimated use in 1999. Personal interviews were conducted after a mail survey to get interviewees' perceptions of the Chinese furniture market and raw wood material use. Forty-one overall responses were obtained which included 26 from personal interviews. The results from this study indicate general trends in the industry, and provide some important insights into China's furniture industry. In 1996, total wood materials used by responding firms were approximately 140,000 cubic meters. On average, hardwood dimension accounted for 25% of the total volume of the wood materials used by wood furniture makers. This was followed by particleboard (24%), hardwood lumber (22%), and medium density fiberboard (MDF) (17%). Domestic species grown in temperate regions were found to be the dominant types used in all responding firms. Chinese oak, ash, and birch were the major species used in 1996. U. S. red oak was the most popular temperate hardwood species imported. Interviewees reported that they prefer temperate over tropical hardwood species because they are predominantly light color. Sampled furniture manufacturers purchased hardwood lumber/dimension either from domestic sawmills or from wholesalers. On average, imported wood materials accounted for less than 7% of the total by volume. Most companies thought that price and quality of materials were most important factors affecting their importing decision. Delivery terms and species availability were important to a lesser degree. Approximately one-half the responding firms reported that their wood material demand would increase 5 to 10% annually through 1999. The other half estimated that their wood material needs would remain at or near the 1996 level. In the near future, high quality hardwood lumber, dimension, and wood veneer will need to be imported to supply upper-end solid furniture manufacturing. However, panel products, such as MDF and particleboard will retain their dominant positions in furniture making to meet the needs of consumers with low to middle incomes. / Master of Science