Presently, 190 million people live outside of their countries of origin. Almost all have moved in search of a better life: higher wages, or an escape from war or persecution. However, a small but growing demographic is merely seizing opportunities to feed its curiosity and satisfy its sense of pursuit. London is a Mecca for such migrants that choose to fulfill career aspirations and to embark on the global adventure. These New Nomads are of both genders, young, skilled, and have an ease of mobility afforded by the virtual permanence of the Internet. They come to the city alone, leaving friends and family behind, and they often leave again in the same way. But during their stay, they build relationships, accumulate belongings, make homes. Here are some of their stories. This thesis predicts a changing of the notion of 'dwelling' in this, our market-driven, resource-limited, technology-fluent world. New efficient ways to negotiate the exchange and sharing of space and commodities are needed. The proposed Living Marketplace is designed for the passing individual with an undetermined itinerary. It is a communal hub for nomads, migrants, transients—minorities navigating amidst uncertainty and impermanence, as they each make the journey of their lives via London.

In examining the Canadian residential fabric, this thesis advocates for the design of urban dwellings which respond directly to a number of contemporary urban challenges. A number of these challenges stem from the largely suburban nature of North American cities; there are major concerns about the relative isolation and automobile dependence of contemporary suburbs, their spread into conurbations, and their environmental impacts. On the other hand, there are challenges with many typical urban infill developments as well; they are often developed for a limited range of households, lack much in the way of connections to the outdoors, and, in contrast to some of the key arguments for intensification, often perform below the level of energy efficiency we might reasonably expect in a compact, contemporary, and sustainable urban form. All of these challenges are further discussed and evaluated in chapter three of the thesis. In attempting to address these challenges in a holistic manner, this thesis makes a case for conscientiously increasing the density of the many existing low-density areas within our urban fabric, in a form which incorporates varied outdoor spaces, varied uses, varied unit types and sizes, within a relatively energy efficient form and skin. Chapter four looks at design principles, strategies, and precedents, as well as schematic designs which attempt to integrate and synthesize these objectives. In order to illustrate the application of these principles and schematic designs to an existing low density urban area, chapter five proposes a more detailed design on a large site in Westboro, Ottawa, an evolving semi-suburban area whose development dates largely from early and mid 20th century.

This study uses pitfall traps to collect ground-dwelling invertebrates in Nanjen Forest. The ground-dwelling invertebrates in Gufu Area are mainly contributed by Hymenoptera, Collembola, Coleoptera, Araneida. There is no significant difference between the diversity index of pitfalls with various distances to the edge of forest in Gufu Area. The similarity index between each pitfall is relatively low, it suggests that the heterogeneity of various micro-habitats is high. The sex-ratio of different spider species varied from 0.09 - 1.73, and the habitat preference is specific. The number of the spiders is positive-correlated with the number of the Collembola and the Orthoptera.

The topic of this thesis is explore how tiny houses are being used and how might they be applied to homelessness in the future. The thesis also discusses the influences of past architectural thoughts and ideals that lead to the creation of the modern day tiny house on wheels. The thesis addresses questions such as: Who lives in tiny houses and for what reasons? How are different tiny houses designed? I found that tiny houses are helping to eliminate the negative connotation of living in a small house. I also discovered that the two main demographics of people living in tiny houses are those who are downsizing and those who were previously homeless. Each group has various motivations for moving into a tiny house. It is clear that the tiny houses will likely become more popular for both groups in the future but it is unclear of how long individuals will stay in their tiny homes. My hope is that the homes are passed down and reused by both groups.

Presently, 190 million people live outside of their countries of origin. Almost all have moved in search of a better life: higher wages, or an escape from war or persecution. However, a small but growing demographic is merely seizing opportunities to feed its curiosity and satisfy its sense of pursuit. London is a Mecca for such migrants that choose to fulfill career aspirations and to embark on the global adventure. These New Nomads are of both genders, young, skilled, and have an ease of mobility afforded by the virtual permanence of the Internet. They come to the city alone, leaving friends and family behind, and they often leave again in the same way. But during their stay, they build relationships, accumulate belongings, make homes. Here are some of their stories. This thesis predicts a changing of the notion of 'dwelling' in this, our market-driven, resource-limited, technology-fluent world. New efficient ways to negotiate the exchange and sharing of space and commodities are needed. The proposed Living Marketplace is designed for the passing individual with an undetermined itinerary. It is a communal hub for nomads, migrants, transients—minorities navigating amidst uncertainty and impermanence, as they each make the journey of their lives via London.

In examining the Canadian residential fabric, this thesis advocates for the design of urban dwellings which respond directly to a number of contemporary urban challenges. A number of these challenges stem from the largely suburban nature of North American cities; there are major concerns about the relative isolation and automobile dependence of contemporary suburbs, their spread into conurbations, and their environmental impacts. On the other hand, there are challenges with many typical urban infill developments as well; they are often developed for a limited range of households, lack much in the way of connections to the outdoors, and, in contrast to some of the key arguments for intensification, often perform below the level of energy efficiency we might reasonably expect in a compact, contemporary, and sustainable urban form. All of these challenges are further discussed and evaluated in chapter three of the thesis. In attempting to address these challenges in a holistic manner, this thesis makes a case for conscientiously increasing the density of the many existing low-density areas within our urban fabric, in a form which incorporates varied outdoor spaces, varied uses, varied unit types and sizes, within a relatively energy efficient form and skin. Chapter four looks at design principles, strategies, and precedents, as well as schematic designs which attempt to integrate and synthesize these objectives. In order to illustrate the application of these principles and schematic designs to an existing low density urban area, chapter five proposes a more detailed design on a large site in Westboro, Ottawa, an evolving semi-suburban area whose development dates largely from early and mid 20th century.

Ce travail se propose d’évaluer l’incidence de la notion de confort dans l’émergence de modèles, de normes et d’expériences qui participent d’une histoire de l’habitation en France, du renouvellement de l’acception du terme dans la langue française au cours des années 1830 à l’achèvement d’un premier cycle majeur de sa démocratisation à la fin des Trente Glorieuses. Ambitions politiques et normes sociales, doctrines architecturales et usages, cycles économiques et consommation, innovations techniques, réglementations et représentations symboliques éclairent le processus de construction, d’objectivation et de diffusion de cette notion. La démocratisation du confort est notamment envisagée dans la durée comme une facette d’un récit national des « temps modernes » qui opère à différentes échelles de la civilisation quotidienne, du monde des objets aux formes urbaines en passant par l’architecture des immeubles et des espaces privés / This work aims to evaluate the impact of the notion of comfort in the emergence of models, standards and experimentations that play a part in a French housing history, covering the change of meaning of the term within the French language in the 1830s, to the completion of a first major cycle of its democratization at the end of the Trente Glorieuses. Political ambitions and social standards, architectural doctrines and domestic usages, economical cycles and consumption ideals, technical innovations, rules and symbolic representations enlighten the process of construction, diffusion and objectification of this notion. The democratization of comfort is notably seized in the long run as a facet of a national narrative of “modern times” which proceeded at different scales of the everyday civilization, encompassing the world of domestic objects, urban forms, architecture of buildings and private spaces

Poetic dwelling, both as the perception of and engagement with the environment, has predominantly been lost in contemporary society. As a result, the earth had become an ‘inexhaustible inventory’ in the eyes of the dweller, resulting in a culture that merely consumes without giving anything of itself. In response to a Regenerative approach to the making of architecture, the dissertation combines the theories of Robert. P. Harrison and Martin Heidegger, in that poetic dwelling finds its extension in the form of building, and its fulfillment in the garden. The design aims to facilitate the healing of both people and environment on a site scarred by the consumer model of modern industry, and does so on a derelict brick quarry site in Monument Park, Pretoria. / Dissertation MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Architecture / Unrestricted

Class of 2014 Abstract / Specific Aims: To assess older adults’ knowledge of medications associated with an increased risk of falls and to evaluate the impact of pharmacist counseling on knowledge of medication-related fall risk. Subjects: Community-dwelling adults 60 and older. Methods: Data were collected using an online questionnaire consisting of 15 knowledge-based items to determine awareness of medication-related fall risk, four items to determine pharmacist counseling experience, fall history, and number of medications taken, and two items to collect demographic information (age and gender). Main Results: Two hundred and six community-dwelling older adults (mean age = 69.07 years, SD = 5.59) participated in the study by completing all or part of the questionnaire. The number of older adults who reported having fallen within the last five years was 90 (43.7%). The knowledge-based portion of the questionnaire was completed in its entirety by 162 older adults (80 males, 81 females, one unreported gender; mean age = 68.7 years, SD = 5.12). One hundred and nineteen of 162 (73.5%) questionnaire respondents scored below 70% on the knowledge assessment (mean score 49.3%, SD = 26.8). The 12 respondents (7.6%) who reported having received counseling from a pharmacist regarding medication-related fall risk scored significantly higher on the knowledge assessment compared to the 145 respondents who did not (mean score 61.66% versus 48.09%, p = 0.01). Conclusion: A majority of community-dwelling older adults lacked knowledge of medications associated with an increased risk of falling. However, those who had been counseled by a pharmacist demonstrated greater awareness of medication-related fall risk. Thus, pharmacist counseling of older adults regarding medications and fall risk should be promoted.

Climate change and rapidly changing labour markets call for societies to increase their level of resilience. Parallelly, mental illness is tormenting Swedes in increasing numbers. How can society become more resilient unless its inhabitants are? Research have shown that individuals need time for introspection as well as to be part of a group, to obtain balance. People in groups tend to spontaneously form rituals with the function of explaining society, forming rules and bonds and give people a sense of meaning. Social infrastructure is a mean to make people come together, form rituals and develop their social capital - something that increase resilience both on an individual and social level. Architecture at its best can be said to point at, or promote, a desired lifestyle. Because of that, every major shift in society tends to bring about new forms of living. This project is a kind of urban, vertical monastery for non-believers as a way to explore future living. The idea is to find a new example of living and working that can help set a new norm, better adapted to the needs of the 21st century. A housing solution that work as social infrastructure, where individualism and collectiveness can meet. An important part of the project is exploring how small individual space can be when well dimensioned common space and function is offered at the same time. Small individual space help, or force, people to become minimalists due to lack of storage capacity. But minimalism is not just owning few things, it can also be low-key activism. By using yourself as an example you become a sort of activist resisting the consumption society and at the same time advocating for environmental sustainability. Minimalism can also be seen as a religion, a way to ritualize your daily life, to make sense of an increasingly scary world in lack of other belief systems to fall back on.