Search results for "Characters"
showing 10 items of 83 documents
Masserie: Manor farms in Sicily. Typological characters, preservation and reuse
2018
The Sicilian land tenure was always characterized by the presence of latifundium. Such a land exploitation intimately influenced not only the farming techniques but also the population identity and farms’ typology. The Sicilian (and south-Italian) common typological form of rural estate is the masseria. More particularly, it is a large fortified farm built to control and manage a vast land-property, the old fiefdoms. This work focuses on the cultural and economic background, taking motion from the ancient feudality, that led to the construction and development of the masserie in Sicily. The typological characters, that deeply reflect the rural location and society, will be discussed: typolo…
I caratteri dell'architettura resiliente adattiva. Invarianti compositive del progetto: 1990-2020
2023
La Tesi di Dottorato “I caratteri dell’architettura resiliente adattiva. Invarianti compositive del progetto: 1990-2020” si propone di affrontare il rapporto fra l’architettura resiliente adattiva e le invarianti compositive del progetto attraverso l’influenza che tale rapporto ha sull’evoluzione e l’innovazione dei caratteri dell’architettura. In un momento storico in cui termini come resilienza e innovazione ricoprono un ruolo cruciale nell’esplorazione delle potenzialità della ricerca e costituiscono un requisito indispensabile per la programmazione del prossimo futuro, si è ritenuto opportuno ricondurre l’attenzione della ricerca dottorale al cuore della disciplina del progetto di archi…
On a Roadmap to Biologically Inspired Cognitive Agents
2011
A new challenge is proposed for future intelligent artifacts based on biologically inspired cognitive architectures (BICA), called the BICA Challenge. Namely, it is proposed that a BICA agent can only be considered human-level intelligent if it can be accepted and trusted as an equal member (a “person”) by a human community. For example, an agent of this sort would be able to win a political election against human candidates.
Cornicioni e sistemi di smaltimento delle acque meteoriche nell’architettura tradizionale mediterranea. Conoscenza, durabilità e recupero compatibile…
2020
The essay explores the construction aspects of cornices that, from elements of protection, they can also become elements of degradation and instability due to their shape. We would analyze formal and material values of a cornice: it presents complex characters and summarizes problems deriving from construction requirements of building envelope, due to the double value of ornamentation (crowning of building) and functional component (removal system of meteoric water from façade). This study suggests a repertoire of “rules of art”: deriving from treatises and manuals and constituting points of reference for historical construction. We would indicate the main degradations that the shape of cor…
The Monster Analogy: Why Fictional Characters are Frankenstein's Monsters
2019
The Unwritten (2009–2015), a Vertigo comics series created by Mike Carey and Peter Gross, demonstrates through metafictional storytelling that all fictional characters share important features with Victor Frankenstein’s infamous creature: they are simultaneously synthetic and mimetic, human and nonhuman, textual and transtextual, crafted to serve specific functions, yet difficult to control. This article explores how structuralist, cognitivist and emerging transtextual theories of literary characters have attempted to grasp and reconcile these paradoxical qualities. This allegorical cross-reading highlights previously ignored points of connection between different theories, forming a basis …
Shaping women's agency through temporality in "The life and activity of the holy and blessed teacher Syncletica"
2020
The present article attempts to discuss the relationship between two female characters, Thecla and Syncletica, against the wider theoretical background of temporality as it was perceived and construed through literary texts. Syncletica is portrayed as a ‘disciple’ of Thecla. However, while the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla appear to be pervaded with an eschatological expectation, the Life of Saint Syncletica shows signs of a different temporality. The detailed description of the whole life of Syncletica, with an emphasis on the course of illness, reveals a temporality more focused on the stages of life. Building on this evidence, I aim to identify a set of key features that…
Elements of Theatrical Performance and Sailors as Actors and Performers in Capt. Marryat's Sea Novels
2019
Caratteri adattivi della resilienza : la sperimentazione di Tangible Media Group e la progettazione adattiva per le crisi del futuro
2022
The Adaptive Characters of Resilience Designing adaptive and resilient architecture could constitute an opportunity to re-think the immovable architectural characters, above all the firmitas, and to define a new paradigm of resilient adaptivity. Defining an adaptive methodology means being able to go beyond the actual strategies, which focus on technological solutions or social policies. The aim of this paper is to illustrate a different scenario for the near future design by introducing the vision-based design approach of the Tangible Media Group, and specifically three of their latest prototypes, which merge the physicality of the real-world with the flexibility of the natural and digital…
Lectotypifications of cerastium siculum, C. Densiflorum, and C. aggregatum, and taxonomic notes on C. siculum (Caryophyllaceae)
2017
Nomenclatural notes on Cerastium siculum Guss. (Caryophyllaceae), a species described from Sicily and occurring in the central western region of the Mediterranean basin, are discussed. The names C. aggregatum Durieu ex Brign., C. densiflorum Guss., and C. siculum are lectotypified here. The taxonomic independence of C. siculum from C. semidecandrum L. and the other taxa of Cerastium L. sect. Orthodon Ser. subsect. Fugacia Fenzl is confirmed, as well as the synonymy of C. aggregatum and C. densiflorum.
Lessons Learned Using Theory of Mind Methods to Investigate User Social Awareness in Virtual Role-Play
2009
Theory of mind (ToM) methods were used to investigate children’s interpretations of the social and emotional states of synthetic pedagogical characters, focusing on children’s cognitive and affective empathic responses to characters in bullying scenarios and their social awareness and understanding of the characters’ situations. Although cognitive approaches typically do not consider user social awareness and emotional understanding and their roles in interaction, this is critical for our research on empathic engagement. We present a novel approach focusing on story and character comprehension using concepts from ToM methods to understand children’s interpretations of characters within virt…