Volume 10 (2015): Edition 1 (December 2015)

Free standing billboards (FSBs) have a significant negative visual impact on landscape. In majority of foreign countries the construction of FSBs is regulated by various legal instruments, guidelines, and control manuals. In Lithuania the construction of FSBs considering visual impact is poorly regulated by juridical and spatial planning means. Considering this situation methodological guidelines for regulation of FSB construction taking into account their visual impact were created. The guidelines are a part of the Landscape Guidelines for the Roads and Railways of National Significance [10] which is a manual set to fulfil the requirements of the European Landscape Convention [4] to broaden the knowledge on this subject and to integrate landscape issues into all matters that influence the state and the future of landscape. The aim of the article is to show the possibilities of application of the guidelines by performing visual impact assessment of FSBs in the road landscape near the town of Elektrėnai on one of the main highways of Lithuania: A1 Vilnius-Kaunas-Klaipėda. The proposed stages of FSB visual impact assessment are the following: analysis of landscape spatial structure designating visual spaces perceived from separate road sections; analysis of FSB layout possibilities designating visual spaces protected from FSB construction and visual spaces as FSB construction areas; establishment of possible visual contrast level of FSB, and establishment of FSB location in visual space and visual contrast character according to the Identity Index context (Similarity, Identity, Difference Index) theory and results of evaluation of aesthetic potential of the visual space. In the performed research we used the possibilities of spatial data management and analysis of geographic information systems (GIS) and basically implemented the first three stages of FSB visual impact assessment. The fourth stage was not implemented because it deals mainly with technical issues of FSBs. We tried to solve questions that are most important on the level of spatial planning when developing special plans for FSB construction.

The results of the building optimisation presented in this article come from the author’s entry project in the Design Optimisation Competition 2014. Simulations were conducted to help to design an office building and to minimise its costs and impact on the environment. Ultimately, the building’s construction costs were reduced to £2,294,216 and annual CO₂ production to 136,169.3 kg, while maintaining discomfort hours below 200 hours per year and daylight floor area above threshold on the level of 60.0 %.

The intention of this paper is to provide a comparative parametric approach that to analyze informal housing patterns and to develop alternative housing paradigms by designing new formal housing patterns in Istanbul. This paper focuses on parameters which are effective in the formation of “informal housing settlements” considering the formal housing production alternatives. Observation, actual sources and parametric evaluation was used. This study aims to make comparison between organic informal housing structure and formal housing structure in Maltepe/ Istanbul housing settlement and analyse their physical and spatial patterns by using parametric evaluation approach.

The article considers the architectural works designed and realized in contemporary Serbian architectural practice in the context of questions and thinking about local-global but also of visible tendencies and dilemmas, that the architects deal with in smaller local environments like in Serbia, from the position of architectural historians, theoreticians and critics. The multi-layered, often vague double meaning and nuanced ties and interpretations of the mentioned relationships will be traced in the works of such important Serbian architects as I. Antić, M. Jovanović, B. Petrović, D. and M. Marušić, S. Krunić, I. Marić, B. Mitrović, I. Rašković, who were chosen in order to trace the line of development of the relationship between the local and global during 1950 ‒ 2000, the period which was also marked by turbulent social and political changes.

The article explores ways of improving urban structures of territories especially from the aspect of urban public security. The investigation is based on theoretical principles and existing practices. Implementing the principles of sustainable development in the conditions of public participation and cooperation with local authorities, residents of the cities and towns can be successfully integrated into a modern, well-designed, safe public urban space.

Different types of formal expression can be found in the modern architecture of the 21st century - in publications, internet resources and in the generalizations of critics. In the context of the synthesis of arts the styles of sculptural architecture and surface architecture are noteworthy. Characteristics of this synthesis are also noticeable in kinetic architecture where the styles of surface kinetic architecture and sculptural kinetic architecture are distinguished. The genesis of images of buildings constructed in these styles is the result of the synthesis of arts; it reflects the development of historical styles as well as the ways of formal expression and their influences in the end of the 20th century and in the 21st century. This paper provides an analysis of constructed objects and proposals put forth in architectural competitions in Latvia’s 21st century modern architecture.

The paper considers the interior and furnishing of a Revival Bulgarian house built in 1863. The aim of this paper is to present the architecture and to give a closer overview of a part of the furniture collection belonging to this house: the French Empire style furniture set in the South East drawing room of the upper floor. The aim is to perform the analysis of stylistic features as well as to make a hypothesis concerning the cabinet maker.

The overall human progress continuously stimulates the transformation of the notion of architecture and enhances the development of new architectural forms. In line with the thesis that only sustainable architecture allows the fulfilment of contemporary requirements to full extent, this paper explores the variety of developed mobile educational spaces, classifies them into types and analyses their sustainability aspects. The analysis aims to define the cases and needs to which mobile educational spaces respond best, i.e. according to which their utilization is justifiable. The results open a new research debate on the relationship between sustainability and the duration of utilization.