Bøger i PoliMI SpringerBriefs serien

The book provides an overview of the Slow Onset Disasters (SLOD) in the urban built environment discussing potential strategies to assess and mitigate multiple climate change related risks. Climate change evidence has been reported in the last decades, suggesting that the anthropogenic activities are accelerating these changes towards a warmer and more polluted environment. In this context, SLODs have been linked to climate change related disasters and have been stated to have a higher impact risk within dense built environment (BE). Therefore, the book presents a description of the most relevant SLODs, their significance, and confluence, the way in which scientists and entities are monitoring their progression at different scales, a structured risk assessment strategy and the deconstruction of the BE characteristics that make it more prone to SLODs risk. In addition, it highlights the necessity of adapting the traditional risk assessment methods, to account for different vulnerabilitytypes, including the morphology and materiality of the BE, and the BE users¿ characteristics. In fact, individual features influence users¿ responses and tolerance to environmental stressors, because of age, health, gender, habits, and behaviour, thus impacting the users¿ vulnerability. Exposure can then amplify these issues, since it defines the number of users that can be effectively affected by the SLOD. Starting from this perspective, the book first traces literature-based correlations between individual features, use behaviour, and individual response to the SLOD-altered open spaces. Then, a novel methodology, to quantify the variations of users¿ vulnerability and exposure, is offered, to support designers in quickly defining input scenarios for risk assessment and mitigation. Lastly, it demonstrates, through a case study, the SLOD risk assessment framework proposed and the evaluation of the efficacy of risk mitigation strategies.

The book explores the advanced façade systems according to the productive and constructive contents, in a cognitive and operative form, as a manual text to provide guidelines for researchers, technicians and professionals. It provides operational guidance for the technological design, production planning and site executive coordination for the realization of façade systems. The analysis deals with the main building elements and technical interfaces. The study of the façade systems, after explaining the anchoring structures and their connections to the load-bearing elements, investigates the criteria for the assembly between the framings. In particular, the book examines the technical interfaces of the main advanced envelope systems with respect to the functional, constructive and applicative coordination procedures of the mullions and transoms framing, of the structural sealant glazing façade system, of the unit façade system, of the suspended façade system and of the double skin façade system. The technical and manual character of the book is also expressed through the analysis of the functional and application procedures of the gaskets with respect to the façade systems in order to prevent the transmission of air and water loads: the analysis focuses on the connections between the framing and the enclosure elements of the envelope, in accordance with the compensation of height differences in order to guarantee impermeability, airtightness and insulation. Then, the book describes the assembly and interface conditions between elements of different composition and production within the façade systems: the examination of the technical interfaces involves the development and application of sealants, based on the loads exerted on the jointing devices, in order to fulfill the requirements of sealing and tightness with respect to mechanical, thermal and hygrometric, water, air and wind stresses. Moreover, the study of the envelope systems examines the methodologies directed toward fulfilling the requirements with respect to the actions caused by fire loads, considering the contents related to both components and connections and fixing surfaces.

This book investigates policies for the promotion of housing affordability in the rental sector of attractive cities in Europe. Affordability links the housing situation to the economic situation of households, referring to conditions of access to housing and to the role of housing in determining poverty or wealth. The book examines the current affordability crisis and frames it in the ongoing process of urban restructuring and devolution of welfare. From the perspective of the Foundational Economy, the book calls for a proactive and effective role of public administrations in making the rental sector an affordable and stable alternative to housing financialization and commodification. By intertwining theory construction and real-world data collected through case studies in Milan and Vienna, the book provides an original framework for the analysis of public policies that promote rental affordability in a multi-level setting. Through the analysis, it highlights critical nodes of thedifferent (housing, urban, and social) policy domains at stake in the promotion of rental affordability in attractive cities. The book proposes a shift from the currently dominant supply-side argument to an integrated, intersectoral and multi-scalar policy system for making cities more affordable.

The book examines the typological and technological constitution of the principal advanced façade systems in the contemporary design and experimental scenario, proposing itself as a knowledge and operational tool currently lacking in the technical literature of the sector at an international level. It considers the field of advanced façade systems in a scientific way, constituting a support for the study and the executive design. The book investigates in detail, in an analytical form, the constitution of the components on a typological and geometrical, functional and constructive level, on the basis of the documents and knowledges acquired from the essential contemporary production and construction references. At the same time, the book is configured in a handbook form as a reference for understanding and application with respect to traditional and complex façade systems. For each main type of façade, the book provides explanations and scientific information for investigating and designing the advanced façades according to the characteristics of the mullions and transoms façade system (stick system), of the structural sealant glazing façade system, of the unit façade system, of the suspended façade system and of the double-skin façade system.

This book examines two topics in the context of product design and enabling technologies: User eXperience (UX) and eXtended Reality (XR). UX regards the ways in which people interact with the environment and with objects and is considered of primary importance in many contexts. When developing new products, UX must be carefully designed and evaluated directly with the users. Prototyping is a well-known, effective, and widely used practice for design evaluation. The book describes how prototyping based on XR technologies, including Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, is a suitable approach for testing ideas and products without fully physically building them. The major benefits, which are well explained and demonstrated in this book, consist in allowing users to experience products, including their appearance, functions, and usability, in a digital context that can be easily modified and customized according to the users¿ feedback and the context of use.The audience of the book includes graduate students who wish to learn more about prototyping methods and technologies and product and digital application designers who can deepen their knowledge on advanced digital technologies for evaluating the designs of products and experiences.

This book presents a novel method for the numerical simulation of swimming animals. It includes a review of the hydrodynamics of swimming, a description of the CFD model adopted, and a description of the results obtained by applying this model to the cownose ray. This method is developed for the open-source software OpenFOAM and relies on an overset mesh. A custom library is added to the solver to include the equations of the kinematics of the animal under investigation, combining the deformation of the fish fins with the computed displacement and rotation of the animal's body. The presented method helps investigate the dynamics of any animal moving in a fluid, provided that its kinematics is known, and in this work, it is applied to investigate the hydrodynamics of a cownose ray. This book is intended for researchers and engineers who aim to deeply understand the hydrodynamics of fish swimming and to design bioinspired autonomous underwater vehicles or novel propulsion systems.

This open access book offers a multidisciplinary and comprehensive perspective regarding the immediate and long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on coworking spaces in the European Region. The current pandemic has imposed several effects on work and spaces for work. Some are immediate effects and will last for a short time (such as the closing down of the space), some will last longer (namely, the reorganisation of the space to meet the physical distancing), and some will stay for a long time (remote working and hybrid working). Although the literature on coworking spaces and the effects of the pandemic is growing fast, empirical studies are yet limited. Within this context, this book seeks a twofold aim: (i) to contribute to the fast-growing literature on coworking space and their effects at different scales; (ii) to present a multidisciplinary perspective about the effects of the yet-lasting Corona-pandemic effects on the patterns of remote working and consequently on coworkingspaces, as the most diffused form of new working spaces.

This book explores the advantages of a linear model of planning in reducing regional inequalities. Linear planning, commonly discussed in the past as a method which plans the development of the city, is completely redefined here in the form of a design approach inspired by projects shaped by linear routes, such as cycle or walking paths. Such concept is applied to the urgent topic of territorial marginality which specifically neglects rural and mountainous areas and recently is coped by European and National policies. The analysis of these policies demonstrates the necessity of alternative strategies equipped to deal with both the internal and external causes that determine the critical conditions in these fragile environments. By implementing the concept of linear planning in these contexts, this book proposes to enlarge the perspective of traditional policies contrasting the regional inequalities that usually determine the design of projects just within the boundaries of the marginal areas. Cycle and walking paths are experimental cases of linear planning as they have not been influenced or formed by political boundaries and therefore are able to equally involve both the central and marginal zones. This book presents a review of current issues such as regional inequalities, with attention to their related policies, as well as an analysis of the concept of linear planning as seen through the study of one of the most famous cases of a walking path¿the Way of St. James in Spain.

This book provides a theoretical framework for design researchers interested in developing their research work about and with prototypes. It describes prototypes' multiple definitions and possible functions in the multifaceted landscape of today's design research. Indeed, while the manufacturing and digital evolutions enable and require new types of advanced prototypes, the design evolution as an academic discipline continuously widens its perspectives, fields, and research methods, among which are the prototypes' applications, features, and purposes. The framework originates from an interpretation of these interrelated phenomena and a collection of case studies. Additionally, it defines those criteria that characterize the relation between the research (context, discipline, and general scope) and the prototype (nature and specific aims) and, altogether, it presents an overview of prototypes' roles in design research.

Through an approach strongly oriented to socio-health contexts and healthcare facilities, with multidisciplinary contributions on the methodological and technical aspects, or legislative issues, the book provides tools and design strategies to plan and realize therapeutic places and healing gardens for care, rehabilitation, interaction, and social inclusion. It addresses all the technical and medical professionals - like Architects, Urban Planners, Agronomist, Sociologists, Epidemiologists, Public Health experts, Policy Makers, etc. - wishing to explore the link between built environment, well-being, and health, referring in particular to the direct relationship between places and therapy.

The book investigates acoustic cloaking for elliptical targets, starting from the development of a systematic approach to deal with such non-axisymmetrical shapes by adopting transformation acoustics in elliptic coordinates, and concluding with numerical and experimental validation of a microstructured cloak in the underwater environment. The book thus comprises all the steps from theory to practice that led to the first experimental validation of acoustic invisibility for non-cylindrical objects, whose results are presented in the last chapter. Indeed, despite Transformation Theory is now an established tool to design material distributions capable to unlock the design of invisibility devices, it is not trivial to apply it for shapes different than the sphere and the cylinder, which are thus the ones mainly addressed in the literature. This book paves the way for exploration of other shapes, demonstrating the effectiveness of a pentamode cloak in reducing the acoustic visibility of anelliptical target, and discussing design choices that can make the implementation of the required microstructure less cumbersome despite the lack of axial symmetry of the problem, from both the numerical and manufacturing point of views.

This book provides a comprehensive review of the models and approaches that can be employed to simulate modular multilevel converters (MMCs). Each solution is described in terms of operating principle, fields of applicability, advantages, and limitations. In addition, this work proposes a novel and efficient simulation approach for MMCs based on sub-circuit isomorphism. This technique, which has its roots in the electronics fields, can be profitably exploited to simulate MMCs regardless of the model used to describe its sub-modules, including the most accurate ones. Lastly, this book considers a well-known high voltage direct current (HVDC) benchmark system consisting of two MMCs. After describing the implementation details of each benchmark component, simulation results in several scenarios (ranging from normal operating conditions to faults in the AC and DC grid) are included to validate the proposed approach and showcase its key features. Due to its educational content, this book constitutes a useful guide for PhD students and researchers interested in the topic of MMCs and their simulation. It also serves as a starting platform for junior electrical engineers who work in the field of power electronic converters for HVDC systems.

This book presents and critically evaluates the results of a European territorial cooperation project addressing the planning challenge of brownfield transformation in fragile territories. Set against the backdrop of the current scenario of deindustrialisation in the European Alps, the book describes how to read and interpret the spatial condition of industrial brownfields in peripheral mountain areas as complex transformation sites. Through key theoretical references, well-documented experiences and field activities, the book explores and advances an innovative methodology of design-based participatory planning conceived specifically for fragile socioeconomic and environmental contexts. The empirical basis for such a methodological exploration is provided by four pilot sites distributed between Austria, Italy, France and Slovenia, identified in the cooperation project as highly representative and recurring situations. The book includes a comparative review of the work carried out for the pilot sites, as well as the planning outcomes generated, providing a clear and operative reference for scholars, professionals and public officers called to face similar experiences.

This book explores the topic of proximity and its relations in the design of contemporary urban fabrics and public spaces. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and reflections on the future of cities have lately shed light on the concept of proximity, which is intended as the relationship between communities and urban functions and as relations among people, built spaces, and open spaces. The proximity is a historic and fertile field of interest for American and Northern European urban studies; it is a spatial and social program seemingly surpassed by the styles and rhythms of contemporary city life, but today it is back in vogue with different purposes. Meanwhile, the action research developed by the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Politecnico di Milano for the Municipality of Milan reached its conclusion (2018-2020). The research work focused on contextualizing the new M4 Metro line stations under construction, and jointed mobility flows and places, long-range networks and local ones, boosting the idea of metro stations as regenerative urban thresholds and urban platforms for enabling environmental, sustainable settlement, and active mobility systems. In other words, the action research for Milan shows how to achieve the concept of proximity in the urban design practice in a dense, stratified, and complex urban context.

This book explores the potential contribution of cultural heritage in the enhancement of the territories, investigating the possibilities but also the criticalities involved in the process. Based on the knowledge process built on the Monasteries of Haghpat, Sanahin, Geghard and moreover, in the Upper Azat Valley in Armenia, the work suggests the development of an integrated design approach with interdisciplinary focus. The conservation of the Architectural Heritage of these sites is a priority for the identity safeguard but also to start virtuous processes able to ensure a sustainable development for places and communities. The objective of this work is the setting of pilot strategies and guidelines for the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage as an engine for a compatible and sustainable tourism development of the area, with tangible impact on social and economic development of the country. The work would benefit local authorities and communities, as well as researchers involved in these topics.

The book deals with urban reactivation, a particular form of regeneration intervention which in addition to the physical-spatial dimension of the places also-and above all-considers the social and relational dynamics that the intervention is able to activate. In this sense, the concept of activation (or reactivation) emphasizes the act of putting something into or back into operation, whether it concerns the material components of a container (a building or a place) or the immaterial components of a content (a need, or a function), starting from the exploitation of opportunities that the architectural project contributes to revealing, developing and accompanying.

This book explores the application of service design to urban commons. It originates from a project developed by the research group of POLIMI DESIS Lab of Politecnico di Milano, aimed at imagining the future of the Reggio Emilia Ducal Palace and its park - the Reggia di Rivalta. The peculiarity of the project lays in the idea that the design of a (public) space should be informed by the design of its services, because the development of specific activities actually builds a fundamental part of the identity of a place, conceiving both the tangible and intangible dimensions as part of a single creative process. The combination of a participatory process and the integration of spatial and service design led to infrastructuring a multi-stakeholder participatory action research of envisioning the future of a public good. This effort has been thus framed into a working methodology, specific tools and progressive outputs, which are defined as Service Master Planning (the process), and Service Master Plan (the product), allowing service design professionals to expand their knowledge and develop skills for a new field of application connected to urban planning.

Computing and science reveal a synergic relationship. On the one hand, it is widely evident that computing plays an important role in the scientific endeavor. On the other hand, the role of scientific method in computing is getting increasingly important, especially in providing ways to experimentally evaluate the properties of complex computing systems. This book critically presents these issues from a unitary conceptual and methodological perspective by addressing specific case studies at the intersection between computing and science. The book originates from, and collects the experience of, a course for PhD students in Information Engineering held at the Politecnico di Milano. Following the structure of the course, the book features contributions from some researchers who are working at the intersection between computing and science.

This open access volume collects emerging issues in Environmental and Civil Engineering, originating from outstanding doctoral dissertations discussed at Politecnico di Milano in 2021. The advanced innovative insights provided are presented with reference to the relevant sustainable development goals (SDGs), hoping that scientists, technicians and decision makers will find them as a valid support to face future sustainability challenges.Indeed, the fast evolution of our society often falls short in properly taking into consideration its relationship with the environment, which is not only the primary source of any resource and the sink of all the wastes we generate throughout our activities, but also the cause of most of the loading and constraints applied to structures and infrastructures. The lack of a proper consideration of the relationship between the needs of both the society and the environment may lead to strong disequilibria, generating a large amount of threats for arobust, resilient and continuous development. In this perspective, the SDGs set by the United Nations represent the criteria to revise our development model, towards the ability to conjugate different needs to build a safe relation between anthropic activities and the environment. Civil and Environmental Engineering plays a relevant role in providing methods, approaches, risk and impact assessments, as well as technologies, to fulfil the SDGs. Research in these fields may in fact provide technical knowledge and tools to support decision makers and technicians in: (i) planning mitigation and adaptation actions to climate change, extreme weather, earthquakes, drought, flooding and other natural disasters; (ii) designing efficient and sustainable strategies for resources exploitation, minimizing the impact and the unequal distributions; (iii) increasing the safety of structures and infrastructures under exceptional loadings and against the deterioration due to their lifecycle; (iv) adopting a holistic risk management approach and appropriate technologies to reduce pollution and environment deterioration, which increase vulnerability; (v) providing a safe drinking water and sanitation system to protect human health.

A number of metrics for assessing human thermal response to climatic conditions have been proposed in scientific literature over the last decades. They aim at describing human thermal perception of the thermal environment to which an individual or a group of people is exposed. More recently, a new type of "discomfort index" has been proposed for describing, in a synthetic way, long-term phenomena. Starting from a systematic review of a number of long-term global discomfort indices, they are then contrasted and compared on a reference case study in order to identify their similarities and differences and strengths and weaknesses. Based on this analysis, a new short-term local discomfort index is proposed for the American Adaptive comfort model. Finally, a new and reliable long-term general discomfort index is presented. It is delivered in three versions and each of them is suitable to be respectively coupled with the Fanger, the European Adaptive and the American Adaptive comfort models.

This open access book presents thirteen outstanding doctoral dissertations in Information Technology from the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy.

This open access book summarizes research being pursued within the FENIX project, funded by the EU community under the H2020 programme, the goal of which is to design a new product service paradigm able to promote innovative business models, to open added value to the vessels and to create new market segments.

This open access book represents one of the key milestones of PoliVisu, an H2020 research and innovation project funded by the European Commission under the call ¿Policy-development in the age of big data: data-driven policy-making, policy-modelling and policy-implementation¿.It investigates the operative and organizational implications related to the use of the growing amount of available data on policy making processes, highlighting the experimental dimension of policy making that, thanks to data, proves to be more and more exploitable towards more effective and sustainable decisions. The first section of the book introduces the key questions highlighted by the PoliVisu project, which still represent operational and strategic challenges in the exploitation of data potentials in urban policy making. The second section explores how data and data visualisations can assume different roles in the different stages of a policy cycle and profoundly transform policymaking.

This book proposes strategies for FM services optimization and innovation, based on innovative models of IoT application and big data management within FM processes, able to support FM stakeholders in: orienting and managing big data flows and their sources (sensor, RFID, etc.);

This open access book presents thirteen outstanding doctoral dissertations in Information Technology from the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy.

The book provides an understanding of how service design and design thinking could address the needs of organisations in tackling processes of transformations which include changes in the way people behave, interact and grow.