Search Results for: physical

Cloud-Integrated Cyber–Physical Systems: Reliability, Performance and Power Consumption with Shared-Servers and Parallelized Services

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With the rapid development of the digital economy, cloud computing services have been widely applied, and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) has become a key application adopted by individuals, governments, and enterprises. However, the emergence of vi…

Amazon Blends Digital and Physical Experiences At Their New Book Store

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Recently I stopped in at the new Amazon Book store on 34th Street in Manhattan to see how Amazon is re-imagining the in-store experience. While Amazon has much to learn about retail from the brick and mortar giants, physical stores can learn a lot from how Amazon is successfully bringing the digital experience into the […]

Shearing Layers – Part 1 physical buildings

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In Stewart Brand’s terrific work, “How Buildings Learn”, there are some great analogies to what we do in Enterprise Architecture. He expanded on the concept of “shearing layers” introduced by Robert V. O’Neill in his “A hierarchical concept of ecosystems”. The primary notion being that we can hierarchically understand our ecosystems better by understanding the different rates of change possible at the different layers.

 
 
The diagram above is reproduced from How Buildings Learn, and represents the parts of a building which change at different rates. It is arranged from outside in with, in this representation, no absolute correlation between the parts and rate of change. 
Using Brand’s own explanation, the layers have the following descriptions:

Site

The site is the geographical setting, the urban location and the legally defined lot whose boundaries and context outlast generations of ephemeral buildings

Structure

The foundation and load bearing elements are perilous and expensive to change, so people don’t. These are the building.

Skin

External surfaces can change more frequently than the structure of the building. Changes in fashion, energy cost, safety, etc. cause changes to be made to the skin. However tradition and preservation orders often inhibit changes to the skin since the skin is very much the aesthetic.

Services

These are the working guts of the building, communications/wiring, plumbing, air handling, people moving. Ineffective services can cause buildings to be demolished early, even if the surrounding structure is still sound.

Space Plan

The space plan represents the interior layout – the placement of walls, ceilings, doors, etc. As buildings are re-purposed, as fashion changes so can the interior quickly be reconfigured.

Stuff

The appurtenances that make the space useful for its intended purpose. Placement of tables, chairs, walls cubicles, etc.
 
In further articles, I will develop this theme in 2 directions. First in thinking about how data can affect the way that retail organizations can think about their layout and organization (shearing at the Stuff/Space Plan layers of both brick and mortar and web stores. Second in looking at Enterprise Architecture through the lens of shearing layers – by analogy with Brand’s writing and thinking.

Shearing Layers – Part 1 physical buildings

by
In Stewart Brand’s terrific work, “How Buildings Learn”, there are some great analogies to what we do in Enterprise Architecture. He expanded on the concept of “shearing layers” introduced by Robert V. O’Neill in his “A hierarchical concept of ecosystems”. The primary notion being that we can hierarchically understand our ecosystems better by understanding the different rates of change possible at the different layers.

 
 
The diagram above is reproduced from How Buildings Learn, and represents the parts of a building which change at different rates. It is arranged from outside in with, in this representation, no absolute correlation between the parts and rate of change. 
Using Brand’s own explanation, the layers have the following descriptions:

Site

The site is the geographical setting, the urban location and the legally defined lot whose boundaries and context outlast generations of ephemeral buildings

Structure

The foundation and load bearing elements are perilous and expensive to change, so people don’t. These are the building.

Skin

External surfaces can change more frequently than the structure of the building. Changes in fashion, energy cost, safety, etc. cause changes to be made to the skin. However tradition and preservation orders often inhibit changes to the skin since the skin is very much the aesthetic.

Services

These are the working guts of the building, communications/wiring, plumbing, air handling, people moving. Ineffective services can cause buildings to be demolished early, even if the surrounding structure is still sound.

Space Plan

The space plan represents the interior layout – the placement of walls, ceilings, doors, etc. As buildings are re-purposed, as fashion changes so can the interior quickly be reconfigured.

Stuff

The appurtenances that make the space useful for its intended purpose. Placement of tables, chairs, walls cubicles, etc.
 
In further articles, I will develop this theme in 2 directions. First in thinking about how data can affect the way that retail organizations can think about their layout and organization (shearing at the Stuff/Space Plan layers of both brick and mortar and web stores. Second in looking at Enterprise Architecture through the lens of shearing layers – by analogy with Brand’s writing and thinking.

The Physical Environment and its Outcomes

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A dispute is currently raging between the UK Department for Education and the architecture profession. Famous architects such as Lord Rogers are demanding the right to design fancy schools, appealing to studies indicating that a well-designed environment can improve learning outcomes for schoolchildren. However, Michael Gove claims that school building costs can be reduced by 30% by reducing unnecessary space and eliminating “frills”. A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “There is no convincing evidence that spending enormous sums of money on school
buildings leads to increased attainment. An excellent curriculum, great
leadership and inspirational teaching are the keys to driving up
standards.”

I haven’t studied the detailed evidence myself, but I suspect the truth is somewhere between these two positions. The study identifies such factors as lighting, circulation, acoustics, individuality and colour. Politicians who spent their own childhood in stuffy or draughty classrooms with flickering flourescent lighting may imagine these factors to be character-building, but surely most people will think that children and teachers deserve a decent environment.

But surely a decent environment doesn’t need to cost an extra 40%. Is white paint so much cheaper than a nice colour? Does poor lighting and inefficient air conditioning really save money? Or does the 30% saving really come from cramming more pupils into less space?

And to what extent is Lord Rogers’s complaint really about these factors? Perhaps it is more about the architecture profession’s desire to create exciting and iconic buildings, with lots of curves. Can a curve be cost-justified in terms of educational attainment? Conversely, is the banning of curves merely a symbolic gesture on Gove’s part?

There are several problems with this kind of debate. Firstly, the people who have the greatest knowledge and expertise are seen as having a vested interest in expensive solutions. Secondly, other stakeholders sceptical that the expense can be justified (in terms of ROI) and tending to regard good architecture (whatever that means) as an expensive luxury. Thirdly, a tiny amount of genuine evidence gets stretched very thinly, through rival interpretations and extrapolations and opinions. And finally, the complex relationship between cost and benefit gets overlaid with politically motivated simplicities.

Well, that’s architecture for you.

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Apps Break Data

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Information is not a first-class citizen in corporate information systems. Worse, it is neglected. Then why do we still call them information systems? We don’t. We call them applications. And applications, quite appropriately, are built or purchased with an application-centric mindset. Consequently, data is broken into diverse fragments, tightly coupled with applications, and expensive to […]