Studies in Art and Architecture

The Evolution of Restoration Ideologies: The Emergence, Disappearance, and Revival of the Palatine Gate as an Urban Axis Node

2025-03-25T05:13:03+00:00

This paper focuses on the Porta Palatina in Turin, Italy, analyzing its emergence, disappearance, and revival as a node of the urban axis. Using this as a central thread, it explores the evolution of restoration ideologies in Italy. Constructed in the 1st century BCE, Porta Palatina served as a crucial gateway to the ancient Roman city of Turin, marking the starting point of Caesar’s Gallic Wars and the spread of Roman civilization. Over the course of Turin’s urban transformation, the role of Porta Palatina as a city axis shifted through three distinct phases: from being a military and political center in Roman times, to being abandoned during the Baroque period, and finally, to its revival and rediscovery in modern times.
This study delves into the restoration journey of Porta Palatina, spanning from stylistic restoration in the mid-19th century to scientific restoration in the 20th century, and culminating in archaeological park design in the 21st century. It illustrates the transition of Italian restoration ideologies from Romanticism to modern scientific conservation. By examining restoration practices across different eras, this paper uncovers the interactions between restoration theory and culture, history, and technology. It emphasizes that restoration is not only an advancement in architectural techniques but also a respect for and preservation of historical culture. The restoration trajectory of Porta Palatina not only reflects changes in Turin’s urban structure but also provides critical theoretical and practical references for global cultural heritage preservation.

Synergistic Impact of External Shading and Solar Control Films on Thermal Comfort and Natural Lighting in High-Rise Office Buildings in Jakarta

2025-04-28T00:53:17+00:00

In tropical megacities like Jakarta, where high-rise commercial buildings dominate the skyline, managing solar heat gain while ensuring adequate natural lighting is a persistent architectural and environmental challenge. This study explores the synergistic application of external shading systems and solar control films as a dual strategy to optimize thermal comfort and daylight performance in high-rise office buildings. By integrating passive shading elements with spectrally selective window films, buildings can reduce indoor operative temperatures, cut cooling energy demand, and improve visual comfort without sacrificing daylight autonomy. Through simulation-based modeling using EnergyPlus and Radiance on a 30-story tower in Jakarta’s Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD), the research evaluates three façade scenarios: base case, shading-only, and shading combined with solar control films. Results indicate that the combined strategy reduces annual cooling loads by up to 29%, improves thermal comfort conditions (PMV +0.4; PPD 8%), and maintains high daylight usability. Moreover, this integrated approach demonstrates favorable payback periods and aligns well with Jakarta’s green building regulations and international certification frameworks such as LEED and Greenship. The findings advocate for wider adoption of layered façade interventions as part of sustainable urban design and energy-efficiency retrofitting in Southeast Asian tropical climates.

A Study on the Application of Integrated Ventilation Strategies Based on Wind Simulation and Solar Radiation Analysis in Low-Rise Residential Buildings in Manila

2025-04-28T00:55:24+00:00

This study investigates the integration of wind simulation and solar radiation analysis in developing passive ventilation strategies for low-rise residential buildings in Metro Manila. Operating within a tropical monsoon climate, Manila presents complex microclimatic challenges—ranging from high humidity and seasonal wind shifts to intense solar exposure and urban heat island effects. By combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling with solar radiation mapping, this research explores how architectural orientation, building form, shading design, and envelope materiality can be coordinated to optimize natural airflow and minimize thermal gain. Two case scenarios—a standard social housing unit and an optimized prototype—were simulated using site-specific weather data. The results demonstrate that integrated strategies can improve air changes per hour by up to 250%, reduce operative indoor temperatures by over 4°C, and significantly enhance thermal comfort without mechanical systems. The paper concludes by outlining pathways for scalable, climate-responsive housing in tropical cities, emphasizing data-driven design, policy support, and community-oriented implementation.

Painting in Situ: Su Shi’s Mural Practices and Its Impact on Song Paintings

2025-04-29T02:47:13+00:00

Su Shi and his circle have long been credited as originators of the Chinese literati painting tradition and with the inception of distinct literati art practices, including painting on silk, paper, and walls. Literati mural painting, due to its fragility, exists only in Song accounts, colophons, and poems. Building on the pioneering research of Maggie Bickford, Susan Bush, and others, this paper synthesizes their interpretations, elucidates the distinctness of literati mural practices, and sheds new light on cross-medium connections in literati paintings. The paper opens by focusing on the concept, “transmediality,” to study the parallel developments between two art practices in different mediums and the appropriation of medium-specificity, which is built on Richard Barnhart’s, Martin Powers’, and Richard Vinograd’s various reflections on “citation” within Chinese art. Then the paper argues that the beginning of literati paintings in Su Shi’s time grew out of the mutual influence between mural paintings and other art mediums. It thus extends James Cahill’s analysis of “spontaneity” in Song mural paintings to a broader picture of Song literati painting. The paper also complicates Susan Bush’s and other scholars’ reflections on the social attributes of Song literati art and suggests that literati mural paintings became surrogates for other mediums in different social settings.

A Study on the Spatial Support Mechanisms of Transitional Space Layout for Neighborhood Social Interaction in Low-Rise Row Housing in Cebu City, Philippines

2025-04-29T02:48:48+00:00

This paper investigates the role of transitional space layouts in shaping neighborhood-level social interaction within low-rise row housing developments in Cebu City, Philippines. Drawing on field-based observations, design analysis, and cultural insights, the study explores how spatial elements such as front yards, alleys, and shared courtyards function as social condensers in urban environments marked by high density and socio-cultural diversity. Findings highlight that the presence, configuration, and adaptability of transitional spaces are critical to fostering spontaneous encounters, collective identity, and informal governance mechanisms. The research demonstrates that cultural norms—particularly Filipino concepts such as bayanihan and pakikisama—are spatially enacted through semi-public zones that residents often appropriate and personalize. However, current housing policies and design practices frequently marginalize these spaces in favor of standardized layouts and densification goals. Through comparative analysis and policy critique, the study calls for a reframing of transitional zones as essential social infrastructure in the planning and evaluation of housing. It concludes by offering design and policy recommendations that promote culturally responsive and socially sustainable urban living environments.

Embodying Resistance Through Ritual and Identity in the Afro-Colombian Currulao Dance Tradition

2025-04-29T02:50:12+00:00

This paper explores Currulao, an Afro-Colombian dance tradition from the Pacific coast, as a site of embodied resistance, ancestral memory, and cultural sovereignty. Far from being a static folkloric form, Currulao operates as a dynamic archive of Black survival, where rhythm, ritual, and territory intersect. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from performance studies, African diaspora theory, and ethnography, the study examines how Currulao encodes histories of colonial violence while simultaneously enabling contemporary acts of political and cultural reclamation. Through attention to sonic structures, gendered embodiment, territorial choreography, and transnational adaptation, the paper argues that Currulao is not only a cultural expression but a form of kinetic knowledge. In the face of displacement, commodification, and systemic marginalization, Afro-Colombian dancers mobilize Currulao as a space of refusal—where identity is not only remembered but performed. Ultimately, the dance offers a decolonial model of cultural continuity and transformation, where sovereignty is sensed through rhythm, and resistance is choreographed through joy, care, and ancestral invocation.