Ecoprogramming the Vulnerable Bodies

This chapter argues that discourses on human vulnerability embedded in the extreme living conditions, such as the one that the world witnessed in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, can recalibrate the social semiotics of ecology, bringing as they do environmental awareness as a condition of planetary habitability. This chapter suggests that extreme conditions require transformative measures for healing and survival of humans and the ecology. The chapter goes on to show that such transformations can revive and position interconnectedness as a new way of life, resulting in the creation of an "ecotopian world”-a term used by Mayerson and Bellamy (An Ecotopian Lexicon. University of Minnesota Press, Minnesota, 2019). It will use the theoretical framework of vulnerability to examine the crisis of human civilization and, in so doing, it will draw from literary readings from different cultures and knowledge traditions to reflect on a possible ecotopian world. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Perceived privacy of the dwelling and psychological restoration during the COVID-19 lockdown

Dwelling is a fundamental factor for mental health. Lockdowns, established to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2, forced millions of people to take shelter in their homes, enhancing the need to understand the characteristics of the dwelling that promote psychological restoration. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between some perceived conditions of dwelling habitability (appreciation of the physical environment, visible nature, crowding, and privacy) and their effect on psychological restoration through the concept of the perceived restorativeness of dwelling. An online survey was carried out with the participation of 478 Mexican adults. Physical environment, visible nature, crowding, and privacy showed significant correlations with the perceived restorativeness of housing and psychological restoration itself. However, only privacy showed an effect on psychological restoration in structural modelling. We propose that privacy is fundamental to improving dwellings' restorativeness and restoring their inhabitants, and experts should consider it when designing housing spaces. However, more evidence is needed to generalize beyond the context of lockdowns. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Thermal Assessment of a Ventilated Double Skin Façade Component with a Set of Air Filtering Photocatalytic Slats in the Cavity

Indoor air quality is a crucial factor when evaluating habitability, especially in developed countries, where people spend most of their time indoors. This paper presents a novel double skin façade (DSF) system that combines physical and photocatalytic filtering strategies. The air purification system is made up of fixed slats that are both solar protection and air purification system. The objective of this work is to determine the thermal behaviour of the proposed system, so that its suitability for use in various environments may be assessed. This was carried out using a physical 1:1 scale model and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. The maximum temperature inside the scale model cavity was 17–20 °C higher than outdoor air. Additionally, it was discovered that the airflow through the DSF would require forced ventilation. To determine the emissivity values of the photocatalytic coating, additional experimental measurements were made. The CFD model was tested for summer and winter conditions in Barcelona, Chicago, and Vancouver. The average increase in the intake air temperature was around 14.5 °C in winter and 12 °C in summer, finding that the system has its main use potential in temperate or cold areas with many hours of solar radiation.

Public space and pandemic Analysis methodology in Santurce, Puerto Rico

Given the challenge that cities face due to COVID-19 and its variants, it is essential to recognize public space as a recreational environment necessary for people's emotional and physical health. Considering the emotional wear and tear that confinement can cause to prevent contagion, this article presents the results of an investigation aimed at generating a tool for evaluating public space in relation to its qualities to respond to the needs of leisure and recreation in all time, including times of pandemic. In Puerto Rico, there is a lack of public spaces equipped with the necessary facilities to provide the benefits expected from a space for common use and guarantee the prevention and control of the spread of COVID-19. This research analyzes the public spaces of the Santurce district (including the Condado and Miramar sectors) in San Juan, Puerto Rico;in order to recognize their ability to contribute to the physical and emotional health of people and at the same time respond to the challenges posed by pandemics. As a result of this research, a theoretical - methodological instrument is proposed to evaluate the public spaces of Santurce in terms of sustainability and the ability to respond to the challenge posed by the current pandemic. © 2022 The authors.

The existential risk space of climate change.

Climate change is widely recognized as a major risk to societies and natural ecosystems but the high end of the risk, i.e., where risks become existential, is poorly framed, defined, and analyzed in the scientific literature. This gap is at odds with the fundamental relevance of existential risks for humanity, and it also limits the ability of scientific communities to engage with emerging debates and narratives about the existential dimension of climate change that have recently gained considerable traction. This paper intends to address this gap by scoping and defining existential risks related to climate change. We first review the context of existential risks and climate change, drawing on research in fields on global catastrophic risks, and on key risks and the so-called Reasons for Concern in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We also consider how existential risks are framed in the civil society climate movement as well as what can be learned in this respect from the COVID-19 crisis. To better frame existential risks in the context of climate change, we propose to define them as those risks that threaten the existence of a subject, where this subject can be an individual person, a community, or nation state or humanity. The threat to their existence is defined by two levels of severity: conditions that threaten (1) survival and (2) basic human needs. A third level, well-being, is commonly not part of the space of existential risks. Our definition covers a range of different scales, which leads us into further defining six analytical dimensions: physical and social processes involved, systems affected, magnitude, spatial scale, timing, and probability of occurrence. In conclusion, we suggest that a clearer and more precise definition and framing of existential risks of climate change such as we offer here facilitates scientific analysis as well societal and political discourse and action.

The new normalcy and its signic renewal in the architectural space

After the sARs-CoV-2 pandemic, the new normalcy is real and little by little we are assimilating it, so it is necessary to try to clarify the inhabitation of the architectural space together with the pragmatic inquiry of its user. These elements provide an image of the space in which it is possible to appreciate the architectural coexistence as a whole covered under the semiotic theory of signs. There are different ways of understanding architecture, and its design is considered as a formal and functional activity, which due to the cognitive distancing of rationalist architecture, generated a crisis that led to an application of the scientific method with the purpose of freeing itself from all formal concepts, where there is no representation of the space but a configuration linked to the functional value of these (the spaces) and as a consequence the design process advances from the interior to the exterior.

Psychoenvironmental and cognitive factors of women's emotional states during confinement due to COVID-19

Before the health crisis began, there was already evidence that women are twice as likely as men to experience negative emotions in stressful situations. Given these precedents, analysing the environmental and psychological factors that can influence this state, as well as the coping strategies aimed at mitigating or preventing this emotional response to confinement, is essential. The results of this study indicate that the negative emotions experienced by women during confinement are affected by their perception of the world, response to uncertainty, emotional intelligence and the habitability of their home. Similarly, the study found that these same factors influence women's coping patterns during confinement, with the exception of response to uncertainty. These results may help develop intervention strategies aimed at protecting women's mental health in similar future situations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Spanish) Antes de que comenzara la crisis sanitaria ya existian evidencias de que las mujeres tienen el doble de probabilidad que los hombres de experimentar emociones negativas ante situaciones de estres. Dados estos precedentes se hace necesario indagar sobre aquellos factores ambientales y psicologicos que pueden influir en dicho estado, asi como sobre las estrategias de afrontamiento encaminadas a mitigar o evitar esa respuesta emocional ante el confinamiento. Los resultados hallados indican que las emociones negativas experimentadas por las mujeres durante el confinamiento se ven afectadas por su percepcion del mundo, su respuesta a la incertidumbre, su inteligencia emocional y la habitabilidad de su vivienda, esencialmente. Asi mismo, se vio que estos mismos factores influyen en las pautas de afrontamiento llevadas a cabo por las mujeres durante el confinamiento, a excepcion de la respuesta a la incertidumbre. Estos resultados pueden ayudar a desarrollar estrategias de intervencion destinadas a proteger la salud mental de las mujeres en situaciones similares futuras. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Marginally housed or marginally homeless?

The English homelessness scheme has been lauded as being one of the most progressive in the world for offering an individually legally enforceable right to housing to those people who meet the statutory criteria. Its definition of homelessness is also liberal by comparison with many other countries within Europe and beyond, extending significantly beyond the stereotypical rooflessness experienced by rough sleepers. Nevertheless, the scheme is highly selective and targeted, and assesses homelessness through a test of relative need, rather than enshrining a minimally acceptable standard of housing. It thereby creates a category of the marginally housed whose housing needs are assessed as insufficiently poor to be officially categorised as homeless, yet who are living in severely inadequate housing. To reduce the uncertainty and contingency of the current test, the paper proposes the adoption of a new test of habitability.

Habitability, Resilience, and Satisfaction in Mexican Homes to COVID-19 Pandemic.

Following the 2020 confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, housing has become the only safe place and this has exposed inequity in habitability. This research on the reality of confined households and the perception of their homes in the Mexican republic is based on a mixed participatory study, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. The online questionnaire consisted of 58 questions in the quantitative approximation. The qualitative part required the provision of an image of the workspace, with testimonies and personal reflections. During the lockdown, all participants saw an increase in overall energy consumption; more than half reported not being in thermal comfort; and a third declared deficiencies in noise insulation. Regarding the perception of the telework/tele-study space, we found the following categories: bedrooms, living/dining rooms, studies and others. In addition, respondents had often adapted the workspace for both individual and shared use. In general, the households were satisfied with the size of their houses but would like landscaped spaces or better views outside. Confinement made housing the protective element against the pandemic. The consequences will have an effect globally, so new architectural design paradigms need to be rethought.