antifragility (the next thing?)

What if cities, urban developments and structures could not only recover, but also grow stronger after adverse events (floods, earthquakes, terrorist attacks?).

What if they gained instead of suffering from everyday disorder?

Is over optimization, otherwise efficient for normal design purposes, a pitfall in our ever-changing society?

Is seeking the utmost efficiency an utopia?

Are we lacking redundancies?

How technology and modern design and construction methods can facilitate the above?

Can "antifragile design" by architects, engineers and urban planners, enhance a design for urban/disaster resilience?

Starting from Nicolas Taleb’s interesting book “Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder” I recently read (again), these are only some of the questions that came into my mind when I prepared two lessons for a safety-engineering course on risk analysis and robustness.

Is antifragility the next thing? Judging from web references and conference announcements this year, this certainly seems to be the case...

word cloud



Fragile VS Resilient VS Antifragile

 



Risk analysis for fire: the case of civil structures from Konstantinos Gkoumas

Structural robustness: issues, numerical modelling and future trends from Konstantinos Gkoumas

See also:

Taleb, Nassim Nicholas (November 2012). Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder(1st ed.). London: Penguin. p. 519. ISBN 1-400-06782-0. 

http://www.scoop.it/t/generative-systems-design 

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/12/03/beyond-sissy-resilience-on-becoming-antifragile/ 

8th (yet, my 3rd)

I just returned back to Athens from the 8th Hellenic National Conference of Steel Structures, which this year was held in Tripoli (in Peloponnese) on October 2-4.
http://eeme.ntua.gr/8HNCSS/en/
The conference (the third I am attending) was very interesting, and I had the chance to meet old friends and make new ones.
I also had the chance to give a talk on Diagrid tall buildings.

Earlier today we had a technical tour on the construction site of the Tsakona Arch Bridge, which, with a length of 390m, is one of the world's longest multi-span arch bridge.
I had the chance to take many photos, both during the conference and during the technical tour.
On my way back to Athens I visited Nafplio, a town which was the capital of the First Hellenic Republic, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834.



E. Velivasakis giving a presentation on the  Shanghai tower,



With my good friend Dimitris Vamvatsikos (AKA DimVamVa)



From the conference dinner



(my) presentation room, just before



Terrell architects showcasing a number of fantastic projects



C. Christopoulos on resilient steel seismic resistant systems



Tsakona bridge technical tour



Tsakona bridge technical tour



Tsakona bridge technical tour



Tsakona bridge technical tour



(testing) depth of field



(testing) depth of field



Tsakona bridge technical tour



Tsakona bridge technical tour



Tsakona bridge technical tour



(stolen) blueprints



(stolen) blueprints



(me) looking up



looking /funny/ casual



looking just funny...



Elevator



Tsakona bridge



Tsakona bridge



Nafplio - view from the Palamidi castle



Palamidi castle

 

Visitor/s

Today a group of Architects and Civil Engineers from Ramboll - Denmark (www.ramboll.com), 31 in total, visited our research group at the University. The visit was organized by my colleague Stefania, and from the Ramboll side by Nick Bernabè, CEng, MIStructE, Chief Project Manager.
I gave a presentation of our group (www.francobontempi.org and www.stronger2012.com) , together with a brief overview of CISTEC (a research center of our University focusing on archeological heritage - CISTeC - Centro di Ricerca in Scienza e Tecnica per la Conservazione del Patrimonio Storico-Architettonico dell'Università di Roma Sapienza).
My presentation was followed by one from Dr. Celletti, Architect, on the work they are carrying out for the restoration of Circus Maximus (Circo Massimo) in Rome.

After that we moved to the restoration site, and spent a few hours on a private tour organized by Dr. Celletti.

During the morning presentation with Dr. Celletti.

During the morning presentation with Dr. Celletti.

 

 

Group photo.

 

On site at Circo Massimo.

An ancient vase discovered just yesterday!

On site at Circo Massimo.

On site at Circo Massimo.

On site at Circo Massimo.

A sign from the fascist era.

On site at Circo Massimo.

On site at Circo Massimo.

Looking at the restoration project.

A lizard!

(Retained) wall.

An ancient column.

(on top) of an ancient column!

On site at Circo Massimo.

On site at Circo Massimo.

Central view of the site.

Formwork equipment.

 

Apophenia - Tumblr (r)evolution

Sometimes, looking back at your posts or posts you like, you remain impressed on how things you relate to change (or don't, or evolve, or are pseudo-random) in time.
http://gamblersfallacy.tumblr.com/archive 
https://www.tumblr.com/liked/by/gamblersfallacy
(Since) January 10, 2012

Share or die...

Yesterday I took part for StroNGER in Share or die, a pitching event for entrepreneurs and incubators organized by BIC Lazio (ITech) in Tecnopolo Tiburtino.

All incubators from the Lazio region participated, and the event concluded with an open space party.

Although I did not get to pitch (only one business proposal for each incubator was randomly drawn for the pitching event), I prepared a 5 minute powerpoint and a 45 sec video (all videos were projected in loop outside during the event) for PiezoTSensor, a new product currently under development by StroNGER at ITech in collaboration with ESA (the European Space Agency).

 

Below, some photos from the event and the open space party that took place afterwards.