Anna Mielnik

The starting point for the discussion concerning the role of drawing and painting in architectural presentation are the works of the Albanian creator Edi Hila, exhibited during the 14th International Architecture Biennale in Venice in 2014. In a series of paintings called Penthouse, the artist, using extremely poetic narratives, examines the specific archaeological research on Albanian modernism. Contemporary Albanian cities are full of uncompleted, abandoned buildings. In his paintings, the author transformed such architectural ruins into imaginary monuments. The poetic nature of the images and themes brought up ‒ as a search for identity and cultural heritage - are reminiscent of drawing and painting ideas from the past of the great artist Aldo Rossi.

This article is part of the author’s research on rationalist tendencies in contemporary residential architecture. The subject of this analysis are the urban-architectural theories of Aldo Rossi and their influence on the design of various multi-family housing architecture (building quarter, corner building, urban villa, block) in Berlin and Milan.
Aldo Rossi, a theoretician and creator, researched the history and collective memory to draw information - about the city and its architecture -, and then applied this methodology to his design. He tried to define universal, invariable forms and architectural elements. In his typological research, he was looking for a combination of: an abstract language of geometry with a function (also explored historically), analysis of the area, local structures, materials, and unique features of the environment. The author is interested in why Rossi’s works, characterized by unusual formalism and a unwillingness to compromise, during their formation and now, still constitute important examples, or even icons, of urban housing architecture.
The text is also intended to show that Aldo Rossi’s “theoretical and architectural heritage” can still be a source of inspiration in solving the problems facing contemporary architecture. Even today, creators reaching for the forms, structures, types and materials established in the past, may continue to search for universal values in architecture, taking into account contemporary conditions and needs. The objective is to draw attention to the issue of rationalism as a general attitude in shaping urban housing architecture, which may constitute a compromise between the past and the present, tradition and novelty.

This article presents the implementation of the low-frequency measuring method of current and voltage RMS values as well as active and reactive power of a two-terminal network, which is supplied by a sinusoidal voltage of 50 Hz. The implementation was made on a typical compact PLC-FX3G Mitsubishi Electric controller. This controller has a relatively low computing power, and when control tasks and measurements are performed simultaneously, the measurement method must be simple in order to match the limited computing power of the controller. This article describes how to implement the low-frequency measuring method onto the controller. It also presents the laboratory set for testing the controller and application. The paper also presents the results of measurements and calculations, in particular the impact of measurement time delays on errors of the RMS voltage and current values as well as active and reactive power values.

The text describes play with architecture in the work of the Danish artist Per Kirkeby. His spatial installations, bordering between sculpture and architecture, show the interaction between the obvious and elusive, real and fictional, abstract and archetype.