＂Art of Construction＂ and ＂Building Science＂： Diachronic and Dialectic-The Case Study of Mary＇s Church of the Immaculate Conception of Montecalvario in Naples-Italy

This paper is divided into two parts： a reflection about the diachronical and dialectical relationship between the ＂Art of Construction＂ and the ＂Building Science＂, in terms of capability to evaluate structural characteristics and conservative conditions of traditional buildings, especially for buildings of historical or artistic value, using a peculiar approach for planning modem construction （Building Science） or the ancient complex of rules and logics to which a specific building monumental pertains （Art of Construction）. The second part reports a case study of application of this second methodology of approach, concerning the St. Mary＇s Church of the Immaculate Conception of Montecalvario in Naples, an important monumental church situated into the historic centre of Naples, built between 1718 and 1726 by one of the greatest Italian architects of the XVIII century, Domenico Antonio Vaccaro. The building, that presents all the structural and lexical peculiarities of Neapolitan Baroque （central plan, altimetric development of concentric volumes, plastic virtuosity of structural and formal apparatuses）, finds in its formal conception and in its stylistic conception part of its structural vulnerabilities. The study examines the understanding of cracks affecting the Church, also in relation to around historic buildings, in order to determine a diagnosis and to understand how this condition of structural vulnerability could be combined with future seismic strain, having high local seismicity and damages suffered during the earthquakes of the last three centuries.

The Need for Building Science Education

As the demand for high-performance housing grows, so does the need for improvements in building science education. Trial and error has long been the method for learning how to avoid problems in the construction of energy-efficient housing, including water intrusion and mold growth. Building codes have addressed these issues in prescriptive ways that were not evidence-based. Stricter building codes or builder licensing requirements are not necessarily the solutions to problems associated with misunderstandings about building science. Motivating professionals currently involved in the housing industry to learn through continuing education is a start, but the core problem must be addressed by including building science education in curricula related to architecture, engineering, construction management and other fields. The long-term solution is to include building science education in academic construction management programs. The purpose of this paper is to review the history of what has come to be known as building science and its importance to the residential construction industry. Problems that result from a lack of knowledge about the field are covered and a potential solution is proposed.

Design and science:Content analysis of published peer-reviewed research over the last four decades

The relationship between design and science in architecture continually receives attention from scholars,but to our knowledge,no substantial and systematic literature reviews have been undertaken to generate insights into how the relationship between the two has developed in recent times.As most of the related debate remains theoretical,this paper presents evidence acquired through content analysis of selected 782 peer-reviewed papers published in the last four decades,a period in which design requirements continue to grow in complexity and research efforts increasingly concentrate on design methods.In response,this study departs from the two keywords,architectural science and building science,and develops search strings to support examination of the relationship between science and architectural design since the 1980s,when research that addresses the building environment started to intensify.The analysis employs tools based on machine learning algorithms for text analytics in combination with traditional content analysis methods.The presented research method is fully replicable and stands as one of the contributions of this study.The findings capture the expansion of the research context concerned with the built environment through a careful selection of defining terms,and generate an informed discussion on how the role of science in the architectural design process has changed.