At the present time, the conventional academic education for vocational professions in Romania strives to cover extensively the development of occupational skills. Alongside the theoretical part, the practical experiences play an important role in the process of continuing education and professional evolution of graduates. In real life situations, the theoretical aspects are better assimilated when combined with training oriented towards development of abilities for a positive interaction with clients, especially the managerial and soft skills. This study proposes a non-formal educational training program focused on improving certain skills required in vocational professions, especially relevant for architects, as identified through a questionnaire methodology. The concept is based on the LEGO game and the program beneficiaries are instructed on how to build a metaphorical construction of their existing and acquired skills out of color-coded blocks, each representing a set of abilities. This article underlines the main issues regarding institutionalized vocational education and presents the results of the survey as well as the development of a two-week learning program.
Nowadays, in central urban areas, the social activities are generally materialized into passive interactions. Although the built environment has no direct influence on the quality, the content and the intensity of social interactions, the architects and planners can at least influence the potential for physical, visual and auditory contact among people - the so-called active interactions - usually, one of the most important characteristics of public spaces. The built framework of public urban spaces can provide a wide range of opportunities for the development of human relationships, so that the architectural design and the social processes are supporting one another. The perspective of sustainability for the design of public spaces refers to three major aspects (eco-system, economy and society) and can be achieved with various temporary or permanent structures that separate and organize public spaces, giving them different social connotations (landscape design components, ecological structures with optimal geometries, etc.). Therefore, the use of hyperbolic geometries (for which the curvature is negative and the space created is open ) seems appropriate because of the structural optimization that leads to a minimum material consumption. The hyperbolic structures can also help improve the overall image of public spaces, generating atypical areas with a significant impact (both visual and auditory) on the receiving public. The present paper illustrates several types of hyperbolic geometries optimized for different ecological structures (wood, bamboo, textiles, etc.) located in public spaces (public squares, parks, gardens). Our primary focus will be on the analysis of the main principles of sustainable development, their degree of compliance and on the active interactions between people - created by the implementation of such structures in public green areas.
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