María Dolores Andújar Montoya

• University of Alicante

Currently, the teaching of construction project management in the architectural technologist degree at the University of Alicante follows a theoretical-practical approach. In general, students are initially exposed to trade technologies through traditional theoretical sessions. Subsequently, practical sessions integrate case studies derived from th...

The exponential increase in construction costs and the demands of clients highlight the need to improve the efficiency of the construction process. This chapter presents a management model that integrates different paradigms and technologies from the field of construction management such as Lean Construction, with emerging technologies associated w...

Social awareness towards maintaining urban accessibility is a growing concern in modern societies. This consciousness opens up necessary research fields in regard to the possibilities of new technologies to provide innovative methods for monitoring and preserving the accessibility of urban areas. Because of that, the present research focuses on the...

There is a wide range of regulations on universal accessibility, but our cities are still inaccessible in many cases. Most accessibility problems in cities occur in consolidated areas that were developed prior to the development of current accessibility regulations. This leads to consider the importance of focusing more effort on managing the impro...

The current computer technology facilitates the processing of large volumes of information in architectural design teams, in parallel with recent advances in-flight automation in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along with lower costs, facilitates their use to capture aerial photographs and obtain orthophotographs and 3D models of relief and terrain...

Current market conditions characterized by technological changes, increasing regulatory requirements and low funding make current construction management models obsolete. This tendency affects not only the private housing market but also public administration projects, which have large time and budget deviations across the board. As a result, new a...

El sector de la construcción ha estado históricamente ligado a unos determinados procesos de diseño y de ejecución que distan de una industrialización efectiva, lo que ha conllevado durante años a una mala gestión de los recursos económicos y a una merma de la calidad final del producto. La actualidad del sector es muy distinta. Las posibilidades d...

La enseñanza en la asignatura Fundamentos de Construcción en primer curso del grado de Arquitectura Técnica se viene realizando siguiendo un esquema teórico-práctico. Mediante las clases teóricas se definen las partes más importantes de una edificación profundizando en el proceso constructivo de las mismas. Todo ello se desarrolla bajo un modelo de...

La calidad de la enseñanza-aprendizaje está intrínsecamente relacionada con la calidad de la Arquitectura y el espacio urbano dónde se realiza dicho proceso. Por ello es interesante y objetivo principal de esta comunicación, dedicar una atención especial al “espacio físico” universitario, concretamente al campus de la Universidad de Alicante, con...

Augmented Reality (AR) is a new educational approach that modifies how the student receives the information. The learning becomes totally dynamic. Augmented Reality is totally useful for the practical part of the subjects. Especially in technical Degrees. In the first year of these Degrees there are very specific subjects that are totally new for t...

During the academic years 2016-17 and 2017-18, an experience based on collaborative work has been carried out by the students and this activity has been evaluated by themselves. It has been tried to involve the student in his evaluation process because his work has been valued by his classmates. The student makes an individual evaluation of the wor...

There is a growing social awareness about accessibility. The accessibility in cities and public spaces has become in an important issue in official agendas due to recent European directives. There are several studies on the way to improve accessibility in cities but they do not offer the possibility of view if solutions applied are valid over time....

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the unexpected consequences in the operation of urban environments. Prediction within the urban planning process often presents difficulties and unintended consequences. It is not enough to develop a good project. Unexpected consequences are possible because of the environment. The authors argue that th...

Internet of Things is a promising paradigm for designing context-aware systems. The information provided can be used for understanding the environment and providing intelligent services to the citizen. There are several studies on the information acquisition of Smart Cities. This work is focused on citizens’ traceability technologies and the data s...

In the last years of university education, especially in technical degrees, the university faculty finds a profile of students whose attitude is far from being a professional in a short space of time. The present research focuses on the role of the professor as a connector between the university and the business world of the 21st century job market...

In a global world characterized by competitiveness and speed, agility of change represents a key element of success in any organization. Versatility and the capacity of re-adaptation in changing contexts require an acceptance of the reality of the moment and an optimization of the processes within organizations. Given this situation, within the con...

The present work discusses the possibilities offered by the evolution of Information and Communication Technologies with the aim of designing a system to dynamically obtain knowledge of accessibility issues in urban environments. This system is facilitated by technology to analyse the urban user experience and movement accessibility, which enabling...

The main causes of building defects are errors in the design and the construction phases. These causes related to construction are mainly due to the general lack of control of construction work and represent approximately 75% of the anomalies. In particular, one of the main causes of such anomalies, which end in building defects, is the lack of con...

Despite the improvisations of current urban accessibility regulations and their application in urban systems, it is a fact that our cities are not accessible. Both, the assessment of the effectiveness of urban accessibility and its maintenance over time are issues that require a more consistent approach. In order to address these aspects, it is nec...

The current downturn in the Spanish construction sector has indirectly and negatively affected motivation levels of Technical Architecture Degree students. This has resulted in a reluctance among students to study technical degrees in this sector. Faced with this predicament, the question arises as to the relevance of the traditional model of unive...

Traditional university teaching based solely on the lecture is increasingly being recognized as ineffective. The classic lecture, where all the attention is focused on the professor, is widely considered to be an insufficient method of learning. Student needs require a change in their learning role –from passive to active– in the acquisition of kno...

The European Commission -through the Communication Rethinking Education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes- establishes in 2012 the new guidelines of education systems aligned with current labour markets, i.e. patterns for adaptation of qualifications in line with the new demands of the 21st century. One of the main lines of ac...

The military architecture is one of the most interesting constructive aspects of the 16th century in Alicante. During this period, the Berber pirates devastated the Mediterranean coasts. The defence of the territory was organized from the construction of watchtowers. The watchtowers mission was to alert the nearest workhouses to the continuous sieg...

While facing a restoration of an ancient building, sometimes a reconstruction is needed. The decision to use modern materials could be quite conflictive, especially when the building is to be in use once again and the visitors see the outcome. This was the case of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, Orihuela (Alicante). It was built as a satellite cu...

The benefits derived from the use of building information Modeling (BIM) methodologies are a current issue in the field of research in both design and construction phase. However, the profits achieved in the maintenance stage are still an almost unexplored issue. This fact is especially relevant in public organizations, in particular on university...

Recent technological progress has enabled the spread of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to new applications possible with the aim to improve citizens' quality of life. This idea has been significantly increasing in political agendas as well as in the public services. The concepts of Smart-city or Sustainable-city are possible thank...

Climate change accompanied by global warming issues necessitates that homes are more environmentally friendly in production and operation, while the drastic hike in energy costs and increasing socio-economic diversity demand housing that is more affordable and more customisable than ever before. Homes need to address social, economic and environmen...

Improving citizens' quality of life is one of the main goals of Smart Cities development. Accessibility of urban public spaces absolutely determines the living conditions for people. Technology provides new opportunities of autonomy for an increasing group of inhabitants with specific disabilities. This work proposes an urban model for improving ac...

The earth is experiencing the adverse effect of climate change. In response to growing global warming issues and the constant increase of energy prices, house-builders and housing manufacturers today are becoming more responsive to the delivery of net zero energy and carbon dioxide emission sustainable homes than ever. Within this context, the sust...

A Mass Customisation model is discussed as a competitive positioning strategy in the marketplace adding value to the customer's end-use. It includes the user as part of the construction process responding to the customer's demands and wishes. To the present day, almost all proposals for Mass Customisation have been focused on the design phase and s...