The new Hall of Marcus Aurelius in the Capitoline Museums, located within the ancient site of Giardino Romano, displays the original statue of the Roman emperor of the 2nd century AD. The idea of extending the Capitoline Museums by including this site came about in the framework of its general redevelopment. The new Hall is the result of a long and complicated process (1988–2005) considering the exceptional importance of the site and the many changes brought to the museum programme during the said period (Figures 1 and 2). In fact, the new Hall was originally supposed to display the marbles of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus, the foundation wall of the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter, embedded within the structures of the Palazzo Caffarelli, opposite the Giardino Romano. However, in 1997, the plan for the Capitoline Museum changed radically as the statue of Marcus Aurelius, which had been restored following the blast of a bomb attack in 1979, was determined to be the focus of the Hall. The project finally consisted of a steel and glass structure on an elliptic plan andshaped around the foundations of the Temple, with the statue at its center.

The framework of the Italian restoration doctrine is based on the reception and transmission of the memory of the past. However, interventions in modern architecture represent a radical drift in the sense that they mostly consist of reconstructions, refurbishments, and renovations. Such work disregards the sense of value acknowledgment that is implicit in architectural conservation and neglects the importance of material conservation. The uneven fortune of the School of Mathematics at Rome's University Campus illustrates this situation. This predicament is similar to that of many other modern buildings that have been declared “monuments” by mouth but are actually bent to listless and insensible use, mistreated, and hardly maintained. The recent work carried out at the School of Mathematics proves that interventions on modern buildings are mostly insensitive to their true significance and are often carried out in extreme urgency for mere practical reasons, if not for political opportunities.

Modern buildings can be true architectural monuments that express great esthetic potentials and retain notable historical weight in the history of architecture; therefore, they should be regarded as highly representative of our recent past and maintained as such.

The Italian historiography of the architecture of the second half of the Twentieth century has not given due weight to the dialectic qualities of work of Franco Minissi on ancient structures. He became known for the debate on the use of innovative materials in archaeological sites and not for the extent of his contributions. The world do not know his museums, Italian and not, his many conservation and restoration projects, his archaeological parks, redevelopments of historic centres, new buildings, interior design projects, shops and exhibitions.

A reading of his museological works alongside of his experiments on archaeological sites, can help highlight the conceptual congruence with which Minissi tried to meet the needs of the present and the preservation of antiquities, as a dialogue with the past, of refined sensibility and intended to a reversibility respectful of preexistence. This places him among the key figures of the origins of the critical restoration, as an inspiration that continues to offer fruitful ideas to the new generations.

Daqing is situated in one of the severely cold regions of China. The living environment in this region is extremely poor because of the harsh climate and the backward economy. The external wall is an important component of the external envelope of buildings, and it greatly contributes to the indoor thermal environment. By taking the external wall as the research object, this study summarizes the characteristics of the external wall structure and analyzes the common materials used in existing rural residences. Specifically, we combine life cycle theory and ecological footprint (EF) theory and introduce the green external wall structure, as well as its application in practice, in accordance with the local ecosystem. Results show that anecological residence offers a better environment and greater economic benefits than a traditional residence. The annual energy consumption, CO₂ consumption, and EF of the ecological residence in this study are lower than those of the traditional residence by 69.61%, 17.5 t, and 99.47%, respectively.

Based on research of the current situation and analysis result of a case study in the Nanjing region, this paper proposes a “wheelchair slow transit”(WST) system-based elderly auxiliary travel mode. The system involves three fundamental composition frames, namely, support, transit components, and connection components. Each component is designed as an armrest, ground track, or vertical type to respond to actual demands. Thus, this system may be adaptable to diverse conditions. Taking Xiangpuying community as a case study, the author examined the application of the WST auxiliary mode in particular communities. The WST system helps to increase the accessibility of existing public areas, creates a safe community traffic environment, improves municipal facilities, and strengthens universal design. The study intends to provide a reference to obtain a complete aged care design and to build a comfortable and livable aged care community environment.

Architectural education in Nigeria is divided into at wo-tier training system of four and two years for undergraduate and postgraduate study, respectively. After the completion of postgraduate study, a student is deemed competent to take the professional practice examination. Success in this examination qualifies a student to be registered as an architect. The competency rating of future professionals in architectural schools in Nigeria is determined through a jury system of scoring based on predetermined grading parameters. However, the grading parameters adopted by assessing authorities (academic professors and practitioners representing the professional body) differ. The difference in the grading parameters employed by the two approved assessing authorities in Nigeria was investigated in this study. Covenant University in Nigeria was used as a case study. The grading parameters and scores for the 2013 academic session were compared to determine similarities and differences, which might have affected the competency rating of students. Descriptive statistics was employed to analyze the data obtained. Results showed a significant difference in scoring by the two authorities. This difference had a significant consequence on the competency rating of students.

This research aimed to develop a unique framework to help architects understand and apply architectural management (AM) in their practices. A comprehensive literature review identified several components belonging to different specialist fields. A pragmatic methodology for developing the framework was adopted by combining the methodology of Japareen for building conceptual frameworks with the Concept Mapping and Qualitative Met-Synthesis techniques. The resulting framework underwent a series of testing stages aimed at refining the framework further. The testing process targeted two groups (researchers and professionals) by adopting a mixed method approach, which included a facilitated workshop, interviews, and a questionnaire survey. The feedback from the testing phase was used to create the final AM Taxonomy Framework (AMTF), and served as an original and practical guide for practitioners, further extending their understanding of AM. Further validation and refinement are planned in the long term by applying the framework to selected architectural practices.

Witnessing more than three decades of sustained and rapid economic growth, China has become a nation that enjoys the fastest rate of urbanization; the largest quantities of civil construction; the most obvious urban development to be “newer”, “bigger” and “higher”; and the most prosperous architectural design market worldwide. In terms of the construction industry, housing construction totals 31.3 billion square meters, occupying more than 70% of the floor area of the existing stock houses. It is safe to say that the construction industry significantly boosts GDP growth, expands the number of jobs, and improves the living conditions of the masses. Related to this is the need to end the architectural guidelines of the planned economy era economizing on food and clothing and instead step into a new historic stage allowing bold pursuit of architectural aesthetics and individuality. A group of architects who have social ideals, adhere faithfully to professional standards and pledge to pursue architectural innovation are active in China. Instead of simply converting the overwhelming opportunities brought to carry economic benefits, they dare to embrace the challenges imposed on enhancing architectural connotation and create a batch of high-level work that lives up to expectations of the era, marking the achievement of reform and rapid urbanization in China. Yet, as time goes on, the promotion of national development concepts, ideas of social consumption and the masses’ cultural level establishes new requirements for the architectural design industry, architects and architectural design works. An appeal is thus made against Chinese architects for a summary, reflection and proactive anticipation to respond to the new requirements of the era.