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WHOLENESS AS A BASIC ASSUPTION FOR UNDERSTANDING OF MEANING PROVIDED BY ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE
Kinnert, Filip ; Löw, Jiří (referee) ; Michl, Jan (referee) ; Horáček, Martin (advisor)
Is it possible to perceive places and architectural forms as meaningful but without symbolic references? Is it possible to talk about the spirit of a place and life in things without kitschy sentimentality? This thesis approaches architecture as a built environment, and studies how we humans can relate to the context of the natural environment not only by means of interventions but also by satisfying the urge for meaning by mutual co-creation. A certain way of thinking, mainly oriented toward utility and abstract concepts, makes it impossible for us to viscerally connect with our environment. This appears as a part of the environmental crisis, the loss of sense of place, and the inability to create new soulful places. The theoretical basis for this thesis is theories by Christopher Alexander. His idea of wholeness overcomes the apparent alienation from nature, or the division between the subject and so-called “objective reality” and allows us to approach life and the environment in another way than as a mere mechanism. From the perspective of wholeness, the study of architectural language consists of recognizing the meanings of architectural forms as references on the one hand and, on the other hand, meanings of forms that express value by themselves. The latter belongs to the experience of our own subjectivity. Such meanings are expressed for example by art, but they are present in everyday life, and they can be reflected in the order of things, or in places thanks to our own experience of home – a place par excellence. In this endeavor for recognition, I search for support in the works of researchers of the phenomenological approach to architecture, and experts in the fields of philosophy, art, and science, who seem to work with the same assumption of wholeness. Using induction, comparison, and logical argumentation, I point to the correlations between the approaches, and I use their terminology as complementary in my own observations and examples. I offer this thesis to the discussion on the unified architectural theory. I also see opportunity in a vision of sensitive continuity on the richness of the architectural heritage without showing off the “ever new" architectural forms and, on the contrary, scrupulous imitation of "historical" forms. The mainly theoretical work is added with empirical research, in which I point out that some non-visual characteristics of structures can be of the same or even greater importance in evaluating the degree of life (wholeness) than the visual complexity. In doing so, I question some of the conclusions of the leading researchers in the field who investigate the concept of wholeness quantitatively.
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Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air of 1999 (Montreal Convention) with a focus on the scope of application
Michl, Jan ; Dobiáš, Petr (advisor) ; Brodec, Jan (referee)
The purpose of the thesis is to analyse the scope of application of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air signed at Montreal on 28th May 1999 (Montreal Convention). The thesis comprises four chapters, each which deals with different aspects of the scope of application of the Montreal Convention. The thesis is approached by the analytical method using classical four methods of interpretation and is based mainly on foreign sources: English, American, Canadian and German in particular. It includes up-to-date relevant court decisions, primarily from American courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Czech sources are used especially when dealing with theoretical and general questions. No Czech court decision is included as by the time of handing in this thesis there was no accessible decision of any higher court of the Czech Republic. Chapter one deals primarily with Article one of the Montreal Convention which contains some important terms having effect on the scope of application of the Convention as well as containing the term international carriage. Further in this chapter is discussed the subject-matter scope of application of the Convention and instruments expanding the scope of application of the Montreal Convention (successive...
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