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Generative design tools are occasionally employed in architecture to produce shapes. They can also provide researchers with different analysis capabilities by enabling new approaches and interpretations of case studies. This contribution presents the research on some artworks of the Chilean surrealist artist Roberto Matta Echaurren (1911–2002) using software applications coded with the Processing creative programming language. The selected works belong to Matta’s spatial exploration dating between 1936 and 1938 and consist of six architectural illustrations and the essay ‘Mathématique sensible—Architecture du temps’ (1938). The methodology employed in developing these applications entails digitally analyzing the artist’s work by extracting computable elements and subjecting them to computing mechanisms (sorting, combinations, randomization, etc.) that produce configurations similar to those designed by Matta.

Integrated design is a strategy to develop sustainable architecture projects incorporating multidisciplinary work and environmental performance assessments, which has provided significant advancement to public buildings in developed countries. This paper presents a review of some aspects of integrated design for the planning and construction of energy efficient housing in the south of Chile, as part of the reconstruction process following the earthquake on 27th February 2010. Firstly, a synthesis is made of the characteristics, implicit conditions, participants, steps, resources and expected results of an integrated design approach according to existing references. This is then contrasted with normal housing design practice in Chile according to current building regulations and interviews with professionals in the field. The design processes of experimental houses and housing projects that place specific focus on energy performance are then analysed, with follow-ups and interviews to review significant aspects. After examining those experiences, the authors identify some particular features and resources of integrated design that promote environmental improvements.

We present calibration results and laboratory images produced by the balloon-borne hard X-ray imaging telescope TIMAX. The images were produced with an241Am radioactive source placed 45 m away from the detector plane, in the center of the field of view. It is shown that the mask 3-antimask imaging reconstruction process, when combined with flat-fielding techniques, is very effective at recovering signal-to-noise ratio lost due to systematic non-uniformity in the background measured by the 35 detectors. The experiment was launched in June 8th, 1993 from Birigüi, SP, Brazil, onboard a 186,000 m3 stratospheric balloon, and remained at an atmospheric depth of ~2 g cm-2su for ~8 hours. Even though no scientific data were gathered in this first flight, we obtained valuable engineering data and could also calculate the sensitivity of the experiment based on the instrumental background spectrum at balloon altitudes. In the 60–70 keV energy band, the experiment can detect 3s sources at a level of ~1.2 x 10-4 photons cm-2 s-1 keV-1 for an integration of 6 hours at 2.1 g cm-2.