Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Investment Choices, Changes in the Built Environment, and Quality of Life in Buenos Aires, Argentina

加州大学戴维斯分校的研究生Nicholas D'Avella将在Donald Donham博士的指导下进行研究，研究房主和建筑师如何在不断变化的国内和国际经济条件下应对房地产投资实践中的当地变化。该研究将在布宜诺斯艾利斯进行，那里的房地产投资实践正在重塑城市的物质景观。在阿根廷最近一次经济危机之后的几年里，在投资资本和个人储蓄从银行转向房地产的推动下，布宜诺斯艾利斯出现了一股强劲的建设热潮。在此期间，建筑作为金融投资具有前所未有的重要性。新的建筑融资形式极大地改变了建筑工作，因为该领域与市场关系的变化为建筑师提供了新的机会，也为他们的艺术实践提供了新的限制。与此同时，受繁荣影响最大的社区的居民对他们生活的变化做出了强烈反应，并开始抗议进一步的建设。研究将在学校和专业会议上为建筑师和投资者进行；在建筑工作室内；在迅速变化的布宜诺斯艾利斯附近。数据收集将包括档案研究、调查、人种学观察和深度访谈。这项研究很重要，因为它将帮助社会科学家了解人们在日益经济全球化的世界中使用的不同策略。它还将提供对当代城市物质形成的更好理解，这不仅反映了社会科学家的关切，也反映了当今许多城市居民的关切。这项研究也将有助于培养社会科学家。

University of California at Davis graduate student, Nicholas D'Avella, working with the guidance of Dr. Donald Donham, will undertake research on how homeowners and architects respond to local changes in real estate investment practices under changing national and international economic conditions. The research will be conducted in Buenos Aires where real estate investment practices are remaking the material landscape of the city. In the years following Argentina's latest economic crisis, Buenos Aires has witnessed an intense construction boom driven by the redirection of investment capital and personal savings out of banks and into real estate. During this time, buildings have taken on an unprecedented significance as financial investments. New forms of financing construction have changed the work of architecture significantly, as the field's changing relationship with the market offers architects both new opportunities as well as new restrictions in the practice of their art. At the same time, the residents of neighborhoods most impacted by the boom have reacted strongly to changes in their lives, and have begun to protest against further construction. Research will be conducted at schools and professional conferences for both architects and investors; within an architectural studio; and in a rapidly changing Buenos Aires neighborhood. Data collection will involve a mix of archival research, surveys, ethnographic observation, and in-depth interviews.The research is important because it will help social scientists understand the different strategies that people use in a world of increasing economic globalization. It will also provide a better understanding of the material formation of contemporary cities, which speaks not only to the concerns of social scientists, but also to the residents of many cities today. The research will also contribute to the education of a social scientist.