The new MEETT Toulouse exhibition and convention centre in the French city of Toulouse once again demonstrates how a seemingly dull, functional task results in striking and refined architecture if the Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture OMA and its mastermind Rem Koolhaas take care of it. The vast structure, covering ca 618 by 246 yards of ground, makes for a spectacular spatial experience in its main exhibition hall that offers 484,376 square feet of column-free floor space. OMA also took an unusual path with regard to the configuration and transport connection of the entire complex. Rather than sealing even more ground with tarmac for endless car parks, it concentrated them into a compact multi-storey parking garage at the heart of the complex that also serves as a general traffic hub for MEETT Toulouse. The book offers impressions of MEETT Toulouse's enormous dimensions and the vast spaces it provides through images taken by French photographer Marco Cappelletti. The volume is rounded out with selected plans and concise texts on the particulars of the project.

Building-related art commissioned by the state brings politics, society, architecture, and urban design together in a unique way. In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), it was initially given the function of propagating political contents and idealized images of society. Artists increasingly emancipated themselves from government guidelines and developed their own forms of expression in interplay with their surroundings. Until today, many people identify numerous artworks with their home country. The publication documents the symposium "Building-related Art in the German Democratic Republic" on the occasion of the anniversary "seventy years of building-related art in Germany" in 2020. Renowned experts examine building-related art in the GDR from the perspective of aesthetics and contents and discuss this internationally unique stock of artworks in detail.

When it's time to start planning for a renovation or construction project, you don't need a book that covers everything from A to Z. Instead you need a concentrated set of tools and techniques that will guide you and your team to find the best solutions for your specific project. That's exactly what library building expert Schlipf provides in his new book, which will be a key resource for library directors, administrators, board members, trustees, and planning professionals. Pinpointing the elements that make library buildings functional, in this book readers will find a streamlined organization of the text that enables quick consultation and facilitates collaboration; concise coverage of the essentials of the library construction process, including who does what, how things work, and how to stay out of trouble along the way; advice on important planning and workflow considerations such as site selection, schematic design, funding, design development, the bidding process, construction, and post-construction occupancy; discussion of the characteristics of successful library buildings-buildings that are easy to maintain, welcoming to people with disabilities, have less trouble-prone restrooms, and provide security for users, staff, and collections; and an overview of bad ideas in library architecture, with pointed guidance on how to steer clear of them from the very beginning of your project. This powerful primer will help everyone involved in a library building project stay focused on the task at hand.

As the world continues to see an expansion of technological innovations, highly populated areas are starting to adopt sustainable solutions to become more energy efficient. The concept of circular cities is a new economic model that reconfigures products and services in such ways as to eliminate the issues of waste and harmful influences and uses alternative energy resources and materials. Many of these principles are currently being implemented in various regions' policies; however, research is still lacking on the implementation of circular economics in urban areas. Developing and Designing Circular Cities: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a collection of innovative research on the methods, framework, and implementation of a circular economy within urbanized areas. This book analyzes the various disciplines of circularity within modern cities while also comparing past and future approaches to urban development. While highlighting topics including sustainable development, renewable energy systems, and urban planning, this book is ideally designed for architects, urban planners, contractors, investors, government officials, civil engineers, educators, academicians, researchers, and students.

Cities are not only places that house buildings; they are also spaces where cultural and social relations are built and developed. These properties must be taken into consideration when constructing and renovating new housing. Different methodologies can be used in order to create new flexible solutions for mass housing units' interior spaces with the aim of improving their adaptability by using a user-centered approach. Re-Coding Homes Through Flexible Interiors: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an optimal resource that investigates how interior design models can transform existing spaces into more flexible and functional housing units while also increasing the functional value and spatial quality of living spaces in social housing. The book specifically discusses how genetic algorithms, a generative design approach, are used to solve nonlinear design problems. It also provides results that can be referenced based on actual domain data, which can be used as references to other architectural and interior design approaches. Featuring research on topics such as housing design and mass housing, this book is ideally designed for architects, engineers, interior designers, furniture designers, construction companies, architecture firms, practitioners, academicians, students, and researchers.

Until now, Emil Jauch (1911-1962) has been a little-known protagonist of Swiss post-war architecture. Shaped by the Scandinavian Modernity of the 1930s, his buildings are characterised by a remarkable sensitivity. This book demonstrates the Lucerne architect's empathetic design method by presenting his constructed school buildings. The publication describes the architect's life and work in three chapters, recognising his achievements in school building and classifying them within the European context of a humanising functionalism.

Die "Neue Heimat" war der groesste und bedeutendste nicht-staatliche Wohnungsbaukonzern im Europa der Nachkriegszeit. In einem Zeitraum von uber dreissig Jahren hat das Gewerkschaftsunternehmen mehr als 400.000 Wohnungen und seit den sechziger Jahren auch zahlreiche Kommunal- und Gewerbebauten in Deutschland geplant und ausgefuhrt. Die "Neue Heimat" war ein Hoffnungstrager fur die Teilhabe am Wirtschaftswunder - und der skandaltrachtige Zusammenbruch des Unternehmens Anfang der achtziger Jahre wirkte wie ein Schock auf die westdeutsche Bevoelkerung. Der zeitliche Abstand von uber einer Generation bietet die Chance fur eine kritische Untersuchung: Was waren die Ansatze der sozialdemokratischen Visionen und was ist aus dem bis heute angestrebten "Wohnen fur Alle" geworden? Anhand zahlreicher historischer Foto- und Planmaterialien und Kurzbeitragen werden u.a. Grosssiedlungen wie die Neue Vahr Bremen oder die Entlastungsstadt Neuperlach sowie gigantische Grossprojekte der "Neuen Heimat Stadtebau" wie das ICC Berlin dokumentiert.