Ideas, ideas, ideas... they filled the rooms highlighted in 1950s advertising by Armstrong, the leading maker of flooring and ceiling products. Here you will find over 350 photographs of room interiors that appeared in popular magazines from the '50s, inspiring the looks we now associate with that decade. Each one offers new decorating ideas that set the standard for the 1950s with furniture, floor coverings, accessories, and home improvements. Examples include a boys' bedroom that can reflect changing interests as the boys grow into their teens, a living room whose interior can be converted from summer to winter decor in just an hour, and a den with a "secret life" as a guest room. These were refreshingly new ideas in the 1950s and are still practical today. If you want a crash course in imaginative interior design of the 1950s, this is the book you must have.

Sue Roaf is famed for her approach to design and her awareness of energy efficiency. Here she reveals the concepts, structures and techniques that lie behind the realization of her ideals. By using her own house as a case study, Roaf guides the reader through the ideas for energy-efficient design or 'eco-design'.

Now in its fourth edition, the bestselling Ecohouse continues to be both a technical guide and an inspiration for thousands of architects, designers and eco-builders all over the world.

Ecohouse provides design information about the latest low-impact materials and technologies, showcasing the newest and best green solutions. Revised and updated, this edition also includes new case studies inspiring readers with more real-life examples of how to make an ecohouse work.

**This book was originally printed as a hardback in 1995. The paperback released in 2011 is a reprint of the original** A comprehensive and in-depth history of the 20th century English home, how it has been created, and how it works for people. It focuses on the various influences bearing on the development of domestic space since 1914 and covers both design and housing policy. Current debates from participation to co-operative housing are examined and several themes not previously brought together are linked, e.g. urban development/house design; technology at home/women and home; social meaning of home.

Housing is a major contributor to CO2 emissions in Europe and America today and the construction of new homes offers an opportunity to address this issue. Providing homes that achieve "zero carbon", "carbon neutral", "zero-net energy" or "energy-plus" standard is becoming the goal of more innovative house-builders globally, whilst energy providers seek to decarbonise the energy supply to new and existing development. Various new technical systems for achieving these goals are beginning to emerge. For example the passive house whose energy requirement for space heating and cooling is almost zero; the smart grid that has revolutionized the management of energy, whilst enabling the connection of small-scale, renewable energy producers and electric vehicles to the grid; or the European super-grid which will enable zero carbon energy to be generated in the Sahara desert and stored in Norway. This book explores the diverse approaches that are being adopted around the world to deliver zero carbon homes and the different societal systems and geographic circumstances in which they have developed. It postulates a roadmap for delivering zero carbon homes, together with a toolbox approach for policy and practice to suit particular national and local circumstances. A series of case studies are presented that offer lessons for delivering zero carbon homes. These examples are also used to demonstrate how prototype systems can move into the mainstream. The book highlights some of the instruments and mechanisms that could be used to support this transformation and addresses the wider implications of introducing these innovative systems in terms of industry, lifestyle and urban form.

Building a green home or redesigning an existing home to be green is more than energy efficiency and preservation of natural resources. It is about integrating cost-effective design and materials to better the well being of inhabitants. Explore the many ways architects have achieved sustainability, incorporating commonsense strategies of solar orientation, natural ventilation, recycling of household water, and making use of cutting-edge materials and building technologies such as earth sheltering, thermal mass, super insulation, geothermal heating and cooling, and photovoltaic electrical generation - all without compromising their aesthetic goals. Here are more than 50 green homes in North America, shown in 400 color photographs. Many have won major awards; others have been the subject of media attention and tours. This book will help the homeowner, builder, and architect design homes that are more energy efficient, reduce consumption and emissions, and incorporate sustainable materials. The residences presented here demonstrate the range of potential solutions and ideas for building a sustainable house.

The dwellings of hundreds of African ethnic groups offer a variety of conceptions and building practices that contradict the widespread image of the primitive hut commonly attributed to rural Africa. Each house or group of houses is designed not only to shelter the members of a family, but also to enable intimate communication with ancestors and divinities and to harmonize with the forces of nature. Such an architecture thrives in a community context where it is simply not acceptable to plunder resources from the earth, and resources are used only in accordance with their availability, in quantity, and at times of year that minimize environmental impact. This cultural dimension and its realization through different architectural practices are illustrated in this work with examples taken from dwellings across numerous ethnic groups in sub-Saharan West Africa. Drawings, plans, axonometric projections, and photographs show the beauty and complexity of this architecture that is a spiritual praxis -- as much place of life as work of art.

Although race - a concept of human difference that establishes hierarchies of power and domination - has played a critical role in the development of modern architectural discourse and practice since the Enlightenment, its influence on the discipline remains largely underexplored. This volume offers a welcome and long-awaited intervention for the field by shining a spotlight on constructions of race and their impact on architecture and theory in Europe and North America and across various global contexts since the eighteenth century. Challenging us to write race back into architectural history, contributors confront how racial thinking has intimately shaped some of the key concepts of modern architecture and culture over time, including freedom, revolution, character, national and indigenous style, progress, hybridity, climate, representation, and radicalism. By analyzing how architecture has intersected with histories of slavery, colonialism, and inequality - from eighteenth-century neoclassical governmental buildings to present-day housing projects for immigrants - Race and Modern Architecture challenges, complicates, and revises the standard association of modern architecture with a universal project of emancipation and progress.

Houses are more than a shelter from the elements: they also offer an unparalleled insight into the beliefs, ideas and experiences of the people who built and lived in them.

In this engaging book, Matthew Johnson looks at the traditional houses that still exist throughout the English countryside and examines the lives of the ordinary people who once occupied them. His wide-ranging narrative takes in the medieval hall and the community it framed; the rebuilding and 'improvement'of houses in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and the rise of the Georgian Order in both architecture and eighteenth century culture.

This passionate book is animated by the conviction that old houses are much more than just pretty tableaux of an idyllic, unchanging rural England. Vernacular houses are compared to their larger, 'polite' counterparts, and English houses are placed in the wider context of the British Isles and the Atlantic world beyond. The result is a dynamic, compelling account of the development of houses in the English countryside and through this, a portrait of changing patterns of social life from medieval to modern times.

Richly illustrated throughout with photographs and drawings, this book will be of interest to anyone who wants to understand the significance of our built heritage and the historic landscape.

Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture 2 follows on from the success of the first book in the series, and contains entirely new projects. Featuring the work of renowned architects from around the world, this book presents 50 of the most recently completed and influential house designs. It also analyses both the technical and the aesthetic importance of details in modern residential architecture. The projects are presented in clear and concise layouts over four pages. All of the drawings are styled consistently and presented at standard architectural scales to allow for easy comparison. Each project is presented with colour photographs, site plans and sections and elevations, as well as numerous construction details. There is also descriptive text, detailed captions and in-depth information for each project. Bonus content: drawings from the book, in both EPS and DWG (generic CAD) format are available to download on www.laurenceking.com.

This book focuses on Kay Fisker (1893-1965)’s housing estates in Copenhagen. A leading exponent of Danish Functionalism, Fisker was influenced by Louis Sullivan, and had a strong belief in continuity, putting modernism in perspective and identifying precedents. He built many large-scale housing schemes, mostly for non-profit workers' housing associations, and developed innovative and beautifully considered high-density, low-rise block schemes, which have proven useful and influential to the growing number of contemporary architects who have examined his designs. Beautifully illustrated with photographs and architectural drawings, this book documents and critically analyses three of Kay Fisker's seminal housing projects in Copenhagen: Hornbaekhus (1923); Vestersohus (1935-39); and Dronningegarden (1943-58). These projects reflect how Fisker's work contains valuable lessons for contemporary architects in economy, precision and generosity in housing design. Essays by Martin Søberg, Poul Sverrild and Job Floris set Fisker’s work within their historical, social and architectural context. In the final section, architects from three leading contemporary practices – Clancy Moore, Monadnock and Tony Fretton - discuss how Kay Fisker has influenced their own approaches and work.

Michael Zaretsky 's Precedents in Zero-Energy Design is such an important book it will help readers recognize that design comes before technology and renewable energy systems alone can t solve the problems we face John D. Quale, Assistant Professor of Architecture and ecoMOD Project Director, University of Virginia

The world is currently facing an environmental crisis and as anyone interested in sustainable or zero-energy design knows the design and building industries have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the globe.

The Solar Decathlon is an international event in which universities from around the world compete in the design and construction of a one-bedroom, zero-energy house. This book provides an in-depth, yet accessible analysis of the architecture and passive design strategies of the houses in the 2007 Solar Decathlon. These houses are the result of thousands of hours of research and development from twenty universities around the world. Divided into three parts, the book provides:

• an initial section investigating the architecture, passive design and systems layout of the twenty houses;
• a diagrammatic comparison of the architecture and passive design characteristics of each of the twenty houses in order of ranking by the Architecture, Comfort Zone and overall scores received in the competition;
• a deep analysis of the relationship between architecture, passive design and mechanical systems design as compared to the rankings received in the various contests. This analysis considers the decisions made by the competing teams and highlights the success of the design strategies employed.

Students, educators, practitioners and researchers of architecture, design and engineering will find this an informative and inspirational book. It examines the relationship between design and environmental principles and provides invaluable insight into some of the most innovative, off-the-grid and zero-energy houses in the world.

With a Foreword by John D. Quale, Assistant Professor of Architecture and ecoMOD Project Director, University of Virginia

UPDATED EDITION As a nation we are obsessed with property: prices, interior design and restoration, and the creation of a home. Now there is another avenue to explore: the history of your house. In this updated second edition, Britain's leading house historian uncovers the hidden stories and secrets of ordinary and extraordinary homes across the country. Gain a unique insight into our social and architectural history through a wide range of houses, including new stories for this edition, from workers' cottages to aristocratic mansions. Tudor farmhouses, Georgian mansions and twentieth-century modernist designs all have a tale to tell. From homes once occupied by famous figures such as H.G. Wells and Benjamin Disraeli to details of the everyday lives of people living in railway and fishermen's cottages, House Histories takes the reader through the centuries of change experienced by each house. As well as providing a rich insight into the ever-changing past of dwellings up and down the country, House Histories helps readers get started on revealing the heritage of their own homes by outlining the main research sources available, how to use them and providing ample case studies as examples.

There's something especially beautiful about being able to look to the full expanse of a horizon, something that speaks to the most ancient part of our soul. With the continuing build up of our surroundings, that precious ability to gaze into the unfettered distance is one we all appreciate and savour. This stunning edition showcases incredible houses in simply amazing locations, where the architect has rightly championed the accessibility to the endless views. Lavishly illustrated with full-colour images of award-winning architecture, this compilation draws you in through its winning designs, but its the glorious and enticing images of the vast horizon that will capture your imagination. We may all not be lucky enough to inhabit an eye-catching designer home with views to die for, but at least we can all share the beauty through these breathtakingly evocative images. Truly a book in which to lose yourself.

This book addresses the need for an in-depth study into design quality in new housing. The wider implications of policy and design are examined through a series of case studies of new housing projects in the UK and the Netherlands.

Dutch interdisciplinary design and modern methods of construction are widely considered to be of the highest quality from which much can be learned and understood. This new guide offers architects the best practice for the design, policy and construction of new homes. The author considers proposals for the Thames Gateway and government incentives to create better quality housing, including the A60,000 house and design reviews. The wider implications of skills and training of architects, planners, design professionals and those parties involved in housing are also addressed.

"The English Country House" takes a look at the architecture and interiors of sixty-two stunning houses in a range of architectural styles spanning seven centuries--from the medieval Stokesay Castle to the newly built, Lutyens-inspired Corfe Farm--brought to life through the world-renowned photography library of "Country Life." More than four hundred color and black and white illustrations provide an insight into the architecture, decoration, gardens, and landscape settings of these houses, which are set into their architectural and historical context by the accompanying text and extended captions.
The book provides an "entree "into the houses to which "Country Life "has had privileged access over the years, many of which are still private homes, often occupied by descendants of the families that built them. Punctuating the book at intervals in the form of booklets on rich, uncoated paper are six essays by leading British architectural historians that set the English country house into its social context and chart the changing tastes in decorating and collecting, the development of ancillary buildings, gardens and landscapes, and finally, its influence in the United States.

The first world atlas ever compiled on vernacular architecture, this comprehensive work illustrates the variety and ingenuity of the world s vernacular building traditions from a multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural and comparative approach, using over sixty world and regional maps.

Mapping such diverse aspects as materials and resources, technologies, structural systems, symbolism, forms and service systems on a cross-cultural and comparative basis, the Atlas of Vernacular Architecture of the World reveals the distribution, diversity and relationships of the world s vernacular building traditions. Indicating geographical patterns, developments, lacunae and anomalies, it gives rise to new insights and understandings, stimulating new hypotheses, questions and research efforts.

Augmenting the award-winning Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World, the Atlas of Vernacular Architecture of the World constitutes a unique and unparalleled resource for anyone involved in the growing field of vernacular architecture studies, including architects, geographers, art historians, planners, folklorists, conservationists, builders, and anthropologists as well as being of use to all those working in the fields of heritage conservation, architecture, regeneration, energy efficient building, resources management, development and sustainability."

Here is a new, larger edition of a classic reference. From its origins on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the seventeenth century, this charming and practical style of house has been transplanted and modified to accommodate varying life styles from as far away as Hawai`i. Stanley Schuler has brought together the architectural history of the Cape Cod House with many floor-plans and photographs to be studied and enjoyed by all who live in, restore, or want to build their own Cape Cod House. Examples range from the tiny single style to double, triple, modified and "modern" interpretations--all of which were practical at the time they were built.

London's modest eighteenth-century houses-those inhabited by artisans and laborers in the unseen parts of Georgian London-can tell us much about the culture of that period. This fascinating book examines largely forgotten small houses that survive from the eighteenth century and sheds new light on both the era's urban architecture and the lives of a culturally distinctive metropolitan population. Peter Guillery discusses how and where, by and for whom the houses were built, stressing vernacular continuity and local variability. He investigates the effects of creeping industrialization (both on house building and on the occupants), and considers the nature of speculative suburban growth. Providing rich and evocative illustrations, he compares these houses to urban domestic architecture elsewhere, as in North America, and suggests that the eighteenth-century vernacular metropolis has enduring influence. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and in association with English Heritage

This book is a concise and comprehensive guide to building defects and building inspection. Whether, as a practitioner you are employed in buying, selling, managing or maintaining houses or whether, or as a layperson, you are buying a property to invest or live in, this book will help you make sound decisions and avoid costly mistakes. Written by two highly experienced authors, House Inspector is a general and accessible book which describes how and why house construction has changed, identifies some of the more common defects, and provides a series of elemental check lists. Essential reading for trainees and general practice surveyors, maintenance inspectors, housing managers, estate agents, planners, and even private purchasers and investors. This book will improve your knowledge and understanding of potential problems and provide a simple framework for a competent building inspection.

Owners of old houses are often baffled by the confusing advice they receive from their builders, architects or surveyors who may be more familiar with repairing modern buildings than dealing with the issues associated with traditional houses. Old houses generally require a different approach, one, for instance, which takes account of their need to 'breathe'. Modern solutions do not always recognise that need. This book will help owners, builders and all construction professionals make the decisions that are right for old buildings. It illustrates the long term benefits of using more traditional solutions on older houses rather than modern materials like cement based mortars, sealants or impervious paints. It offers practical guidance on: How to get the right professional advice; Legal requirements for listed buildings; Problems with damp and rot; Use of lime mortars, plasters and renders; Why old buildings need to breathe; Planning applications; and, Trees, outbuildings and gardens.

Covering the full life span of the project, from siting issues through specific design features to maintenance of the property and equipment, this is a comprehensive guide to designing, planning and building a solar house. The author uses his experience of living in a solar house to inform the reader of the technology and practices needed for the design, operation and maintenance of the solar home. Each of the technologies of the house, such as space heating and cooling, domestic hot water and electric power technologies, are critiqued from the point of view of the owner/resident, with the author using his thirty years experience of living in a solar home. This provides home owners who are thinking of going solar with first hand evidence of best practice, and provides the architect and designer with the knowledge of how to best satisfy their clients needs.