How to Read Buildings is a practical introduction to looking at and appreciating architecture. It is a guide to reading the historical and architectural clues that are embedded in every building. Small enough to carry in your pocket and serious enough to provide real answers, this comprehensive guide: - Explores key characteristics of structures dating from every period from the ancient Greeks to the present day. - Gives expert advice on how to identify any building and put it in historical context. - Provides an accessible visual guide, using detailed engravings and text, to architectural styles and structural elements.

Despite a prolonged slump in the housing market, the demand for residential green building remains strong. More than ever, professionals need reliable information about how to construct or retrofit livable, sustainable, and economical homes. With "Fundamentals of Sustainable Dwellings," Avi Friedman provides that resource. While other books on residential green building are often either superficial or overly technical, Friedman gets it just right, delivering an illustrated, accessible guide for architects, developers, home builders, codes officials, and students of architecture and green design.
Friedman charts a new course for residential building--one in which social, cultural, economic, and environmental values are part of every design decision. The book begins with a concise overview of green building principles, covering topics such as sustainable resources and common certification methods. Each following chapter examines a critical aspect of green home construction, from siting to waste management options. Friedman provides basics about energy-efficient windows and heating and cooling systems. And he offers innovative solutions like edible landscaping and green roofs.
Friedman knows that in green building, ideas are only as good as their execution. So in each chapter valuable data is assembled and a contemporary project in which designers strove to achieve sustainability while adhering to real-world constraints is featured. The result is a practical guide for every professional in the burgeoning field of residential green building.

Mountains, oceans, cliffs, rivers -- don't many of us want to live above the treetops? Aside from soaring views and dramatic vistas, these hillside homes designs offer practical and attractive solutions to the increasing demand for and scarcity of level land. Here are over 50 stunning hillside homes located across the United States, from Alaska to Cape Cod. Over 450 color photographs highlight unique design details of homes built on the edges of cliffs and peering through treetops. This insider's tour of cliffhanger living derives from 30 notable architects and designers who describe their work, its challenges, and rewards. The foreword, by Joseph Henry Wythe, describes his belief in the principles of organic architecture and architect Kathy Shaffer gives us her viewpoint on building a hillside house. You may find your dream house here or the inspiration to build a dream of your own.

In Living on the Edge, the author goes in search of the most amazing and seemingly unfeasible buildings which are situated at the edge of deep chasms and on steep cliffs. These houses are the work of architects who approach complexity and difficult conditions with imagination and a talent for thinking outside of the box. This book shows how, with the help of innovative techniques, fear of heights-inducing homes have been built at the most challenging locations all over the world. Living on the Edge is a book for architecture lovers without fear of heights!

The UK's housing stock has proved to be remarkably durable, as houses from the 18th and 19th centuries are still adaptable to the requirements of modern living. However, the need to respect the environment and to reduce energy costs presents a new set of challenges for the owners of period properties. In Renovations, Richard Wilcock analyses a host of cutting-edge projects to examine the challenges of adapting traditional house types; retaining historic features whilst introducing modern interventions. The book brings together more than two decades of research to showcase the best examples of domestic extensions and internal remodelling in the UK today. The carefully selected exemplar projects highlight advances in technology, including new glazing methods, improvements in flat roof construction and structural innovations in steel and lightweight timber that have revolutionised the nature of the small house extension and increased the palette of forms and materials available to the architect. Containing beautiful colour illustrations throughout, and pointing readers to more detailed technical sources of information, Renovations will provide inspiration for architects, designers and home owners alike.

A rich collection of imagery explores the actual homes of three of the most esteemed wood artist/craftsmen of the modern era: Wharton Esherick, Sam Maloof, and George Nakashima. Tour the private homes of these masters and compare their innovations and vision through the medium of their own homes, gardens, and work areas. Step into their environments, where aesthetics are most accurately realized. You'll delight in Esherick's humble mountaintop home where straight lines were purposefully forbidden, and Maloof's sprawling California home that expresses his inexhaustible creativity and industriousness. Nakashima's home is a harmonious marriage of Japanese influences with Pennsylvania's rich natural resources. This book is a must-have for devotees of these artists, as well as aspiring woodworkers who want tutelage from the top.

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.

Tower and Slab looks at the contradictory history of the modernist mass housing block - home to millions of city dwellers around the world. Few urban forms have roused as much controversy. While in the United States decades-long criticism caused the demolition of most mass housing projects for the poor, in the booming metropolises of Shanghai and Mumbai remarkably similar developments are being built for the wealthy middle class. While on the surface the modernist apartment block appears universal, it is in fact diverse in its significance and connotations as its many different cultural contexts.

Florian Urban studies the history of mass housing in seven narratives: Chicago, Paris, Berlin, Brasilia, Mumbai, Moscow, and Shanghai. Investigating the complex interactions between city planning and social history, Tower and Slab shows how the modernist vision to house the masses in serial blocks succeeded in certain contexts and failed in others. Success and failure, in this respect, refers not only to the original goals to solve the housing crisis and provide modern standards for the entire society but equally to changing significance of the housing blocks within the respective societies and their perception by architects, politicians, and inhabitants.

These differences show that design is not to blame for mass housing 's mixed record of success. The comparison of the apparently similar projects suggests that triumph or disaster does not depend on a single variable but rather on a complex formula that includes not only form, but also social composition, location within the city, effective maintenance, and a variety of cultural, social, and political factors.

This book explores how houses are created, maintained and conceptualized in southern Oman. Based on long-term research in the Dhofar region, it draws on anthropology, sociology, urban studies and architectural history. The chapters consider physical and functional aspects, including regulations governing land use, factors in siting houses, architectural styles and norms for interior and exterior decorating. The volume also reflects on cultural expectations regarding how and when rooms are used and issues such as safety, privacy, social connectedness and ease of movement. Houses and residential areas are situated within the fabric of towns, comparison is made with housing in other countries in the Arabian peninsula, and consideration is given to notions of the 'Islamic city' and the 'Islamic house'. The book is valuable reading for scholars interested in the Middle East and the built environment.

Architecturally unique, New Orleans has been called the greatest outdoor museum in the world. Glimpses of history can be found in the balconies, arches, and stained-glass windows of its homes, from simple Creole cottages to suburban ranch houses. Written as a house-watchers guide, New Orleans Houses enables the layperson to estimate the date of a houses construction, within ten to fifteen years, and to place it in a historical time frame by studying its architectural details. The author discusses each building style in the context of the major events, personages, and issues of the period during which the buildings were erected. Over 100 illustrations, including drawings of existing New Orleans homes as well as composite sketches, highlight the characteristics commonly associated with certain types of homes, making New Orleans Houses as much an art book as it is a reference guide. A glossary clarifies the sometimes-confusing terminology used in discussing architecture. It also defines words peculiar to New Orleans architecture such as Creole and faubourg.

This insightful volume shares design ideas to help builders, planners and architects create mass-produced affordable housing that pushes suburban development in more sustainable, liveable directions. The author argues that improving the quality of design in our new homes and communities for greater resiliency, sustainability, and equality, we can build neighborhoods and communities where residents feel more connected t their homes and to one another. Through text, photographs and illustrations, the book reviews prototypical American housing design, then suggest ways to both learn from the past as well as adapt for new environmental imperatives, demographic changes and lifestyle needs. Written by a practicing architect with 25+ years of experience optimizing residential design, this pioneering approach to suburban building will inspire readers to view mass produced housing through a new, modern lens.

In the search for sustainable architecture, there is growing interest in the relationship between nature and design. In this vital new book, the term bioclimatic, relating to the dynamic between climate and living organisms, is applied by the authors in focusing on countries where housing requires cooling for a significant part of the year. In this context, Bioclimatic Housing covers creative, vernacular architecture to present both the theory and practice of innovative, low-energy architecture. The book interweaves the themes of social progress, technological fixes and industry transformation within a discussion of global and country trends, climate types, solutions and technologies. Prepared under the auspices of a 5-year International Energy Agency (IEA) project, and with case studies from Iran, Malaysia, Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka and Italy, this is a truly international and authoritative work, providing an essential primer for building designers, builders, developers and advanced students in architecture and engineering.

This self-taught Dutch architect was among the most widely copied architects of the 1930s and 1940s. His international influence is all the more amazing when one considers that most of his architecture was built in the provincial town of Hilversum. Travel, word-of-mouth, and literature spread the news of his humane, modern approach to building design. The more than 1,200 bibliographic entries in this work are presented alphabetically by decades and further by genres. Each is summarized, described, and evaluated in the context of a critical overview of Dudok's career. Architectural scholars and students will profit from this comprehensive guide to the international literature on one of the most emulated champions of modern architecture. For too long, much was made in the English-language architectural literature of Germany's pioneer role in developing Modernism. That contribution was undeniably valuable, but the Dutch were unfairly overlooked; however, Dudok's work was not. Hilversum became a magnet for young foreign architects in the 1930s. He cast his spell upon much of continental Europe, the United States and Britain, and throughout the 1940s his style was so widely mimicked that a new adjective was coined: dudoky. This volume will reintroduce the importance of Dudok's work to today's scholars and students.

Rural Scotland is a charged landscape, alive with history, soaked in myth and often rather sublime. For those of us living an urban existence, the countryside is a retreat for refuge and decompression, but it is also a place where infrastructures strain to reach and in which livings must be made. The countryside is resistant to easy explanation and is thus vulnerable to stereotyping. The nine building stories told in this book show how rural households and communities define themselves, and the role architecture plays in this. Illustrated with beautiful photography and drawings, the projects, from affordable housing on the islands to exquisite renovations of traditional agricultural stock, and all recognised by the Saltire Society's Housing Design Awards, are visually rich both in themselves and the contexts in which they sit. The houses are set firmly within historic, economic and social contexts and are much more than bolt holes from the urban. Some of our buildings are active participants in rural regeneration and others reflect, in a profound way, what authenticity really means in the countryside. Like architecture everywhere, they present a mirror to a society's preoccupations and values. However, this is a book too about architecture's capacity to inspire and endlessly delight.

This clear and accessible guide provides a comprehensive outline on how to convert your house into a more 'green' home. Buildings are the greates energy wasters and for those of us concerned about the environment, and household bills, this book presents the key design changes that we can implement to our own homes to remedy energy loss.
This title covers the full range of design chanegs that are available to the homeowner and designer for renovation, from the roof to the basement, from insulation to windows. It also feature a selection of case studies illustrating the experiences of other homeowners and designers and how they have adapted and used the technology available to them in creating an energy efficient home. This is a practical, hands-on guide, ideal for architects, designers and homeowners.
* Comprehensive practical design guide to making your home energy efficient
* Covers all aspects of the house, from roof to basement, making it relevant to all homes
* Clear explanations give you a basic understanding of the technology behind the design

The book when it first appeared was also well received by "House and Garden Architecture Forum" and "Landscape Architecture." "The handsome book will be a joy to possess for those who love beauty in architecture and cultivated nature," so wrote Pearl S. Buck. In 1940 Henry Inn of Honolulu, art collector, designer, and photographer, produced a collection of Chinese architectural pictures that is extraordinary.

Although probably the only record of its kind, many of the photographs were taken as recently as 1936. Of those locations very few remain if any. A veteran traveller to his ancestral homeland, Henry In had an extraordinarily wide set of acquaintances which gave him an entrance into some of the choicest homes and gardens throughout China. This combination of artistic shell and unusual opportunity are unique.