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.

Much more than an excellent gazetteer, an engaging history using contemporary sources shows whose hands the defence of the Anglo-Scottish border was in while Henry V was at Agincourt.Subsequent surveys show how Christopher Dacre forwarded a bold project that linked a string of towers forming a defence against marauding Scots, suggesting new towers to stop gaps, a 'dyke or defence' joining them like a latter-day Hadrian's Wall. Beyond this line were many peles or bastles, homes to the headsmen of the notorious reiving families cursed in 1525 by the Bishops of Durham and Glasgow because of their brutal way of life, giving rise to much romance and legend. Polite society occupied the large castles of the coastal area. This history and gazetteer, with 500 entries, will increase your knowledge of Northumberland and its proud, turbulent past.

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.

What happens when an architect sets out to design the extraordinary, and by doing so challenges the established norms of the industry? A riot of inventive and ingenious residential structures to delight the eye and gladden the soul. This book decodes a wide selection of stunning experimental designs. By shaking off any limitations and seeking to challenge established design conventions, and using architectural ingenuity and modern technical aspiration, these carefully selected architects show how they develop bold and striking designs that will serve as inspiration for years to come, creating home designs that are both out of left field and can take residential ingenuity to the next level. This edition is lavishly illustrated with crisp and evocative full-colour images of the architecture, with insight from the architect detailing their inspiration and the challenges encountered through the designing and building processes. Whether it be a uniquely challenging location, the decision to use materials in innovative ways, or simply experimenting with a new design shape, the works featured within these pages challenge the everyday notions of what a residence should be. Through these pages, the reader is drawn into a beautiful journey through a diverse range of truly beautiful homes as imagined—and realised—by some of the best architectural visionaries of our time.

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.

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.

Following her success with Lost Charleston, local author and city tour guide Leigh Jones Handal brings a fresh approach to one of the key titles in Pavilion Books’ trademark series. Charleston, South Carolina is one of the most popular East Coast tourist destinations. The flashpoint of the Civil War, what remains of Fort Sumter in Charleston is still a much-visited attraction, and despite bombardment by the Federal Navy, earthquakes and many hurricanes, the South Carolina city has retained its 19th-century charm.  City guide Leigh Jones Handal tells the story of the Charleston she loves through archive photos matched with their modern viewpoint, including the Jenkins Orphanage whose band were the likely originators of the Charleston dance. There are vintage photos of the great plantation houses, plus the grand buildings on Meeting Street, and the soaring spires of Charleston’s many churches.  Downtown many of the classic mansions, such as the Miles Brewton House, have been retained, along with the Market Hall and the Customs House, and though the trolleys no longer run along Broad Street, it is still recognizable from a century before.  Leigh Jones Handal has uncovered a treasury of vintages images which have been matched with modern photos to show new aspects of this enduringly fascinating city.

Explore a golden age in architecture when architects, builders, and homeowners let their imaginations run wild. If you are thinking about renovating, remodeling, or building a Victorian home, this book will show you how the architectural features characteristic of turn-of-the-20th century architecture were used. Here are richly detailed 'gingerbread' trims, towers, encircling porches, balconies, cornices, belvederes, large porte-cocheres, bay windows, ornamental ironwork, elaborate chimneys, and much more. All who love Victorian architecture will be informed and inspired by over 300 full color photographs of historical architectural details found here.

The 1930s home presented an exciting new way of living for the generation that moved out to the suburbs. Young couples who had previously rented accommodation in urban centres found themselves able to afford new-build homes with hot running water, a bathroom indoors and even aerials for the wireless already installed. Some four million houses were erected, mostly in cosy semi-detached styles that harked back to traditional cottage architecture. The design elite rejected this 'Stockbroker Tudor' look and opted instead for brave, flat-roofed modernist villas. But whether the house drew on historical references or futuristic ones, interest in interior decoration boomed. This book introduces the homes that people fell in love with in the 1930s, and the fixtures and fittings that went in them. With nearly hundred illustrations and informative chapters on architectural styles, gardens, furnishings and technology in the home, this book is the most popular introductory guide to the houses of the period. It is not only a practical and valuable companion for people who own or wish to renovate an inter-war house but also will appeal to all those interested in period design.

-- Key West -- an architectural treasure trove of houses built in the 19th century
-- Eyebrow houses, shotgun houses, Conch Victorians
-- Color photographs throughout
-- Many of Key West's houses were built by ship's carpenters with no plans other than memories of seaport homes from their past
-- Widow's walks borrowed from New England, overhanging eaves (eyebrows) from the West Indies
-- Builders added details from architectural fads of the time -- from Greek Revival columns to Creole trellises
-- Many charming anecdotes about old Key West gleaned from interviews with descendants of the families who built houses there
-- For anyone who loves to look at charming old houses and imagine their histories

First multi-disciplinary study of the cultural and social milieu of the post-medieval castle. The castle was an imposing architectural landmark in late medieval and early modern England and Wales. Castles were much more than lordly residences: they were accommodation to guests and servants, spaces of interaction between the powerful and the powerless, and part of larger networks of tenants, parks, and other properties. These structures were political, symbolic, residential, and military, and shaped the ways in which people consumed the landscape and interacted with the local communities around them. This volume offers the first interdisciplinary study of the socio-cultural understanding of the castle in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, a period duringwhich the castle has largely been seen as in decline. Bringing together a wide range of source material - from architectural remains and archaeological finds to household records and political papers - it investigates the personnel of the castle; the use of space for politics and hospitality; the landscape; ideas of privacy; and the creation of a visual legacy. By focusing on such an iconic structure, the book allows us to see some of the ways in which men and women were negotiating the space around them on a daily basis; and just as importantly, it reveals the impact that the local communities had on the spaces of the castle. AUDREY M. THORSTAD teaches in the Department of History, University of North Texas.

More and more people are foregoing and aggravations of hiring a general contractor and opting to oversee their own homebuilding projects.

Outdoor living is heating up the marketplace today, and more and more people take their leisure time outdoors. Toward that end, they're bringing the kitchen with them, along with a blazing fire to warm and illuminate their yards into the later hours. This book offers the largest collection of images of landscapes, outdoor kitchens, and fireplaces available on the market today, and with those gorgeous photos come hundreds of ideas. Live vicariously as you leaf through these pages, and then make the dream come true in your own backyard with some of the many inspirations found here.

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 late medieval sukiya tea-house is recognised by scholars and architects as the precursor for the modern and contemporary Japanese architectural tradition. This form is also seen to have contributed significantly to aspects of Western architectural tradition. The daime style is possibly the most distinctively 'Japanese', enigmatic and oldest form located within the sukiya tradition. The work examines the Shoko-ken tea-house, built in 1628.
This study sets out to provide a means of evaluation of the unique yet highly significant form of architecture through the examination of the Shoko-ken as an approach to discern difference and identity between this example and other examples of Sukiya tea-house architecture.

The loft, a quintessentially urban form, is an ideal way to convert a home into a unique space that reflects its owner's personality. This book emphasizes how easy these projects can be, and how well they can approximate the enormous lofts of London and Manhattan by way of careful 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.

Recognising that buildings are a major contributor to global warming and the critical role of embodied versus operational carbon, the book focuses on houses built from materials that either sequester carbon (plants), use materials with very low embodied carbon (earth and stone) or reuse substantial amounts of existing materials. Organised by those materials (wood, bamboo, straw, hemp, cork, earth, brick, stone and re-use), and incorporating life cycle diagrams demonstrating how the raw material is processed into building components, the book shows how the unique properties of each material can transform the ways architects conceive the sections of houses. The house was selected as the vehicle for these investigations due to its scale, its role as a site of architectural experimentation, and its ubiquity. Building on the techniques of the Manual of Section, the book is comprised of newly generated cross-sectional drawings of 55 recent, modestly sized houses from around the world, making legible the tectonics and materials used in their construction. Each house is also shown through exploded axonometric, construction photographs and colour photographs of the exterior and interior. Introductory essays set up the importance of embodied carbon, the role of vernacular plant-based construction and the problems of contemporary house construction. Drawing connections between the architecture of the house, environmental systems and material economies, the book seeks to change how we build now and for the future.