Buildings Must Die

2017-08-11 Architecture

Author : Stephen Cairns
Release : 2017-08-11
Genre : Architecture
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 711/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Buildings Must Die by : Stephen Cairns

Download or read book Buildings Must Die written by Stephen Cairns. This book was released on 2017-08-11. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part memento mori for architecture, and part invocation to reimagine the design values that lay at the heart of its creative purpose. Buildings, although inanimate, are often assumed to have “life.” And the architect, through the act of design, is assumed to be their conceiver and creator. But what of the “death” of buildings? What of the decay, deterioration, and destruction to which they are inevitably subject? And what might such endings mean for architecture's sense of itself? In Buildings Must Die, Stephen Cairns and Jane Jacobs look awry at core architectural concerns. They examine spalling concrete and creeping rust, contemplate ruins old and new, and pick through the rubble of earthquake-shattered churches, imploded housing projects, and demolished Brutalist office buildings. Their investigation of the death of buildings reorders architectural notions of creativity, reshapes architecture's preoccupation with good form, loosens its vanities of durability, and expands its sense of value. It does so not to kill off architecture as we know it, but to rethink its agency and its capacity to make worlds differently. Cairns and Jacobs offer an original contemplation of architecture that draws on theories of waste and value. Their richly illustrated case studies of building “deaths” include the planned and the unintended, the lamented and the celebrated. They take us from Moline to Christchurch, from London to Bangkok, from Tokyo to Paris. And they feature the work of such architects as Eero Saarinen, Carlo Scarpa, Cedric Price, Arata Isozaki, Rem Koolhaas and François Roche. Buildings Must Die is both a memento mori for architecture and a call to to reimagine the design values that lay at the heart of its creative purpose.

Living Buildings

2008 Architecture

Author : Donald Insall
Release : 2008
Genre : Architecture
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 927/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Living Buildings by : Donald Insall

Download or read book Living Buildings written by Donald Insall. This book was released on 2008. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Donald Insall Associates, the Practice founded by distinguished British architect Donald Insall, a leading exponent in the field of Architectural Conservation. This book presents an examination of architectural conservation, comprehensively illustrated by case-studies, drawings, plans and descriptions.

How Buildings Work

2005-09-01 Architecture

Author : Edward Allen
Release : 2005-09-01
Genre : Architecture
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 663/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis How Buildings Work by : Edward Allen

Download or read book How Buildings Work written by Edward Allen. This book was released on 2005-09-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Illustrated with hundreds of illuminating line drawings, this classic guide reveals virtually every secret of a building's function: how it stands up, keeps its occupants safe and comfortable, gets built, grows old, and dies--and why some buildings do this so much better than others. Drawing on things he's learned from the many buildings he himself designed (and in some cases built with his own hands), Edward Allen explains complex phenomena such as the role of the sun in heating buildings and the range of structural devices that are used for support, from trusses and bearing walls to post-tensioned concrete beams and corbeled vaults. He stresses the importance of intelligent design in dealing with such problems as overheating and overcooling, excessive energy use, leaky roofs and windows, fire safety, and noisy interiors. He serves up some surprises: thermal insulation is generally a better investment than solar collectors; board fences are not effective noise barriers; there's one type of window that can be left open during a rainstorm. The new edition emphasizes "green" architecture and eco-conscious design and construction. It features a prologue on sustainable construction, and includes new information on topics such as the collapse of the World Trade Center, sick building syndrome, and EIFS failures and how they could have been prevented. Allen also highlights the array of amazing new building materials now available, such as self-cleaning glass, photovoltaics, transparent ceramics, cloud gel, and super-high-strength concrete and structural fibers. Edward Allen makes it easy for everyone--from armchair architects and sidewalk superintendents to students of architecture and construction--to understand the mysteries and complexities of even the largest building, from how it recycles waste and controls the movement of air, to how it is kept alive and growing.

Architecture’s Theory

2023-04-18 Architecture

Author : Catherine Ingraham
Release : 2023-04-18
Genre : Architecture
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 970/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Architecture’s Theory by : Catherine Ingraham

Download or read book Architecture’s Theory written by Catherine Ingraham. This book was released on 2023-04-18. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of illuminating essays exploring what theory makes of architecture and what architecture makes of theory in philosophical and materialized contexts. From poststructuralism and deconstruction to current theories of technology and nature, critical theory has long been closely aligned with architecture. In turn, architecture as a thinking profession materializes theory in the form of built work that always carries symbolic loads. In this collection of essays, Catherine Ingraham studies the complex connectivity between architecture's discipline and practice and theories of philosophy, art, literature, history, and politics. She argues that there can be no architecture without theory. Whether considering architecture’s relationship to biomodernity or exploring the ways in which contemporary artists and designers engage in figural play, Ingraham offers provocative interpretations that enhance our understanding of both critical theory and architectural practice today. Along the way, she engages with a wide range of contemporary theorists, including Giorgio Agamben, Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida, Graham Harman, and Timothy Morton, considering buildings around the world, including the Palace of Culture in Warsaw, the Viceroy’s House complex in New Delhi, Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam's Wolfsburg Science Center project in Germany, and the Superdome in New Orleans. Approaching its subject matter from multiple angles, Architecture’s Theory shows how architecture's theoretical and artifactual practices have a unique power to alter culture.

1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die

2015-01-01 Buildings

Author :
Release : 2015-01-01
Genre : Buildings
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 512/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die by :

Download or read book 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die written by . This book was released on 2015-01-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: '1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die' is a visual testament to the world's greatest achievements in architecture. Comprehensive yet concise, each article includes essential information about the featured structure: who designed it, who commissioned it, key dates in its construction and more. The accompanying descriptions detail the historical and geographical considerations that influenced the design while stunning photographs illustrate the technical ingenuity and aesthetic brilliance of architects past and present...The book is organised chronologically beginning with the marvels of the ancient world and continuing with the masterpieces of each successive era to the present day. On display is a treasure trove of the world's finest architecture from Byzantine and Gothic wonders, through the incredible wealth of the Renaissance and Baroque, and on to the marvels of the twentieth century. The book culminates with the far-reaching achievements of the past decade, such as Jeanne Gang's undulating Aqua Tower in Chicago and Renzo Piano's towering Shard London Bridge...Featured here are the world's finest and most important public and residential buildings from palaces, museums and ground-breaking new reidences to unique or unusual structures, such as the ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings and rustic southern Italian trulli.

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Buildings Must Die

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