Placing Architecture

This book is useful to students, architects, landscape architects, designers and artists in stimulating a dialogue about nature, design process, art and architecture. It applies an artistic methodology to architecture, works it through 3 examples, resulting in buildings connecting us to our natural landscapes and inspiring environmental awareness.

In architecture, as in food, local is an idea whose time has come. Of course, the idea of an architecture that responds to site; draws on local building traditions, materials, and crafts; and strives to create a sense of community is not recent. Yet, the way it has evolved in the past few years in the hands of some of the world's most accomplished architects is indeed defining a new movement. From the rammed-earth houses of Rick Joy and Pacific Northwest timber houses of Tom Kundig, to the community-built structures of Rural Studio and Francis Kéré, designers everywhere are championing an architecture that exists from, in, and for a specific place. The stunning projects, presented here in the first book to examine this global shift, were featured at the thirteenth and final Ghost conference held in 2011, organized by Nova Scotia architect, educator, and local practitioner Brian MacKay-Lyons. The result is the most complete collection of contemporary regionalist architecture available, with essays by early proponents of the movement, including Kenneth Frampton, Juhani Pallasmaa, and Pritzker Prize–winning architect Glenn Murcutt.

While it is widely recognized that architects and their architecture play a key role in constructing a sense of place, the inherent nexus between an architectural ideology and the production of national space and place has so far been neglected. Focusing on the Zionist ideology, this book brings together practising architects and academics to critically examine the role of architects, architecture and spatial practices as mediators between national ideology and the politicization of space. The book first of all sets out the wider context of theoretical debates concerning the role of architecture in the process of constructing a sense of place then divides into six main sections. The book not only provides an innovative new perspective on how the Israeli state had developed, but also sheds light on how architecture shapes national identity in any post-colonial and settler state.

The notion of data is increasingly encountered in spatial, creative and cultural studies. Big data and artificial intelligence are significantly influencing a number of disciplines. Processes, methods and vocabularies from sciences, architecture, arts are borrowed, discussed and tweaked, and new cross-disciplinary fields emerge. More and more, artists and designers are drawing on hard data to interpret the world and to create meaningful, sensuous environments. Architects are using neurophysiological data to improve their understanding of people’s experiences in built spaces. Different disciplines collaborate with scientists to visualise data in different and creative ways, revealing new connections, interpretations and readings. This often demonstrates a genuine desire to comprehend human behaviour and experience and to – possibly – inform design processes accordingly. At the same time, this opens up questions as to why this desire and curiosity is emerging now, how it relates to recent technological advances and how it converses with the cultural, philosophical and methodological context of the disciplines with which it engages. Questions are also raised as to how the use of data and data-informed methods may serve, support, promote and/or challenge political agendas. Data, Architecture and the Experience of Place provides an overview of new approaches on this significant subject and is ideal for students and researchers in digital architecture, architectural theory, design, digital media, sensory studies and related fields.

An appealing approach to creating dwellings blending vernacular styles, fine craftsmanship, and indigenous materials. This volume features the recent projects of McAlpine, one of the country’s most highly respected architecture and interior design firms, renowned for its timeless houses exemplifying the charm and elegance of traditional and vernacular English, American, and European styles blended with a modern sensibility. Following from their first book, The Home Within Us, this book profiles twenty stunning projects, from a stone tower folly standing in the gardens of a Tudor-style house to a humble yet elegant wooden lakeside retreat. Through his poetic voice, Bobby McAlpine narrates the story of each residence, pointing out its unique qualities. Featured are an exotic Florida Panhandle beach house; a Tuscan-style horse farm; a rambling Colonial Revival compound; and a miniature European manor house, among others. These dwellings are classically understated and welcoming. With its gorgeous photography of inspiring interiors and exteriors, Poetry of Place will appeal to those interested in design romancing the past.

The spread of newly 'invented' places, such as theme parks, shopping malls and revamped historic areas, necessitates a redefinition of the concept of 'place' from an architectural perspective. In this interdisciplinary work, these invented places are categorized according to the different phenomenological experiences they are able to provide. The book explores how such 'cloning spaces' use placemaking and placemarketing in attempt to replicate the characteristics found in urban spaces traditionally viewed as successful, and how these places can affect society's environmental perception. A range of international empirical studies illustrates how such invented places can be perceived as legitimate urban spaces, and contribute towards the quality of life in today's cities.

Ubiquitous computing has a vision of information and interaction being embedded in the world around us; this forms the basis of this book. Built environments are subjects of design and architects have seen digital elements incorporated into the fabric of buildings as a way of creating environments that meet the dynamic challenges of future habitation. Methods for prototyping interactive buildings are discussed and the theoretical overlaps between both domains are explored. Topics like the role of space and technology within the workplace as well as the role of embodiment in understanding how buildings and technology can influence action are discussed, as well as investigating the creation of place with new methodologies to investigate the occupation of buildings and how they can be used to understand spatial technologies. Architecture and Interaction is aimed at researchers and practitioners in the field of computing who want to gain a greater insight into the challenges of creating technologies in the built environment and those from the architectural and urban design disciplines who wish to incorporate digital information technologies in future buildings.