Vernacular Architecture In The 21st Century

The issues surrounding the function and meaning of vernacular architecture in the twenty-first century are complex and extensive. Taking a distinctively rigorous theoretical approach, this book considers these issues from a number of perspectives, broadening current debate to a wider multidisciplinary audience. These collected essays from the leading experts in the field focus on theory, education and practice in this essential sector of architecture, and help to formulate solutions to the environmental, disaster management and housing challenges facing the global community today.

A comprehensive overview of current trends in classicist and vernacular architecture. This book presents 130 projects that reconsider what it means to practice as a traditional architect in the twenty-first century, including a substantial body of work from non-Western countries as well as work by contemporary masters of classical design such as Robert A. M. Stern, Allan Greenberg, Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Quinlan and Francis Terry. The projects assembled here highlight the awareness of a sustainable localism and the continuity of traditional building crafts on a global scale and reveal the resilience and originality of traditional building cultures despite the enormous economic and cultural pressures of contemporary development. This is an optimistic vision of a new breed of traditional architects who endeavor to enrich the future while honoring the past.

These collected essays from leading experts in the field focus on theory, education and practice in this essential sector of architecture, and help to formulate solutions to the challenges facing the global community today.

The study of vernacular architecture explores the characteristics of domestic buildings in particular regions or localities, and the many social and cultural factors that have contributed to their evolution. In this book, vernacular architecture specialist Paul Oliver brings together a wealth of information that spans over two decades, and the whole globe. Some previously unpublished papers, as well as those only available in hard to find conference proceedings, are brought together in one volume to form a fascinating reference for students and professional architects, as well as all those involved with planning housing schemes in their home countries and overseas.

For centuries the idea of durability was central to the practice of architecture. Today ephemeral, short-term construction has become normative. With the topic of sustainability now at the top of professional, academic, and political agendas, a building s ability to endure longer than the immediate requirements of its user for the benefit of future generations is being recognized again as critical. Assembled here are the thoughts, experiences and examples of finished work and projects under construction by architects who embrace the notion of durability in their buildings and promote it in their writings. The essays underscore the importance of the notion of an enduring architecture, and reveal the principles at stake; they highlight the many obstacles and difficulties encountered by traditional architects in their efforts to achieve permanence in construction. The works and writings showcased in this beautifully illustrated, informative book present a genuine spirit of stewardship with regard to the environment and the making of sustainable buildings and cities. Contents: Leon Krier: Preface; Richard Economakis: Introduction: Durability in Construction; Michael Lykoudis: Durability and the Culture of Building Cities; Samir Younés: The Enduring and the Sustainable; John Simpson: Building to Last; Richard Sammons: Longevity, Detailing and Method in the Anglo-American Tradition; Alireza Sagharchi: The Durable and the Disposable; Thomas Gordon Smith: The Durability of Strength, Function and Beauty in Ecclesial Projects; Nikolaos Karydis: Learning from the Vernacular Building Systems of the East Aegean: Traditional Examples of Durable Construction in a Seismic Region; Aimee Buccellato: The Responsibility of Technology vs. The Technology of Responsibility; Ettore Mazzola: Regenerating Suburban Districts: Urban proposal for the 'Groundscraper of Corviale, Near Rome; John Cluver: They Don t Make Em Like They Used To: A Preservationist s Perspective on Traditional and Contemporary Building Practices; Lucien Steil: A New Culture of Building: Sustainable Wall Systems for Durable Buildings Built with Healthy, Affordable and Ecological Materials; Jorge Hernandez: Durability, Stewardship and Sustainability: The Coral Gables Museum; Jose Cornelio Da Silva: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi: Reflections on Durability in Construction; David Mayernik: Practical Dreaming: Bearing Wall Masonry in the Real World; Pedro Godoy & Maria Sanchez: Durability in Construction: A Guatemalan Report; Duncan Stroik: Firmitas et Venustas; Krupali Krusche: Using Technology for the Benefit of Tradition: Lessons Learned from the Neumarkt Development, Dresden; Thomas Norman Rajkovich: Of Stonemasons, Painters and Sculptors; Luis Trelles: Vernacular Architecture; Steve Mouzon: The Lovability Dilemma; Steven Semes: The City of Continuity vs. The City of Contrast: Historic Preservation, New Traditional Architecture, and Sustainability.

The architectural community has had a strong and continuing interest in traditional and vernacular architecture. Lessons from Vernacular Architecture takes lessons directly from traditional and vernacular architecture and offers them to the reader as guidance and inspiration for new buildings. The appropriate technical and social solutions provided by vernacular and traditional architecture are analysed in detail. International case studies focus on environmental design aspects of traditional architecture in a broad range of climatic conditions and building types.

The first ever atlas of the world's day-to-day architecture. With sixty maps, this key reference title resources sustainable development and culturally appropriate development in the future.