Architecture And The Urban Environment
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Architecture and the Urban Environment
This well illustrated text forms a critical appraisal of the place and direction of architecture and urban design in a new world order at the start of the 21st century. The book defines architectural and environmental goals for the New Age by analysing recent contemporary work for its responsiveness to important social and environmental issues and comparing it to successful precedents in architecture. It argues that this new sustainable approach to architecture should be recognised as a new development of mainstream architectural history. This practical guide illustrates current social and natural resource issues to aid architects in their approach to future design. Environmental economics is presented as a potential bridge over the divide between the expectations of the business sector and the concerns of environmental lobbies. Through examples and case studies, an accessible analysis of carefully researched data, drawn from primary sources over four continents, allows the author to outline the current urgency for architects and urban designers to respond with real commitment to current and future changing contexts. This book expresses a holistic vision and proposes a value system in response to the diagnosis. It includes: sound architectural and environmental ethics; end user involvement in the design process and technological advances aimed at sustainable resource use. Includes international case studies from Europe, North America, the Developing world including South Africa, South America and Central Asia.
Natural Ventilation in the Urban Environment
Throughout the world, there is an increasing interest in ecological design of buildings, and natural ventilation has proved to be the most efficient low-energy cooling technique. Its practical application, however, is hindered by the lack of information on the complex relationship between the building and its urban environment. In this book, a team of experts provide first-hand information and tools on the efficient use of natural ventilation in urban buildings. Key design principles are explained, enabling readers to decide on the best solution for natural ventilation of buildings, taking into account climate and urban context.In the initial sketches, architects need answers to open problems such as 'what kind of solution to adopt' and 'how to modify existing strategies to exploit the potential of the site'. This book formalizes the multi-criteria analysis of candidate solutions based on quantitative and qualitative estimation of the driving forces (wind and buoyancy), as well as of the barriers induced by the urban environment (wind speed reduction, noise and pollution) and gives a methodology for optimal design of openings. The book is accompanied by downloadable resources, containing software for assessing the potential of a given site, estimating wind speed and dimensioning the openings for natural ventilation. The methodologies and tools are tested, self-contained and user friendly.About the editorsThe editors, Cristian Ghiaus and Francis Allard, are affiliated with the University of La Rochelle, France. The authors and reviewers combine expertise from universities, research institutions and industry in Belgium, France, Great Britain, Greece, Portugal and Switzerland.