Green Architecture

by James Wines

When is a house ecological? Does the use of natural materials and solar cells on the roof make a building an example of ""green"" architecture? Perhaps even Antoni Gaud???????????????? and Frank Lloyd Wright designed ""greener"" buildings than most contemporary architects, whose low-energy houses scarcely differ outwardly from traditional ones. James Wines puts up the various - and often irreconcilable - concepts of environmentally-friendly architecture for discussion, making a case for an architecture that not only focuses on technological solutions, but also tries to reconcile man and nature in its formal idiom. Among the examples of contemporary ecological architecture presented are works by Emilio Ambasz, Gustav Peichl, Arthur Quarmby, Jean Nouvel, Sim Van der Ryn, Jourda and Perraudin, Log ID, James Cutler, Stanley Saitowitz, Fran????????????????ois Roche, Nigel Coates and Michael Sorkin.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Reference, Sustainability, Green, Design, History

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[Katerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, I've no idea why such a good album is rated so little.

Unlike most albums, offering 300 neatly printed pages of peeps into an artificial, staged and formalist "life", this one is a beautiful collection of not so known and catchy examples, revising the meaning of "green architecture" (fuck me, this means more than solar panels).
Besides, there is pretty much text (sometimes more than the pictures, sorry) and this text offers a very good, educated analysis and vision.

So full throttle 5 here; I loved it and you can trust my taste when it comes to books on architecture. :)))

[Julius]

will be used as rrl for thesis. had some progressive notes like green archi in reality is a bandaid solution for a problem requiring major surgery; it is more than just green technologies, rather social consensus plays a big part of what constitutes a building "green". W/o social concensus, green philosophy-architecture is doomed to a pattern of environmental delinquency and iconographic irrelevance. Thus, form and function should go hand in hand in green architecture, as being green — for such a permanent thing such as a building — is in itself an advocacy, thus form not only follows function rather should fuse itself with the surrounding social and environmental context — which with its permanence educates the public about the value of conservation. Architects and designers, then, has a social responsibility to the masses, to the neighborhood where their buildings are to be erected.

[Dovi Diamond]

expansive. informational

[Jones Studio,]

APS Environmental Showcase Home / Jones Studio

[Kim Zinkowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting philosophical consideretions are presented in the conclusion.

[francesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures should be bigger. I really mean that. Nevertheless, this is a gorgeous book of sustainable architecture all over the world, from airy earth-plastered hobbit houses to the most technologically advanced eco-homes. A real treat for eco-structure geeks.

[Anca Calugarescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the approaches are from a historical point of view of the green architecture, but the conclusions are still valid in the contemporary architectural design, even though the book is almost 15 years "old".

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

good overview of the history of green architecture, the architects pivotal in developing technology, and where it's going to go.