Studying the natural principles of animal and human constructions to present the knowledge that gives origin and shape to built form, this title examines the drive towards organically-informed design, both intrinsically and aesthetically, using a wide variety of international examples.
Earthen architecture constitutes one of the most diverse forms of cultural heritage and one of the most challenging to preserve. It dates from all periods and is found on all continents but is particularly prevalent in Africa, where it has been a building tradition for centuries. Sites range from ancestral cities in Mali to the palaces of Abomey in Benin, from monuments and mosques in Iran and Buddhist temples on the Silk Road to Spanish missions in California. This volume's sixty-four papers address such themes as earthen architecture in Mali, the conservation of living sites, local knowledge systems and intangible aspects, seismic and other natural forces, the conservation and management of archaeological sites, research advances, and training.
Bio-Architecture studies the natural principles of animal and human constructions from several different perspectives, and presents a great part of the knowledge that gives origin and shape to built form. Organic architecture offers a design approach arising from natural principles, bringing us back to local history, tradition, and cultural roots to give us built forms which are in harmony with nature. It also shows how architects can take advantage of the resources that contemporary technology has placed within our grasp. Bio-Architecture is a unique book that studies the natural principles of animal and human constructions from several different perspectives and looks at what gives origin and shape to built form. The text gives an informative, inspiring overview of the drive toward organically informed design both intrinsically and aesthetically using a wide variety of international examples. Javier Senosiain is an architect and an historian. He has pursued his interest in Organic Architecture across the globe drawing parallels between Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic dome and the spider's web; between Santiago Calatrava's Cathedral of St John in NY and the roots of a tree. Where nature has inspired form, Senosiain has made a career of analyzing and applying the principles he sees in some very creative writing and architecture.
The Long Silence is a short series about architectural surveys in the Maya Puuc region. Two volumes are available: The Long Silence and The Long Silence (2). In The Long Silence Stephan Merk describes the outcome of his Chunhuaymil project, an architectural survey of standing Maya Puuc ruins in a mostly untouched 100 square kilometer sector in Northeastern Campeche, México. Nineteen ancient settlements were recorded, many of them for the first time. Their remaining architecture is presented here together with important hieroglyphic inscriptions from the sites. With additional contributions by Antonio Benavides Castillo, Daniel Graña-Behrens, Nikolai Grube, Carlos Pallan Gayol, and Julie Patrois.
A setenta años de su fundación, El Colegio de México publica esta serie de dieciséis volúmenes, titulada Los grandes problemas de México, en la que se analizan los mayores retos de la realidad mexicana contemporánea, con el fin de definir los desafíos que enfrentamos en el siglo XXI y proponer algunas posibles respuestas y estrategias para resolver nuestros problemas como nación. Serie: Los grandes problemas de México. Vol, XII Relaciones internacionales, diecinueve estudiosos y diplomáticos con amplia experiencia en la conducción de las relaciones con el exterior abordan algunos de estos asuntos y problemas, los retos que han implicado para México y la forma en la que se ha intentado hacerles frente. Se analizan algunos de los grandes temas de las relaciones internacionales, incluyendo aquellos que tiene o pueden tener repercusiones más significativas en México. También se abordan las principales relaciones con países o grupos de países, poniendo énfasis en la conducción de las mismas por parte del Estado mexicano, así como asuntos relacionados con el funcionamiento de algunos organismos internacionales y las posiciones que al respecto hemos mantenido hasta ahora ay las que podemos o debemos adoptar.
In The Long Silence, first published 2011, Stephan Merk described the standing Maya Puuc architecture of a 100 square kilometer wide area in Northern Campeche, México. The Long Silence (2) presents the results of the architectural survey of an equally large and almost untouched region immediately south, and compares the results of both projects. With additional contributions by Nicholas Dunning and Eric Weaver, Daniel Graña-Behrens, Guido Krempel, and Karl Herbert Mayer.
The states of Northern Mexico—Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Baja California Norte and Sur—have architecture, urbanism, and landscape design that offer numerous lessons in how to build well, but this constructed environment is largely undervalued or unknown. To make this architecture better known to a wide professional, academic, and public audience, this book presents the first comprehensive overview in either English or Spanish of the architecture, urban landscapes, and cities of Northern Mexico from the country’s emergence as a modern nation in 1821 to the present day. Profusely illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs, maps, and analytical drawings of urban cores of major cities, The Architecture and Cities of Northern Mexico systematically examines significant works of architecture in large cities and small towns in each state, from the earliest buildings in the urban core to the newest at the periphery. Edward R. Burian describes the most memorable works of architecture in each city in greater detail in terms of their spatial organization, materials, and sensory experience. He also includes a concise geographical and historical summary of the region that provides a useful background for the discussions of the works of architecture. Burian concludes the book with a brief commentary on lessons learned and possible futures for the architectural culture of the region, as well as the first comprehensive biographical listing of the architects practicing in Northern Mexico during the past two centuries.
Como ensinar e aprender história da arquitetura? Para responder essa inquietação de maneira certeira, são revisitados oito importantes livros panorâmicos sobre a arquitetura brasileira, produzidos em diferentes momentos do século XX e início do XXI. A organizadora e sua equipe de pesquisa exploram a possibilidade de combinar a medição quantitativa com interpretações de natureza mais subjetiva, revelando paradoxos complexos, não intuitivos, e talvez inesperados, dando forma a alguns dos "vazios do cânon" Este livro apresenta um conjunto metodológico de ferramentas para a revisão crítica de ideias repetidas e axiomas convertidos em cânones, possibilitando questionamentos e a abertura de novos caminhos. As tabelas e gráficos produzidos no livro são livremente interpretados e contraponteados pela visão de dezoito autores e autoras que contribuíram para o livro, desde jovens pesquisadores a renomados especialistas convidados/as. How to teach and learn architectural history? To answer this question, eight important panoramic books on Brazilian architecture, produced at different times in the twentieth century and early twenty-first, are revisited. The organizer and her research team explored the possibility of combining quantitative measurement extracted from these books with interpretations of a more subjective nature, revealing complex, non-intuitive, and unexpected paradoxes, shaping some of the "canon's voids". The book presents a methodological set of tools for the critical revision of repeated ideas and axioms converted into canons, allowing for questioning, and opening new paths. The tables and graphs produced in the book are freely interpreted and counterpointed by the views of eighteen contributing authors, ranging from young researchers to renowned guest experts. (Marcio Cotrim, Prof. Dr. Arquiteto, FAU-UFBA).