This book takes the position that the dynamic of the architectural environment is a key aspect of good design, yet one which is not well anticipated or understood. Environmental variety is a design characteristic closely related to our experience of architecture - an architecture of the senses. Each chapter demonstrates how an understanding of a particular context or environmental characteristic in dynamic terms informs design. The book is an antidote to the misconceptions of 'optimum' environmental performance or fixed criteria, instead embracing the richness of environmental variety.

Providing hard data for trends that many perceive only vaguely and some deny altogether, Designing for Diversity reveals a profession rife with gender and racial discrimination and examines the aspects of architectural practice that hinder or support the full participation of women and persons of color. Drawing on interviews and surveys of hundreds of architects, Kathryn H. Anthony outlines some of the forms of discrimination that recur most frequently in architecture: being offered added responsibility without a commensurate rise in position, salary, or credit; not being allowed to engage in client contact, field experience, or construction supervision; and being confined to certain kinds of positions, typically interior design for women, government work for African Americans, and computer-aided design for Asian American architects. Anthony discusses the profession's attitude toward flexible schedules, part-time contracts, and the demands of family and identifies strategies that have helped underrepresented individuals advance in the profession, especially establishing a strong relationship with a mentor. She also observes a strong tendency for underrepresented architects to leave mainstream practice, either establishing their own firms, going into government or corporate work, or abandoning the field altogether. Given the traditional mismatch between diverse consumers and predominantly white male producers of the built environment, plus the shifting population balance toward communities of color, Anthony contends that the architectural profession staves off true diversity at its own peril. Designing for Diversity argues convincingly that improving the climate for nontraditional architects will do much to strengthen architecture as a profession. Practicing architects, managers of firms, and educators will learn how to create conditions more welcoming to a diversity of users as well as designers of the built environment.

This book takes the position that the dynamic of the architectural environment is a key aspect of good design, yet one which is not well anticipated or understood. Environmental variety is a design characteristic closely related to our experience of architecture - an architecture of the senses. Each chapter demonstrates how an understanding of a particular context or environmental characteristic in dynamic terms informs design. The book is an antidote to the misconceptions of 'optimum' environmental performance or fixed criteria, instead embracing the richness of environmental variety.

An invaluable resource for designing communities that accommodate social diversity and provide equitable opportunities for all residents. Inclusive Housing focuses on housing that provides access to people with disabilities while benefiting all residents and that incorporates inclusive design practices into neighborhood and housing designs without compromising other important design goals. Emphasizing urban patterns of neighborhood development, the practices outlined here are useful for application to all kinds of housing in all types of neighborhoods. The book addresses trends that have widespread significance in the residential construction market and demonstrates that accessible housing design is compatible with the goals of developing livable and healthy neighborhoods, reducing urban sprawl, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and ensuring that the benefits of thoughtful urban design are equitably distributed. Inclusive Housing recognizes that to achieve the goals of urbanism, we must consider the total picture. The house must fit on the lot; the lot must fit in the block; and the block must fit with the character of the neighborhood. Its context-sensitive approach uses examples that cover a wide range of housing types, styles, and development densities. Rather than present stock solutions that ignore the context of real projects and design goals, it explores how accessibility can be achieved in different types of neighborhoods and housing forms, all with the goal of achieving high-quality urban places.

Over the last few decades, there have been dramatic improvements in the understanding and research of environmental design. Numerous methods have been developed to enhance architectural design in order for it to be more energy efficient, sustainable and health enhancing. This book presents several theories and techniques that can be used to improve how buildings are engineered and designed in order to utilize more sustainable construction methods while promoting the health of the building's occupants. Contributions to the study of environmental design have come from a diversity of fields including applied mathematics, optimization, computer science, medical research, psychology, management science, architecture, and engineering. The techniques developed in these areas of research can be used to increase building performance, occupant satisfaction, productivity, and well being, and reducing the incidence of health conditions and chronic diseases related to the use of a designed space. This book provides architectural practitioners, civil engineers as well as other interdisciplinary researchers with the techniques needed to design, implement, and test for sustainability and health promotion in new or existing structures.

Gathering his most compelling essays and addresses from the last fifty years in one accessible volume, this book looks at the pioneering ideas that underpin Sim Van der Ryn’s ecological design philosophy. It offers a unique decade-by-decade retrospective of the key issues in environmental design, beginning with the most recent years and looking back to the 1960s. With an introductory chapter and further recommended reading for each decade, this book is key reading for any architect or designer practising today, and students will find a wealth of knowledge with which to support their studies. The author’s beautiful illustrations, painted in a corresponding timescale to the chapters, offer further insight into the way he understands the challenges of humanity’s stewardship of our planet.

Reyner Banham was a pioneer in arguing that technology, human needs, and environmental concerns must be considered an integral part of architecture. No historian before him had so systematically explored the impact of environmental engineering on the design of buildings and on the minds of architects. In this revision of his classic work, Banham has added considerable new material on the use of energy, particularly solar energy, in human environments. Included in the new material are discussions of Indian pueblos and solar architecture, the Centre Pompidou and other high-tech buildings, and the environmental wisdom of many current architectural vernaculars.