Product Description

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 Gaudi 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, Francois Roche, Nigel Coates and Michael Sorkin.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71220 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Review
"An interesting exploration into how we might live and how we ought to live in harmony with nature." - Wisconsin State Journal, United States"

About the Author
Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard University, and was editor-in-chief of the leading French art journal Connaissance des Arts for over two decades. He has published numerous articles and books on contemporary architecture, including TASCHEN's Architecture Now! series, Building a New Millennium, and monographs on Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano, Santiago Calatrava, Norman Foster, Richard Meier, and Alvaro Siza.

Customer Reviews

Not what I thought
This book seemed promising in terms of what it appeared to promote - green architecture. When I opened the book, I expected to see modern or contemporary examples of green architecture, nice pictures, perhaps drawings with explanatory text or notes.

It is still a nice book, but instead, it seems to give a history on the subject from some of the earliest examples. There is way too much text and the book does little to explain to the reader principles or technologies behind this vast subject which we all know too little about.