{"product_id":"9781845648220","title":"Eco-Architecture V: Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature","description":"This book contains papers presented at the fifth International Conference on Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature (Eco-Architecture 2014). The latest in a series organized by the Wessex Institute, the Conference was held in association with the University of Siena, and, in particular, with the Ecodynamics Group, originated by the late Professor Enzo Tiezzi.\u003cp\u003eA few years ago, Enzo Tiezzi, then Professor at the University of Siena, asked his students “What do you think the most sustainable building is?”. There were many possible answers to this question. One could easily cite hundreds of prime examples from contemporary architecture: envelopes that adapt to sunlight, natural materials that substitute for cement and petroleum derivatives, shapes that follow the direction of the wind for passive ventilation and cooling, systems that heat buildings using the heat of the earth, home automation systems, technologies that adapt to any weather variation. These are all effective components of modern eco-architecture. After listening to this series of answers, Enzo revealed his own solution to his question: “The most sustainable building is the one that already exists.” The most sustainable architecture is the result of an evolution, a progressive adaptation of structures to environments and adjustments to new needs. The sustainable city is not a city full of new buildings, but rather the same city of the past, repaired, renovated, modified in order to be lived in as fully today as it was in the past.\u003cbr\u003e“Starting from what already exists” is the premise that should inspire research, policies and the building industry in the future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEnzo's answer, in its simplicity, encompasses the objective of the Conference and, therefore, of the papers in this book, i.e. that the design process should aim for optimum solutions evolving through the adaptation of architecture to its natural environment, learning from nature and long time honored traditional constructions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe contents of the book demonstrate the interest in the topic of Eco-Architecture shown by different practitioners. Eco-Architecture is, by definition, a multi-disciplinary field, attracting professionals from a variety of fields, in addition to architecture. The authors of the papers in this book are engineers, planners, physical scientists, sociologists and economists, as well as architects, all of them showing their expertise towards developing an architecture better suited to the future of humankind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47050612408560,"sku":"9781845648220","price":390.76,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781845648220_p0.jpg?v=1763745431","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781845648220","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}