Architecture: Books

The Urban Refugee: Space, Agency, and the  New Urban Condition

This collection focuses on the spatial forms and urban consequences of forced migration. The chapters shed light on the multiple dimensions of the refugees' urban experiences from the scale of the interiors to inner city neighborhoods and informal settlements, and from personal accounts to the formation of public discourse. (Provided by Publisher.)

Architecture, Empire, and Trade: The United Africa Company

This open access book tells a new and untold history of the architecture of West Africa in the colonial era, as revealed for the first time through the archives of the United Africa Company (UAC).
From the imperial Royal Niger Company's charter in the 1890s through to its suave African department stores of the 1960s, the UAC – a British company firmly embedded in the economies of colonialism, extraction, and exploitation – became the largest commercial firm in West Africa, involved in almost every commercial enterprise and sector, and responsible for procuring architecture, infrastructure, and city real-estate across a vast region.
Based on unprecedented access to the UAC archives, this book pieces together a new architectural history of West Africa from the high colonial period through to independence. It reproduces an extraordinary array of newly-uncovered material – from photographs of streetscapes, buildings, and West African everyday life to civic reports and city plans – and presents these alongside critical and theoretical discussions to reveal an alternative account of the architecture of the region which stands in contrast to more conventional state-focused histories. The book explores technological, aesthetic, and political shifts through an architectural lens, and brings to the fore an awareness of the violence and appropriation which underlie each architectural episode, showing how the UAC, as a case-study, presents a unique opportunity to investigate how architecture manifests power, culture, and identity in colonial and post-colonial contexts. (Provided by Publisher.)

Ewan Harrison is a Lecturer in Architectural Studies at the University of Manchester.

Architecture and Climate Change

Architecture and construction are at a turning point. They account for more than 40% of global CO2 emissions. Rising temperatures can only be reduced if there is a radical change in the field of construction throughout the world. However, how should we design our cities, buildings and living spaces so that we can get closer to the goal of decarbonisation? The book gives 20 architects and urban planners their say on the future of construction. Voices are heard from Mexico to Kenya - from Bangladesh to Switzerland. In the interviews experts give an account of their own experiences with climate-friendly construction as well as regional problems posed by rising CO2emissions. They explain pioneering projects and combine them with their personal desire and political ideals (Provided by Publisher).

Time Frames: Conservation Policies for Twentieth Century Architectural Heritage

Time Frames provides a reconnaissance on the conservation rules and current protection policies of more than 100 countries, with particular attention to the emerging nations and twentieth-century architecture. The contributions illustrate the critical issues related to architectural listings, with a brief history of national approaches, a linkography and a short bibliography. The book also provides a short critical lexicography, with 12 papers written by scholars and experts including topics on identities, heritages, conservation, memories and the economy. By examining the methods used to designate building as heritage sites across the continents, this book provides a comprehensive overview of current protection policies of twentieth-century architecture as well as the role of architectural history (Provided by Publisher).

This title was acquired through the Library's Order a Book service.

Latour for Architects

Bruno Latour is one of the leading figures in Social Sciences today, but his contributions are also widely recognized in the arts. His theories 'flourished' in the 1980s in the aftermath of the structuralism wave and generated new concepts and methodologies for the understanding of the social. In the past decade Latour and his Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) have gained popularity among researchers in the field of architecture. Latour for Architects is the first introduction to the key concepts and ideas of Bruno Latour that are relevant to architects. First, the book discusses critically how specific methods and insights from his philosophy can inspire new thinking in architecture and design pedagogy. Second, it explores examples from architectural practice and urban design, and reviews recent attempts to extend the methods of ANT into the fields of architectural and urban studies. Third, the book advocates an ANT-inspired approach to architecture and examines how its methodological insights can trace new research avenues in the field, reflecting meticulously on its epistemological offerings. Drawing on many lively examples from the world of architectural practice, the book makes a compelling argument about the agency of architectural design and the role architects can play in re-ordering the world we live in. Following Latour's philosophy offers a new way to handle all the objects of human and non-human collective life, to re-examine the role of matter in design practice, and to redefine the forms of social, political and ethical associations that bind us together in cities (Provided by Publisher).

Albena Yaneva is a former Professor of Architectural Theory at The University of Manchester.

Architecture for Health and Well-being

This book explores the importance of architecture designed for the well-being of users. The creation of healthy architecture involves aspects of design, materials, environmental parameters, and intended use of both outdoor and indoor spaces to facilitate a healthy environment. The book provides a unique perspective on architecture that promotes the welfare and security of those using the space, which has proved especially important during the recent COVID-19 pandemic wherein many people were confined indoors. Each chapter in the volume explains from a different angle a topic that takes into consideration how to provide benefit to human beings to achieve a better quality of life within constructions (Provided by Publisher).