The Spirit of the Machine: Technology as an Inspiration in Architectural Design

The design of our environment and the application of science are two areas of human activity that impact most profoundly on everyday life. Spirit of the Machine draws these areas together by investigating the importance of technological advance in architectural design and the philosophies that have inspired its aesthetic and symbolic development. Of interest to anyone with a keen awareness of their surroundings, it will heighten the reader's appreciation of the architectural environment and the factors that are shaping its form today.

In this highly accessible work, Robert Kronenburg investigates the ways in which innovative and alternative technologies may be exploited to produce new design approaches, widening designers' horizons and increasing their ability to create appropriate settings for contemporary life. This is a study not of technology itself, but of its effect on the most fundamental aspect of human existence: how we inhabit the world.

Drawing on a wide frame of reference - from architecture and science to literature and cinema - the book offers a full and detailed examination of the subject. It also includes a year-by-year chronology of major historical, architectural and technological events and innovations of the 20th century, providing the reader with a concise overview of the significant independent factors that are so important in an understanding of its context.

Kronenburg (architecture and building engineering, U. of Liverpool) explores how new technology can contribute to the design of architecture that is responsive to the practicalities of building in a changing world, but also to the essential human need to create meaningful places. He selects topics relating to pop, pure, organic, tectonic, vernacular, alternative, and intuitive architecture. He does not provide an index.
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This book examines the influence that science and industry has had in the inspiration of design, with particular emphasis on the field of architecture. Using case studies, it explores the expression of technology in all areas of the built and manufactured environment concentrating on current and future developments, and their exponents.

* Speculates about a new design approach that explores innovative and alternative technologies

* Compares the technological design work of engineers and scientists with architects

* Relates experiments with architectural form and structure, technology transfer and ecologically aware design strategies to human requirements and ambitions

ROBERT KRONENBURG is an architect and senior lecturer in the School of Architecture and Building Engineering at the University of Liverpool, UK. A Fulbright fellow, he has been a guest lecturer at universities across Europe and the USA. He has contributed to a range of programmes for BBC Radio, and has written for Architectural Design, The Architects' Journal, Building Design and Fabrics Architecture. His books include Houses in Motion (Wiley-Academy, 1995; 2nd Edition, 2002), FTL: Softness Movement and Light (Wiley-Academy, 1997) and Portable Architecture (Architectural Press, 2000), and he is editor of Transportable Environments (E & FN Spon/Routledge, 1998). In 1998 he was curator of the major exhibition 'Portable Architecture' held at the RIBA architecture centre, London, UK, and of the touring exhibition 'Spontaneous Construction'.

Acknowledgements.

Chronology.

Foreword.

Part 1: Technology, Architecture and Meaning.

Controlling Technology.

The Role of Contemporary Architecture.

The Technological Characteristics of Architectural Form.

Humanistic Associations with Architecture.

Part 2: Themes in Technologically Inspired Architecture.

Pop Architecture.

Pure Architecture.

Organic Architecture.

Tectonic Architecture.

Part 3: The Purpose of Technology in Architecture.

Vernacular Architecture -

Holistic Design.

Alternative Architecture -

Responsive Design.

Intuitive Architecture -

Releasing Creativity.

Selected Biography.