Synopses & Reviews
More than a century after its inception, the skyscraper has finally come of age. Though it has long been lampooned as a venal and inhospitable guzzler of resources, a revolutionary new school of skyscraper design has refashioned the idiom with buildings that are sensitive to their environments, benevolent to their occupants, and economically viable to build and maintain. Designed by some of the best-known architects in the world, these towers are as daring aesthetically as they are innovative environmentally.
Big and Green is the first book to examine the sustainable skyscraper, its history, the technologies that make it possible, and its role in the future of urban development.
The book examines more than 40 of the most important recent sustainable skyscrapers-including Fox and Fowle's Reuters Buildings in New York, Norman Foster's Commerzbank in Frankfurt, and MVRDV's spectacular Dutch Pavilion from Expo 2000 in Hanover-with project descriptions, photographs, and detailed drawings. Interviews with such leaders in the field as Sir Richard Rogers, William McDonough, and Kenneth Yeang are also included.
Review
"The buildings shown in Big and Green are more than just examples of the technological bells and whistles of green design. They are part of an evolving cultural phenomenon. They seek to replace dominion over nature with a more fulfilling relationship with the natural world. If this century is to be known for peace, prosperity, beauty, and the restoration of our world, kinship with nature must become on of the foundations of our cultural life. Architecture, with its profound ability to create new relationships to place, is uniquely positioned to lead such a renaissance." William McDonough
Synopsis
Big and Green is a pioneering and definitive exploration of the transformative power of sustainable design. Forcusing on big buildings, where the challenges aas well as benefits are greatest,
Big and Green shows how the concept of sustaibability has the potential to yield a more vibrant, exciting architecture for the future.
The fifty projects documented in Big and Green recognize that energy must be used wisely and conserved. They balance a respect for the natural world with the demand for new buildings that provide healthful environments that meet our needs for economic growth.
Big and Green features the work of leading architects from around the world, including Shigeru Ban, Norman Foster, MVRDV, SOM, and Moshe Safdie, among many others. Also included is a preface by architect and green design advocate William McDonough, a series of essays that track the history and development of new sustainable building technologies, a glossary of green design terms, and interviews with the architects Richard Rogers, Kenneth Yeang, and the partners of Fox & Fowle.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 186-187).
About the Author
David Gissen is associate curator at the National Building Museum. He has taught at the American University, Yale University, and the University of Virginia School of Architecture. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Table of Contents
Introduction / by David Gissen -- Energy -- The air we breathe / by Guy Battle -- Light & air -- Vertiscapes : the skyscraper as garden / by James Wines -- Greenery, water & waste -- Beyond the limits of sustainable architecture : a new material sensibility for the twenty-first century / by Michael Braungart -- Construction -- Rethinking the corporate biosphere : the social ecology of sustainable architecture / by David Serlin -- Urbanism -- Richard Rogers : On sustainability and how it's changing the face of modernism ; Kenneth Yeang : building cities in the sky ; Bruce Fowle : Robert Fox, and William Browning : it's not easy building green / by Nina Rappaport -- Glossary of terms used in sustainable design / by Ashok Raiji.