Sustainable urban design

Sustainable urban design : an environmental approach
Ritchie, Adam
Thomas, Randall
2009
London, Taylor & Francis.
Resumen: By the end of the twenty-first century it is thought that three-quarters of the world’s population will be urban; our future is in cities. Making these cities healthy, vibrant and sustainable is an exceptional challenge which this book addresses. It sets out some of the basic principles of the design of our future cities and, through a series of carefully-selected case studies from leading designers’ experience, illustrates how these ideas can be put into practice.
Building on the first edition's original format of design guidance and case studies, this new edition updates the ideas and techniques resulting from further research and practice by the contributors. This book emphasises the enormous progress made towards exciting new designs that integrate good design with resource efficiency.
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Public places urban spaces

Public places urban spaces : the dimensions of urban design
Carmona, Mathew
Tiesdell, Steve
Heath, Tim
Oc, Taner
2010
London, New York, Routledge.
Resumen: Public Places Urban Spaces is a thorough introduction to the principles of urban design theory and practice. Authored by experts in the fields of urban design and planning, it is designed specifically for the 2,500 postgraduate students on Urban Design courses in the UK, and 1,500 students on undergraduate courses in the same subject.
The second edition of this tried and trusted textbook has been updated with relevant case studies to show students how principles have been put into practice. The book is now in full color and in a larger format, so students and lecturers get a much stronger visual package and easy-to-use layout, enabling them to more easily practically apply principles of urban design to their projects.
Sustainability is the driving factor in urban regeneration and new urban development, and the new edition is focused on best sustainable design and practice. Public Places Urban Spaces is a must-have purchase for those on urban design courses and for professionals who want to update and refresh their knowledge.
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Fluvial forms & processes

Fluvial forms & processes : a new perspective
Knighton, David
1998
London, Hodder Education. 383 p.
Resumen: David Knighton's best-selling book looks at the wide range of forms developed by natural rivers and the processes responsible for that development. The book combines empirical and theoretical approaches, and provides a critical assessment of the many schools of thought which have emerged for dealing with adjustment in the fluvial system. It is fully illustrated throughout by a superb range of figures, photographs and tables.
Starting with the network scale, the book examines the interaction of hillslopes, drainage networks and channels, and goes on to considerations of catchment hydrology and catchment denudation. Fluvial processes are analysed in detail, from the mechanics of flow to sediment transport and deposition. Detailing the major components of river channels, the book examines the nature of river adjustment, particularly with respect to equilibrium concepts, and concludes with a look at channel changes through time, affected by flood discharges, climatic change and human activities.
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The geography of nowhere

The geography of nowhere : the rise and decline of America's man-made landscape
Kunstler, James Howard
1993
New York, Simon & Schuster.  303 p.
Resumen: The Geography of Nowhere traces America's evolution from a nation of Main Streets and coherent communities to a land where every place is like no place in particular, where the cities are dead zones and the countryside is a wasteland of cartoon architecture and parking lots. In elegant and often hilarious prose, Kunstler depicts our nation's evolution from the Pilgrim settlements to the modern auto suburb in all its ghastliness. The Geography of Nowhere tallies up the huge economic, social, and spiritual costs that America is paying for its car-crazed lifestyle. It is also a wake-up call for citizens to reinvent the places where we live and work, to build communities that are once again worthy of our affection. Kunstler proposes that by reviving civic art and civic life, we will rediscover public virtue and a new vision of the common good. "The future will require us to build better places," Kunstler says, "or the future will belong to other people in other societies."
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Geology and geomorphology of holocene coastal barriers of Brazil

Geology and geomorphology of holocene coastal barriers of Brazil
Dillenburg, Sérgio R.
Hesp, Patrick A.
2010
Springer.
Resumen: This books presents the first comprehensive overview of the evolution, geology, geomorphology and dynamics of Holocene coastal barriers in Brazil. Following two introductory chapters outlining the coast geology, climate, oceanography, general setting and dynamics, each subsequent chapter deals with the evolution and development of Holocene barriers in each state covering 9,200 kilometers of coastline. The examples cover all tidal types from micro to macro tidal, all wave and wind energies, and virtually every barrier type ranging from barrier islands, spits, strandplains, attached, receded and prograded barriers, climbing, clifftop and falling dunefield barriers and the largest transgressive dunefield barriers in the world. The book has been written by experts in Brazil, and provides a wealth of information previously inaccessible to scientists, students and managers.
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La fábrica como arquitectura

La fábrica como arquitectura : facetas de la construcción industrial
Darley, Gillian
2010
Barcelona, Reverté.  272 p.
Resumen : Este libro estudia el edificio de la fábrica como un organismo dedicado específicamente a la manufactura y la producción; un edificio que se constituyó fundamentalmente con la Revolución Industrial y que no ha parado de evolucionar hasta nuestros días.
Una fábrica puede ser una casucha anodina o una construcción ejemplar, en el sentido más amplio posible. Desde el siglo XVIII en adelante, las fábricas han sido buenos indicadores de diversos aspectos: de la revolución (técnica y social), de la innovación (en el diseño y en los procesos) y de su momento (político y económico). Como tales, las fábricas son esencialmente efímeras, pues reflejan con cierta precisión las circunstancias exactas de cada momento y cada lugar.
En sí misma tan amenazante como estimulante, la fábrica ha ofrecido imágenes tan negras o tan blancas como exigiese el argumento. Ningún otro tipo de edificio ha plasmado mejor esas ideas, siempre fugaces, de la modernidad; y sus posibilidades radicales se ha exagerado más allá de lo imaginable.
Aunque no trata sólo de arquitectura, este estudio significa el reconocimiento de un género propio de la arquitectura y de su historia, un género cuyo conocimiento general- por estar en un ámbito habitualmente sustraído a la vida cotidiana y por su condición específicamente técnica- es considerablemente menor que el de otros tipos de edificios, lo cual no ha ayudado demasiado a su apreciación arquitectónica. Por tanto, este libro viene a ser un nuevo salto hacia la perspectiva específica de la arquitectura de la fábrica en su conjunto, en dimensión global e internacional que actualiza y sobrepasa las de sus antecesores; y ello no sólo porque abarca acontecimientos de l máxima actualidad, sino también por la rica información sobre los protagonistas, la historia y las vicisitudes de gestación y el devenir de los edificios.
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La modernidad superada

La modernidad superada
Montaner, Josep María
2011
Barcelona, Gustavo Gili.  189 p.
Resumen: El movimiento moderno en arquitectura constituye en la actualidad tanto una condición permanente como un fenómeno histórico superado. Los nueve ensayos que conforman este libro se publican ahora en una edición revisada y actualizada, con una nueva introducción y un nuevo texto acerca del problema de la fragilidad de la arquitectura moderna. Todos los ensayos ponen en evidencia que donde se han podido superar de manera más profunda las insuficiencias de la modernidad ha sido en los países nórdicos, la Europa mediterránea, América Latina y otros contextos periféricos. Para poder argumentar este proceso, al autor recurre a aportaciones cruciales del campo del arte y del pensamiento moderno.
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Cuestiones de percepción

Cuestiones de percepción : fenomenología de la arquitectura
Holl, Steven
2011
Barcelona, Gustavo Gili.  64 p.
Resumen : En 1994 la revista japonesa a+u dedicó un número especial al tema de la percepción en la arquitectura, publicación en la que Steven Holl, Alberto Pérez-Gómez y Juhani Pallasmaa colaboran con sendos ensayos. En el marco de un feroz debate a propósito de la introducción de los nuevos instrumentos digitales en el estudio de arquitectura, Steven Holl se desmarca radicalmente del tema para explicar el importante papel que desempeñan la percepción humana, la experiencia fenoménica y la intuición en la experiencia y la formación perceptiva del espacio construido.
Junto al análisis de unas “zonas fenoménicas” que se corresponderían con los diferentes fenómenos perceptivos, Holl expone su propia experiencia directa con la arquitectura e ilustra el tipo de matices fenomenológicos sobre los que se apoyan sus argumentos.
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Permaculture

Permaculture : a designers' manual
Mollison, Bill
1988
Australia, Tagari Publications.
Resumen: Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order. Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material, and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all its forms. The philosophy behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against, nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions rather than asking only one yield of them; and of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions.
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Design research through practice

Design research through practice : from the lab, field, and showroom
Koskinen, Ilpo
Zimmerman, John
Binder, Thomas
Redström, Johan
Wensveen, Stephan
2011
Amsterdam, Elsevier.
Resumen: Design Research Through Practice: From the Lab, Field, and Showroom focuses on one type of contemporary design research known as constructive design research. It looks at three approaches to constructive design research: Lab, Field, and Showroom. The book shows how theory, research practice, and the social environment create commonalities between these approaches. It illustrates how one can successfully integrate design and research based on work carried out in industrial design and interaction design.
The book begins with an overview of the rise of constructive design research, as well as constructive research programs and methodologies. It then describes the logic of studying design in the laboratory, design ethnography and field work, and the origins of the Showroom and its foundation on art and design rather than on science or the social sciences. It also discusses the theoretical background of constructive design research, along with modeling and prototyping of design items. Finally, it considers recent work in Lab that focuses on action and the body instead of thinking and knowing.
Many kinds of designers and people interested in design will find this book extremely helpful.
Gathers design research experts from traditional lab science, social science, art, industrial design, UX and HCI to lend tested practices and how they can be used in a variety of design projects
Provides a multidisciplinary story of the whole design process, with proven and teachable techniques that can solve both academic and practical problems
Presents key examples illustrating how research is applied and vignettes summarizing the key how-to details of specific projects
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