Performance-oriented architecture : rethinking architectural design and the built environment / Michael Hensel.

Author/creator Hensel, Michael
Format Book
PublicationChichester, West Sussex : Wiley, A John Wiley and Sons, Ltd, Publication, 2013.
Description152 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 22 cm.
Subjects

SeriesAD primers
AD primers. ^A1178731
Contents Dedication -- Acknowledgements -- Foreword / David Leatherbarrow -- Introduction: The Task at Hand -- Chapter 1. A Brief History of the Notion of Performance -- Chapter 2. A Brief History of the Notion of Performance in Architecture -- Chapter 3. Non-Discrete Architectures -- Chapter 4. Non-Anthropocentric Architectures -- Chapter 5. Traits of Performance-Oriented Architecture -- Local Climate and Microclimate -- Material Performance -- The Active Architectural Boundary, the Articulated Envelope and Heterogeneous Environments -- The Extended Threshold -- Second-Degree Auxiliarity: Supplementary Architectures -- First-Degree Auxiliarity: Embedded Architectures -- Multiple Grounds and Settlement Patterns -- Chapter 6. The Road(s) Ahead -- Select Bibliography -- Index -- Picture Credits.
Abstract Architecture is on the brink. It is a discipline in crisis. Over the last two decades, architectural debate has diversified to the point of fragmentation and exhaustion. What is called for is an overarching argument or set of criteria on which to approach the design and construction of the built environment. Here, the internationally renowned architect and educator Michael Hensel advocates an entirely different way of thinking about architecture. By favouring a new focus on performance, he rejects longstanding conventions in design and the built environment. This not only bridges the gap between academia and practice, but, even more significantly, the treatment of form and function in design. It also has a far-reaching impact on knowledge production and development, placing an important emphasis on design research in architecture and the value of an interdisciplinary approach. Though 'performance' first evolved as a concept in the humanities in the 1940s and 1950s, it has never previously been systematically applied in architecture in an inclusive manner. Here Michael Hensel offers Performance-Oriented Architecture as an integrative approach to architectural design, the built environment and questions of sustainability. He highlights how core concepts and specific traits, such as climate, material performance and settlement patterns, can put architecture at the service of the natural environment. A wide range of examples are cited to support his argument, from traditional sustainable buildings, such as the Kahju Bridge in Isfahan and the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul to more contemporary works by Cloud 9, Foreign Office Architects, Steven Holl and OCEAN.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 141-147) and index.
LCCN 2012554653
ISBN9780470973318 (paperback)
ISBN0470973315 (paperback)
ISBN9780470973325 (hardback)
ISBN0470973323 (hardback)

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner General Stacks NA2542.35 .H46 2013 ✔ Available Place Hold