Elemental Architecture presents a new and refreshing approach to sustainable architectural practice. Going beyond the standard performance-based and quantitative sustainable measures, it incorporates a broader framework of considerations, including the more poetic and noetic possibilities of environmental design.
The book is structured around the ancient Greek and medieval alchemists system of the Five Temperaments: fire, earth, air, water, and ether. Phillip James Tabb examines how these elements produce both positive and negative environmental forces which have an impact on architectural design from drinking water and fresh air to torrential floods and tornados. He shows how responding to or enhancing these forces can help us to create a more sustainable, healthy, and purposeful architecture. To illustrate this, each chapter draws on seminal contemporary works of architecture, from Peter Zumthors Bruder Klaus Chapel to Frank Lloyd Wrights masterpiece at Falling water. These examples are accompanied by over a hundred high-quality illustrations.
Expanding the discussion of sustainability to include phenomenological as well as qualitative considerations, Elemental Architecture is ideal for students and researchers with an interest in sustainable architecture and architectural theory.
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xiii | |
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xvi | |
| About the author |
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xvii | |
| Foreword |
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xix | |
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| Preface |
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xxii | |
| Acknowledgments |
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xxvii | |
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1 The elements and temperaments |
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1 | (30) |
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1 | (1) |
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2 | (4) |
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6 | (1) |
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7 | (1) |
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7 | (3) |
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Modern element taxonomies |
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10 | (1) |
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11 | (4) |
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15 | (1) |
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15 | (1) |
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16 | (2) |
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18 | (2) |
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20 | (1) |
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20 | (11) |
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31 | (18) |
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31 | (1) |
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32 | (2) |
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Beneficial qualities of fire |
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34 | (1) |
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35 | (2) |
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35 | (1) |
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36 | (1) |
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Fire for electricity production |
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36 | (1) |
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37 | (7) |
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37 | (1) |
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The Odeillo Solar Furnace |
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38 | (3) |
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Copenhagen Waste-to-Energy Incineration Plant |
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41 | (1) |
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42 | (1) |
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Bruder-Klaus Field Chapel |
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43 | (1) |
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Sustainable characteristics of fire |
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44 | (1) |
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The experiential qualities of fire |
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45 | (4) |
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49 | (20) |
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49 | (1) |
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49 | (2) |
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Beneficial qualities of earth |
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51 | (1) |
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52 | (2) |
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54 | (10) |
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54 | (2) |
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56 | (2) |
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58 | (4) |
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62 | (1) |
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Singapore School of Art, Design and Media |
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63 | (1) |
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Sustainable characteristics of earth |
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64 | (1) |
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The experiential qualities of earth |
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65 | (4) |
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69 | (20) |
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69 | (1) |
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70 | (2) |
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Beneficial qualities of air |
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72 | (1) |
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72 | (1) |
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73 | (2) |
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75 | (9) |
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75 | (1) |
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Hedesunda Housing Project and the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre |
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76 | (2) |
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78 | (1) |
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Building-integrated wind turbines |
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79 | (3) |
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82 | (1) |
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83 | (1) |
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Sustainable characteristics of air |
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84 | (1) |
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The experiential qualities of air |
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85 | (4) |
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89 | (24) |
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89 | (1) |
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90 | (1) |
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Beneficial qualities of water |
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91 | (1) |
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92 | (1) |
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93 | (2) |
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95 | (11) |
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95 | (1) |
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96 | (2) |
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98 | (4) |
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National September 11 Memorial Pools |
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102 | (2) |
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Istanbul's Basilica Cistern |
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104 | (1) |
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104 | (2) |
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Sustainable characteristics of water |
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106 | (1) |
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The experiential qualities of water |
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107 | (6) |
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113 | (24) |
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113 | (1) |
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114 | (1) |
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Beneficial qualities of ether |
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115 | (1) |
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116 | (6) |
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122 | (1) |
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122 | (8) |
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123 | (2) |
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125 | (1) |
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126 | (1) |
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The Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art |
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127 | (3) |
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Sustainable characteristics of ether |
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130 | (1) |
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The experiential qualities of ether |
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130 | (7) |
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137 | (48) |
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137 | (1) |
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Properties of the elements |
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138 | (4) |
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138 | (1) |
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138 | (1) |
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139 | (1) |
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139 | (1) |
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140 | (1) |
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140 | (1) |
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141 | (1) |
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141 | (1) |
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142 | (1) |
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142 | (1) |
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143 | (2) |
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145 | (2) |
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Health and wellness effects |
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147 | (3) |
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150 | (20) |
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150 | (2) |
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152 | (4) |
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156 | (3) |
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159 | (6) |
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165 | (5) |
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Principles of elemental architecture |
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170 | (15) |
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175 | (1) |
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175 | (4) |
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The temperaments of sustainability |
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179 | (6) |
| Index |
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185 | |
Phillip James Tabb is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Texas A&M University, USA, where he served as Department Head from 2001 to 2005. He received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Cincinnati, USA, Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado, USA, and PhD from the Architectural Association in London, UK. He is author of Solar Energy Planning, The Greening of Architecture: A Critical History and Survey of Contemporary Sustainable Architecture and Urban Design and Serene Urbanism: A Biophilic Theory and Practice of Sustainable Placemaking, and Co-editor of Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality. He is the masterplanner for the award-winning Serenbe Community and is a practicing urban designer and licensed architect.
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