Culture, Architecture and Nature
An Ecological Design Retrospective
By Sim Van der Ryn
To Be Published October 17th 2013 by Routledge – 208 pages
Description
Gathering his most compelling essays and addresses from the last fifty years in one accessible volume, this book looks at the pioneering ideas that underpin Sim Van der Ryn’s ecological design philosophy. It offers a unique decade-by-decade retrospective of the key issues in environmental design, beginning with the most recent years and looking back to the 1960s. With an introductory chapter and further recommended reading for each decade, this book is key reading for any architect or designer practising today, and students will find a wealth of knowledge with which to support their studies. The author’s beautiful illustrations, painted in a corresponding timescale to the chapters, offer further insight into the way he understands the challenges of humanity’s stewardship of our planet.
Contents
Introduction: Nature's Mad as Hell Part 1: The Two-Thousands and Beyond: A New Radicalism… 1. 'Transformation', Keynote, Cascadia Green Building Council, Seattle 2009 2. Athena Award Reception Speech, Congress for the New Urbanism, San Francisco 2008 3. Keynote, Environmental Design Research Association, Sacramento 2007 4. ‘Greening Campuses, Greening Education’, Los Angeles 2006 5. For Further Reading: The Decade’s Seminal Books Part 2: The Nineties: Integrating the Ecologies of Nature, Culture and Humans 6. Keynote, Solar Energy Association of Oregon, Portland 1999 7. ‘Healthy Building’, Resurgence Magazine, 1993 8. Keynote, Ecological Cities Conference, Los Angeles 1991 9. Christopher Alexander and Sim Van der Ryn: a Dialogue, Esalen Institute Big Sur 1991 10. For Further Reading: The Decade’s Seminal Books Part 3: The Eighties: The Lost Decade 11. ‘Integral Design’, Sausalito 1988 12. ‘The Next Urban Transformation’, Sausality 1985 13. ‘Little America’, Le Monde, 1981 14. For Further Reading: The Decade’s Seminal Books Part 4: The Seventies: The Environmental Awakening and Response 15. Bateson Building Dedication, Sacramento 1979 16. ‘Ecotopia Now’, New Age Journal, 1979 17. ‘The Coming of Age of Natural Design’, L’Architecture d’Ajourd’hui, 1975 18. For Further Reading: The Decade’s Seminal Books Part 5: The Sixties: Questioning the Dominant World View, Ethos, and Paradigm 19. ‘Building a People’s Park’, Berkeley 1969 20. ‘Problems and Puzzles’, AIA Journal, 1966 21. For Further Reading: The Decade’s Seminal Books
Author Bio
Sim Van der Ryn is the president of EcoDesign Collaborative, a Northern California firm known for its pioneering work in integral design. For over 30 years, he taught architecture and design at the University of California, Berkeley, inspiring a new generation to create buildings and communities that are sensitive to place, climate, and the flow of human interactions. As California State Architect in the Seventies, he was responsible for designing and building the first series of ground breaking energy efficient, people friendly climate responsive government buildings. He is the author of six groundbreaking books about planning and design, which have helped inspire architects to see the myriad ways they can apply physical and social ecology to architecture and environmental design. Van der Ryn lives in the San Francisco Bay area.
Name: Culture, Architecture and Nature: An Ecological Design Retrospective (Paperback) – Routledge
Description: By Sim Van der Ryn. Gathering his most compelling essays and addresses from the last fifty years in one accessible volume, this book looks at the pioneering ideas that underpin Sim Van der Ryn’s ecological design philosophy. It offers a unique decade-by-decade...
Categories: Sustainable Architecture, Theory of Architecture, Architectural History
