Category Archives: New Publications

New Book: Stewardship of the Built Environment: Sustainability, Preservation and Reuse

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Robert A. Young, Professor of Architecture at the University of Utah College of Architecture + Planning, has written Stewardship of the Built Environment: Sustainability, Preservation and Reuse (Island Press, 2012) which explores the social, environmental, and economic sustainability of preserving and reusing existing buildings.  Professor Young’s first book, Historic Preservation Technology (Wiley, 2008), was recently included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “Essential Preservation Reading List” and was subsequently cited by The Atlantic Cities as one of the “10 Most Compelling Historic Preservation Reads”.

UTSA Professor Publishes a Book About The Historic Center Of Lima, Peru.

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Professor Angela Lombardi, who recently joined the faculty of College of Architecture, University of Texas at San Antonio has published a book titled: “Lima. The Historic Center. Analysis and Restoration. Centro Histórico. Conocimiento y restauración. Centro storico. Conoscenza e restauro, Roma: Gangemi editore” . The book focuses on the endangered architectural heritage of the City of Lima and how to preserve it.

Lima, until the beginning of 19th century, was the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, the largest and richest city in the Spanish colonies of Latin America. The center of Lima, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988, is today a heritage of great historical and artistic value, currently in an advanced state of decay, threatened by speculative pressures and not protected by appropriate laws and regulations.

The book presents the approach developed in the joint research carried out in the year 2009‐2012 by a team of Italian and Peruvian scholars including Mattos Cardenas, Pimentel Gurmendi. Its publication was made possible by the support of World Monuments Fund. The research focused on identifying and evaluating the endangered heritage preliminary to the rehabilitation process and intends, with the greatest possible efficiency, to bring to the attention of the institutions responsible for the conservation the cultural and monumental values of the architectural heritage of the city of Lima.

Part one introduces the historic city since its foundation by the Spaniards, also identifying tracks and remains dating before the Spanish period, well worthy of protection for future generations, through the use of hitherto unpublished maps.

The second part presents the conservation issues facing the historic center of Lima and, more generally, the theoretical and methodological tenets for the restoration/rehabilitation of historic urban areas; followed by an overview of endangered heritage, the examination of some case studies, and significant rehabilitation works carried out in the city in the last ninety years.

Part three analyzes the typical local construction techniques based on earthen materials and some of the related methods of preservation, with the aim of pointing the way of recovery and conservation, including as an example the restoration works funded by World Monuments Fund at the Casa de las Columnas: with the statement that every architectural restoration is a special case, and cannot be considered as replicable, the study, the design, and the implementation of a project should be engaged with this in mind, and remembering also that if a work of architecture is studied in its individuality, the better the restoration will be able to keep its authenticity.

The book, published in three language (English, Spanish and Italian), wants to be representative of the productivity and vigor of the international partnership and collaboration between three cultural institutions, it also includes a DVD to involve the interest of a wider public and contains an interactive map of the historic center by Angela Lombardi and Patrizia Montuori and four videos, two of them produced by the Faculty of Architecture of Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, made by Angela Lombardi and the videomaker Carlo Tomassi.

PALMERIO Giancarlo, LOMBARDI Angela, MONTUORI Patrizia (eds), 2012, Lima. The Historic Center. Analysis and Restoration. Centro Histórico. Conocimiento y restauración. Centro storico. Conoscenza e restauro, Roma: Gangemi editore, pp. 126

Language: English, Spanish, Italian

New Essay Collection Investigates Public-Interest Architectural Internships

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Bridging the Gap

Bridging the Gap: Public-Interest Architectural Internships, a collection of 19 essays, by contributors from across the United States, brings together the best in current practice and thinking regarding public-interest architectural internship and advocates for new models that will have the power to profoundly change the architectural profession and our communities. The volume is edited by Professor Georgia Bizios (North Carolina State University) and Katie Wakeford.

The essays in this collection address a broad range of considerations regarding public-interest internships, outlining the issues, identifying the benefits, confronting the challenges, and offering lessons from the field and dreams for the future of public-interest architecture. Some contributors challenge the architecture profession to embrace its ethical responsibility for contributing to the public good and train new generations to do so. Other writers present successful examples of innovative internships provided by academic institutions and nonprofits. Several authors inspire with personal accounts of the joys and satisfactions of community engagement work, even in the face of disappointments and compromises. While the collection is not intended to be exhaustive, its breadth is sufficient to fuel a vibrant conversation in the hope of inspiring the creation of new public-interest internships and informing the ongoing updates to the Intern Development Program (IDP).

The importance of this topic and this investigation is reflected in the positive responses from academics and professionals. Professor Daniel Friedman, past president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture writes:

“Bizios and Wakeford have assembled a timely, convincing, and highly useful collection of essays that demonstrates the power of public service to expand the education of architects through direct community engagement, greatly multiplying the dividends of internship. Bridging the Gap enriches the literature on public-interest practice, and establishes the relevance of social equity to our continuing discourse on professional development.”

Clark Manus, President of the American Institute of Architects, highlights the significance of this exploration of public-interest architectural internships.

“Bridging the Gap offers tremendous value in addressing the important linkage between architectural internship and public service. As such, this discourse has the ability to positively influence the emerging generation’s conception of practice and the value that design thinking has in serving society.”

The advantages to developing new public-service internships are clear. The challenges are surmountable. Bridging the Gap will inspire further discussion and investigation of public-interest architecture and internship in the years to come.

Bridging the Gap: Public-Interest Architectural Internships is available at www.lulu.com.
For more information, please contact bridging_the_gap@ncsu.edu.

New Publication: Integral Sustainable Design by Mark DeKay

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Integral Sustainable Design: transformative perspectives
by Mark DeKay (Earthscan/Routledge 2011)
Integrated Sustainable Design front cover
This is an important, timely and significant book. It brings Integral Theory to design in a simple but profound way. -Ken Wilber, author, The Integral Vision, the world’s most published and translated living philosopher

Integral Sustainable Design has been for me the single most important book on architecture I have ever read. It will be of interest to all manner of integralists and meta-theorists, will serve the world of sustainable design as a guiding manual, and for the non-expert can profoundly change one’s day to day experience of the built environments in which we can dwell. -Michael Schwartz (PhD, Columbia University), Professor of the History and Philosophy of Art, Augusta State University

From a forthcoming journal book review: In all respects, my expectations of DeKay’s work have been exceeded, and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all those who seek a manifesto that meshes Integralism, Sustainability, and Design. -Marilyn Hamilton, author Integral City, from book review in the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice
(read the full book review here)

Every day I hear from architects, designers and students asking for advice on how and where they can begin to learn about and get involved in a much needed design revolution that goes beyond corporatist ideas of “green” and “sustainability.” Finally, I can point them to Mark DeKay’s new book, Integral Sustainable Design which provides the framework and perspective that people who feel the inadequacy of today’s design practice and theory can relate to and from which they can learn. - Sim Van der Ryn, author Ecological Design and Design for Life, Former State Architect, California

Integral Sustainable Design presents a holistic theoretical framework, which both encompasses and integrates all the perspectives and disciplines that must be considered if we are to create a sustainable society worth sustaining. It could well turn out to be the most important book yet published on sustainable design. - Gary J. Coates, Victor L. Regnier Distinguished Faculty Chair, Department of Architecture, Kansas State University; author of The Architecture of Carl Nyrén, Erik Asmussen, Architect, and Resettling America: Energy, Ecology and Community

Integral Sustainable Design gives designers a pragmatic and powerful process by which to make explicit the experiential and cultural dimensions so often left out of the common approaches to design. Both the design community at large and students of Integral Theory in other contexts will find DeKay’s volume of great value. Timely, quite unique, and much needed! - Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, Ph.D., John F. Kennedy University, co-author of Integral Ecology and editor of Integral Theory in Action