ARIUM: Weather and Architecture

Description

Today, economic and ecological forces have finally collided and forced humankind to reassess its relationship to each. For architecture, this means facing its nemesis: the weather, with its attendant forces of instability and unpredictability. The role of architecture has always been to demarcate an area away from these forces, in which humankind can regulate its own needs. Now, the worldwide sustainability movement calls for an architecture that does not resist but incorporates or accommodates atmospheric turbulence. Arium examines the curious relationship between weather and architecture, addressing instances where architecture has both brilliantly collaborated with and foolishly failed to anticipate weather patterns such as wind tunnels and heat exposure, and demonstrating that this relationship need not always be antagonistic. Begun as a research project under the direction of architect Jurgen Mayer H. from Berlin and urban designer Neeraj Bhatia from Toronto, Arium offers a revelatory in-depth look at this urgent topic through critical examinations by George Baird, Rodolphe el-Khoury, Robert Levit, Mason White, Henry Urbach, Filiz Klassen, Marc Kushner and Dirk Hebel.

“As a school-based book -arium is very impressive. Its beautiful design and high-quality production makes it stand out amongst other school-based architecture publications. A collection of writings on such a rare subject make this a valuable read and reference for further investigation.” re:place Magazine

A handbook on weather and architecture

Is Weather the last vestige of nature in the city?

Do the forces in Weather systems hold the key to the energy crisis?

Is instability and disorder something that can be designed?

Is Weather the nemesis of Architecture or its best friend?

Is Weather becoming the last form of cultural specificity?

Does it all come down to the “green”?

Arium is a guidebook to Weather and Architecture. Examining the relationship between the atmosphere, built environment, culture, and politics, this comprehensive research project—under the direction of the architect Jürgen Mayer H. from Berlin and urban designer Neeraj Bhatia from Toronto—offers an in-depth look at our contemporary understanding of weather through critical examinations of design and architecture.

320 pages, 70 ills., 37 in color, 170 drawings and diagrams / 16 x 23,5 cm / English