Gardens are a type of landscape art created by the hands of human beings. Chinese gardens are not only one of China's traditional cultural treasures, but they are also a unique charm of human cultural heritage. Literati gardens occupy an essential position among Chinese gardens one of the three major genres of gardens in the world. The reason why literati gardens occupy an important position…
This book focuses on spearheading the integration of maintainability and green facility management right from the design stage. The text introduces the concept of green maintainability, and discusses considerations to maximize the performance by achieving resource and energy efficiency, while minimizing the total life cycle cost in embodied energy; environmental impact and consumption of matter…
--> This comprehensive reference text is a collection of important research findings on the latest developments in network modeling for optimization of smart cities. Such models can be used from outlining the fundamental concepts of urban development to the description and optimization of physical networks, such as power, water or telecommunications. Networks help us understand city econom…
For roughly a century, the log cabin occupied a central and indispensable role in the rapidly growing United States. Although it largely disappeared as a living space, it lived on as a symbol of the settling of the nation. In her thought-provoking and generously illustrated new book, Alison Hoagland looks at this once-common dwelling as a practical shelter solution--easy to construct, built on …
Mount Vernon, despite its importance as the estate of George Washington, is subject to the same threats of time as any property and has required considerable resources and organization to endure as a historic site and house. This book provides a window into the broad scope of preservation work undertaken at Mount Vernon over the course of more than 160 years and places this work within the cont…
What is more important in architectural works—their form, shape, and color, or the meanings and symbolism that can be associated with them? Can aesthetic judgments of architecture be independent of the stories one can tell about buildings? Do non-architects perceive buildings in the same way as do architects? For the greater part of the twentieth century it was common to respond to these and…
This collection of essays by leading scholars and practitioners addresses a timely and essential question: How can we design, plan, and sustain built environments that will foster health and healing? With a salutogenic (health-promoting) focus, Healthy Environments, Healing Spaces addresses a range of contemporary issues, including health equity, biophilic cities, healthcare facility design, en…
Countering the widespread misconception that slavery existed only on plantations, and that urban areas were immune from its impacts, Slavery in the City is the first volume to deal exclusively with the impact of North American slavery on urban design and city life during the antebellum period. This groundbreaking collection of essays brings together studies from diverse disciplines, including a…
The modern city is not only pavement and concrete. Parks, gardens, trees, and other plants are an integral part of the urban environment. Often the focal points of social movements and political interests, green spaces represent far more than simply an effort to balance the man-made with the natural. A city's history with—and approach to—its parks and gardens reveals much about its workings…
One of Planetizen's Top Ten Books of 2006 "But for Birmingham," Fred Shuttleworth recalled President John F. Kennedy saying in June 1963 when he invited black leaders to meet with him, "we would not be here today." Birmingham is well known for its civil rights history, particularly for the violent white-on-black bombings that occurred there in the 1960s, resulting in the city's nickname "Bombi…