Durability in Construction

“For anyone who wants to know how the sustainability debate can lead to a world of better buildings and places, this is an essential read.” – Robert Adam

“This beautiful book deserves to be studied by everyone who is seeking an architecture that lasts” – Roger Scruton

For centuries the idea of durability was central to the practice of architecture. Today ephemeral, short-term construction has become normative. With the topic of sustainability now at the top of professional, academic, and political agendas, a building s ability to endure longer than the immediate requirements of its user for the benefit of future generations is being recognized again as critical. Assembled here are the thoughts, experiences and examples of finished work and projects under construction by architects who embrace the notion of durability in their buildings and promote it in their writings. The essays underscore the importance of the notion of an enduring architecture, and reveal the principles at stake; they highlight the many obstacles and difficulties encountered by traditional architects in their efforts to achieve permanence in construction.

Contents: Leon Krier: Preface; Richard Economakis: Introduction: Durability in Construction; Michael Lykoudis: Durability and the Culture of Building Cities; Samir Younés: The Enduring and the Sustainable; John Simpson: Building to Last; Richard Sammons: Longevity, Detailing and Method in the Anglo-American Tradition; Alireza Sagharchi: The Durable and the Disposable; Thomas Gordon Smith: The Durability of Strength, Function and Beauty in Ecclesial Projects; Nikolaos Karydis: Learning from the Vernacular Building Systems of the East Aegean: Traditional Examples of Durable Construction in a Seismic Region; Aimee Buccellato: The Responsibility of Technology vs. The Technology of Responsibility; Ettore Mazzola: Regenerating Suburban Districts: Urban proposal for the ‘Groundscraper of Corviale, Near Rome; John Cluver: They Don t Make Em Like They Used To: A Preservationist s Perspective on Traditional and Contemporary Building Practices; Lucien Steil: A New Culture of Building: Sustainable Wall Systems for Durable Buildings Built with Healthy, Affordable and Ecological Materials; Jorge Hernandez: Durability, Stewardship and Sustainability: The Coral Gables Museum; Jose Cornelio Da Silva: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi: Reflections on Durability in Construction; David Mayernik: Practical Dreaming: Bearing Wall Masonry in the Real World; Pedro Godoy & Maria Sanchez: Durability in Construction: A Guatemalan Report; Duncan Stroik: Firmitas et Venustas; Krupali Krusche: Using Technology for the Benefit of Tradition: Lessons Learned from the Neumarkt Development, Dresden; Thomas Norman Rajkovich: Of Stonemasons, Painters and Sculptors; Luis Trelles: Vernacular Architecture; Steve Mouzon: The Lovability Dilemma; Steven Semes: The City of Continuity vs. The City of Contrast: Historic Preservation, New Traditional Architecture, and Sustainability.