Building the Future.Building Technology and Cultural History from the Industrial Revolution until Today

A leading scholar of architecture examines the past and future of design and structural engineering.

Spanning the last two centuries—and offering cogent analyses of how we will build in the future—this volume presents over one hundred case studies of built structures that illustrate the marriage of building technology and culture. Including color photographs, drawings, and architectural plans, this book profiles some of the world’s most interesting public spaces, commercial buildings, stadiums, and transport stations to reveal how prevailing social mores helped determine these structures’ materials, appearance, and function. The innovative concepts these buildings signify and the integration of these ideas into the common lexicon are presented in chapters on the evolution of the greenhouse, artistic buildings, pioneering techniques in materials’ use, the development of the building facade, and the future of sustainable building design. This book uniquely blends a societal perspective with the latest technology, and is an essential reference for anyone interested in the crucial roles structural