From the visionary founder of the Self-Assembly Lab at MIT, a manifesto for the dawning age of active materialsThings in life tend to fall apart. Cars break down. Buildings fall into disrepair. Personal items deteriorate. Yet today's researchers are exploiting newly understood properties of matter to program materials that physically sense, adapt, and fall together instead of apart. These materials open new directions for industrial innovation and challenge us to r...

What if structures could build themselves or adapt to fluctuating environments? Skylar Tibbits, Director of the Self-Assembly Lab in the Department of Architecture at MIT, Cambridge, MA, crosses the boundaries between architecture, biology, materials science and the arts, to envision a world where material components can self-assemble to provide adapting structures and optimized fabrication solutions. The book examines the three main ingredients for self-assembly, includes interviews with ...

This audiobook narrated by Christopher Ragland delivers a manifesto for the dawning age of active materialsThings in life tend to fall apart. Cars break down. Buildings fall into disrepair. Personal items deteriorate. Yet today's researchers are exploiting newly understood properties of matter to program materials that physically sense, adapt, and fall together instead of apart. These materials open new directions for industrial innovation and challenge us to rethin...

Covering every aspect of drawing preparation, both manual and computer-aided, this comprehensive manual is an essential tool for students, architects and architectural technologists. Showing what information is required on each type of document, how drawings relate to specifications, and how to organize and document your work, this handbook presents a fully illustrated guide to all the key methods and techniques. Thoroughly revised and redesigned, this fourth edition has brand new computer...

As the first book for intermediate and advanced users of Google SketchUp, this Cookbook goes beyond the basics to explore the complex features and tools that design professionals use. You'll get numerous step-by-step tutorials for solving common (and not so common) design problems, with detailed color graphics to guide your way, and discussions that explain additional ways to complete a task. Google SketchUp Cookbook will help you:Use SketchUp more efficiently by tak...

Passive House Details introduces the concepts, principles, and design processes of building ultralow-energy buildings. The objective of this book is to provide design goals, research, analysis, systems, details, and inspiring images of some of the most energy-efficient, carbon-neutral, healthy, and satisfying buildings currently built in the region. Other topics included: heat transfer, moisture management, performance targets, and climatic zones. Illustrated with more than 375 co...

This key text addresses the topic of lightweight claddings in buildings and is a useful guide and reference resource.Written by well-known specialists in the field, this fourth edition of an established text has been revised throughout to incorporate the latest environmental issues, the use of wood and terracotta in cladding, and use of new materials, particularly the new moulded materials. Two new chapters cover wood and terracotta in cladding. The main types of cladding systems a...

Digital Vernacular addresses the why and how of digital fabrication in hundreds of step-by-step color images, illuminating a set of working principles and techniques that join theory with practice. Authors James Stevens and Ralph Nelson reconcile local traditions and innovations with globally accessible methods and digital toolsets. By combining ethics with hardware, the book will root you in the origins of making, ensuring a lasting and relevant reference for your studio practice...

The definitive guide for using CPM in construction planning and scheduling—now thoroughly updated to reflect new technologies and proceduresCritical path method (CPM) is the most widely taught and used framework for construction project design, scheduling, and management. This new edition has been fully revised to cover the latest techniques, standards, and software tools. The book begins by describing the evolution of CPM and goes on to explain every technique and function in co...

Laboratory Design Guide 3rd edition is a complete guide to the complex process of laboratory design and construction. With practical advice and detailed examples, it is an indispensable reference for anyone involved in building or renovating laboratories. In this working manual Brian Griffin explains how to meet the unique combination of requirements that laboratory design entails. Considerations range from safety and site considerations to instrumentation and special furniture, and accomm...

Bringing together texts and work by theorists and practitioners who are making material central to their work, this book reflects the diverse areas of inquiry which are expanding current material discourse. Focusing on the cultural, political, economic, technological and intellectual forces which shape material practices in architecture, the contributors draw on disciplines ranging from philosophy, history and pedagogy to art practice and digital and low-tech fabrication.By paying ...

The complete guide to trenchless technology project management, planning, costs, and methodsWritten by an expert in the field of pipeline system engineering, this book describes how to plan, schedule, and implement efficient, cost-effective trenchless technology piping projects. Filled with detailed illustrations and real-world examples, Trenchless Technology: Planning, Equipment, and Methods explains how to accurately compare the costs of trenchless projects, considerin...