Wondering what to do with the last, lingering weeks of summer? There's still plenty of time for some enticing summer reading! Peruse this online collection of select books on Architecture, chosen from academic publisher Routledge's titles on themes of Professional Practice and Sustainable Architecture, and available in their entirety for free throughout the month of August.
Including compelling and notable works, these books tackle relevant and significant contemporary issues facing the design world today. See what's available after the break.
Looking to be inspired? Melbourne-based architect Rory Hyde's Future Practice: Conversations from the Edge of Architecture explores the question of the future of design, as designers within the profession increasingly reach across boundaries and topple traditionally determined limits. Composed of discussions from individuals within diverse fields, including architecture, policy, activism, design, education, research, history, and community engagement, the book provides an insight into the thrilling potential for the future.
For a dose of sobering motivation, Thomas Fisher's Designing to Avoid Disaster: The Nature of Fracture-Critical Design discusses the author's theory of fracture-critical design, defined as "design in which structures and systems have so little redundancy and so much interconnectedness and misguided efficiency that they fail completely if any one part does not perform as intended." Providing contextual and cultural background to explain the prevalence of fracture-critical thinking, Fisher examines the factors that contribute to widespread catastrophe and proposes possible solutions to combat society's rapid trajectory towards fracture-critical driven collapse.
Ken Yeang and Lillian Woo's Dictionary of Ecodesign: An Illustrated Reference is an essential resource for anyone in the design profession. Labeled the first guide to sustainable design terminology, it includes over 1500 illustrated entries from experts in their respective fields.
To read the books online for free throughout August, click here.
