Looking at diverse visions of the modern house, before placing them in the context of the technological and aesthetic concerns of architects, this text features illustrations and architectural drawings for every project, covering various aspects of contemporary house architecture.

Offers a selection of contemporary house designs in colour spreads. From modest to massive, this title features 150 of the world's most prominent architects, including US architects Swatt Miers, Marmol Radziner, OSKA, and LPA Inc; European architects Jarmund Vigsnaes; and, South American architects Marcio Kogan, Una Arquitectos, and FGMF.

Winner of the 2014 John Collier Jr. Award Winner of the Jo Anne Stolaroff Cotsen Prize Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century cross-cuts the ranks of important books on social history, consumerism, contemporary culture, the meaning of material culture, domestic architecture, and household ethnoarchaeology. It is a distant cousin of Material World and Hungry Planet in content and style, but represents a blend of rigorous science and photography that these books can claim. Using archaeological approaches to human material culture, this volume offers unprecedented access to the middle-class American home through the kaleidoscopic lens of no-limits photography and many kinds of never-before acquired data about how people actually live their lives at home. Based on a rigorous, nine-year project at UCLA, this book has appeal not only to scientists but also to all people who share intense curiosity about what goes on at home in their neighborhoods. Many who read the book will see their own lives mirrored in these pages and can reflect on how other people cope with their mountains of possessions and other daily challenges. Readers abroad will be equally fascinated by the contrasts between their own kinds of materialism and the typical American experience. The book will interest a range of designers, builders, and architects as well as scholars and students who research various facets of U.S. and global consumerism, cultural history, and economic history.

Latest in sustainable housing design trends from around the world.

This Japanese architecture and design book is a wonderful source of new styles and ideas for those looking to add a distinctively Zen flair to their home. Limited spaces, unlimited technology, a tradition of innovation, and sheer Japanese panache have combined to inspire the 26 stunning homes featured in Japan Houses. Conceived by 24 of Japan's leading architects and designers, each of the houses forecasts and defines a new trend in residential architecture, reinventing the meaning and use of space, material, and function. Traditional lifestyles are challenged, domestic functions such as cooking and entertaining are moved out of the house into the public domain, while laptops bring work back in. Zen minimalist is juxtaposed with comfortable opulence. Time-honored workmanship is coupled with exciting new materials, resulting in a recognizable style that belongs to Japan, reflecting its culture and craftsmanship, while at the same time being avant-garde and international. The spirit of each of these astonishing houses is captured in beautiful photographs, plans and commentary.

The best contemporary houses from around the world.

How institutions and individuals can address complex social, financial, and environmental problems on a systemic level—and invest in a more secure future. Investment today has evolved from the basic, conventional approach of the past. Investors have come to recognize the importance of sustainable investment and are more frequently considering environmental and social factors in their decisions. Yet the complexity of the times forces us to recognize and transition to a third stage of investment practice: system-level investing. In this paradigm-shifting book, William Burckart and Steve Lydenberg show how system-level investors support and enhance the health and stability of the social, financial, and environmental systems on which they depend for long-term returns. They preserve and strengthen these fundamental systems while still generating competitive or otherwise acceptable performance. This book is for those investors who believe in that transition. They may be institutions, large or small, concerned about the long-term stability of the environment and society. They may be individual investors who want their children and grandchildren to inherit a just and sustainable world. Whoever they may be, Burckart and Lydenberg show them the what, why, and how of system-level investment in this book: what it means to manage system-level risks and rewards, why it is imperative to do so now, and how to integrate this new way of thinking into their current practice. “Burckart and Lydenberg are the Wayne Gretzkys of investing: Showing us not where investing is, but where it’s going.” —Jon Lukomnik, Managing Partner, Sinclair Capital; Senior Fellow, High Meadows Institute