Publisher's Synopsis
In The Ecologies of the Envelope, award-winning architect and renowned theorist Alejandro Zaera-Polo provides a new material and environmental theory of the façade. Bridging the gap between architectural technology, history and theory, this is a work that provides a cutting-edge overview of building envelope innovations as well as a provocative theoretical argument - in which the contemporary façade is revealed to be a complex embodiment of the social, political, technological, and economic contingencies of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Ecologies of the Envelope will appeal not only to theorists and architectural historians, but will also stimulate new ways of conceptualizing building envelope design, inspiring students and professional architectural designers alike.