Durability in Construction ─ Tradition and Sustainability in 21st Century Architecture

For centuries the idea of durability was central to the practice of architecture. Today ephemeral, short term construction has become normative; it is legislated and rolled into a system that integrates the parameters of the modern building industry with comfort and safety regulations, efficiency and fiscal return but which makes no allowance for endurance and longevity. With the topic of sustainability now at the top of professional, academic, and political agendas, a building's ability to endure longer than the immediate requirements of its user for the benefit of future generations is being recognized again as critical. Assembled here are the thoughts, experiences and examples of finished work and projects under construction by architects who embrace the notion of durability in their buildings and promote it in their writings. The essays underscore the importance of the notion of an enduring architecture, and reveal the principles at stake; they highlight the many obstacles and difficulties encountered by traditional architects in their efforts to achieve permanence in construction; they review traditional techniques and approaches to building from which contemporary architects may yet learn; and they present new building methods and materials that complement and reinforce traditional building practices. The works and writings showcased in this beautifully illustrated, informative book present a genuine spirit of stewardship with regard to the environment and the making of sustainable buildings and cities. Durability in Construction is the first issue of an architectural magazine (ANTA) published in collaboration with the University Of Notre Dame.