Gavinder Kandola

BA (Hons) Architecture | Level 6

S17107843
Cultural Context ARC6010
The New Eco-Architecture Book Review

Book: The New Eco-Architecture: Alternatives from the Modern

Movement

This book looks at both the science side and design side of architecture and links the two
through the history of architecture. It uses this bond to address the overlooked issues of the
modernist movement and seeks ways in which we can implement sustainable ideologies
within architecture, considering the new and uprising issues of the twenty-first century. The
ideologies and methods of world-renowned architects and designers alike are re-examined,
and, through insight and experimentation, solutions are created in how to deal with these
problems. The book itself is split into three parts. For this review I was mainly concerned
with the First part and what it showcased.

The first chapter of part one begins by creating a historical investigation by identifying a key
point in history in which the architectural modernist movement was highly active. The key
year it talks about is the 1927. This was the year that the ‘Towards a new Architecture’ was
first published and was a key year for iconic figures, such as Le Corbusier and Walter
Gropius. It was also the year where Van Doesburg stated that “Every material has its own
energy force, and the challenge is to enhance this energy force to its maximum by proper
application”. This year was also significant in the US as renowned architect Frank Lloyd
Wright had another year of continuing financial crisis, but he still managed to set up Camp
Ocatillo, in Arizona, and also began his autobiography. For the UK it marks the release of
three volumes of texts describing the state of building technologies. This chapter also looks
upon the paradoxical problem in which Van Doesburg creates by instating that we should
strip away the external projections and refer back to traditional methods of construction.
However the paradox within this situation is that the cornices and drip stones used in
construction, which are classed as decorative features, actually serve a purpose such as
preventing water from interacting with a façade.
This then leads to the second chapter where the author looks into the protagonists of the
modernist movement. This sector begins by looking at Frank Lloyd Wright’s mono-
materialism. Mono-materialism is the use of simple and organic materials within a building.
Frank Lloyd Wright states that ‘the more simple the materials used, the more the building
tends towards a mono-material building’. It briefly looks at the paradoxical position in which
Frank Lloyd Wright puts himself in by attacking the ‘homogenous appearance of European
modernism’ whilst stating that a counteroffer to the imposed European buildings is his
simplistic design of The Cardboard House. The European forms in which Frank Lloyd Wright
detests, normally comprise of several layers which have different functions to maintain the
building such as weather resistance, and layers for heat resistance. Whereas, Frank Lloyd
Wright constructs his walls typically with one, two or three layers of the same material to
create an equality of outside and inside surfaces. The book then goes on to talk about the
scientific and mathematical tests done to these types of walls. They came to the conclusion
that, as visually affective Frank Lloyd Wright’s methods of wall construction are, the thermal
conductivity and diffusion of the walls are practically useless in climates outside the
Gavinder Kandola
BA (Hons) Architecture | Level 6
S17107843
Cultural Context ARC6010
locations of his buildings. This can be seen in the design of ‘The Biltmore Hotel’ in Arizona
when they used Frank Lloyd Wright’s wall construction technique used in his building ‘The
Millard House’, where he used hollow concrete blocks for the wall construction. The book
argues that, however aesthetically pleasing Frank Lloyd Wright’s design was, the
construction methods used can only be applied to select climates and does not take into
account the climate of other areas around the world. It then goes on to discuss how Frank
Lloyd Wright’s methods were adapted to be used in the UK climate. It talks about how UK
architects used Frank Lloyd Wright’s mono-material building method as a building block and
how they adapted that form to meet the climate needs for buildings within the UK. They did
this by using the same construction method for the outer layer of the wall, but then filled
the inner layers with thick insulation with a finishing texture on the inside wall to conceal it
all.
The next chapter begins to look at the condensation factors of these construction
methodologies. It discusses the post-war influence on construction and how designers and
architects needed to take into account the reduced availability of materials and needed to
design buildings that would require less solid fuel for heating and air flow. This then created
issues of increased risk of surface and interstitial condensation becoming an increasingly
relevant criterion. It then goes on to state that it is essential to include post-war projects
when reviewing the history of modernism and the problems it created for sustainability. It
then goes on to argue that Frank Lloyd Wright’s method of mono-material buildings was
actually useful. This is because, by using one material, you keep the thermal properties of
the building simple and there would be one consistent thermal property throughout the
building. This was an advantage as it meant that there was close to no risk of interstitial
condensation, and if the material was hygroscopic, like timber, there was a close to zero
chance that surface condensation would occur. The simple use of a single material meant
that the humidity would be relatively low as the material would self-adjust to moisture
easily.
The final chapter of the first part then goes on to discuss another key chronological
milestone, which is the 1960s. It talks about the introduction of the national building
regulations within the UK how they changed the way in which UK architects designed
buildings and selected materials to meet the regulation for thermal requirements. It also
briefly discusses the divide between the UK and Northern European Countries when it
comes to the standards of insulation. A typical house in the UK would have halve as much
insulation as a typical Northern European house and a UK house, at the time, would have
near to no space for ventilation, therefore increasing the chances of interstitial
condensation.

To summarise, this Part of the book is looking at the previous issues that the modernist
movement created for designers and how they did little to create sustainable construction
that provided good thermal conductivity whilst still being ecologically viable. It talks in
depth about the construction methods used in the early and mid 1900s, and how they were
not practical for thermal conductivity and diffusion. It also talks upon the issues that
different areas of the world went through to identify the correct wall construction method
and shows that this argument is still a modern problem.