Reyner Banham

The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment presents the fundamental aspects of the architecture of the well-tempered environment. This book considers what architects had taken to be the proper use and exploitation of mechanical environmental controls, and shows how this had manifested itself in the design of their buildings. Organized into 12 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the history of the mechanization of environmental management. This text then explains the accumulation of capital goods and equipment needed to produce a moderate level of civilized culture in pre-technological societies, which requires that building materials be treated as if valuable and permanent. Other chapters consider that it is necessary not only to create habitable environments, but to conserve them. This book discusses as well the kind of technology of environment in the 19th century. The final chapter deals with the liberation of architecture from the ballast of structure. This book is a valuable resource for architects.