Building systems : design technology and society / edited by Kiel Moe and Ryan E. Smith

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: systems, technics, and society / Kiel Moe and Ryan E. Smith -- 1. Construction history: between technological and cultural history / Antoine Pican -- 2. How the introduction of iron in construction chanted and developed thought patterns in design / Tom F. Peters -- 3. Retrofitting and redacting masonry engineering / Philippe Block -- 4. Building systems/building territories: industrialized housing delivery and the role of the architect / Ivan Rupnik -- 5. "Architecture or revolution": Taylorism, technocracy, and social change / Mary McLeod -- 6. Glass and light: the inflluence of interior illumination on the "Chicago School" / Thomas Leslie -- 7. Obsolescence: notes towards a history / Daniel M. Abramson -- 8. Risky business, fishy forms / Ellen Dineen Grimes -- 9. Household conditioning (if you are cold, put on a sweater) / William W. Braham -- 10. A house within a house / Hilary Sample / 11. Architectural production and sociotechnical codes: a theoretical framework / Steven A. Moore and Barbara B. Wilson.

We can no longer view building components as artifacts (a brick or a boiler) or as autonomous systems (air conditioning or prefabrication). Rather these components and systems are part of much larger systems of which architects are one agent. This book will help architects more broadly envision these networks including : canonical texts as well as contemporary thinking from well known theorists and practitioners, each contribution frames a specific range of technology in relation to society such as building process, products, economies and ecologies. Clearly structured, the book is divided into three parts; each accompanied by a comprehensive introduction by the editors.