The North American Mosaic

The North American Mosaic
Author: Commission for Environmental Cooperation (Montréal, Québec). Secretariat
Publisher:
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2001
Genre: Agriculture
ISBN:

The North American Mosaic has four overarching features. First, it is, to the extent feasible, based on comparable information on the status and trends of major indicators of the state of the environment in Canada,Mexico, and the United States. Second, the report confirms that these three countries together make up an incredibly complex, dynamic, and interconnected ecosystem in which humans play a dominant and decisive role. Third, the report raises important and sometimes disquieting questions concerning the sustainability of some current trends. Finally, the report is a reminder that our economic, social, and physical well-being are utterly dependent on the life-sustaining services provided by nature. This report emphasizes the importance of developing mutually compatible economic, social, and environmental goals and policies across the three-country region.

Exploring Materiality and Connectivity in Anthropology and Beyond

Exploring Materiality and Connectivity in Anthropology and Beyond
Author: Philipp Schorch
Publisher: UCL Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2020-03-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1787357481

Exploring Materiality and Connectivity in Anthropology and Beyond provides a new look at the old anthropological concern with materiality and connectivity. It understands materiality not as defined property of some-thing, nor does it take connectivity as merely a relation between discrete entities. Somewhat akin to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, it sees materiality and connectivity as two interrelated modes in which an entity is, or more precisely – is becoming, in the world. The question, thus, is how these two modes of becoming relate and fold into each other. Throughout the four-year research process that led to this book, the authors approached this question not just from a theoretical perspective; taking the suggestion of 'thinking through things' literally and methodologically seriously, the first two workshops were dedicated to practical, hands-on exercises working with things. From these workshops a series of installations emerged, straddling the boundaries of art and academia. These installations served as artistic-academic interventions during the final symposium and are featured alongside the other academic contributions to this volume. Throughout this process, two main themes emerged and structure Part II, Movement and Growth, and Part III, Dissolution and Traces, of the present volume, respectively. Part I, Conceptual Grounds, consists of two chapters offering conceptual takes on things and ties – one from anthropology and one from archaeology. As interrelated modes of becoming, materiality and connectivity make it necessary to coalesce things and ties into thing~ties – an insight toward which the chapters and interventions came from different sides, and one in which the initial proposition of the editors still shines through. Throughout the pages of this volume, we invite the reader to travel beyond imaginaries of a universe of separate planets united by connections, and to venture with us instead into the thicket of thing~ties in which we live.

Passive and Low Energy Architecture

Passive and Low Energy Architecture
Author: Simos Yannas
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 888
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1483156044

Passive and Low Energy Architecture contains the proceedings of the Second International PLEA Conference held in Crete, Greece, on June 28 to July 1, 1983. The book is organized into four parts as the topics of the conference. The first part brings together papers dealing with case studies of individual buildings or groups of buildings, completed or to be built, and of community planning. The case studies cover examples from 13 countries in Europe, North and Latin America, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The second part contains papers on experimental work and technical developments with passive and low energy systems and components. The third section focuses on the ill-defined but crucial to designers, area of design aids. The fourth section centers on implementation and management of these energy systems, including topics of international programs, education, and training of design professionals. The book will be useful to energy conscious designers, architects, engineers, and planners in this field of interest.

Makoto Sei Watanabe

Makoto Sei Watanabe
Author: Makoto Sei Watanabe
Publisher: L'Arcaedizioni
Total Pages: 152
Release: 1998
Genre: Architecture
ISBN:

The works of Makoto Sei Watanabe combine the functionality of aesthetic experience and the calculated organization of structures with the evocation of deep ancestral memories.