Lord, David Allan; (1987) Power applied to purpose : environmental control and the shape of modern architecture. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The idea is developed that environmental control systems - lighting, heating, ventilation and acoustics - are elements of architectural meaning with strong links to the shape of buildings. The resulting architecture of the well-tempered environment is aesthetic and semantic as well as functional and technologicaL Lyrical and technical elements of well-tempered architecture are examined and the origin of environmental tempering in Western culture is traced. The study begins with classical Greek and Roman examples, continuing with folk traditions and the development of the science of architecture. In each instance, building types are described which illustrate the impact of environmental tempering techniques and functions on the shape of architecture. Classical examples include the Roman villa, bath and theatre. Later building types are prisons, hospitals, factories, theatres and galleries. Thus, a repertoire of climatically responsive forms is examined. The idiom is illustrated during the Modern era by the designs of four architects -- Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto and Louis I. Kahn. Their works mark a zenith in the integration of architectural form with environmental tempering. The final chapter surveys the architecture of environmental tempering since the Modern Movement, including Regionalist, LateModernist, High-Tech and Post-Modernist examples. The conclusion proposes a definition of an architecture based on the art and science of environmental tempering.

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