Architectural Design for Tropical Regions

Rating:
Summary: here you get a better book:
Review: a few months later i would like to add a recomendation for all those searching for information about tropical architecture:

Richard Hyde, Climate Responsive Design , A study of buildings in moderate and hot humid climates, E&FN Spon, London 2000, ISBN 0-419-20970-0 good examples, up to date research data, good value

Rating:
Summary: here you get a better book:
Review: a few months later i would like to add a recomendation for all those searching for information about tropical architecture:

Richard Hyde, Climate Responsive Design , A study of buildings in moderate and hot humid climates, E&FN Spon, London 2000, ISBN 0-419-20970-0 good examples, up to date research data, good value

Rating:
Summary: Tropical Architecture in a Nut Shell
Review: Cleveland Salmon has thought of everything! When dealing with tropical architecture, there is a lot to think about. Salmon energetically lists almost every possible condition found in the built tropics from desert dryness to humid jungle conditions. This book serves the tropical architect like a shopping list or as a reminder of what conditions must not be overlooked when planning to build in the tropics, wherever that may be.

My only negative comment would be that the chapters are way too brief. Nevertheless, this book is worth its weight in gold for all the topics and subtopics it includes. Once seeing this compendium as an overview, anyone can deepen an interest or concern with other sources. This book on tropical architecture, however, is where you want to start.

Rating:
Summary: Another, much better, BooK:
Review: COURTYARDS: Aesthetic, Social, and Thermal Delight; by John Reynolds, published November 2001.

Courtyards contains a huge amount of valuable information for building in hot humid and hot dry climates. Not only a "pretty picture book," Courtyards takes the reader through width to depth ratios; height and width proportions; comfort zone enhancement through thermal mass, ventilation, and shading; and much more. In fact, although Courtyards is similarly priced as the book above, I thought it contained 10 times as much valuable information - real information that I could put to immediate use for my projects in the Yucatan. Color and B&W photos and line drawings illustrate the many considerations for hot weather design, yet the book is not overly technical. Nor is it over-simplified, which is the main problem with Tropical Regions.

Tropical Regions remains the only book I've had to return to Amazon - even a year later - with dozens and dozens of books ordered.

GOOD books about tropical housing design are very hard to come by and I'd like to point searchers in the right direction. Since architecture books in general are usually so expensive, finding a useful selection is very important.

Also, I have to echo the writer below. Richard Hyde's book CLIMATE RESPONSIVE DESIGN...for Hot Humid Climates is also very helpful. I felt it was a little more technical and not as colorful as COURTYARDS. Either would be a good place to start your research for tropical housing construction.

Rating:
Summary: Not for Architects!
Review: Having ordered (and returned) the book i have to say, that this book is not at all a helpful handbook for architects planning in hot and humid climates. The book shows a lot of black&white photographs of buildings all over the world that should not be taken as great contemporary examples for tropical architecture. the book shows briefly and only the very basic principles of designing with climate, that are found better and cheaper in other books. in the last years there has been great new architecture in hot and humid climate that uses basic architectural methods as well as high-tech-installations. there's not one single building in this book...

Rating:
Summary: Insightful reference book for building along the equator.
Review: Hi! My name is Cleveland Salmon and I am the author of Architectural Design for Tropical Regions. Thanks for showing an interest in my book.

My reasons for writing this book are best summed up in the opening sentence of the Preface; Having experienced the climate conditions prevalent in tropical regions, and having been exposed to proposals for possible solutions to building problems there, I have developed certain ideas about architectural responses." and the last sentence in the Introduction; "The architect's responsibility to the culture and the climate ensures sensitivity to social and environmental issues and also provides the basis for excellence in the design solution.

The book therefore is a synthesis of my experiences, observations and my genuine desire to create a balance between the microclimate, social and cultural issues and the built environment.

Architectural Design for Tropical Regions is designed as a guide book for building in tropical regions.

The book addresses the pertinent questions and challenges' designers might come across when designing comfortable spaces for the different climates encountered in tropical regions. Part one contains detailed descriptions of the architectural progressions of the four locations discussed. The discussion also presents an analysis of the various culture beginning with the indigenous inhabitants through European colonialism to the 20th century. The accompanying pictures (from the four locations) not only support the text but presents visual examples from the various period discussed. Rather than focussing on one particular climate (e.g. hot humid), part two gives an overview of all the tropical climates and some general suggessions for working in harmony with the environment. The third part gives specific guidelines for designing, as well as selective case studies.

The book may not be for every architect. However, it should prove quite useful to environmentally conscious individuals who are looking to the future and the architect who is sensitive to both local traditions and cultural differences.

I hope you enjoy the book.

Rating:
Summary: Scanty Information, despite the Book Description's claims
Review: I have to agree with Rainer Mebus. This book is going to be returned. It is not suited for architects or anyone with even basic concepts of building siting and construction. A hodge-podge of photographs, gathered from various places, do nothing to illustrate examples of the textual concepts. As far as being an "indispensible source," statements such as (p102) "A hat or cool shade is often useful when exposed to sun... as the sun can be very bright when the sky is clear and the sunlight is intense." or (p103) "Vegetation is luxuriant where rainfall is high." & (p105) "The effects of earthquakes are mainly economic, although poorly constructed buildings can result in loss of life." are hardly indispensible and belong more in an elementary school than a volume that claims to be "essential reading for architects and other building professionals."

Mebus is correct that all of the data here contained is readily found in other, better and cheaper books. I was hoping that the longer and first review was more correct, but was sadly disappointed that newer concepts, techniques and materials were not discussed in a book printed in 1999. Further, all the information contained can be found in basic architectural concepts courses or books and is only slightly tailored to fit the idea of "tropical construction." The author borrows diagrams and descriptions from many other texts.

Rating:
Summary: Scanty Information, despite the Book Description's claims
Review: I have to agree with Rainer Mebus. This book is going to be returned. It is not suited for architects or anyone with even basic concepts of building siting and construction. A hodge-podge of photographs, gathered from various places, do nothing to illustrate examples of the textual concepts. As far as being an "indispensible source," statements such as (p102) "A hat or cool shade is often useful when exposed to sun... as the sun can be very bright when the sky is clear and the sunlight is intense." or (p103) "Vegetation is luxuriant where rainfall is high." & (p105) "The effects of earthquakes are mainly economic, although poorly constructed buildings can result in loss of life." are hardly indispensible and belong more in an elementary school than a volume that claims to be "essential reading for architects and other building professionals."

Mebus is correct that all of the data here contained is readily found in other, better and cheaper books. I was hoping that the longer and first review was more correct, but was sadly disappointed that newer concepts, techniques and materials were not discussed in a book printed in 1999. Further, all the information contained can be found in basic architectural concepts courses or books and is only slightly tailored to fit the idea of "tropical construction." The author borrows diagrams and descriptions from many other texts.