Acoustics is the science of sound. It deals with the production of sound, the propagation of sound from the source to the receiver, and the detection and perception of sound.

The first section of this book provides an overview of the fundamental concepts needed for an understanding of physical acoustics. W.C. Sabine’s work and his equation has become the starting point for acoustic calculations for over a century.

Section 2 summarizes and explains key concepts of building acoustics. These issues include the behavior of sound waves in rooms, the most commonly used parameters for sound control and sound insulation in buildings and the most common noise sources found in buildings.

The third section deals specifically with concepts, tools, and architectural variables of importance when designing auditoria for speech and music. Rooms for speech should be designed to avoid the need for the speaker to raise the voice. Every type of music has specific geometries and materials that support the audience’s experience.

The fourth section deals with construction details, sound insulation data and information presented in Spanish Building Code DB CTE HR. Architects and engineers can use the information to design feasible solutions to comply with comfort requirements.

Saving energy is nothing more than reducing energy consumption by achieving the same results as by spending more. Reducing energy costs brings many benefits, saving money and protecting the environment.

Furthermore, both the energy production and the way it is used, generate an environmental impact at all levels, threatening the development in the future. The abundance of energy and the lack of awareness of the impact of its use on the environment have facilitated, on the one hand, human, commercial and industrial activities of intensive and inefficient consumption of energy and on the other hand, the uncontrolled growth of cities, which are today pure energy econsuming machines, producing huge amounts of waste and devouring the natural environment.

This book presents solutions to achieve energy savings from the point of view of the design of electrical, air conditioning, heating and lighting installations, as well as actions which can be developed by the user to obtain savings in the electricity bill. Thus, this training manual is perfectly organized and it is written in a clear and simple language, showing the essential physical and mathematical content.

In addition, the book provides a lot of useful information in tables, schemes, abacuses, plans and references to current standards. It is noted that the book is published in both Spanish and English thus; particular care has been taken to use appropriate technical vocabulary in both languages. The mastery of the accurate terminology in the field of mechanical systems will allow the reader to collaborate with international teams and to integrate into them, fact which is increasing every day.

Laugier summarized the origin of architecture with a tree structure and Semper identified in the woven leaves of a Caribbean hut’s enclosure one of the essential elements of inhabitation. Plants have been part of architecture from its very origin and they are to be found in several building traditions that are now being incorporated into contemporary practice to profit from their thermal qualities, their availability and their low environmental footprint. The vernacular lessons of Swedish stugas and Asturian teitos have common principles with the green roofs such as those at the California Academy of Sciences, by Renzo Piano, which allow to replace air-conditioning by natural ventilation to a great extent; further, the enclosures of woven reed and cane of Iraqi mudhifs or Peruvian quinchas have evolved into more sophisticated facades of pressed straw or algae, as in the SolarLeaf project in Hamburg (Germany), by Arup; finally, the South Asian tradition of hanging bridges made out of aerial roots has been up-dated by Baubotanik, the German research group which designs load-bearing structures with living trees. From vernacular tradition to contemporary innovation, this book explores the theoretical and technical implications of the role played by plants in the configuration of inhabited space.

ARQUITECTURAS OCACIONALES [AAOO*]. MARTA GARCÍA CARBONERO, FERDINAND LUDWIG, IGNACIO BORREGO, CRUZ CALLEJA, MIGUEL GUITART, SANTIAGO DE MOLINA, CLARA SÁNCHEZ VALDIVIESO, ALBERTO T. ESTÉVEZ, CARLOS PESQUEIRA, MARÍA ANTONIA FERNÁDNEZ NIETO, DIEGO GARCÍA-SETIÉN, MARÍA DEL VAL VÁZQUEZ SEQUEIROS, MARTA DENEGRI Y MANUEL DE LARA.

Review: 

ArquitecturaViva 213 (2019)

Diario de León: https://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias/revista/arquitectura-vegetal_1304386.html

EFE Verde: https://www.efeverde.com/noticias/arquitectura-vegetal-salud/

Plataforma Arquitectura: https://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/904859/arquitectura-vegetal-plant-architecture

El Confidencial: https://www.elconfidencial.com/ultima-hora-en-vivo/2018-12-26/arquitectura-vegetal-para-renaturalizar-las-ciudades-y-mejorar-la-salud_1814390/

Aragón Radio: http://www.aragonradio.es/podcast/emision/la-forma-de-construir-del-futuro-la-arquitectura-vegetal

La Vanguardia: https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20181226/453772280580/arquitectura-vegetal-para-renaturalizar-las-ciudades-y-mejorar-la-salud.html

Radio Cerna: http://adega.gal/web/radiocerna/programa.php?idioma=gl&id=913

It is not possible to understand the meaning of architectural masterpieces built throughout history without first understanding the meaning of "being an architect" and how his activity developed.

As we know, Project Esfera started in 1997 on the part of the Red Cross and a group of NGOs to develop a set of minimum universal rules that would improve the quality of humanitarian response in case of conflict or disaster situations. Emergency architecture. Pending Questions tries to give a complementary vision to the philosophy of Project Esfera from the architectural design point of view and all the actions that intervene in it.

This work is defined and endorsed by the knowledgeable experience generated in the VEM Project by the research group REbirth INhabit at the Escuela Politécnica Superior of the CEU San Pablo University, and during the activities developed for the creation of emergency housing prototypes, which has to fulfill an emergency program as well as a correct socio-cultural adaptation of refugee camps to the reception places. The VEM Project is a research project applied to sustainable social emergency habitability in the field of humanitarian help.

The difficult balance between individuality and society, specifically as an architectonic problem, has its own history full of tensions. From the foundation of the first cities to the recent occupation of streets, squares and institutions by part of the outraged citizenry, the jump from the home to the public arena has been the privilege signal to put in the centre of the debate the definition of common in those moments in which this definition goes into deep crisis. When humans get over the simple numeric association to give themselves the life conditions that go beyond mere survival, the notions of Community, Common and Commune come out. In this book, nine authors propose interpretations of human associations with the objective of shedding some light on the spaces for cohabiting.