Habitat

A landmark publication which celebrates humanity's ability to create buildings that have responded ingeniously to cultural and environmental conditions for millennia—now in a compact hardcover edition.

First published in 2017, Habitat gathers the world’s leading experts on vernacular architecture to examine how local buildings have stood the test of time and offer lessons for the future.

Arranged by climate zone—Tropical, Dry, Temperate, Continental, and Polar—each regional section presents buildings in their environments, showing how climatic conditions and vegetation affect the evolution of building styles. This central part of Habitat is bookended by a range of essays exploring the economic and anthropological aspects of shelter, while the book’s reference section offers information on materials science and engineering, including how buildings have been adapted to contend with natural disasters.