Reyner Banham was a pioneer in arguing that technology, human needs, and
environmental concerns must be considered an integral part of
architecture. No historian before him had so systematically explored the
impact of environmental engineering on the design of buildings and on
the minds of architects. In this revision of his classic work, Banham
has added considerable new material on the use of energy, particularly
solar energy, in human environments. Included in the new material are
discussions of Indian pueblos and solar architecture, the Centre
Pompidou and other high-tech buildings, and the environmental wisdom of
many current architectural vernaculars.