“Design Practice of the New Architectural Paradigm”

In the first part of the book Luis De Garrido reflects on the need to establish an artificial ecosystem, which regulates the activity of humans, and the products developed by them, and consequently the need for a new paradigm in architecture.

For this purpose a design strategy, which on one hand allows designing and constructing buildings perfectly integrated into the natural ecosystem, and secondly allows the evaluation of existing buildings is established.

To define the strategy of sustainable design a set of indicators and a set of architectural actions, as well as a project methodology and a new architectural syntax are set.

The design strategy described allows constructing buildings based on industrialized components that can be easily assembled, and likewise, recovered, repaired and reused any number of times. Consequently removable, portable, scalable and reconfigurable buildings can be obtained, which do not generate waste, and having an infinite life cycle.

However, the most important part of the book is the definition of a strategy of bioclimatic design that allows the design of different building typologies with negligible power consumption, and capable of thermally self-regulate due only to its architectural design, with no need of technological devices. As a result energy self-sufficient buildings -with the least possible economic cost- can be achieved.

Finally, the book describes a design strategy to achieve energy self-sufficient architecture, water and food at the lowest possible cost.

In the last part of the book various projects carried out by Luis De Garrido are discussed in detail, in order to illustrate different manifestations of the same paradigm.

Due to its high conceptual level the book is specifically appropriate for University professors that teach subjects of sustainable architecture.