Building Environment and Interior Comfort in 20th-Century Architecture : Understanding Issues and Developing Conservation Strategies / Les Dispositifs du confort dans l’architecture du XXe siècle : connaissance et stratégies de sauvegarde

The notion of physiological comfort – meaning responses to temperature and humidity but also to lighting and acoustics – has been a driving force in architectural production throughout the twentieth century. Whether concealed, embedded, exposed, or ‘featured’, building environment services have played a dominant role in architectural design. This book puts the spotlight on those paradoxically ‘bulky’ yet ‘invisible’ networks that accommodate our physiological needs. Coming from different disciplinary backgrounds, the authors look back over both the cultural and the material issues that have shaped modern and contemporary architecture's pursuit of comfort by design. In addition, a number of recent, iconic restoration and renovation projects are presented here by the designers themselves. Seeking to strike the right balance between conserving modern built heritage and responding to today's energy-saving paradigms, they demonstrate how the concept of material well-being, in the sense of today's ‘sustainable comfort’, remains high on the agenda. And always at the heart of these reflections are the building services installations themselves.