ECO-TECH: SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE AND HIGH TECHNOLOGY / Catherine Slessor.--New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, dist. by W. W.

Norton & Company, November 1997.--192 p.: ill.--ISBN 0-500-34157-5: $50.00. Since the mid-19th century modern, industrialized technology has been a factor in architectural design. In the early years of experimentation, high technology was used to express the possibilities of mass production; however, in recent years architects have moved toward using of high technology to respond to the environment in which the building is placed. Catherine Slessor's book on this subject presents 40 projects spanning the years 19911996. The introduction is used to set a framework in which the buildings featured will be discussed. The subheadings within the introduction, such as "Urban Responses" and "Sculpting with Light" provide the reader with the context in which the featured buildings will be discussed throughout the volume. All of the projects featured were completed during the years 1992-1997 and represent some of the more well known architects and architectural firms of the late 20th century including Santiago Calatrava, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Itsuko Hasegawa, and Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners, to name a few. Each of the buildings featured includes a one page description of the project and how it solved, or responded to its environment from exploiting thermal movement within a building to addressing the concerns of daylighting and climate. In addition to these brief essays, the featured projects are illustrated with photographs, sections, site plans, floor plans, details and elevations; although each project is not illustrated by all these different means. The author, however, has done a proficient job of choosing illustrations which best describe the unique features or innovative solution. For those who desire to learn more about the different people involved in each project, two chapters provide such information. "Project Information" gives the names of architects, project team members, structural and services engineers, and in some cases quality surveyor, landscape consultant, and civil engineer. The next chapter gives very brief biographies of each architect featured in the book. In addition, there is also a brief bibliography ranging from monographs about specific architects to those addressing concerns mentioned in this book. This is by no means a comprehensive tome on high technology and sustainable design; however, this is a good introduction to some of the issues and projects related to the discipline. Due to the rather limited information on each project, this title is not appropriate for graduate students or upper level undergraduates; however, it would be useful to those students just beginning a program in architecture, who are curious to explore some of the latest projects which address the issue of "sustainable architecture." Unfortunately, the binding of this book is quite poor; the front cover began to fall off after only a few trips to and from the office. I seriously doubt that it will hold up to the rigorous use inflicted upon books by students.

Ann Lally University of Arizona