Book Review: Smart Architecture

Smart Architecture, by Ed van Hinte, Marc Neelen, Jacques Vink and Piet Vollaard, published by 010 Publishers, 2003. (Amazon)

Smart architecture is never just green - it is always something more.

Thus reads the manifesto for Smart Architecture, a Dutch Foundation that poses many questions about the future of architecture, urbanism, and sustainability in this little book. While it's clear that the individuals involved have an optimistic viewpoint based on the integration of technology, engineering, and ecological/environmental concepts, the book presents a variety of projects to illustrate their ideas, rather than theorizing for 200 pages. This decision makes everything easier to swallow, and the pluralism present in the first three sections (future dynamics, cycles and systems, and efficient building) is very stimulating. From art projects to buildings by the like of Thomas Herzog and Ian Ritchie to grand urban plans, the reader sees green and technological ideas in action at all scales. But by the time we reach the last section - a grouping of five practices that embody Smart Architecture's ideals - one can't help but wonder if the preceding sections set the bar too high for these practices. Only time will tell if the ideas of 2012 Architecten or Ruimtelab have any impact, much less one aspired to by the folks at Smart Architecture.