Design for Construction

Tectonic Imagination in Contemporary Architecture

Eric Höweler

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Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Routledge
16 July 2025

Environmentally-friendly architecture & design; Architecture: professional practice; City & town planning - architectural aspects; Regional & area planning; Building construction & materials

Arguing that a gulf exists between design and construction, between conceptual thinking and the constructed building, this book explores projects and practices that span the gap by thinking through materials and processes with what Höweler calls a tectonic imagination.

Design for Construction is organized into 10 chapters covering topics such as means and methods, part-to-whole relationships, material research, digital design workflows, risk mitigation, construction sequencing, digital fabrication, ethical material sourcing, and circular construction practices. Höweler provides a careful analysis of over 200 buildings projects by practices including Amateur Architecture Studio, Barkow Leibinger, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Ensamble, GLUCK+, Herzog & de Meuron, Johnston Marklee, MASS Design, NADAAA, Neri&Hu, OMA, and SANAA.

Re-engagement of design and building is a means of reclaiming agency for architects as the discipline grapples with difficult questions of climate change, material scarcity, social impact, and how designers can play a more meaningful role in shaping the built environment at this moment with an eye toward the future. This book will be crucial reading for both architects and students of architecture.

By: Eric Höweler
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 276mm, Width: 219mm,
ISBN: 9781032562339
ISBN 10: 1032562331
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 16 July 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Introduction: Agency and Imagination. 1. Stocktaking. 2. Means and Methods. 3. Material Processes. 4. Part to Whole. 5. Monoliths. 6. From Window to Envelope. 7. Force, Form, and Gesture. 8. Climate and Conditioning. 9. Afterlives. 10. Construction Futures

Eric Höweler is Professor of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and co-founding Principal of Höweler + Yoon.