Eco-Architecture 2008 - Portugal

[i]Second International Conference on Harmonisation Between Architecture and Nature[/i] 23 - 25 June 2008, Algarve, Portugal This Conference follows the very successful Meeting which was held in the New Forest, UK, in 2006. Eco-Architecture ought to be in harmony with nature, including its immediate environs. Decisions have to be taken on ecological grounds concerning locations, siting and orientation, as well as the well-informed choice of materials. Eco-Architecture, wrongly seen by many in its origins as dull, inelegant and mundane, is providing imaginative and expressive solutions driven by a generation of highly creative designs. It has important cultural as well as architectural impacts. Eco-Architecture makes every effort to minimise the use of energy at each stage of the building’s life cycle, including that embodied in the extraction and transportation of materials, their fabrication, their assembly into the building and ultimately the ease and value of their recycling when the building’s life is over. The design may also take into consideration the use of energy in building maintenance and changes in its use, not to mention its lighting, heating and cooling, particularly where the energy consumed involves the emission of greenhouse gases. Papers are invited on the topics outlined and others falling within the scope of the meeting. Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted as soon as possible. Visit the official site: http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2008/ecoarch08/index.html