What kind of architecture emerges in an extreme environment? Responding to some of the ultimate challenges in architecture, the buildings featured in this book provide valuable insight into the extremes of architectural thinking. In an increasingly unstable world, some of the lessons that they teach about self-sufficiency may yet become more generally applicable. Lessons from terrestrial environments are being used in designs for space, while space technology is also being applied on earth.

Divided into five chapters—Hot, Cold, High, Wet, and Space—Extreme Architecture showcases 45 examples of recent buildings designed for challenging environments. It includes a desert refuge in southern Arizona, a floating marine research center, an underground seed vault in northern Norway, and a South Pole research station. Each case study begins with a clearly presented table listing the altitude, annual rainfall, and average temperatures of the site. This information is accompanied by photographs showing the project in its environment, as well as by drawings, site plans, and computer renderings where appropriate....

Very small buildings have a special appeal, and the constraints of space and cost can actually liberate the imagination.

Most of the projects in this book consist of no more than a few key spaces, in many cases just a single space. They are united only by their compact nature, the pleasure that they can provide and the intelligence that they embody.

A brief introduction is followed by five thematic chapters: Public Realm, Community Spaces, On the Move, Compact Living and Extra Space.

The 53 case studies include a park bench that transforms into a shelter for the homeless in Australia, an inflatable treetop structure for rainforest observation, a portable house for victims of hurricane Katrina, a transportable church in Finland, and a suspended office in France....