Manifestes 6: Anthropocene Style. Reinventing Decorative Arts at The Time of Global Warming And Epidemics (Manifestes Series)

At the crossroads of architecture, aesthetics and engineering sciences, this book aims to shed light on the unthought-of return of utilitarian decorative arts in the fight against global warming, and to constitute an encyclopaedic catalogue of decorative elements with ancient typologies (carpets, tapestries, curtains, mirrors, etc. ) updated according to today's scientific knowledge: thermal effusivity, emissivity, conduction, reflectance, etc.Until the beginning of the 20th century, interior decoration in the West had a practical role: to fight the cold, to amplify the light or to block cold draughts. A carpet was used to prevent cold feet, a tapestry to thermally insulate the walls; the crystals in chandeliers, like mirrors or gilding, were there to amplify the weak, solitary light of candles andsmall windows; a folding screen served to block the wind, curtains to block draughts. The arrival of central heating, air conditioning and electric lighting at the turn of the 20th century ma