Golany, Gideon S.

About the author: the late Dr. Gideon S. Golany was Distinguished Professor of Urban Design in the Department of Architecture at the Pennsylvania State University. He specialized in new town planning, underground space design, and the effects of climate upon urban design. He received an M.Sc. from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel; a Dip. C.P. from the Institute for Social Studies in the Hague, the Netherlands; and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He published 28 books and numerous articles and taught at universities in Israel, Australia, England, Turkey, China, and Japan.

Babylonian Jewish Neighborhood and Home Design

1999 0-7734-7898-1
This book focuses on two interrelated subjects. One is the evolution of the Jewish community in central and southern Iraq and its impact upon the neighborhood structure and the design of the “Baghdad house.” The other is the innovative, non-energy-consuming cooling system which evolved in response to the arid climate. This study will appeal to historians, sociologists, students of Judaica, and anthropologists because it pictures a community that has now vanished. It will also be a valuable resource for architects and urban designers who are actively seeking solutions to the twin problems of conserving energy and providing comfortable dwellings in hot, dry climates.

Urban Design Ethics in Ancient China

2001 0-7734-7409-9
This study examines architecture and urban design as a joint entity, with a further subdivision, socio-cultural studies, used to develop a more complete picture of the ethical forces that shape the Chinese city. It incorporates information from other disciplines – history, archaeology, anthropology – to elaborate the discussions and conclusions. It highlights the influence of cumulative Chinese thoughts, beliefs, behavior, and ethics upon the formation of their distinctive spatial urban form.