The author, who covers architecture for Inhabitat.com, examines the need for new kinds of housing in the wake of disasters, poverty, and climate change, and shows projects from around the globe. She organizes the material into five categories—rapid shelters, transitional shelters, affordable housing, prefab housing, and adaptable housing—and includes examples from Bangladesh and Haiti to Malibu and Milan.

A straightforward format and clear illustrations give the book a no-nonsense immediacy that seems appropriate to the subject.

Urgent Architecture: 40 Sustainable Housing Solutions for a Changing World
by Bridgette Meinhold. W.W. Norton, 2013, 256 pages, $50.