Saturday, December 28, 2013

Architectural Record magazine 2013 (1-6)




Architectural Record - January 2013
English | PDF | 204 pages | 120 MB


Architectural Record - February 2013
English | PDF | 148 pages | 83 MB


Architectural Record Magazine March 2013
English | 201 Pages | PDF | 101MB


Architectural Record - April 2013
English | PDF | 156 pages | 66 MB


Architectural Record - May 2013
English | 184 Pages | PDF | 109 MB


Architectural Record Magazine June 2013
English | 334 Pages | PDF | 191 MB

Friday, December 27, 2013

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Deconstruction - Omnibus Volume




Deconstruction - Omnibus Volume
Andreas Papadakis

Deconstruction Omnibus Volume Deconstruction is One of the Most Talked about New Developments in art and architecture today. Neither a movement nor a fully-fledged style, Deconstruction is a major cultural phenomenon that is both a philosophical idiom and a critical methodology, and most recently the basis of an architectural aesthetic. Derived from the work of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, Deconstruction is characterised by an essential distrust of the authenticity of apparent meaning and form and the traditional distinction between the two. Beginning with an investigation into the roots and sources of Deconstruction, this pioneer volume brings together Deconstructionist writings and projects from America, Britain, Europe and Japan. This omnibus volume, in addition to several specially commissioned articles, draws on issues of Architectural Design and Art & Design magazines as well as the proceedings of an international symposium at the Tate Gallery in London including an exclusive interview with Derrida himself. Four sections covering Constructivist Origins, Theory and Philosophy, and Deconstruction in Art and Architecture, edited by Andreas Papadakis, Andrew Benjamin and Catherine Cooke, present the work of the major writers, critics and practitioners of Deconstruction. These include Christopher Norris, Peter Eisenman, Bernard Tschumi, Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, OMA, Morphosis, Coop Himelblau, Charles Jencks, Hiromi Fujii, Geoff Bennington, Mark Wigley, Valerio Adami and many others. This book - the first to attempt to locate and define Deconstruction in architecture and the visual arts - explores the subject from a variety of viewpoints, some of which by their nature are experimental or speculative.


Architecture and Cubism


Architecture and Cubism 
(Centre Canadien d'Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture)
Eve Blau

A fundamental tenet of the historiography of modern architecture holds that cubism forged a vital link between avant-garde practices in early twentieth-century painting and architecture. This collection of essays, commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Architecture, takes a close look at that widely accepted but little scrutinized belief. In the first historically focused examination of the issue, the volume returns to the original site of cubist art in pre-World War I Europe and proceeds to examine the historical, theoretical, and socio-political relationships between avant-garde practices in painting, architecture, and other cultural forms, including poetry, landscape, and the decorative arts. The essays look at works produced in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Czechoslovakia during the early decades of the twentieth century.Together, the essays show that although there were many points of intersection -- historical, metaphorical, theoretical, and ideological -- between cubism and architecture, there was no simple, direct link between them. Most often the connections between cubist painting and modern architecture were construed analogically, by reference to shared formal qualities such as fragmentation, spatial ambiguity, transparency, and multiplicity; or to techniques used in other media such as film, poetry, and photomontage. Cubist space itself remained two-dimensional; with the exception of Le Cobusiers work, it was never translated into the three dimensions of architecture. Cubism's significance for architecture also remained two-dimensional -- a method of representing modern spatial experience through the ordering impulses of art.Copublished with the Canadian Centre for Architecture/CentreCanadien d'Architecture


Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide


Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide
American University in Cairo Press | 2004-10-01 |276 pages | PDF | 13 MB

Cairo's Islamic monuments are part of an uninterrupted tradition that spans over a thousand years of building activity. No other Islamic city can equal Cairo's spectacular heritage, nor trace its historical and architectural development with such clarity. The discovery of this historic core, first visually by nineteenth-century western artists then intellectually by twentieth-century Islamic art specialists, now - at the turn of the millennium - awaits the delight of the general visitor.

This new edition of a popular and handy guide continues to walk the visitor around two hundred of the city's most interesting Islamic monuments. It also keeps pace with recent developments with updated and revised material.


Islamic Architecture In Cairo: An Introduction


Islamic Architecture In Cairo: An Introduction
American University in Cairo Press | 1996-03-15 | 175 pages | PDF | 35 MB

Combining an analysis of Cairo's urban growth from the Islamic conquest up to the reign of Muhammad 'Ali, an overview of its main architectural styles, a descriptive catalog of the major monuments, and a discussion of domestic architecture, this concise and comprehensive study will appeal to specialists as well as beginning students and interested lay readers.


Monday, December 16, 2013

Construction in Cities : Social, Environmental, Political, and Economic Concerns


Construction in Cities : 
Social, Environmental, Political, and Economic Concerns
Patricia J. Lancaster

Today's construction environment is more complex than any previous era. The possible impediments to a project's successful completion include not only "bricks and mortar" issues like material availability or curtain wall testing, but a broad array of concerns involving the economic, political, social, environmental, archeological, community, and historic preservation aspects of the project. Costly delays are common; regulatory processes can be prohibitive; stakeholders have more say. All of the people involved in an urban construction project must be knowledgeable about, and conversant with these conditions.

Bringing together over 500 years of combined professional experience, Construction in Cities: Social, Environmental, Political, and Economic Concerns provides you with a compendium of knowledge with which to solve problems and propel your projects. Beginning with an overview of the regulations governing construction in cities, the book continues with concrete, practical advice for below-ground work such as tunnels, roadways and foundations. It follows with an examination of five actual projects to explore ways to complete elaborate urban buildings. Finally, the book takes you deep into the murky waters of issues that often halt construction projects.

Since the unexpected always happens in construction, you need a book on your shelf to reach for when it does - a source that delineates clean and concise recipes for successfully dealing with such diverse conditions as unexpected archeological finds, dying trees, and toxic air. If you play a role in ensuring the delivery of capital projects in an urban environment, Construction in Cities serves as a handy reference of actions and methods for overriding these barriers.


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Construction en Acier


Construction en Acier

en Français


The Roofing Handbook, 2nd Edition


The Roofing Handbook, 2nd Edition
Robert Scharff, Terry Kennedy

The most complete A-to-Z handbook on the basics of residential roofing--comes with over 250 illustrations, photos, and CAD drawings. Reviews regulations, safety, emerging technologies and new/alternative materials; construction tips; estimating and bidding; customer service; marketing; and more. New chapter on the roofing business focuses on how professionals can turn the book's pointers into profits.


Masonry Designers’ Guide Fourth Edition


Masonry Designers’ Guide 
Fourth Edition 

Based on 
Building Code Requirements for Masonry Structures 
(ACI 530-02 / ASCE 5-02 / TMS 402-02) 
and 
Specifications for Masonry Structures 
(ACI 530.1-02 / ASCE 6-02 / TMS 602-02) 


Glass Structures


Glass Structures
Jan Wurm

Flat glass opens up more possibilities for the planner than virtually any other material. Because of the technological complexity of using it, however, no specific structural forms have been developed for glass supporting frameworks as they have been for wood, concrete, and steel. This book is thus the first to present a coherent guide to the planning and design of glass supporting frameworks. The focus is on the pressure-resistant, flat supporting element as a basic building block for broad supporting structures. The spatial and constructive forms of multifunctional, self-supporting glass envelopes are vividly illustrated and systematically explained. The constructions presented exhibit new aesthetic qualities, based not on the dictum of ""dematerialization but on the poetry of gleaming and transparent planes. They ring in a new chapter in the history of glass architecture.


Complete Home : How to Guides


Complete Home : How to Guides
PDF Files | 50.7 MB - 5 Parts | Total 156 Guides




Volume 1
3-Way Switches.pdf
Annuals and Perennials.pdf
Asphalt Drives.pdf
Attached Decks.pdf
Attracting Birds.pdf
Basic Decks.pdf
Biological Pollutants in Your Home.pdf
Board Fences.pdf
Brick Walls.pdf
Broken Windows.pdf
Building Driveways.pdf
Caulking and Stripping.pdf
Ceiling Fan Hookups.pdf
Ceiling Tile.pdf
Ceramic Floor Tile.pdf
Ceramic Wall Tile.pdf
Chain Link Fences.pdf
Child Safety.pdf
Chimes and Doorbells.pdf
Circuit Breakers.pdf
Climate Control.pdf
Clogged Drains.pdf
Closet Organizers.pdf
Clothes Washers.pdf
Combustion Pollutants In Your Home.pdf
Concrete Mixing.pdf
Concrete Repairs.pdf
Concrete Slabs.pdf
Concrete Walkways.pdf

Volume 2
Control Vegetable Pests Organically.pdf
Controlling Turf Pests.pdf
Copper Pipe.pdf
Deciduous Trees and Shrubs.pdf
Deck Covers.pdf
Deckscaping.pdf
Decorative Paint Finishes.pdf
Dish Washers.pdf
Disposal Trouble.pdf
Divider Walls.pdf
Door Locksets.pdf
Drill Know-How.pdf
Drip Irrigation.pdf
Drywall Joints.pdf
DWV Systems.pdf
Electric Hot Water.pdf
Energy Efficient Lighting.pdf
Evergreen Trees and Shrubs.pdf
Extending Electrical Service.pdf
Extending Existing Wire.pdf
Exterior Painting.pdf
Fine Finishes.pdf
Flat Roof Repairs.pdf
Flowing Gutters.pdf
Flush Toilets.pdf
Foam Back Carpet.pdf
Foundations.pdf
Fuse Failures.pdf
Garage Door Openers.pdf
Gas Hot Water.pdf

Volume 3
Grass Carpeting.pdf
Greener Grass.pdf
Ground Covers.pdf
Hanging Ceiling.pdf
Hanging Doors.pdf
Hanging Shelving.pdf
Hanging Wallpaper.pdf
Herbs.pdf
Home Composting.pdf
Household Hazards.pdf
How to Miter.pdf
Indoor Air Quality.pdf
Indoor Pollutants.pdf
Install Bathtub.pdf
Install Plank Flooring.pdf
Install Recess Lighting.pdf
Install Shower.pdf
Install Track Lighting.pdf
Install Windows.pdf
Installing Glass Block.pdf
Installing Sinks.pdf
Installing Thermostats.pdf
Insulate an Attic.pdf
Insulate Side Walls.pdf
Insulation - How Much Is Enough.pdf
Interior Painting.pdf
Lavatory Put-In.pdf
Lawn Fertilizers.pdf

Volume 4
Laying Bricks.pdf
Laying Shingles.pdf
Leaky Faucets.pdf
Lightscaping.pdf
Making a Water Garden.pdf
Modern Stains.pdf
Molding Magic.pdf
Mower Tune Ups.pdf
Nails and Screws.pdf
Organic Flower Gardening.pdf
Organic Lawn Care.pdf
Organic Vegetable Gardening.pdf
Outdoor Wiring.pdf
Paint Appliers.pdf
Paint Problems.pdf
Parquet Squares.pdf
Patching Plaster.pdf
Patio Doors.pdf
Phone Hook Ups.pdf
Picket Fences.pdf
Picture Framing.pdf
Plan a Bathroom - Install Toilets.pdf
Plan and Install Kitchen Cabinets.pdf
Plants for Dry Climates.pdf
Plastic Laminate.pdf
Plastic Pipe.pdf
Plugs Cords and Sockets.pdf
Pool Care.pdf
Prehung Doors.pdf
Pressure-Treated Lumber.pdf
Pruning Trees and Shrubs.pdf

Volume 5
Rail Fences.pdf
Railing and Steps.pdf
Recycling.pdf
Removing Finishes.pdf
Room Dividers.pdf
Roses.pdf
Router Know-How.pdf
Safe and Secure.pdf
Sanding Abrasive.pdf
Selection and Use of Hand and Power Tools.pdf
Selection and Use of Wood and Plywood.pdf
Setting Stones.pdf
Shingles and Shakes.pdf
Shower Doors.pdf
Skylights.pdf
Spraying Paint.pdf
Stairs and Landings.pdf
Starting a Lawn.pdf
Steel Pipe.pdf
Stop Wood Rot.pdf
Sump Pumps.pdf
Suspended Ceilings.pdf
Switches and Outlets.pdf
Tiling Floors.pdf
Underground Sprinklers.pdf
Upgrade Kitchen Cabinets.pdf
Varnish and Enamel.pdf
Venting Attics.pdf
Video Hook Ups.pdf
Vinyl Floors.pdf
Wall Panelling.pdf
Wall to Wall Carpetings.pdf
Water Conservation.pdf
Water Quality In Your Home.pdf
Waterwise Gardening.pdf
What Is Radon.pdf
Window Insulation Film.pdf
Wires and Wiring.pdf
Wood Joints.pdf

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Espirales Spirals Quaderns


Espirales Spirals Quaderns
(Tiempo Abierto Tiempo Fractal /Open Time Fractal Time)
Manuel Gausa


Innovation in Architecture - A Path to the Future


Innovation in Architecture - A Path to the Future
Edited by Alan J.Brookes and Dominique Poole

In this highly original book, through a series of essays, key architects and engineers in Europe, Australia, and the USA describe the ideas and development behind the innovative technology in their chosen projects, with the emphasis being on the means of production and the links between design and the manufacturing process.


Design Matters: The Organisation and Principles of Engineering Design


Design Matters : The Organisation and Principles of Engineering Design
James Armstrong 

This book demonstrates the need to understand the context, process and delivery of engineering projects and services by focusing on engineering design. It highlights the cultural, economic, political and social parameters and illustrates the importance of their understanding. The book benefits from a unique combination of academic rigour and the experience gained from decades of designing some of the world’s most important civil engineering projects.

Design is the essential component of engineering. Design Matters demonstrates the need to understand the context, process and delivery of engineering projects and services by focusing on the nature and practice of engineering design. The book specifically highlights the cultural, economic, political and social parameters and illustrates the importance of their understanding as demonstrated by successful designers.

Unique to Design Matters are case studies that demonstrate the principles described in the book and the importance of using multidisciplinary teams to achieve effective design development. Contributions are included from key professionals involved in several high-profile and innovative civil and industrial engineering projects, including:

  • A Diagnostic Analyser, Northern Ireland
  • A Foot Prosthesis, UK
  • The Channel Tunnel Terminal, UK
  • The Channel Tunnel Rail Link, UK
  • The London Eye, London
  • The Lesotho Hydro-electric Project, Natal
  • An Australian Timber Arch Bridge, Melbourne
  • The Bahaii Temple, New Delhi, India
  • The Hampden Gurney Primary School, London
  • The Bridge Academy Secondary School, London
  • The Harris-Manchester College, Oxford
  • The Angel of the North, Gateshead, UK


Design Matters is an ideal text for graduate students in all branches of engineering looking to gain a practical introduction to the breadth and depth of the design process as well as to practicing engineers who wish to gain further insight into how design engineering works strategically.


Architecture, Technology and Process


Architecture, Technology and Process
Chris Abel
283 pages

This new selection of essays follows Chris Abel's previous best selling collection, Architecture and Identity. Drawing upon a wide range of knowledge and disciplines, the author argues that, underlying technological changes in the process of architectural production are fundamental changes in the way we think about machines and the world we live in.

Key topics include: new patterns of urbanism in the fast growing cities of asia pacific; metaphorical extensions of mind and body in cyberspace; the divergent European and North American values shaping Sir Norman Foster's and Frank Gehry's work, and the collaborative work methods and technologies creating the adaptable design pratices of today.


Marketing for Architects and Engineers: A New Approach


Marketing for Architects and Engineers : A New Approach 
Brian Richardson 

Professional services marketing is a relatively new form of marketing that has been recogonized only since the late 1980s. Most of the attempts to write about marketing for professional services have been a regurgitation of the traditional marketing approach that has evolved since the 1960s and have concentrated on minor differences and adjustments. In many ways, what is needed is a fresh approach which takes into account the complex political, social, economic, legislative and cultural backdrop and provides a way for design professionals, such as architects and engineers, to look to the future. This book does just that.


eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction


eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction
Attila Dikbas

Biannually since 1994, the European Conference on Product and Process Modelling in the Building and Construction Industry has provided a review of research, given valuable future work outlooks, and provided a communication platform for future co-operative research and development at both European and global levels.

This volume, of special interest to researchers, developers and end-users in product and process modelling and construction informatics, contains the proceedings of the 5th ECPPM conference, held in September 2004. It provides a comprehensive overview of European research, as well as an insight in US, Canadian and Australian research. It also highlights perspectives of ambient intelligence and recent industry developments, and in addition, presents the latest developments in e-work and e-business, virtual enterprising, and collaborative work, as well as related best-practice industry examples.


Architects Without Frontiers - War, Reconstruction and Design Responsibility


Architects Without Frontiers - 
War, Reconstruction and Design Responsibility
Esther Charlesworth

From the targeted demolition of Mostar’s Stari-Most Bridge in 1993 to the physical and social havoc caused by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, the history of cities is often a history of destruction and reconstruction. But what political and aesthetic criteria should guide us in the rebuilding of cities devastated by war and natural calamities? 

The title of this timely and inspiring new book, Architects Without Frontiers, points to the potential for architects to play important roles in post-war relief and reconstruction. By working “sans frontières”, Charlesworth suggests that architects and design professionals have a significant opportunity to assist peace-making and reconstruction efforts in the period immediately after conflict or disaster, when much of the housing, hospital, educational, transport, civic and business infrastructure has been destroyed or badly damaged. 

Through selected case studies, Charlesworth examines the role of architects, planners, urban designers and landscape architects in three cities following conflict - Beirut, Nicosia and Mostar - three cities where the mental and physical scars of violent conflict still remain. This book expands the traditional role of the architect from 'hero' to 'peacemaker' and discusses how design educators can stretch their wings to encompass the proliferating agendas and sites of civil unrest.


The Architect's Guide to Running a Practice


The Architect's Guide to Running a Practice
David Littlefield

This is your essential one stop shop for information on starting and running a practice. Case studies and advice from practitioners, big and small, run alongside outlines of all the key topics, to give you an insight into the problems and challenges others have faced when setting up a design business. Accessible and informative, this handbook is the ideal first point of reference when starting a practice.

Architects have many different reasons for setting up in practice; equally, there are many ways of running your own business. This handbook helps you consider whether or not you should set up on your own, examining issues such as financing, office space, recruitment, IT and workingo ut a business plan. Some architects want to stay small, while others have ambitions to grow into large businesses. Some grow big accidentally. And then there are those who pick and choose their work carefully, and even turn down undesirable contracts, while others will grab at everything possible. This book woudl explore these different models and illustrate how different kinds of practice develop into successful businesses.

Importantly, the book will stress that these issues are crucial - you may be the best designer in the world, but unless your business is well managed you will fail. On the other hand, some successful architects spend a lot of time looking for new work and attending to management issues, rarely finding the time for design work. This book would illustrate how architects have struck a balance between these two extremes.


Architect's Essentials of Cost Management


Architect's Essentials of Cost Management
(The Architect's Essentials of Professional Practice)
Michael D. Dell’Isola,

Written by a cost-control expert with more than thirty years of design and building expertise, this volume in the Professional Practice Essentials Series gives you practical, user-friendly guidance on how to better manager costs through all phases of a project. Dell'Isola first explains the basics of cost management-from estimating costs during the design phase to managing costs during construction and even after occupancy. He then covers all of the tools and techniques available to architects/designers and explains how best to use them. A number of useful case studies clearly show how the author's principles work in real-life situations.


Monday, November 11, 2013

Logo Design Workbook : A Hands-On Guide to Creating Logos


Logo Design Workbook : A Hands-On Guide to Creating Logos 
by Noreen Morioka, Terry Stone Sean Adams

Logo Design Workbook focuses on creating powerful logo designs and answers the question, "What makes a logo work?"

In the first half of this book, authors Sean Adams and Noreen Morioka walk readers step-by-step through the entire logo-development process. Topics include developing a concept that communicates the right message and is appropriate for both the client and the market; defining how the client's long-term goals might affect the look and needs of the mark; choosing colors and typefaces; avoiding common mistakes; and deciphering why some logos are successful whereas others are not.

The second half of the book comprises in-depth case studies on logos designed for various industries. Each case study explores the design brief, the relationship with the client, the time frame, and the results.


Interior Design Visual Presentation: A Guide to Graphics, Models & Presentation Techniques





Interior Design Visual Presentation: 
A Guide to Graphics, Models & Presentation Techniques
Second Edition
Maureen Mitton

Interior Design Visual Presentation, Second Edition is fully revised to include the latest material on CAD, digital portfolios, resume preparation, and Web page design. It remains the only comprehensive guide to address the visual design and presentation needs of the interior designer, with coverage of design graphics, models, and presentation techniques in one complete volume.

Approaches to the planning, layout, and design of interior spaces are presented through highly visual, step-by-step instructions, supplemented with more than forty pages of full-color illustrations, exercises at the end of each chapter, and dozens of new projects. With the serious designer in mind, it includes a diverse range of sample work, from student designers as well as well-known design firms such as Ellerbee and Beckett Architects and MS Architects.


Interior Design Handbook of Professional Practice


Interior Design Handbook of Professional Practice
Cindy Coleman

Let today's most admired design professionals share with you their priceless insights, step-by-step guidelines, and real-life examples drawn from their own highly successful practices. Interior Design Handbook of Professional Practice packs fresh new ways of thinking and profitable ways of working -- quality information you expect when experts join forces! Comprehensive, hands-on details show you how to problem-solve the design needs of clients¿streamline every stage of your practice, from finding and winning clients to project build-out and master the most efficient negotiation, bidding, contract, and documentation techniques. Achieve professional excellence and profitability with this authoritative resource as you learn how to act on the implications of the profound changes occurring in the design industry today with tips from designers who are at the top of their game.


Interior Color by Design - A Design Tool for Architects, Interior Designers, and Homeowners


Interior Color by Design - 
A Design Tool for Architects, Interior Designers, and Homeowners
Jonathan Poore

Effective color selection can be a powerful element in any design. "Interior Color By Design" takes the mystery out of the color application process by: Providing over 250 color samples to experiment with different combinations Featuring over 100 full-color images that illustrate key concepts like adjacent colors and overall design Exploring the interactive effects of color combinations on interior design and archticture


Towards a New Architecture - Le Corbusier


Towards a New Architecture - Le Corbusier

This pioneering proclamation by the great architect expounds Le Corbusier's technical and aesthetic theories, views on industry, economics, the relation of form to function, "mass-production spirit," and much more. Profusely illustrated with over 200 line drawings and photographs of Le Corbusier's buildings and other important structures.

The Discipline of Architecture


The Discipline of Architecture
by Andrzej Piotrowski

Architecture

A polemical look at how architectural knowledge is produced, disseminated, and received.

In the vast literature on architectural theory and practice, the ways in which architectural knowledge is actually taught, debated, and understood are too often ignored. The essays collected in this groundbreaking volume address the current state of architecture as an academic and professional discipline. The issues considered range from the form and content of architectural education to the architect's social and environmental obligations and the emergence of a new generation of architects. Often critical of the current paradigm, these essays offer a provocative challenge to accepted assumptions about the production, dissemination, and reception of architectural knowledge.


Private Dwelling : Contemplating the use of housing


Private Dwelling : Contemplating the use of housing
Peter King

Housing is something that is deeply personal to us. It offers us privacy and security and allows us to be intimate with those we are close to. This book considers the nature of privacy but also how we choose to share our dwelling. The book discusses the manner in which we talk about our housing, how it manifests and assuages our anxieties and desires and how it helps us come to terms with loss.

Private Dwelling offers a deeply original take on housing. The book proceeds through a series of speculations, using philosophical analysis and critique, personal anecdote, film criticism, social and cultural theory and policy analysis to unpick the subjective nature of housing as a personal place where we can be sure of ourselves.


Philosophy of Symbiosis - Kisho Kurokawa


Philosophy of Symbiosis - Kisho Kurokawa

Symbiosis, as defined by Kisho Kurokawa, one of Japan's leading architects, is a new way of interpreting today's culture. A philosophy which takes its name from ecological and biological concepts, it puts forward ideals developed from traditional Japanese philosophy and culture, while continually acknowledging the presence of the multivalent, contemporary world. It is a philosophy of "both-and" rather than "either-or", a practice of mix-and-match rather than creation from scratch, an ethic of inclusion rather than exclusion. As such, it is thought to be one of the most essential statements of post-modern culture to date. Kurokawa feels that we will recognize each other's differing personalities while competing and will co-operate while we oppose and criticize each other.


Penser I'architecture


Penser  I'architecture 
Peter  Zumthor 

French

Si l on attend de l architecture qu elle soit en relation sensuelle avec la vie, il faut que la réflexion aille bien au-delà de la forme et de la construction. Cet ouvrage, dont la première édition est épuisée depuis des années, a été enrichi de trois nouveaux essais: "La beauté a-t-elle une forme ?", "La magie du réel" et "La lumière dans le paysage". Dans ses textes, Peter Zumthor dévoile les ressorts de cette architecture qui s adresse, sur des modes très diversifiés, aux sentiments et à la raison, et qui a une présence et une aura indiscutables. La typographie, oeuvre de Hannele Grönlund, est nouvelle ainsi que les photographies en couleur de la maisonatelier de Peter Zumthor à Haldenstein réalisées spécialement pour cet ouvrage par Laura Padgett.


Mechanics and Meaning in Architecture


Mechanics and Meaning in Architecture
Lance LaVine

Architecture

An exploration of technology's role in architecture and, in turn, humanity's understanding of nature.

In Mechanics and Meaning in Architecture, Lance LaVine shows that in architecture, as practiced and taught today, the technological aspect of the profession-how weight is distributed, how heat flow is regulated, and how light is permitted to enter-has been ceded to engineers and other technical specialists. And in doing so, he argues, architects have lost sight of one of architecture's most important purposes, that of providing a literal and figurative window onto the world.

As a technology of habitation, architecture should provide people with both a practical and a metaphorical understanding of their relationship with nature. For LaVine, this knowledge emanates from a sensual understanding of the natural world as a "felt force." At its most basic level, architecture demands an understanding of and response to the natural forces of gravity, climate, and sunlight. At the center of Mechanics and Meaning in Architecture are case studies of four very different houses: a Finnish log farmhouse from the nineteenth century; Charles Moore's house in Arinda, California; Tadao Anmdo's Wall house in Japan; and Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye near Paris. Through his imaginative readings of structures, LaVine highlights how the architects involved have used the oldest and most fundamental architectural technologies-walls, floors, ceilings, columns, beams, and windows-in ways that offer creative responses to the natural world and humanity's place in it.

Clearly, architects are comfortable with the practical and aesthetic components of their profession. With this book, Lance LaVine encourages them also to understand what makes their use of technology unique and essential, and to reclaim the natural world for meaningful interpretation in their design of buildings. Lance LaVine is professor of architecture and landscape architecture at the University of Minnesota.


The Language of Space


The Language of Space
Bryan Lawson 

This unique guide provides a systematic overview of the idea of architectural space. 

Bryan Lawson provides an ideal introduction to the topic, breaking down the complex and abstract terms used by many design theoreticians when writing about architectural space. Instead, our everyday knowledge is reintroduced to the language of design. Design values of 'space' are challenged and informed to stimulate a new theoretical and practical approach to design.

This book views architectural and urban spaces as psychological, social and partly cultural phenomena. They accommodate, separate, structure, facilitate, heighten and even celebrate human spatial behaviour.


Saturday, November 9, 2013

Identity by Design


Identity by Design
Georgia Butina Watson and Ian Bentley

In a world of increasing globalisation, where one high street becomes interchangeable with the next, Identity by Design addresses the idea of place-making and the concept of identity, looking at how these things can be considered as an integral part of the design process.

Structured around a series of case studies including Prague, Mexico, Malaysia and Boston, the authors discuss an array of design approaches to explain and define the complex interrelated concepts. The concluding sections of the book suggest ideas for practical application in future design processes. 

With full colour images throughout, this book takes the discussion of place-identity to the next level, and will be valuable reading for all architects, urban designers, planners and landscape architects.


Disclosing Horizons - Architecture, Perspective and Redemptive Space.


Disclosing Horizons - Architecture, Perspective and Redemptive Space.
Nicholas Temple

This study examines the influence of perspective on architecture, highlighting how critical historical changes in the representation and perception of space continue to inform the way architects design.

Since its earliest developments, perspective was conceived as an exemplary form of representation that served as an ideal model of how everyday existence could be measured and ultimately judged. Temple argues that underlying the symbolic and epistemological meanings of perspective there prevails a deeply embedded redemptive view of the world that is deemed perfectible.

Temple explores this idea through a genealogical investigation of the cultural and philosophical contexts of perspective throughout history, highlighting how these developments influenced architectural thought. This broad historical enquiry is accompanied by a series of case-studies of modern or contemporary buildings, each demonstrating a particular affinity with the accompanying historical model of perspective.