Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History, And MeaningThis clearly written, fully illustrated survey of Western architecture defines and explains structure, function, history, and meaning. Architecture is examined as a cultural phenomenon as well as an artistic and technological achievement. The book is divided into two parts: Part One, “The Elements of Architecture,” deals with the basic properties of architecture in chapters that explain function, structural principles, and elements of design, including examples in the text and illustrations from all periods and styles. Part Two, “The History and Meaning of Architecture,” is a chronological survey of Western architectural development from prehistoric times to the present. The approach is selective in terms of buildings and architects included; the examples are chosen for their importance and significance and are fully explained. Each chronological chapter begins with a concise, historical outline giving the social and cultural background. The illustrations (photographs, drawings, maps, and plans) are integrated with the text and there are notes, suggested readings, a glossary, chronological chart, and index. |
Contents
How Does the Building Function? | 11 |
How Does the Building Stand | 31 |
Shells | 37 |
Copyright | |
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Akropolis Alberti ancient arcade arches archi architects Athens axis Baroque Baroque architecture barrel vaults basilica became began begun blocks brick Brunelleschi building built cathedral central century chamber chapel Chicago choir Christian church Classical colonnade columns complex concrete construction Corbusier court create culture curved developed dome Doric Drawing early Egypt Egyptian Empire England entablature facade feet Filippo Brunelleschi floor Florence France Frank Lloyd Wright French function garden Germany Gothic Gothic architecture Greece Greek Gropius Hagia Sophia Hall human Interior Italy Johann Balthasar Neumann Latin Le Corbusier Leland Roth London masonry medieval ment meters modern monastery Museum nave ornament Palace Paris Parthenon pharaoh Philip Johnson Photo piers pyramid Renaissance ribs Rococo Roman architecture Rome roof Saint Gall Saint Peter's sculpture space square stone structure symbolic tecture temple Theater tion tomb towers ture urban vertical Villa Vitruvius walls York