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
Architecture the Unavoidable | 1 |
How Does the Building Function? | 11 |
How Does the Building Stand | 18 |
Copyright | |
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acoustical Aerial view Akropolis Alberti ancient arcade arch archi architect architecture Art Resource Athens Baroque barrel vaults basilica beam blocks brick building built cathedral central century chamber chapel Chicago church Classical color columns concrete construction Corbusier created culture curved dome Doric Doric order Drawing early Egypt Egyptian Empire England facade feet Filippo Brunelleschi floor Florence France Frank Lloyd Wright French function glass Gothic Greece Greek Hagia Sophia Hall human images Interior Italy Johann Balthasar Neumann Karnak Latin Le Corbusier Leland Roth light Lloyd Lewis House London mass medieval ment meters Miletos modern Museum nave Notre-Dame ornament painted Palace Paris Parthenon pharaoh Philip Johnson Photo piers pyramid Renaissance Rohe Roman Roman architecture Rome roof Saint Gall shape side space square stone structure symbolic tecture temple theater tion tomb towers truss ture vertical Villa Vitruvius walls York