It will enable making a design for almost any kind of building, or any part of the built environment. ‘Patterns,’ the units of this language, are answers to design problems: how high should a window sill be?; how many stories should a building have?; how much space in a neighborhood should be devoted to grass and trees?More than 250 of the patterns in this language are outlined, each consisting of a problem statement, a discussion of the problem with an illustration, and a solution. As the authors say in their introduction, many of the patterns are archetypal, so deeply rooted in the nature of things that it seems likely that they will be a part of human nature and human action as much in five hundred years as they are today.A Pattern Language is related to Alexander’s other works in the Center for Environmental Structure series: The Timeless Way of Building (introductory volume) and The Oregon Experiment.

    Also note that the trunk splits into two branches, then those branches split in two, then those in two, and so on, and so on, until you have a full tree, be it straight, squiggly, curved up, curved down, or bent sideways by the wind."

    

    Such an account of the human needs met by architecture remains sadly incomplete unless the expressive visual qualities of buildings are recognized as among their foremost effects.A fresh approach is overdue—an attempt to analyze these psychological qualities with the principles of visual perception. Such an attempt is made in this new volume by Rudolf Arnheim, who has been known, since the publication of his Art and Visual Perception, as an authority on the psychological interpretation of the visual arts. As he now turns his experienced eye to the visual aspects of buildings, he amplifies his theories with new features specific to the medium of the architect. Arnheim explores the unexpected perceptual consequences of architecture with his customary clarity and precision. Of particular interest is his thorough analysis of order and disorder in design, the nature of visual symbolism, and the relations between practical function and perceptual expression.Arheim's ability to deal with theoretical principles in a concrete and easily accessible way assures him the attention of the general reader whose concern with the arts leads to the aesthetic and psychological aspects of the broader environment. At the same time, Arnheim's strikingly original approach will stimulate professionals and students concerned with the theory and practice of modern and historical architecture.

    Presenting 48 joints, selected from among the several hundred known and used today, this visually exciting book will please anyone who has ever been moved by the sheer beauty of wood. With the clear isometric projections complementing the 64 pages of stunning photographs, even the weekend carpenter can duplicate these bequests from the traditional Japanese carpenter, which can be applied to projects as large as the buildings for which most of them were originally devised or to projects as small as a sewing box.

    

    Kahn, whose ideas are preserved in the wealth of sketches he did whenever developing new concepts or working out details for new building projects. Sketches and plans of different developmental stages of his projects are laid out in a basically chronological order and these are complemented by relevant extracts from his writings and speeches and by his commentary while this documentation was being prepared in 1973 - the year before his death. As in the first edition, the authors aim has not been to interpret or evaluate. Rather, they wish to provide the scholar with a solid base for further research, allowing him to follow the traces of a remarkably creative mind that revered architecture as a manifestation of manAs spirit.

    

    Book by Lois, George, Pitts, Bill

    Klimsch's exceptional quality of rendering these designs, his use of clean lines, shading, and three-dimensional effects in the most complex ornaments, is truly remarkable. He captures the Victorian love of the fantastic and exotic, of a riotous imagination that is ultimately controlled and ordered. These examples of Victorian ornamentation are among the very best that can be found today. Florid Victorian Ornament contains more than 700 metal-engraved designs on 102 plates: borders, frames, corners, leaves, scrollwork, strapwork, rosettes, escutcheons, and cartouches in varied sizes and styles. There are floral motifs: leaves, flowers, vines, wreaths, and vases filled with incredibly ornate, ever-spreading, ever-germinating greenery. There are intricate geometric patterns: Greek frets, interlocking circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, rococo extravagances, curlicues beyond description. And there are the perennial lions, swans, serpents, heads, hats, helmets, vegetables, innocent waifs, lovers, and healthy, overripe women.From this vivid collection commercial artists, craftspeople, and designers will find numerous designs they can readily use in advertising and graphics work or for their own personal enjoyment. And if you are a lover of Victoriana, grab this book and revel in excess.

    Such truisms as 'form follows function', 'the open plan,' and 'purity of design' are exposed as volatile ideas. The intricately planned, artistically designed components of the Ideal City have divided urban areas into tidy ghettos of culture, education, business, residence...even pornography...alienating individuals and threatening not only the economic futures of our cities, but civilized aspects of life in the West as well.This book calls for the slaughtering of the sacred cows of the Modern Movement, for a moratorium on the destruction of existing buildings and historic landmarks, and for an end to the construction of skyscrapers, new highways in developed nations, and single-use zoning. Blake demands legislation to hold building industries responsible for performance of their products, and a restructuring for performance of their products, and a restructuring of architectural education into something more basic and more human.

    

    J. Coulton examines ancient Greek architecture from the point of view of the practicing architects. He discusses their ideas and technical achievements from the early seventh century B.C. to the first century B.C.Drawing on surviving written evidence from antiquity as well as on the evidence of the buildings themselves, Mr. Coulton provides answers to such questions as: What must it have been like to build a Greek temple? Who did the building? What training was required? How did the Greeks begin? What problems did they face?The first chapter considers the relations of architects to patrons and clients and the role of architects in ancient society generally. Subsequent chapters explore a series of architectural problems and their solutions. In his final chapter Mr. Coulton assesses the architects' techniques and their contributions to structural design, evaluating their theoretical knowledge of mechanics and their practical understanding of structural concepts. Generously illustrated and lucidly written, this volume will appeal to all who are interested in architecture, architectural history, and archaeology.