Have you ever wondered what the difference is between Gothic and Gothic Revival, or how to distinguish between Baroque and Neoclassical? This guide makes extensive use of photographs to identify and explain the characteristic features of nearly 300 buildings. The result is a clear and easy-to-navigate guide to identifying the key styles of western architecture from the classical age to the present day.
How to Read Buildings is a practical primer to looking at architecture and all the elements that are included in buildings, from cornices and friezes to columns and porticos - all facets of buildings are included. Each chapter takes an architectural element and looks at its variety across various historical periods and geographical locations. Examples are shown through dozens of fine engravings with extended captions, creating a dip-in read and an effective I-Spy guide. Additional sections look at the clues offerred by history, geography and religion (with a timeline showing how and where architectural elements have been introduced), and at the significance of the ornaments.
A compact and useful guide, filled with detailed drawings, to help put a date on the variety of buildings one sees when travelling through Britain. This guide covers an immense range of structures and styles from 1500 to 1950. In addition, it includes a glossary of architectural terms and a historical time chart. This book will prove an invaluable
America has an abundance of fascinating and varied house styles, as fascinating and diverse as its people. This unique book will allow readers to recognize the architectural features and style of virtually any house they encounter.
This beautiful book explores the development of architecture around the world from the ancient civilisations of Egypt and the Near East through the Industrial Revolution. It presents a diverse series of building styles and architectural detailing which will fascinate and delight everyone who is interested in buildings and how they have developed over the years. The book is illustrated with drawings and beautifully detailed engraved plates. Most of these are from early sources, and their extended captions provide a comprehensive naming of architectural elements. The captions are also a useful guide to architectural terminology. The book is a must for anyone interested in the story of architecture.
Create your dream home with this valuable resource to inspire you and guide you through the residential design and construction process. A complete and concise resource for building a fine home, Creating Your Architectural Style presents detailed explanations of the design process, guiding readers from the initial concept to the finishing touches. Filled with beautiful photographs, this reference will enable readers to design a dream home that is an expression of their personal style as well as their lifestyle. Architect George D. Hopkins, Jr., understanding the daunting task of building a new home, walks the reader through each phase of the design and construction process. Step by step, this reference will help readers solve any number of vexing questions, from “Where do I begin?” to “What is the difference between Greek Revival and Dutch Colonial?” Hopkins teaches readers how to make decisions based on their family’s needs, explores the relationship between the architectural style and the floor plan of the home, and defines the roles and responsibilities of the architect, structural engineer, interior designer, landscape architect, and general contractor. He provides important insight into planning the principle spaces in a home and describes special architectural features from fireplaces to staircases and porticos to pools. Creating Your Architectural Style is the authoritative resource for coordinating the planning and design of fine homes. Written to eliminate the intimidating aspects of building a new home, it presents an orderly design process and addresses issues of concern to residential architectural clients. Praise for Creating Your Architectural Style “Especially helpful are his definitions of the responsibilities of the professionals involved, from architect to general contractor.” —Library Journal
Have you ever been intrigued by a beautiful building and wondered when it was built? Identifying American Architecture provides the answer to such questions in a concise handbook perfect for preservationists, architects, students, and tourists alike. With 214 photographs, it allows readers to associate real buildings with architectural styles, elements, and orders. Identifying American Architecture was designed to be used--carried about and kept handy for frequent reference. Every photograph is keyed to an explanatory legend pointing out characteristic features of each building's style. Trade bookstores order from W.W. Norton, NY
Hubsch's argument that the technical progress and changed living habits of the nineteenth century rendered neoclassical principles antiquated is presented here along with responses to his essay by architects, historians, and critics over two decades.
Winner of the Historic New England Book Prize (2009) Winner of the Henry-Russell Hitchcock Book Award (2010) Henry Austin's (1804–1891) works receive consideration in books on nineteenth-century architecture, yet no book has focused scholarly attention on his primary achievements in New Haven, Connecticut, in Portland, Maine, and elsewhere. Austin was most active during the antebellum era, designing exotic buildings that have captured the imaginations of many for decades. James F. O'Gorman deftly documents Austin's work during the 1840s and '50s, the time when Austin was most productive and creative, and for which a wealth of material exists. The book is organized according to various building types: domestic, ecclesiastic, public, and commercial. O'Gorman helps to clarify what buildings should be attributed to the architect and comments on the various styles that went into his eclectic designs. Henry Austin is lavishly illustrated with 132 illustrations, including 32 in full color. Three extensive appendices provide valuable information on Austin's books, drawings, and his office.
In the nineteenth-century paradigm of architectural organicism, the notion that buildings possessed character provided architects with a lens for relating the buildings they designed to the populations they served. Advances in scientific race theory enabled designers to think of “race” and “style” as manifestations of natural law: just as biological processes seemed to inherently regulate the racial characters that made humans a perfect fit for their geographical contexts, architectural characters became a rational product of design. Parallels between racial and architectural characters provided a rationalist model of design that fashioned some of the most influential national building styles of the past, from the pioneering concepts of French structural rationalism and German tectonic theory to the nationalist associations of the Chicago Style, the Prairie Style, and the International Style. In Building Character, Charles Davis traces the racial charge of the architectural writings of five modern theorists—Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, Gottfried Semper, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and William Lescaze—to highlight the social, political, and historical significance of the spatial, structural, and ornamental elements of modern architectural styles.
