The Modern Plasterer
The Modern Plasterer

Author: W Verrall

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-10-15

Total Pages: 509

ISBN-13: 1317741986

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In 1999 Donhead re-published William Millar's 'plastering bible', "Plastering Plain and Decorative", in response to the current shortage of material on traditional plastering techniques. The success of this title has now encouraged the re-publication of Verrall's own classic work on plastering. "The Modern Plasterer" combines his two volumes in one book and provides an invaluable source of information, not only for plasterers but also for designers and specifiers who want to understand plastering methods and materials better. Verrall's book starts at a basic level then progresses to more complex work and provides copious drawings and diagrams to illustrate the material. He presents detailed information on the characteristics of different plaster and their uses, the varieties of lathing available and how to apply and finish flat lime plaster. It also explains how to set up and run different types of mouldings, the casting of mouldings and uses of fibrous plaster. The new Introduction to this edition states 'Whereas Mr Millar's book assumes a certain amount of existing experience and understanding, Verrall starts at a level which is more akin to the understanding of the modern reader. This really is, therefore, an excellent reference book for anyone wanting to rediscover and learn about traditional plastering'.

Technics and Civilization
Technics and Civilization

Author: Lewis Mumford

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-10-30

Total Pages: 524

ISBN-13: 0226550273

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Technics and Civilization first presented its compelling history of the machine and critical study of its effects on civilization in 1934—before television, the personal computer, and the Internet even appeared on our periphery. Drawing upon art, science, philosophy, and the history of culture, Lewis Mumford explained the origin of the machine age and traced its social results, asserting that the development of modern technology had its roots in the Middle Ages rather than the Industrial Revolution. Mumford sagely argued that it was the moral, economic, and political choices we made, not the machines that we used, that determined our then industrially driven economy. Equal parts powerful history and polemic criticism, Technics and Civilization was the first comprehensive attempt in English to portray the development of the machine age over the last thousand years—and to predict the pull the technological still holds over us today. “The questions posed in the first paragraph of Technics and Civilization still deserve our attention, nearly three quarters of a century after they were written.”—Journal of Technology and Culture

Flexible Housing
Flexible Housing

Author: Jeremy Till

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-09-19

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 1315393565

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Flexible housing is housing that can adjust to the changing needs of the user and accommodate new technologies as they emerge. Flexible Housing by Jeremy Till and Tatjana Schneider examines the past, present and future of this important subject through over 160 international examples. Specially commissioned plans, printed to scale, together with over 200 illustrations and diagrams provide fascinating detail and allow direct visual comparisons to be made. Combining history, theory and design the book explains the social and economic benefits that can be achieved and shows the various ways it has been and can be delivered. The book ends with an accessible guide to how flexible housing might be designed and constructed today to achieve adaptable and ultimately sustainable buildings. Housing designers, housing managers and students of architecture, construction and housing will find this book of immense value both as a comprehensive reference and design manual.

The Social Structures of the Economy
The Social Structures of the Economy

Author: Pierre Bourdieu

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-03-10

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 0745681654

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Much orthodox economic theory is based on assumptions which are treated as self-evident: supply and demand are regarded as independent entities, the individual is assumed to be a rational agent who knows his interests and how to make decisions corresponding to them, and so on. But one has only to examine an economic transaction closely, as Pierre Bourdieu does here for the buying and selling of houses, to see that these abstract assumptions cannot explain what happens in reality. As Bourdieu shows, the market is constructed by the state, which can decide, for example, whether to promote private housing or collective provision. And the individuals involved in the transaction are immersed in symbolic constructions which constitute, in a strong sense, the value of houses, neighbourhoods and towns. The abstract and illusory nature of the assumptions of orthodox economic theory has been criticised by some economists, but Bourdieu argues that we must go further. Supply, demand, the market and even the buyer and seller are products of a process of social construction, and so-called ‘economic' processes can be adequately described only by calling on sociological methods. Instead of seeing the two disciplines in antagonistic terms, it is time to recognize that sociology and economics are in fact part of a single discipline, the object of which is the analysis of social facts, of which economic transactions are in the end merely one aspect. This brilliant study by the most original sociologist of post-war France will be essential reading for students and scholars of sociology, economics, anthropology and related disciplines.