Book Description

Computer-aided design (CAD) technology has already changed the practice of architecture, and it has the potential to change it even more radically. With Architecture's New Media, Yehuda Kalay offers a comprehensive exposition of the principles, methods, and practices that underlie architectural computing. He discusses the aspects of information technology that are pertinent to architectural design, analyzes the benefits and drawbacks of particular computational methods, and looks at the potential of emerging computational techniques to affect the future of architectural design.

CAD technology, introduced in the postwar era and adopted in everyday architectural practice beginning in the 1970s, is now so indispensable that, as William Mitchell observes in his foreword, architectural practice without it is "as unimaginable as writing without a word processor." Yet, Kalay argues, it has had little qualitative effect. This book provides a detailed introduction for practitioners, educators, students, and researchers to aspects of CAD that go beyond the improvements in drafting, modeling, and rendering for which it is commonly used. Computer-aided architectural design (CAAD) is capable of modeling and manipulating objects (not merely their graphical representations), reasoning about and predicting performance of design solutions, generating new design solutions through algorithmic and other methods, managing vast amounts of information, and taking advantage of opportunities offered by the Internet for collaboration across time and space and for design of the virtual "space" of the Internet itself.

Architecture's New Media covers five main topics: design methods and computer technology and the relationship between computers and design; the principles of communication and representation; generative design methods; the advantages of computational methods for predicting and evaluating the performance of design solutions; and current and future developments in technology, including collaborative design, intelligent design assistants, construction automation, and virtual design environments. ... Read more

Book Description

Covering the full life span of the project, from siting issues through specific design features to maintenance of the property and equipment, this is a comprehensive guide to designing, planning and building a solar house.

The author uses his experience of living in a solar house to inform the reader of the technology and practices needed for the design, operation and maintenance of the solar home. Each of the technologies of the house, such as space heating and cooling, domestic hot water and electric power technologies, are critiqued from the point of view of the owner/resident, with the author using his thirty years experience of living in a solar home. This provides home owners who are thinking of going solar with first hand evidence of best practice, and provides the architect and designer with the knowledge of how to best satisfy their clients needs.

* Provides essential information for the solar designer and contractor
* Gives an insight into the authors experience of living in a solar house to advise on best practice
* Informs about the latest technology and methods for maintenance of the solar home ... Read more

Book Description

"Green Development is good for business. Tenants, owners, purchasers, and brokers are all becoming more sophisticated and are realizing the financial and social benefits of green product." --Gerald Hines, Chairman of Hines.

Environmentally responsible real estate development makes dollars and sense. Green Development describes an exciting new field in which environmental considerations are viewed as opportunities to create fundamentally better buildings and communities--more comfortable, more efficient, more appealing, and ultimately more profitable.

If you're a developer, architect, planner, contractor, lender, or city official, this book speaks your language. Every stage of the development process is examined in detail: market research, site planning, design, approvals, financing, construction, marketing, and occupancy. Also included are lists of project statistics and contacts, books and other information sources, and development strategies.

Based on 80 case studies drawn from Rocky Mountain Institute's extensive worldwide research and consulting work, Green Development distills proven procedures and practical lessons that work in the real world. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Throughly presents sustainable land development
This book throughly presents sustainable real estate development. It answers the basic questions of how, what, when, why and who with text and photos illustrating numerous case studies.

It is written for a wide and concerned audience, composed of real estate professionals, financiers and designers. This book is not technical. It is a conceptual book and guides the reader toward sustainable solutions.

This subject is very large and this book is necessarily a summary, which includes recent projects.

This book does not "preach to the choir". It addresses difficult obstacles to the sustainable development paradigm and provides workable solutions.
... Read more

Book Description

Double-skin facades open up new possibilities for clients and planners seeking creative new designs that are intelligently adapted to environmental conditions.This publication is the first to give a comprehensive treatment of the subject, providing both a theoretical framework for the use of this type of construction and numerous illustrations of practical examples. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

My Bible
This book gives you the fundamentals about every aspects around double skin facades. If you are interested in double skin , you have to read this, I did.

Professionals only
This is an engineering book for highly paid construction professionals. Not for idly paging through, despite its attractive, even stylish, execution (although my copy's hard cover was printed upside-down). Only commercial architecture; only buildings in Germany. ... Read more

Book Description

This completely updated third edition is an essential design guide for those responsible for designing and providing new stadia and also making major alterations to existing buildings. Stadia are one of the most exciting building types; designed well, they can enhance and provide a comfortable venue for great occasions. One new chapter for this edition - 'Stadia and Tourism' looks at this modern, very interesting aspect of stadia.




This authoritative and comprehensive guide to stadia design will be invaluable to those responsible for the provision of new stadia or refurbishment. Both authors have been involved in the design of stadia, arenas and grandstands for many years and this book reflects their wealth of experience and expertise.

* Learn from the knowledge of this well-known author team: Rod Sheard is Senior Vice President of HOK + LOBB Sport, Leisure and Entertainment Architects
* International appeal, worldwide case studies, including the new Wembley
* Highly illustrated, covering all technical aspects in detail, includes a section on 'Stadia and Tourism' ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Super
I like going out to the ballpark and looking at the ballpark itself. I like finding the stats about it. What things there are to do. And how it was designed. This book gave me wonderful ideas on how to design my own stadium. I recomend this book to anyone.

Possibly the best architectural look at stadiums available!
Definitely one of my favorite books on the shelf. STADIA provides a unique, not seen before look at the architectural structures of todays sports stadiums. Fun to read over and back and around again. Gives ideas that provide a basis for drawings and blueprints. ... Read more

Book Description

Profiling more than 30 houses constructed on especially tricky sites, this book is a highly practical and instructive sourcebook following each step of the design and construction process. Projects include everything from cliffside homes that seem to hover in thin air and houses set on dramatically sloped plots to tiny, oddly shaped plots. A particular emphasis is placed on the engineering techniques, construction processes, and materials employed to pull off these architectural acrobatics.

Arian Mostaedi is a successful architect who has authored more than 20 books, including The American House Today (8489861374). ... Read more

Book Description

For years, architects have enjoyed the challenge of incorporating lightweight structures -- fabrics, tents, canopies, membranes, and so on -- into their designs.Such materials are a welcome boon to architectural creativity, allowing designers to envision spaces that take innovative shapes and interact with their surroundings in ways unattainable with conventional materials. Recent years have seen an increase in the use of such structures, in part because advances in computer technology have made it easier to render and model such projects, and in part because such structures are ideally suited to today's increasing concerns about environmentalism and sustainability.

The Magic of Tents showcases innovative uses of lightweight, tented structures from across the United States and around the world -- from an Arizona school to an Istanbul bank, from a Miami nightclub on the beach to a private home in Germany, from corporate headquarters in Los Angeles to offices in Oslo, and many more! The book features both residential and commercial projects, projects with both exterior and interior usages, projects where the tented element is the driving component of the design, and projects that incorporate lightweight structures to accent or address a specific need.

Endlessly flexible, nurturing of creativity, cost -- and energy-conscious, tented structures are an ideal means to address many concerns of modern architecture -- a creative means to not only define space, but also to transform it into something to meet all sorts of design needs, for projects both grand and small.

Book Description

With its promise of environmental symbiosis, the idea of the organic is re-emerging currently across many fields of science, technology and design.

The Organic Approach to Architecture is a multi-disciplinary investigation of emerging forms in the context of ecology, social and physical infrastructures, and electronic technologies. It brings together renowned figures from the fields of architecture, engineering, mathematics, computer graphics, biology and critical theory to share their investigations related to the production and perception of space. Drawn from a symposium organised by the editors Deborah Gans and Zehra Kuz, the chapters and panel discussions address topical issues of genetic technologies, cyber and geometric morphing, environmentalism, landscape and infrastructure.

Through the challenge to construct a common language, the contributors weave together a discourse of broad appeal to many audiences simultaneously and cut a section through a moment of culture. ... Read more

Book Description

This unique book discusses programming, design and building evaluation providing a joined up approach to building design. By linking the functional and architectonic qualities of a building, the authors show the practical implications of the utility value of buildings.
Starting by looking at how the relationship between form and function has been dealt with by different approaches to architecture from a historical perspective, it goes on to discuss how the desired functional quality and utility value of a building can be expressed in a brief and given a physical form by the architect. Finally, it advises on how to carry out post-occupancy evaluation and provides the architect with methods and techniques for testing whether the intended utility value of a building has been achieved.

* Learn to fully understand the relationship between function and form.
* Discover the link between design methodology and research and their impact on the design brief.
* Discover how to evaluate buildings and apply the findings to future designs. ... Read more

Book Description

Reflecting vital changes in the uniform Building Code, the MSJC Code, and ASTM standards, as well as the latest insight into evolving materials, systems, and technology, the Fourth Edition is a current, hands-on guide that illuminates every important aspect of masonry, from all types of wall systems to material specs to building code compliance. Included is new information on mortar selection, flashing materials, seismic anchors, CMU retaining wall system recycling and sustainability, construction submittals, uniform Building Code and MSJC Masonry Code requirements, and much more. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Not technical enough
As the previous reviewer, I also am a structural engineer and have not found the book to be very useful for my line of work. It does have some nice details and empirical information that would probably be useful for architects and contractors.

Great for Architects, not so great for Engineers
I found the masonry details to be very good in showing how a masonry building goes together and as such would be very good for Architects and Contractors. However, as a Structural Engineer I was looking for a book with more detail regarding the design methods and equations. I was looking for a book that would teach a beginning engineer the basics of masonry design. After the engineer had mastered the basics and could design a masonry building using the equations then, with that understanding and experience, could make use of the design tables in this book.

We have this book in our library and I can say that it is seldom used. We design masonry buildings using hand calculations, the UBC and computer programs.

Bottom line is that this book is great for Architects and Contractors building small masonry structures. It is not as useful for the serious Structural engineer. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the standard design guide on schools architecture, providing vital information on school architecture.

Mark Dudek views school building design as a particularly specialised field encompassing ever changing educational theories, the subtle spatial and psychological requirements of growing children and practical issues that are unique to these types of building.

He explores the functional requirements of individual spaces, such as classrooms, and shows how their incorporation within a single institution area are a defining characteristic of the effective educational environment.





Acoustics, impact damage, the functional differentiation of spaces such as classrooms, music rooms, craft activities and gymnasium, within a single institution are all dealt with. More esoteric factors such as the effects on behaviour of colour, light, surface texture and imagery are considered in addition to the more practical aspects of designing for comfort and health.

Chapter 4 comprises 20 case studies which address those issues important in the creation of modern school settings. They are state of the art examples from all parts of the world. These examples include: Pokstown Down Primary, Bournemouth; Haute Vallee School, Jersey; Heinz-Galinski School, Berlin; Anne Frank School, Papendract, Netherlands; Seabird Island School, British Columbia and The Little Village Academy, Chicago.

*Provides a detailed design guide on schools and sets the standard for future design

*International and well-illustrated case studies show the theory put into practice ... Read more

Book Description

Ideal for those who have been commissioned, or are in competition, who want to learn about the very latest developments and trends in the area. New introductions to each section focus the remit of the book and make it a complete and comprehensive guide to the topic.

* Learn about the current and future developments in the field from the authority on portable architecture
* Understand the technology behind a wide range high profile projects from the Liebeskind exhibition space in London to the NASA inflatable airlock
* Highly illustrated to give full coverage of all the technical aspects in detail ... Read more

Book Description

When construction managers need to talk about the specifics of a construction job – where the electrical outlets need to go, when the framing will be completed, how a plumbing problem will be solved – they need to be able to communicate clearly and effectively with workers. That task gets considerably more difficult when managers and workers are speaking in different languages. More than simple dictionary terms or phrases, managers need a tool for understanding the basics of the language their workers use – a resource that lets them communicate the myriad of questions, issues, schedules, and tasks that come up on a construction job. Learning Construction Spanglish is exactly the tool they need.This book offers up: • Communication tools –a method for understanding the basics of Spanglish – not just dictionary terms. • Practical, useful on-the-job terms andphrases. • Logical organization that makes info fast and easy to find. • Both English/Spanish and Spanish/English glossaries. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

problems with solutions
What I enjoy most about Mr. Wells' books is his optimism. In Recovering America he first sets out and documents the environmental destruction of current building practices with photos taken from heliocopters. Yet this isn't a book stuck on just what's been destoyed. Each set of pictures showing paved over land is followed by either real life examples of a better, greener alternative or a water color print of forest life restored. In order for humanity to live in harmony with nature, I'd argue visionary ideas like the one contained in this book are essential to spurring society to change.

Recovering America
the latest book in Malcolm's many wonderful books is great. He is a great illustrator and writer especially his hand written text. I use this book as an introduction to all of my classes in sustainable architecture that I teach from middle school to university. It is clear, concise and addresses the issue of green spaces vs. urban evolution of the built environment. it is a quick read, very profound in its statement and makes a nice addition to the library. ... Read more

Book Description

A comprehensive approach to building-related deterioration and intervention
This essential technical reference gives building professionals the knowledge and tools they need to better diagnose building-related deterioration, identify sound treatment options and solutions, and design to minimize performance problems on new projects. Combining a clear and accessible explanation of the principles and mechanisms of building deterioration with coverage of a broad array of intervention methods, it is a ready resource for anyone whose work is concerned with improving building performance. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Worthless...... Save Your Money
When I received this book I was shocked that a credible publisher like Wiley accepted it.. It is one of the worst professional books I have ever examined. It is poorly organized, extremely pretentious, and lacks credibility. The usable content could be reduced to a few pages, and much of the book is full of irrelevant formulas and lengthy descriptions of overly simplistic concepts. If the author has any advanced knowledge about building pathology, he isn't sharing it with his readers. I expected this book to be professional reference, but despite its pretensions, this book is very basic. As a registered architect with over 20 years of experience in this field, I found this book completely lacking in basic building pathology topics such as industry-accepted testing procedures, historic building technologies, and standards for building assemblies. There were very few case histories, and the few that were described were very brief, with little in-depth discussion. The book also has an inadequate number of illustrations and photographs. A book like this should have been organized by material type, instead of the strange vertical/horizontal method used. Books produced by the ASTM on this topic are far superior to this one, and should be a starting point for a collection of professional literature on the subject. Preservation books like Martin Weaver's "Conserving Buildings" or the Ashursts' Practical Conservation series are more useful for discussions about traditional details and building materials. Dov Kaminetzky's "Design and Construction Failures" is also a good reference. Alexander Newman's "Structural Renovation of Buildings" also has a good discussion of failure and deterioration mechanisms. Unfortunately "Building Pathology" is not the comprehensive reference book needed for this field.

To the point.
As a practicing architect I like books to get to the point of providing me with usable information that I can apply to projects that I am working on. Sams book not only provides me with a direct approach to building pathology, but provides a usable process of building evaluation that can be applied to problems that arise on many of my restoration, new or rehab projects. A must for every practicioner.

"Where Rot and Rust Doth Corrupt"
This is a 'must read' book for anyone working with, owning, or just caring about older buildings. Harris has the ability to inform and excite both the professional at work as well as the lay person that just needs a better understanding of the deterioration mechanisms in aging buildings. The depth and the clarity of his writing is sufficient to satisfy both needs.

Building Pathology will be a valuable resource in our office. It not only teaches why older materials and systems fail, it encourages the design of current material environments in a way that avoids or delays the necessary and sufficient conditions required for future failures. I expect to make this book required reading for the entire office. ... Read more

Book Description

An ancient practice, weaving has been a part of almost every world culture and has often been applied to human shelter. Today, digital technologies and the military and aerospace industries provide some of the most advanced applications of weaving processes. In this volume, Toshiko Mori and contributors reflect on the relationship between industrialization and civilization, low- and high-tech methods, and ancient and contemporary aesthetics in the use of materials in structures for habitation. They analyze performance requirements such as insulation, waterproofing, ventilation, and structural strength. Exploring both natural fibers from renewable resources (such as grass and banana leaves) and manufactured materials (such as textiles from the aerospace and medical industries), the authors carefully consider the economic and political implications of the use of specific materials. Work by leading advocates of innovative textile use—such as Dai Fujiwara, the inventor of the circular digital weaving method for fashion designer Issey Miyake's APOC (A Piece of Cloth) clothing—is also represented in this volume. 40 color illustrations, 20 in black and white. ... Read more