Architecture For Dummies

by Dietsch, Deborah K.; Stern, Robert A. M.

• ISBN13: 9780764553967
• ISBN10: 0764553968
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-28
• Publisher: For Dummies
• More Book Details

Summary

When is a building just a building and when is it art? This accessible guide cuts through the jargon and clearly explains the essentials of architecture, demystifying the incredible ways in which structures and spaces come alive. You'll gain a real appreciation for architecture and the confidence to talk about it-even to an architect. Just the essential information for readers on the go who want to understand architecture. Covers the highlights of architectural history, from the Great Pyramids to Frank Gehry's Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. Explains how to look at a building and appreciate it. Explains when a building's a building and when it's art. Part of Tens includes Ten Great Architectural Masterpieces, Ten Biggest Architectural and Engineering Failures, Ten of the Most Interesting Architects Working Today, and more.

Author Biography

<B>Debra K. Dietch</B> is an architecture and design critic who writes for major newspapers and magazines. She is the former editor-in-chief of <I>Architecture Magazine</I> and former executive editor of <I>Architecture Record</I>.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xxvii
Introduction	1	(6)
Part I: Knowing and Appreciating Architecture	7	(30)
Knowing When a Building Is Just a Building and When It's Architecture	9	(6)
How to Look at a Building	15	(12)
Building Your Architectural Vocabulary	27	(10)
Part II: Nuts and Bolts: Looking at How Architecture Is Designed and Built	37	(34)
How Buildings Are Born	39	(8)
Just What Do Architects Do, Anyway?	47	(14)
A Simple Structure: How Buildings Stand Up	61	(10)
Part III: Western Architecture: A Survey of the Most Important Structures	71	(122)
Gimme Shelter: Prehistoric Structures and the Ancient World	73	(12)
Acropolis Now: Classical Greece and Rome	85	(14)
Domes, Arches, and Vaults, Oh My: Byzantine and Medieval Architecture	99	(14)
Beauty Meets Mathematics and Drama: From Renaissance to Rococo	113	(14)
Revivals Everywhere: The Classical and Gothic Are New Again	127	(14)
Here Comes the Industrial Age: Prefab Is Here to Stay	141	(8)
Flying High and Close to the Sun: Skyscrapers!	149	(12)
Mother Nature versus the Machines: Modern styles	161	(16)
The Only Constant Is Change: From Modern Purism to Postmodern Pluralism	177	(16)
Part IV: Eastern Architecture: A Survey of the Most Important Structures	193	(32)
China and Japan: Traditions in Wood	195	(10)
More Than the Taj Mahal: Architecture in India	205	(12)
The Islamic World	217	(8)
Part V: Arranging the Present and Saving the Past	225	(28)
Understanding Urban Design	227	(16)
Historic Preservation: Saving the Past for the Future	243	(10)
Part VI: The Part of Tens	253	(34)
The Ten Most Fascinating Architects Working Today	255	(8)
Ten Architectural Masterpieces	263	(8)
Ten Amazing Items of Trivia That'll Impress All Your Friends!	271	(8)
The Top Ten Skyscrapers	279	(8)
Index	287