The Idea of Building: Thought and Action in the Design and Production of Buildings

by Groak,Steven

• ISBN13: 9780419178309
• ISBN10: 0419178309
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1990-12-31
• Publisher: Taylor & Franci

Summary

This book is unique in its attempt to explore the many ways we have of thinking about buildings. In particular it raises questions about the kinds of knowledge we have and will need in designing, making and enjoying our buildings. At the very least this book provides an overview of the fragmented construction industry, making it a vital purchase for all construction related students. However, the author has written for a wider audience making the book an essential guide for those interested in the form of buildings or the deliberate ways in which people build them.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Foreword	p. xv
Preliminaries	p. 1
The Flight from Equilibrium	p. 13
Buildings as Unstable Systems in Dynamic Environments	p. 15
Flows of Matter and Energy	p. 21
Uncertainty in the Industrial Environment	p. 41
The Decline of Technical Precedent	p. 47
The Social Demand for Buildings	p. 51
Interlude: Thin Cities 4	p. 59
Some Polemical Remarks	p. 61
Building Knowledge and Building Experience	p. 65
Historical Concepts of Building Science	p. 67
Further Reading	p. 73
The Analysis of Sensations	p. 75
The Analysis of Energy	p. 89
Building Engineering	p. 93
Building Pathology and Its Lessons	p. 105
Further Reading	p. 112
Intelligent Buildings and Intelligent Sites	p. 113
Further Reading	p. 120
The Building Process	p. 121
Systems and Conventions	p. 131
Further Reading	p. 136
What Industry Follows Function?	p. 137
Representation and Regularity	p. 149
Further Reading	p. 160
Technology Transfer	p. 163
Who Is the Builder?	p. 173
Further Reading	p. 176
The Idea of Technology, and Its Critics	p. 177
Another Critical Position	p. 185
The Typical Detail	p. 187
Further Reading	p. 189
Building Details in Structure and Form	p. 191
Further Reading	p. 206
The Buildings of Alvar Aalto	p. 207
Inconclusion	p. 237
Author Index	p. 239
Subject Index	p. 243
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.