Mechanical and Architectural Design: Architecture Books

Focusing on architecture from all regions of the world, this three-volume set profiles the twentieth century's vast chronicle of architectural achievements, both within and well beyond the theoretical confines of modernism. Unlike existing works, this encyclopedia examines the complexities of rapidly changing global conditions that have dispersed modern architectural types, movements, styles, and building practices across traditional geographic and cultural boundaries.

This engaging book uses buildings and structures as a lens through which to explore various strands of U.S. social history, revealing the connections between architecture and the cultural, economic, and political events before and during these American landmarks' construction. Buildings and Landmarks of 20th- and 21st-Century America: American Society Revealed documents how the construction, design, and function of famous buildings and structures can inform our understanding of societies of the past. Its text and images enable readers to get a deeper understanding of the buildings themselves as well as what happened at each structure's location and how those events fit into our nation's history.

A magnificent collection of the world's greatest buildings, ancient and modern. Architectural Excellence is organized chronologically and serves as a visual lesson in architecture through the ages. The buildings featured come from all over the world and include centers of worship, public buildings, places of business and homes. Each building includes a photograph, with a double-page spread for the top 50 selections. Captions provide specifications and brief histories. Beginning with a prehistoric cave dwelling in Turkey and continuing to the 21st century, this magnificent book shows buildings that reflect human imagination, engineering skill and determination. Includes the Parthenon, St. Basil's Cathedral, and Grand Central Station.

For readers interested in architecture and design that demonstrates how the construction, form, and function of key structures in the 19th-century influenced American social, political, economic, and intellectual life. Buildings and Landmarks of 19th-Century America: American Society Revealed examines homes, office buildings, recreational spaces, military sites, religious buildings, and other landmarks in a variety of geographical locations, discussing the background, architecture, and cultural significance of each. Each engaging, accessible entry not only provides readers detailed information about how the landmark relates to what was going on in American society at the time of its construction.

Of all building types, the skyscraper strikes observers as the most modern, in terms not only of height but also of boldness, scale, ingenuity, and daring. As a phenomenon born in late nineteenth-century America, it quickly became emblematic of New York, Chicago, and other major cities. Previous studies of these structures have tended to foreground examples of more evincing modernist approaches, while those with styles reminiscent of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe were initially disparaged as being antimodernist or were simply unacknowledged. Skyscraper Gothic brings together a group of renowned scholars to address the medievalist skyscraper?from flying buttresses to dizzying spires; from the Chicago Tribune Tower to the Woolworth Building in Manhattan. Drawing on archival evidence and period texts to uncover the ways in which patrons and architects came to understand the Gothic as a historic style, the authors explore what the appearance of Gothic forms on radically new buildings meant urbanistically, architecturally, and socially, not only for those who were involved in the actual conceptualization and execution of the projects but also for the critics and the general public who saw the buildings take shape.

Chicago's architecture attracts visitors from around the globe. The fourth edition of the AIA Guide to Chicago is the best portable resource for exploring this most breathtaking and dynamic of cityscapes. The editors offer entries on new destinations like the Riverwalk, the St. Regis Chicago, and The 606 as well as updated descriptions of Willis Tower and other refreshed landmarks. Thirty-four maps and over 500 photos make it easy to find each of the almost 2000 featured sites. A special insert, new to this edition, showcases the variety of Chicago architecture with over 80 full-color images arranged chronologically. A comprehensive index organizes entries by name and architect. Sumptuously detailed and user friendly, the AIA Guide to Chicago encourages travelers and residents alike to explore the many diverse neighborhoods of one of the world's great architectural destinations.

Thomas Leslie's book views the skyscraper idea, and the buildings themselves, within the broad expanse of city history. As construction emerged from the Great Depression, structural, mechanical, and cladding innovations evolved while continuing to influence designs. But the truly radical changes concerned the motivations that drove construction. While profit remained key in the Loop, developers elsewhere in Chicago worked with a Daley political regime that saw tall buildings as tools for a wholesale recasting of the city's appearance, demography, and economy. Focusing on both the wider cityscape and specific buildings, Leslie reveals skyscrapers to be the physical results of negotiations between motivating and mechanical causes.

Chicago in Stone and Clay explores the interplay between the city's most architecturally significant sites, the materials they're made of, and the sediments and bedrock they are anchored in. Unlike most geology and architecture books, Chicago in Stone and Clay is written in the informal, accessible style of a natural history tour guide, humanizing the science for the nonspecialist reader.

Published in collaboration with the Chicago Architecture Center, this easy-to-use guide invites you to discover the new era of twenty-first-century architecture in the Windy City via two hundred architecturally significant buildings and spaces in the city and suburbs.

Buildings provide tremendous insights into the character of imperialism, not least in the manner in which Western forms were spread across the globe. They reveal the projection of power and authority in colonised landscapes, as well the economic ambitions and social and cultural needs of colonial peoples in all types of colonies. They also represent a colonial order of social classes and racial divisions, together with the ways in which these were inflected through domestic living space, places of work and various aspects of cultural relations. They illuminate the desires of Europeans to indulge in cultural and religious proselytisation, encouraging indigenous peoples to adopt western norms. But the resistance of the supposedly subordinate people led to the invasion, adoption and adaptation of such buildings for a post-colonial world. The book will be vital reading for all students and scholars interested in the widest aspects of material culture.

The first detailed study of "Neo-Antique" architecture applies an archaeological lens to the study of New York City's structures Since the city's inception, New Yorkers have deliberately and purposefully engaged with ancient architecture to design and erect many of its most iconic buildings and monuments, including Grand Central Terminal and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch in Brooklyn, as well as forgotten gems such as Snug Harbor on Staten Island and the Gould Memorial Library in the Bronx. Antiquity in Gotham interprets the various ways ancient architecture was re-conceived in New York City from the eighteenth century to the early twenty-first century. Antiquity in Gotham explores how ancient architecture communicated the political ideals of the new republic through the adaptation of Greek and Roman architecture, how Egyptian temples conveyed the city's new technological achievements, and how the ancient Near East served many artistic masters, decorating the interiors of glitzy Gilded Age restaurants and the tops of skyscrapers. This fundamentally interdisciplinary project draws upon all available evidence and archival materials--such as the letters and memos of architects and their patrons, and the commentary in contemporary newspapers and magazines--to provide a lively multi-dimensional analysis that examines not only the city's ancient buildings and rooms themselves but also how New Yorkers envisaged them, lived in them, talked about them, and reacted to them.

A comprehensive guide to Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings open to the public--with travel itineraries and information on seventy-four sites. Frank Lloyd Wright's groundbreaking designs, innovative construction techniques, and inviting interiors continue to astound and inspire generations of architects and design aficionados. Covering all the publicly accessible sites across the United States--plus four in Japan--Wright Sites describes the design ideas and history behind each building. The volume also includes suggested destination itineraries for Wright road trips, a list of archives, and a selected bibliography. Features up to date descriptions and access information, and new color photographs of each site.

Principle of Reinforced Concrete introduces the main properties of structural concrete and its mechanical behavior under various conditions as well as all aspects of the combined function of reinforcement and concrete. After examining the basic principle and analysis method of reinforced concrete, the book covers some extreme circumstances, including fatigue load, earthquake, explosion, high temperature (fire accident), and durability damage, and the special responses and analysis methods of its member under these conditions.

This book covers the impact of sustainable masonry on the environment, touting the many benefits of utilizing local and/or low embodied energy materials in the construction of sustainable buildings.

Understanding Steel Design is based on an overall approach to understand how to design and build with steel from the perspective of its architectural applications. Hundreds of steel structures have been observed, analyzed and appraised for this book. In-depth construction photographs by the author are complemented by technical illustrations created to look more closely at systems and details. Drawings supplied by fabricators allow greater insight into a method of working with current digital drawing tools.

Tall wood buildings have been at the foreground of innovative building practice in urban contexts for a number of years. From London to Stockholm, from Vancouver to Melbourne timber buildings of up to 20 storeys have been built, are under construction or being considered. This dynamic trend was enabled by developments in the material itself, prefabrication and more flexibility in fire regulations. The low CO2 footprint of wood - often regionally sourced - is another strong argument in its favour. This publication explains the typical construction types such as panel systems, frame and hybrid systems. An international selection of 13 case studies is documented in detail with many specially prepared construction drawings, demonstrating the range of the technology.

This book focuses on the basic materials and methods used in building construction including light wood frame, masonry bearing wall, steel frame, and reinforced concrete construction.