Exploring architecture : buildings, meaning and making / Eleanor Gawne, Michael Snodin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gawne, Eleanor.

Contributor:

Snodin, Michael.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture.

Physical Description:

192 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 27 cm

Place of Publication:

London : V&A, [2004]

Summary:

Architecture is in all our lives, shaping the world we live in, yet how often do we really look at the buildings that surround us? And how well do we understand them? This book examines the very essence of architecture, opening buildings up to our inspection and revealing what lies behind their design.

Buildings are highly practical, but they are also much more than this. We go to the Sydney Opera House or the Taj Mahal because they are full of beauty and meaning. Architecture is an art, expressing most clearly the values of its age, as in the great cathedrals of the middle ages or the corporate headquarters of today. Buildings work directly on our emotions, filling us with awe or serenity; they also help us to organize our crowded lives. The materials of buildings closely reflect their local environment and their daring technical advances reflect the perennial human desire to beat the force of gravity. Architecture is an expression of our place in the world, our environment and our beliefs.

Lavishly illustrated, this book covers ancient and modern architecture from across the world, in four sections. It looks at the practical uses of buildings and their responses to climate. It looks at architecture as an art, at architectural meaning and at how and why architectural styles have changed over the centuries. It looks at materials and structures and how buildings are designed and made. Finally it looks at the way in which buildings come together in towns and cities, creating a complex built environment.

Based on the unequalled architectural resources of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal Institute of British Architects, this book provides an invaluable key to the understanding of buildings ancient and modern the world over.

Contents:

St Paul's Cathedral / Charles Hind 12

New York City / Eleanor Gawne 18

1 Building for Function / Michael Snodin 22

Sustainable architecture / David Lloyd Jones 34

Traditional and modern houses / Helen Thomas 44

2 The Art of Architecture / Michael Snodin 62

Buildings with meaning / Michael Snodin 70

Style and front doors / Tanishka Kachru 100

3 Creating Buildings / Eleanor Gawne 106

Spanning space / Rob Wilson 112

Changing tools of the design process / Neil Bingham 142

4 Buildings Together / Eleanor Gawne 146

The planned and unplanned: from settlements to cities / Rob Wilson 150

Trafalgar Square: creating the nation's square / Gareth Williams 170.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 186-187) and index.

ISBN:

185177436X

OCLC:

56641293