No comments about Ruins of Ancient Rome: The Drawings of French Architects Who Won the Prix De Rome 1786-1924.

No comments about Gaudi X Gaudi.

No comments about Memory and Architecture.

No comments about Skycar City (MVRDV) (MVRDV).

5 comments about How Buildings Work: The Natural Order of Architecture.

1. The underlying premise of this book is that architecture is an imitation and application of the principles of nature. To build is not merely to impose our will on nature. It is to cooperate with nature.
   
   Shelter is a natural human need. Building is the art of meeting that need. It does so, according to Allen, by following the example of nature herself and applying her principles. An organic analogy runs through the book. Buildings live and breathe. A building, like a human body, is matter so arranged that it interacts dynamically with its environment and thus perpetuates the arrangement. Buildings, however, are highly dependent on human beings, whom they serve. The parts of buildings, e.g., the roofs, walls, windows and mechanical systems must work together with the other parts in such a way as to "survive" but most importantly to provide optimal human shelter. Buildings that outlive their usefulness "die."
   
   My favorite passage from the book is a section entitled "People as the Measure" (pp. 169-171). Drawing on his extensive knowledge of the history of architecture, Allen explains how "people literally became the measure of buildings." For example, the brick... was standardized in medieval times within a range of sizes and weights that could be easily manipulated by the left hand of the mason, leaving the right hand free to operate the trowel." Allen cautions against bulk materials manipulated by machines instead of people: "[T]he finished product will not automatically display the human-scale texture that hand-sized components have and that occupants often subconsciously identify with."
   
   This book was very educational for me, a Ph.D. in philosophy who has left academia to help run a construction business. I highly recommend it to new students of architecture or engineering or anyone who has amateur interest in those fields.



2. This is a book on how buildings are designed. It's not a book on how to design a building, that's the architect's job. It's a book on what the architect is going to do to design the building you want.
   
   The book contains hundreds of line drawings on the components of a building. This is how a wall is built, this is how heat circles around a room, this is how a truss structure holds up the roof, this is how electric power is brought into the house and distributed.
   
   This is not a book on how to design a house, you can put the bedrooms anywhere you want, you can have as many bathrooms as you want. This is the basic design of how the building does its job of providing the walls that make up the bathroom, keep it warm/cool, with water inside but kept where you want it.
   
   I consider this book to be interesting to anyone interested in the subject. I consider this book to be mandatory reading for anyone even thinking about building a house or having one built.



3. I approach this book as someone who likes to walk around old neighborhoods and look at houses. I have collected architectural field guides for years and I can identify most building styles. However, I had little idea how buildings worked.
   
   This book was enjoyable because the writing style was simple and straight to the point. One does not need a technical background to get a lot out of the book. Edward Allen's skillful line illustrations also add a great deal. If I could not understand the technical description, the simple illustration helped me with the underlying principle.
   
   To give you an example of why this book is helpful to a non-specialist. I have heard of septic systems my entire life. However, I had no idea how they worked. With the help of very clear illustrations and straight forward writing, this mystery has been solved. This book is a great introduction to all those interested in architecture. Highly recommended.



4. HOW BUILDINGS WORK is just a great book, even more interesting than Macaulay's THE WAY THINGS WORK. Buildings are everywhere, and most everyone uses buildings of various kinds for various purposes. Yet how a building works is often a mystery. In this way, I think buildings are much like computers; most people who use them have no clue about the inner workings of them.

   Edward Allen takes us through the functions of a building without going into traditional architectural theory. This book is more concerned with the needs that buildings must fulfill, and how we can fulfull them. He discusses water, waste, heat, ventilation, lighting, accoustics, energy, structure, and more, first by explaining each particular concept, and then by examining how problems can be solved with the knowledge of those concepts.

   While this isn't a book on theory, neither is it a wholly practical book. That is, it won't equip you with the skills to go and build a house. But it will open your eyes to the various elements of buildings and building construction and you may think "Aha!" the next time you look at a building and observe a strange structural or design detail. You don't have to be an architecture freak to enjoy the book either. You just need to be curious.




5. I practice and teach architecture. This is the best book I have ever found for communicating material essential for the study of building science and architecture. The presentation style is frendly and informative. The knowledge of the subject displayed by Edward Allen is superb. I am a unashamed book-a-holic, if I could only take one book to the proverbial desert island - How Buildings Work would be it.

2 comments about Observations for Young Architects.

1. In 200 pages or so and generously illustrated with photographs of his work, Cesar Pelli had summed up a lifetime of his own architectural insights. His thoughts are very pragmatic with a careful balance of theoretical insights. This book really shows how architecture should connect to our past, our present culture, and to our future. It reveals his design process and the way he envisions, plans, and designs his projects. It talks about how materials are related to architecture.

   His thoughts are incisive and demonstrate the importance of clear thinking in architectural work. In many ways, his book does not deal with all the academic architectural mumble jumble out there. It shows a very useful path for all "students" of architecture. I really wish more architects would write books like this one. Thanks Mr. Pelli!




2. I found this book to be very insightful. In this book, Pelli says there are 8 "connections" that influence architecture: time, construction, place, purpose, culture, design process, constituency, and oneself. In each section of the book he goes into each in depth. Reading the book almost makes you feel like Cesar Pelli himself is actually teaching you about the profession of architecture.

1 comments about The Struggle for Modernism: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and City Planning at Harvard.

1. Modernism in architecture is so closely identified with a handful of hero figures (like Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe) that we often forget that the real story behind its development is a complex and contentious one. In this wonderful and much-needed book, Anthony Alofsin deftly illustrates that the arrival of European architects in the U.S. in the 1930s cast a shadow over emerging progressive trends in American architectural design and education. At Harvard in particular, this led to an amnesia that convinced students and professors alike that it was Gropius who brought modern ideas to the Graduate School of Design when he began teaching there in 1937. "The Struggle for Modernism" shows clearly, though, that the kernels of these modern ideas were present in the Harvard design programs from their beginnings in 1900. It was not from the Bauhaus that Harvard developed its interdisciplinary approach to design that insisted on collaboration amongst architects, landscape architects, and city planners. Instead, it was Americans like Herbert Langford Warren, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., George Harold Edgell, and, most importantly, Joseph Hudnut who over decades created the influential and rigorous design programs. This is a fascinating and most welcome book that sheds much new light on a subject that many have incorrectly assumed was already well-understood. Highly recommended.

1 comments about Interior Design Practicum Exam Workbook, Second Edition.

1. do not waste your money on this book-as you will notice it is only 66 pages, and there is little here to help you. The study guide for the test is better.

No comments about Project Zagreb: Transition as Condition, Strategy, Practice.

No comments about Space Fighter.