Product Description
Architectures: Modernism and After surveys the history of the building from the advent of industrialization to the cultural imperatives of the present moment.

• Brings together international art and architectural historians to consider a range of topics that have influenced the shape, profile, and aesthetics of the built environment.
  
• Presents crucial "moments" in the history of the field when the architecture of the past is made to respond to new and changing cultural circumstances.
  
• Provides a view of architectural history as a part of a continuing dialogue between aesthetic criteria and social and cultural imperatives.
  
• Part of the New Interventions in Art History Series, which is published in conjunction with the Association of Art Historians.

Product Description
Jonathan Glancey conducts an inspiring journey through 5,000 years of magnificent buildings, from ancient Sumeria to the spectacular glass-and-steel towers of today's cityscapes. This title presents an unprecedented collection of full-colour photographs, artworks, and plans that creates a memorable story of architecture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Happy, Happy!
Great price for the book, timely delivery, and I even recieved an e-mail from Better World Books make sure that I had recieved my book...good customer service!

Fine introduction.
I was looking for a readable inroduction to varied styles and history of architecture that was jargon free but not overly simplified.This book did the job well.Perhaps Glancey could have provided a bit more text to go along with the beautiful pictures, but he still informs.

Recommended for newcomers or those with an incomplete education in the field of architecture.

excellent (and opinionated) survey
THis is a very, very good introduction to the complexities of architecture, at about the freshman level of college.Starting with the dawn of civilization (in what is now Iraq), Glancey takes the reader on a tour of human history from the angle of what we build to worship, work, and live in.THe basics are covered extremely well, providing a context for further research.

Glancey writes with grace and clarity, dividing each major movement into regular cuts of two pages, each with brilliant images.While this format shoehorns things into categories that are a bit too sharply delineated, that kind of reductionism is a necessity in this kind of survey.In the latter part of the book, some of the distinctions appear artificial, but then we are in a period where no dominating style - you get post-modern, decontructivist, and organic, etc. - has emerged and the author had to make some decisions regarding how to put them in the format.To his credit, Glancey does not ignore the exceptions and quirks.

One thing I enjoyed about the book is that Glancey does not shy away from making strikingly loud judgements, many of which I did not share.Corbusier, he writes, "was the most inventive and poetic architect who ever lived."Now that is strong stuff and I would never have expected it in a routine survey! (While I can respect and understand what Corbusier did, I don't love it like Glancey.)But that is what makes this book more than a run of the mill overview - it adds flavor and stimulates.Also, while international, because Glancey is a Brit, much of it focuses on Britain and contemporary Europe, which provides a valuable contrast to more US-centric views.

Recommended.

Great review
Great book to review the history of architecture, it is concise and well illustrated.

new architecture student
As a freshman architecture student, this book was exactly at my level.The photographs are splendid, and the dialogue informative.This book provides a complete historyof architecture in every area of the world, as well as some theory.Great for anyone truly interested in architecture, but not an expert (yet!) ... Read more

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Modernist architecture claimed to be the "international style" but the relationship between modernism and the new dispositions of nations and nationalities which have succeeded the old European empires remains obscure. This book examines the interactions between modern architecture, imperialism and post-imperialism. Mark Crinson looks at the architecture of the last years of the British Empire, and during its prolonged dissolution and aftermath. Taking a number of case studies from Britain, Ghana, Hong Kong, Iran, India and Malaysia, he investigates the ambitions of the people who commissioned the buildings, the training and role of architects, and the interaction of the architecture and its changing social and cultural contexts. This book raises questions about the nature of modernism and its roles that look far beyond empire and towards the post-imperial. ... Read more

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Modernism in Serbia is the first comprehensive account of an almost forgotten body of work that once defined regional modernism at its best. The book reconstructs the story of Serbian modernism as a local history within a major movement and views the buildings designed in Belgrade in the 1920s and 1930s as part of a larger cultural phenomenon. Because so many of the buildings discussed are disintegrating or have been destroyed or altered beyond recognition, the book serves not only as a documentary and critical study but also as a preservation resource. Most of the photographs and plans have never been published outside of Serbia, if at all.In restoring this work to its rightful place in the history of modern architecture, the book also sheds new light on a number of other stories. These include the influence of Le Corbusier and of the Yugoslav avant-garde movement Zenitism and the impact of international modern movements on the theoretical underpinnings of Serbian modernism. One of the subplots follows the story of the Group of Architects of the Modern Movement in Belgrade and its four founding members, Milan Zlokovic, Branislav Kojic, Jan Dubovy, and Dusan Babic. Through anexamination of their work and that of other modern architects, most notably Dragisa Brasovan and Nikola Dobrovic, the book discusses the identity of Serbian modernism as it was established in the period from 1925 to 1940. The book also identifies those buildings that represent the purest examples of Serbian modernism and analyzes the qualities that make them quintessentially local forms while part of the larger modernist movement.Modernism in Serbia is a copublication of the Harvard Design School and MIT Press. ... Read more

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Last Landscapes explores death and the landscape of the cemetery. The picturesque village churchyard; the tightly packed "historic cities of the dead" such as the Jewish Cemetery in Prague; the war cemeteries of Northern France; the modernism of the Stockholm Woodland Cemetery; the graveyards of North America -- in discussing the history and culture of these architectural expressions of memory and loss, Ken Worpole also -locates the national, religious and romantic attitudes they express. This evocative book, which also examines the contemporary memorialization of artists such as Rachel Whiteread and Ian Hamilton Finlay, contains more than 100 color pictures.

Customer Reviews (1)

Thoughtful and Insightful
For landscape architects, historians and planners, this book is an excellent study of burials and memorials in Western cultures. It helped me see U.S. cemeteries and their art in a greater context. Much of the book discusses how burial/memorial places relate to daily life, and speculates how such places will change along with changes in Western society. ... Read more

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This history of computing focuses not on chronology (what came first and who deserves credit for it) but on the actual architectures of the first machines that made electronic computing a practical reality. The book covers computers built in the United States, Germany, England, and Japan. It makes clear that similar concepts were often pursued simultaneously and that the early researchers explored many architectures beyond the von Neumann architecture that eventually became canonical. The contributors include not only historians but also engineers and computer pioneers.An introductory chapter describes the elements of computer architecture and explains why "being first" is even less interesting for computers than for other areas of technology. The essays contain a remarkable amount of new material, even on well-known machines, and several describe reconstructions of the historic machines. These investigations are of more than simply historical interest, for architectures designed to solve specific problems in the past may suggest new approaches to similar problems in today's machines. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Great Book with a Slow Start
This book resulted from papers presented at the International Conference on the History of Computing in Paderborn, Germany, in August 1998. It is notable for containing first-hand or nearly first-hand accounts of developments in America, England and Germany in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

The first part of the book, unfortunately, could put the reader to sleep and result in even a serious student of the subject never reaching "the good stuff." But once I hit Harry Huskey's paper on page 69, I realized that I was seeing first hand reports with details not previously published. Details on both the Eniac and the IAS computer at Princeton filled a lot of gaps in my knowledge.

The parts of the book dealing with both British and German development shed a lot of light on important developments that are frequently omitted or only superficially covered in many works.

If you have some knowledge of vacuum tube electronics and early computer technology, most of the book will be easily understood.In other words, it's good for old-timers.

Highly recommended!

Absolutely excellent
This is a series of papers stitched into a book, and without exception they are all well written, provide lots of technical detail, and are a joy to read. I highly recommend this book if you have any interest in the history of computing machinery and electronics. The only thing lacking is a story line or a plot - many books will detail the genius of a specific person or technical team (e.g. Seymour Cray, or the Macintosh developers), then take you through each phase of the development and success (or failure) of one or more products. This book, by contrast, is focused on the technical nitty-gritty, and the personalities and financial success/failure of the business is generally ignored.

very technical
This book is very technical, which is exactly what I was looking for.It is filled with architectual diagrams, opcodes, and even code fragments from the earliest computers.Some of these machines even predate World War 2.

The book opens with discussions on the taxonomy of these primordial computers.This section is the weakest part of the book.External references are mentioned, when they should have been described in detail.Another typical problem is on page 8, where a family tree is printed in a micro-fiche font.

The remainder of the book is divided into sections for the US, UK, Germany, and Japan.This is the bulk of the text, and the reason why you would want to buy it.I must stress again, that the articles are extremely technical.They will be hard to follow without a background in digital design, some knowledge of system architecture, and maybe some assembly.But for those who can appreciate it, it is absolutely fascinating.

This is my favorite book that none of my friends would appreciate! ... Read more

Product Description
Paul Hirst was one was one of the most original thinkers of his generation. This book is being published post-humously after his tragic death in 2003. Written with verve and lucidity, it is a scholarly account of the various ways in which space is configured by power, and in which space becomes a resource for power. Erudite and exciting, the book combines new and old theory in an imaginative, yet pragmatic, way. It is typical of Hirst's ability to make inspiriational leaps across theoretical and disciplinary boundaries, critically combining insights from social theory, politics, history and geography.

This is an important, forward-looking book that will influence academic debate for many years to come. ... Read more

Product Description
Many homes across America have designs based on plans taken from pattern books or mail-order catalogs. In Houses from Books, Daniel D. Reiff traces the history of published plans and offers the first comprehensive survey of their influence on the structure and the style of American houses from 1738 to 1950.Houses from Books shows that architectural publications, from Palladio s I Quattro Libri to Aladdin's Readi-Cut Homes, played a decisive role in every aspect of American domestic building. Reiff discusses the people and the firms who produced the books as well as the ways in which builders and architects adapted the designs in communities throughout the country. His book also offers a wide-ranging analysis of the economic and social conditions shaping American building practices.As architectural publication developed and grew more sophisticated, it played an increasingly prominent part in the design and the construction of domestic buildings. In villages and small towns, which often did not have professional architects, the publications became basic resources for carpenters and builders at all levels of expertise. Through the use of published designs, they were able to choose among a variety of plans, styles, and individual motifs and engage in a fruitful dialogue with past and present architects. Houses from Books reconstructs this dialogue by examining the links between the published designs and the houses themselves. Reif's book will be indispensable to architectural historians, architects, preservationists, and regional historians. Realtors and homeowners will also find it of great interest. A catalog at the end of the book can function as a guide for those attempting to locate a model and a date for a particular design. Houses from Books contains a wealth of photographs, many by the author, that enhance its importance as a history and guide. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Exhaustive Source
This is the most exhaustive source I have come accross in regards to the study of pattern books and catologue books.Reiff traces the devlopment of pattern books first coming from Europe (Palladio, Serlio) and then evolving into Armerican Pattern Books (Asher Benjamin, A. J. Downing) and finally the history of plan catalogues by architects, lumber yards and majot retailors, such as Sears Reobuck.The book shows how houses built from these sources sometimes deviated from their plans.Also, many times the plan books merely influenced builders who drew their own plans more or less pirated from these sources. Reiff traces many built examples of houses that have their roots in these sources - sometimes litterally and other times suggestively.

Houses from books also contains an interesting chapter on the development and influence of architectural journals.There is also a chapter of the influence of pattern books and catologue houses in an actual town using the authors home town of Fredonia, New York.

In many ways this is a wonderful book, and if there is one source book I would recommend for the study of these topics, this would be it.My only critisism is that the reading can at time be laborious.The author has a tendancy to describe subtle nuances of houses in great detail.Sometimes an illustration accompanies the text, other times there is none.Because of this I often found myself a bit frustrated trying to figure out just what the author is trying to get accross.That set asside, it is still an excellent, scholarly work.The bonus feature of this book is its eight Appendices that contain listings of pattern and catologue books by companies, individuals, construction details, etc.This is an invaluable source for the student of vernacular architecture. ... Read more

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A map plus details on theme parks, museums, parks & gardens, sports & event venues, history & architecture, plus major routes and recreation. Explore Series 2007. Folded Map. ... Read more

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A wonderous portfolio that has to be seen to be savored-or even believed for that matter. Here are the plans for the Tower of Pisa-on a skewed drafting table, the Eiffel Tower tipped over across from the Seine, the ruins of a McDonald's stand following some future Vesuvius, the disastrous meeting of the Great and Lesser Walls of China, and many other gems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

wonderful daydream material
This is an excellent book for lazy afternoons devoted to daydreaming.Every illustration is a wonderful "what if...?" scenario depicting an architectural acievement gone awry.Macaulay also has a particular love for dreaming up very peculiar applications of vinyl siding- that part does get a little tedious, but this book is definitely worth a look.When I first looked at this book several years ago, I was too young to get many of the jokes, but I just pulled it out again today- what a great surprise!

Great book;no library should be without it.
I came upon this book in my search for history of architecture in general.Though I expected something entirely different, I was immediately caught in the book's charm.The illustrations are clever and their sarcasmunbeatable. A book to look at, time and time again.

Excellent tongue-in-cheek Architectural Entertainment
I always find the author's work entertaining and informative.True, while Great Moments in Architecture is not as factual as some of his works, the sketches are beguiling, and the humor strikes a particularly concordant note with individuals involved in architectural careers.

Buy it and get a good chuckle out of it!

No one should bother with this book
I waited with great expectation for "Great Moments in Architecture" to arrive, hoping it would be in the style of the other highly successful books by David MacCaulay on Pyramids, ships, etc.These other books provide something for all ages:detailed drawings on how things work for children and sophisticated studies of engineering and architecture for adults. Unfortunately, Great Moments is a satirical look at great objects of aechitecture.The cover shows L'Arc de Triumph upside down and called Arc de Defeat.The remainder of the book only gets worse. The problem is the work is totally confusing for children who are trying to learn the true nature of the world while being boringly crude for adults. However, I suppose if you would like an expensive and not funny Architectural Far Side, maybe this would provide some brief enjoyment ... Read more

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Hoover Dam, the Erie Canal, the steel mills of Pittsburgh-America's contributions to industry and technology are among our finest achievements. This book, the only comprehensive illustrated history of American industrial architecture and civil engineering from the 18th to 20th centuries, is an invaluable record of a key aspect of our heritage-and a proud testament to American ingenuity.The lively, informative text is illustrated with compelling photographs, both historic and contemporary, most from the impressive collection of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) of the National Park Service. Among the sites featured are the early factories and textile mills of Paterson, New Jersey, and Lowell, Massachusetts, where the American Industrial Revolution began; the innovative River Rouge automobile plant in Dearborn, Michigan; the Sloss Iron Furnaces of Birmingham, Alabama, center of the cast-iron industry; and all types of bridges, from covered wooden structures to the great Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.LOUIS BERGERON, president of TICCIH (The international committee for the conservation of the Industrial Heritage), has been a visiting professor from France at Cornell and New York University, among other universities.MARIA TERESA MAIULLARI-PONTOIS, secretary of TICCIH, teaches part-time at the Universite de Paris IV-Sorbonne.

350 black-and-white illustrations, 97/8 x 111/4"Amazon.com Review
For a century and a half, the North American landscape was marked byevidence of tremendous industrial activity, by artifacts such as railroadbridges, factories, grain silos, and hydroelectric dams. In thetransformation to an information economy, that evidence increasingly takesthe form of detritus, of rusting scrap and decaying structures. WritesFrench economic historian Louis Bergeron, "the line is quickly crossedbetween the living industrial landscape and the industrial wasteland,dramatic in its immobility, its abandonment, and its gradualdegradation."

This sprawling and striking photographic essay, depicting railroadstations, shipyards, canals, steel mills, and other industrial centers,offers a catalog of all that is now giving way to commercial parks andresidential subdivisions. Although Bergeron recognizes that the timeschange--and, indeed, that this industrial landscape is the result of manyincremental additions and subtractions over the years--he urges that someof our industrial landscapes be preserved as museums and "heritagecorridors." He adds that many other industrial structures lend themselvesto "adaptive reuse," in which hotels, restaurants, and galleries mightoccupy former industrial space. Citing successful examples of thispreservation, he remarks that the American public "is developing anattachment to and fondness toward industrial monuments and landscapes,whose significant contributions are beginning to be better understood andappreciated." As an exercise in that understanding and appreciation, thisbook has much merit--and it's a pleasure to browse through as well.--Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

not a history book
Despite its title Industry, Architecture, and Engineering: American Ingenuity: 1750-1950 is not a history book. It is not an historical examination of two centuries of U.S. industrialization. Instead, it is a "coffee table" book with a peculiar history and a mixed message. It grew from a French exhibit of black & white photographs of U.S. industrial archeological sites designed to promote preservation of industrial artifacts. The text, which comprises perhaps 10 to 20 percent of the book, does draw heavily on historical scholarship in surveying the architecture and engineering of American industrialization. But this historical account is distorted by the need to build it around the photographs in the exhibit. Moreover, few of the hundreds of photographs date from the historic period identified in the title. Most photographs depict empty, often abandon buildings, bridges, railroad stations, ports or other industrial structures and are devoid of humans or human activity. The colorful, dynamic story of industrializing is incongruous with black & white photographic study of the relics of deindustrialization. The book's negative depiction of deindustrialization undercuts the positive message about architectural & engineering achievement of the past. Conversely, the text does little to enliven the pictures. Consequently the book as a whole--text & pictures--fails to make a clear case for historic preservation.

Metaphorically, this large, heavy book of pictures is poorly "engineered" and "architecturally" unsound. Consider the pictures. Instead of being numbered, titled and compiled in a table of contents, the pictures are identified by location only in relative terms: top, bottom, overleaf, below, above, opposite and so on. Moreover the captions are grouped together while the pictures, which vary in size by a factor of five, are spread across two pages. The arrangement makes finding the caption that goes with a specific photograph difficult on pages containing more than three images. The greater significance of this captioning system is that it prevented the authors form coordinating text with photographs. The authors cannot reference photographs by title or location. Consequently the connection between text and photographs is vague. The book's layout further separates text from photographs by segregating them spatially. The reader encounters three or four pages of text followed by up to twenty pages of photographs. Sometimes textual description precedes the relevant photographs; sometime text follows pictures. These design flaws make for a disjointed reading experience.

Generally the translated text reads well in English. The book is marred by a few minor factual errors. On page 159 the famous grain elevators in Hutchinson, Kansas are mistakenly located in Texas, an understandable mistake for European authors perhaps, but less acceptable for an American translator and publisher.

A Distinctively Fascinating Book w/Evocative Photos
I spotted this book in a bookstore, but ordered it online. For anyone interested in American economic history in terms of how our nation evolved via manufacturing and early technology, this book is incredibly interesting. Its coffee table size makes it a bit cumbersome to read continuously. Nonetheless its text is well written.

The real winners here, however, are the wonderful black and white photos of railroad terminals, factory exteriors/machinery, dams, power plants, and allied structures that really capture the collaborative genius that designed and built American industry.

The combined effect of "Industry, Architecture and Engineering" is almost narcotic. I keep going back to look at the photos and marvel at them. That's a far cry from any other large book I've ever seen. It is a brilliantly conceived and produced work. ... Read more

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John Ruskin exerted a powerful and pervading influence on architects and architecture in the nineteenth century and his legacy can still be felt today. His highly individual and idiosyncratic prose encouraged the lay person to look and think about architecture and he covered strands as diverse as the choice of style, the use of polychromy, the relations between the workman and his work, and even between politics and the arts. In this book leading experts in Ruskin and architectural history re-examine these and numerous other issues, often providing wholly new insights into the man, his writings and his influence upon architecture and the cultural landscape of his day and since. ... Read more

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