Building: 3,000 Years of Design, Engineering and Construction - Hardcover

Addis, Bill; Ert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0714841463 ISBN 13: 9780714841465

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 2007

Synopsis

Building: 3000 Years of Design, Engineering, and Construction traces the history of modern building engineering in the Western world from ancient times to the present, bringing to life the key people, buildings, and concepts that have influenced engineering and architecture over the millennia. This comprehensive and heavily illustrated volume documents the classic texts, instruments, materials, and theories that have propelled modern engineering, and the famous and not-so-famous buildings that have resulted through the ages, from the Parthenon to Chartres Cathedral and the dome of St. Peter's, from eighteenth-century silk and cotton mills in England to the Crystal Palace, and from the first Chicago high-rises to the Sydney Opera House and the "green" skyscrapers of today.
Organized chronologically in nine chapters, Building focuses on the specific innovations and geographic centers of activity that defined each period in engineering history. Each chapter concentrates on the famous characters and unsung heroes of engineering history.
Accompanying the narrative text are more than 750 color and black-and-white photographs, archival plans and drawings, and original technical diagrams, many from rare and specialized sources around the world. Sidebars highlight key developments, including the slide rule, the evolution of the structural frame, and the glass facade; major texts such as De Architecture by Vitruvius, and brief histories of key concepts such as calculus. Also included in the book are extensive reference materials: timelines, appendices, a glossary, notes, bibliography, and a guide to further reading.

About this title

About the Author

Bill Addis is a consulting engineer based in London. He is the author of numerous books and papers on engineering history and design and has curated several exhibitions on both the engineer's contribution to contemporary architecture and the history of structural engineering. Over the past twenty-five years, he has lectured at the universities of Cambridge, Bath, and Reading, and at University College, London. Addis studied engineering and philosophy at the University of Cambridge before training and working as a design engineer in the aerospace industry. He holds a doctorate degree in the history and philosophy of engineering design from the University of Reading.

Review

"The strength of this ambitious publication is its linking of technical development to the social and cultural context."-Building Design "A labour of love... Chronicles everything from geometric pattern in medieval cathedrals to the most daring uses of reinforced concrete."-Wallpaper* "More than 800 photographs, plans and drawings bring to life some of architecture's greatest achievements."-Financial Times "This is a truly heavyweight publication which every student of engineering and architecture should have highlighted on their first-year reading list."-Alex Wright, architect, Architects' Journal

Edition details

• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0714841463
• ISBN 13: 9780714841465
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 640