Technics and Architecture: The Development of Materials and Systems for Building

In this richly illustrated history, Cecil Elliott focuses on a neglected aspect of architecture, the technics of building form. Concentrating on developments in Europe and North America from the Industrial Revolution to the present, he surveys the ways in which new materials, methods, and systems were discovered and tested, and the ways in which they succeeded or failed. Elliott tells the story in two parts, first covering materials--such as wood, masonry, terracotta, iron and steel, glass, cement, and reinforced concrete--and then systems - including lightning protection, sanitation, lighting, heating, air conditioning, elevators and escalators, fire protection, structural engineering, and acoustics.

Cecil D. Elliott is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at North Dakota State University.