Architectural structure & design

Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction Ramsey-Sleeper Architectural Graphic S

1 stars (Readers' Digest Version of AGS) - Although these editions change little, this review is based upon AGS 10th Ed. & AGSRC 2003. Negative: This is bascially a regurgitation of the more complete Architectural Graphics Standards, distilled to a "residential" focus but appears as volumous because some details have been photo-enlarged (in poor-average quality). Few, if any new residential details/information has been provided. Positive: Those ONLY interested in residential construction and NOT requiring a full brace of ALL details will find this quite a good value - compare its price to Architectural Graphics Standards. Recommendation: Anyone in construction should have one, but not both of these books as a prime resource. The content does improve every year, although some years it's like watching grass grow. Challenge: IF there are numerous portions of the Residential version that are unique and new to it, exclusive of passages in the larger AGS version - I would really appreciate a review that contains how to locate these passages, as I've spent enough time trying to find them. If enough of these exist, it would give thought of updating this resource once in awhile. 3 stars (One volume encyclopedia) - Experienced readers will benefit from its brief summaries and drawings covering the broadest range of topics imaginable. Some economizing is evident in the paper and printing quality, some of the drawings look 50 years old, but there is lots of reference information, like span tables, solar position data, etc. Probably not the last word on every topic, but still worth consulting. 5 stars (A wonderful resource) - Following in the terrific legacy of the benchmark Architectural Graphic Standards book, this edition clearly makes building for residences an easier task. I've found innumerable details that I've used in my residential practice on a daily basis, details not found in other reference books. Of particular help are the pages that give an overview of...
Wiley :: Residential buildings :: domestic buildings :: Building construction & materials :: Architecture & Reference :: Architectural structure & design :: Standards :: R :: Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction (Ramsey-Sleeper Architectural Graphic S

Designing with Models - A Studio Guide to Making and Using Architectural Design Models

2 stars (with poor pix, this is too much) - I was astonished with poor quality of BW pictures this book contains. And I paid $50 for this? The photos are poorly lit so the details are not clear, and not sharp enough for this kind of printing. Texts are rather sketchy too. Intrestingly, resources contain a section for books on presentation models. I found most of them are out of print. I can just imagine this book's innitial run was so low that gave this hefty price tag to this book. Unless you have a lot of money to waste, or you're advanced, you'll be surprised like me. 5 stars (Designing With Models Designing With Models) - From the standpoint of representation, and despite the advent of computer graphics and animation, the architectural model has persisted in being a privileged way of expressing architectural intentions. The irresistible iconic relation between the model and the building, and the intimacy witnessed through this association, has unquestionably contributed to this survival. Because in the model no extra interpretive energy is needed to grasp the intended, and because there is definitely a pleasure in seeing something big represented by something similar to it but smaller, the critical denigration of model-making has been minimum. This is unlike the case of the plan and other classical modes of projecting buildings where the conventional nature of representation has opened the gates for questioning their legitimacy. From the angle of making and performing, model-making has also remained a very powerful means of exploring ideas that have 3-d space as their support. The relative absence of a cognitive distance between intentions and their crystallization in the sensible realm, due essentially to the paramount role the hand directly plays in the shaping of a given design idea, has reinforced an interest in model-making as a means for expressing the immediate and the spontaneous. A closer relation the other visual arts has followed, ...
Wiley :: Industrial & Commercial Art & Design :: Architecture & Design & Drafting :: Architectural structure & design :: Methods & Materials :: Interior Design :: Handbo :: Designing with Models - A Studio Guide to Making and Using Architectural Design Models

Simplified Design of HVAC Systems

Simplified Design of HVAC Systems ...
Wiley-Interscience :: Technology & Construction & Construction Trades :: Heating :: lighting :: ventilation :: Architectural structure & design :: Ventilation :: Technology & Industria :: Simplified Design of HVAC Systems

Courtyards- Aesthetic- Social- and Thermal Delight

1 stars (Honest Reviews?) - Were all the reviews written by the author? Give me a break! The fact that every review sounds the same will keep me from ever purchasing this book. In that case, I guess all the reviews helped! 5 stars (THE Book on Courtyards.) - Courtyards is a terrific book, the result of 20+ years of loving research. Oregon Professor John Reynolds is crazy for courtyards and it certainly shows. A courtyard is a space surrounded by a building, often surrounded by a house. There are all manner of courtyards, large, small, huge, quiet, loud. Some are open and others are terribly private. But all good courtyards have things in common. In the landscapes most of us in the US are used to, we have a house and the gardens are on the outside and we see them before we see the house. In a sense these landscapes serve mostly as dressing to enhance the outward look of the house. But a fine courtyard garden is different. It is smack in the middle of the house and the house surrounds it. It is not wide open to the world, but instead is a place to get away from it all, a place to be outside, but not to be out in the open. The best courtyards are open to the sky, have water, vines, a multitude of interesting flowers, trees, potted plants. A large number of the very finest courtyard plants are discussed in detail in this excellent book. I was struck by how interesting the numerous photos and designs were. Profusely illustrated, each one serves a definitive purpose. I was struck too, by how many different things go into the making of a well thought out courtyard. What is involved so that it will be warm in the winter and cool in the hot summer. What is involved so that it becomes a place where people want to be. I took many notes as I read this large book and some day I plan to build a house of my own design, and in the middle of it, I'm going to have a courtyard. And in this courtyard, I'll have all the things needed, the ingredients so carefully detailed here, that ma...
Wiley :: History of specific subjects :: Garden design & planning :: Architecture & Design & Drafting :: Architectural structure & design :: Landscape :: General :: Garden :: Courtyards- Aesthetic- Social- and Thermal Delight

Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders- 9th Edition

5 stars (Excellent introductory book) - This book explains the fundamentals of structural analysis (mainly statically determinate structures) and then goes on to the design fundamentals for different materials (wood, steel, concrete and masonry) followed by the design of the structural system for a building. I first used an earlier edition of this book when studying for my undergraduate degree as an introductory book before reading the course texts. The present edition maintains the "easy to understand" explanations of the earlier edition while adding new materials, expanding other sections and updating the design methods in line with the building codes. Emphasis is placed on understanding, the explanations given are very clear and there are numerous worked examples to illustrate the principles. The book is excellent for the beginner first getting used to structural analysis and design or for the practising engineer who has not touched structures for a while and wants to refresh his memory. However this book is only the first step and the undergraduate or practising engineer would do well to follow up on this with other more specialised books like Wang and Salmon's "Reinforced Concrete Design", Salmon and Johnson's "Steel structures: Design and behaviour", or Halperin and Bible's "Principles of Timber Design for Architects and Builders". ...
Wiley :: Technology & Construction & Construction Trades :: Architectural structure & design :: Technology & Industrial Arts :: Technology :: Structural Engineering :: G :: Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders- 9th Edition