WileyProduct DescriptionThe classic?? bestselling reference on architecture now revised and expanded! An essential one-volume reference of architectural topics using Francis D.K. C"ng's signature presentation. It is the only dictionary that provides concise?? accurate definitions illustrated with finely detailed?? hand-rendered drawings. From Arch to Wood?? every concept?? technology?? material and detail important to architects and designers are presented in Ching's unique style.
- Combining text and drawing?? each term is given a minimum double-page spread on large format trim size?? so that the term can be comprehensively explored?? graphically showing relations between concepts and sub-terms
- A comprehensive index permits the reader to locate any important word in the text.
- This long-awaited revision brings the latest concepts and technology of 21st century architecture?? design and construction to this classic reference work
It is sure to be by the side of and used by any serious architect or designer?? students of architecture?? interior designers?? and those in construction.
Amazon.com Review A Letter from Author Francis D.K. Ching
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| Author Francis D.K. Ching |
The idea for a visual dictionary of architecture evolved slowly over a number of years as I taught in the design studio read books and articles and confronted terms that were either new to me were being used in sometimes contradictory ways or simply tossed out with the assumption that everyone knew what they meant. And so I often asked myself what did these terms really mean?
Of course there were already general dictionaries that supplied these meanings if one bothered to look them up and for more discipline-specific terms there were architectural historical and construction dictionaries available. But few had more than a smattering of illustrations. And since architecture is such a visual art I believed there was a need for a truly visual dictionary. The few visual dictionaries that were available simply named various things and their constituent parts but neglected to supply definitions and meanings. So there was this void to be filled.
The initial phase of the project of course consisted of gathering essential architectural terms and their definitions from various sources. For many I had to reference textbooks to more fully understand the meaning of a term and then to compose a concise yet accurate definition. At times?? defining one term required including other terms embedded in the definition. This led to a natural nesting of terms into sets.
As I continued to compile terms and thought about the project?? it became clear that I wanted to not only properly define architectural terms but also gather them in a way that related the terms to each other in a logical and hierarchical way?? using both illustrations as well as relative positioning on a page to convey these relationships. So then the truly challenging and fun part of the project was to see how I could organize the terms in such a way that their groupings into sections and subsections made sense.
To do this?? I started with fairly obvious divisions?? such as design and structures. Once the fundamental term was defined?? I then arranged related terms in a hierarchical fashion. For example?? des