Product Description

In a time of loud gestures and ostentation unpretentious buildings, which have been reduced to the essentials with no superfluous decoration, are soothing in their purity. This new volume in the series In Detail demonstrates the breadth and complexity of the issues involved in building simply, from functional and economic demands, through ecological and energy-related aspects, to design and construction requirements. "Building Simply" can be read and applied in many ways. In the face of the sheer wealth of possibilities available today and the ever quicker changes in design and style, it is a creative process which does justice to the nature and quality of the materials used and gives rise to unique projects through an economy of means and resources. The project section documents a comprehensive range of international examples, from simple wooden bridges, to pavilions, residential buildings, workshops, and warehouses.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #132443 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

best volume in the best detail architecture book series available
This book is part of a deliriously excellent series of Birkhauser's In
Detail collection, a series of books emphasizing and celebrating the importance of architectural details and the susbsequent spatial magic that emerges from the vigilant attention to design craft. Feast on the International wisdom; it's like architectural health food.

Sometimes opaque, but great projects
I found the essays on simple construction to be variable in quality...The chapters on wood and steel either suffered in translation or were student composition exercises to begin with. The projects illustrated, however, are of uniformly high quality, and are documented with Detail's typical precision. For an American architect, many of the projects using wood construction will be eye openers. The stone and clay construction projects are wonderful for daydreaming about a different building culture in this country. Well worth it for the photos and drawings.