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Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts

Review: Encyclopedia of Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture

Posted by Pan So 8 January 2014 1 comment
This post will be another review about a book. Specifically it's about an Encyclopedia. This book goes with the title 'Encyclopedia of Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture'.



The title says it all. It's a big book full of information about detail drawings in contemporary residential architecture, a book that a lot of architectural students, architects, architectural technicians need to get in their hands.

It is an Architectural Technicians job to draw detail drawings of a building that will be given to him, however, not everything is clear to us, and I am referring to the detail of the construction of a building. Almost every professional architect is using a book with detail drawings to reference for his own drawings as the information that there is to remember is too much that makes it impossible to draw a detail drawing from memory. This book is the perfect weapon for these situations.

The author of 'Encyclopedia of Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture' is Virginia McLeod and it was published in 2010 by Laurence Kind Publishing Ltd.

This book contains scale drawings of ever type of detailing used in contemporary residential architecture. It is a great sourcebook for section drawings such as walls, floors, roofs, windows, doors, stairs and landscape providing at least 50 drawings for each element with keys explaining the construction and materials. 

In the first section of the book you will find images of the houses that details are included from with a small description of each house in the bottom of the pictures and the number of the detail of each element providing an easy system to find the detail drawings. The houses in this section are organized by main construction material (wood, concrete, glass etc). 

A page of images of the residential buildings that the details are extracted from.

A page with few detail drawings.
If you buy the book in a hard copy you will also get a CD-ROM included in the book with all the detail drawings in a digital format.

As described in the description of the book 'The book is an invaluable reference work for all architects showing the best examples of residential detailing from around the world'.

Review: Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture

Posted by Pan So 25 December 2013 0 comments
As previously referred on a previous post (Building Information Modelling (BIM)), Autodesk Revit Architecture is a pretty easy software to learn how to use regarding Building Information Modelling, however, not everything you want to learn will be clear on this software.


You have two options when you get stuck figuring out a way to do something on Revit; 1st option is to keep staring on the screen until the way to do something will magically come in your mind or you will read about it somewhere, whether that is the internet, a video in youtube or a book.

This post will be a review of the book 'Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture', which is highly recommended if you want to learn to use Autodesk Revit and chose option 2 and read about how to use it rather than stare at the screen.

I am aware of the fact that watching youtube videos is an efficient and fast enough way to learn how to use any software and I agree with that way, but I personally have been trying to learn off youtube how to use Revit but not everything you want to find out will be there, as there are a lot of things you need to cover to the point that you will be creating, not only models, but also all kinds of drawings.

I firstly loaned the book from my library to finish off a design I was doing on Revit and I found it t be very useful.
Cover of Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture 2014
The book is written by James Vandezande, Phil Read and Eddy Krygiel. It is written in a such a way that it is easy to understand and learn rapidly. And even though the book is really thick, the appendix on the back provides a massive help to find what you need.

After my loan has expired and had to return the book I found myself in immediate need of that specific book and I ended up buying it, and I don't usually buy books if I am not sure I will need them, but this book you won't just need it, it's not just a must-have for Architectural Technician, it's a goldmine.

The Details of Modern Architecture Volume 1 & 2

Posted by Pan So 19 November 2013 0 comments
Two books that are great to add in your collection is definitely The Details of Modern Architecture. It comes in two volumes, the first volume covers the period 1890-1932 and the second volume covers the period between 1928-1988. Both of the books were published in 2003.



The author, Edward R. Ford, provides comprehensive analysis of both the technical and the aesthetic importance of details in the development of architecture as well as explaining the detailing and construction techniques that distort, camouflage, or enhance a building. He discusses critical details from a technical and contextual standpoint, considering how they perform how they add to or detract from the building as a whole, and how some have persisted and been adapted through time.

Architectural Technology by Stephen Emmitt

Posted by Pan So 25 September 2013 0 comments
I recently bought this new book about Architectural Technology written by Stephen Emmitt. It is currently in it's second edition and it has been released in 2012 (first edition was released in 2002).

What makes this book great is that it's supported and promoted from the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT), which I think that whatever you are going to read in this book is not just an opinion of Stephen Emmitt but they are also facts that will enhance your knowledge on what Architectural Technology is.

In the book says that 'This core textbook on translating creative designs into functional buildings is written for undergraduates in architectural technology, architectural engineering, architecture and building surveying'.

The author also highlights in the introduction: 'The book is not designed to give answers but to highlight some of the challenges and opportunities that make architectural technology such an interesting and engaging subject'. And in fact, this book is not a guide to teach you how to be a technician or how to design, but will help you understand what is Architectural Technology in a greater depth.

I highly recommend this book to be part of your collection, especially for students, as we are the ones who need to understand the meaning of Architectural Technology in a greater depth in order to be part of it, and this book is one step to that point.


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