Analysing Architecture / Edition 4

by Simon Unwin

Overview

Now in its fourth edition, Analysing Architecture has become internationally established as the best introduction to architecture. Aimed primarily at those wishing to become professional architects, it also offers those in disciplines related to architecture (from archaeology to stage design, garden design to installation art), a clear and accessible insight into the workings of this rich and fascinating subject. With copious illustrations from his own notebooks, the author dissects examples from around the world and all periods of history to explain underlying strategies in architectural design and show how drawing may be used as a medium for analysis.

This new edition of Analysing Architecture is revised and expanded. Notably, the chapter on ‘Basic Elements of Architecture’ has been enlarged to discuss the ‘powers’ various architectural elements offer the architect. Three new chapters have been added to the section on ‘Themes in Spatial Organisation’, covering ‘Occupying the In-between’, ‘Inhabited Wall’ and ‘Refuge and Prospect’. Two new examples – a Mud House from Kerala, India and the Mongyo-tei (a tea house) from Kyoto, Japan – have been added to the ‘Case Studies’ at the end of the book. The ‘Select Bibliography’ has been expanded and the ‘Index’ revised.

Works of architecture are instruments for managing, orchestrating, modifying our relationship with the world around us. They frame just about everything we do. Architecture is complex, subtle, frustrating… but ultimately extremely rewarding. It can be a difficult discipline to get to grips with; nothing in school quite prepares anyone for the particular demands of an architecture course. But this book will help.

Analysing Architecture is the foundation volume of a series of books by Simon Unwin exploring the workings of architecture. Other books in the series include Twenty Buildings Every Architect Should Understand and Exercises in Architecture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415719162
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/06/2014
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Simon Unwin is Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of Dundee, Scotland. He has lived in Great Britain and Australia, and taught or lectured on his work in China, Israel, India, Sweden, Turkey and the United States. Analysing Architecture’s international relevance is indicated by its translation into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish and its adoption for architecture courses around the world. Simon Unwin continues to teach at The Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction How Analysis Helps Design Architecture as Identification of Place Basic Elements of Architecture Modifying Elements of Architecture Elements Doing More Than One Thing Using Things That Are There Primitive Place Types Architecture as Making Frames Temples and Cottages Geometries of Being Ideal Geometry Themes in Spatial Organisation: 1. Space and Structure 2. Parallel Walls 3. Stratification 4. Transition, Hierarchy, Heart 5. Occupying the In-between 6. Inhabited Wall 7. Refuge and Prospect Postscript 2013 Postscript 1997-2009 Case studies 1. Iron Age House, Castell Henllys, Wales, UK 2. Royal Villa, Knossos, Crete, Greece 3. Llainfadyn, St. Fagans, Wales, UK 4. Mud House, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India 5. Il Tempietto, Rome, Italy 6. Fitzwilliam College Chapel, Cambridge, England, UK 7. Schminke House, Löbau, Germany 8. Vanna Venturi House, Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, USA 9. Woodland Chapel, Stockholm, Sweden 10. House VI, Cornwall, Connecticut, USA 11. The Box, Culver City, California, USA 12. Mongyo-Tei (Tea House), Kyoto, Japan Acknowledgements Select Bibliography and References

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Excellent in every way - a core book along with An Architectural Notebook by him"– Terry Robson, Teaching Fellow in Architecture at the University of Bath, UK

"Probably the best introductory book on architecture" – Andrew Higgott, Lecturer in Architecture at the University of East London, UK

"I think this is an excellent book and I will continue to recommend it to my students."– Donald Hanlon, Professor at the Department of Architecture, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, US

"This book opens a fresh way to understanding architecture. It offers a unique 'notebook' of architectural strategies to present an engaging introduction to elements and concepts in architectural design. Beautifully illustrated throughout with the author's original drawings, examples are drawn from across the world and many periods of architectural history...one of the key texts in architectural education."
– Lonarrd

Editorial Reviews

"Cover-to-cover, Analysing Architecture lives up to its acclaim as an engaging, thoughtful and beautiful introduction to architecture." -Erick Villagomez, Spacing Magazine

From the Publisher