Architecture: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Andrew Ballantyne
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191579211
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
This highly original and sophisticated look at architecture helps us to understand the cultural significance of the buildings that surround us. It avoids the traditional style-spotting approach in favour of giving an idea of what it is about buildings that moves us, and what it is that makes them important artistically and culturally. The book begins by looking at how architecture acquires meaning through tradition, and concludes with the exoticism of the recent avant garde. Illustrations of particular buildings help to anchor the general points with specific examples, from ancient Egypt to the present day. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Landscape Architecture: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Ian Thompson
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191503215
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description
Landscape architecture plays an important role in shaping the places in which we live and work. But what is it? Landscape architects are involved, amongst other things, in the layout of business parks, the reclamation of derelict industrial sites, the restoration of historic city parks, and the siting and design of major pieces of infrastructure such as motorways, dams, power stations, and flood defences, as well as the planning of parks and gardens. Taking a historical perspective, Ian Thompson looks at both the roots of landscape architecture and the people that established it. This Very Short Introduction explores some of the misconceptions about landscape architecture and considers the discipline's origins in landscape gardening. Thompson takes a look at a number of areas, including the influence of Modernism, the difference between landscape design and landscape planning, and the way that planning legislation has driven the growth of the discipline. He also explores contemporary environmentalism, the debate as to whether landscape architecture is an art or a science, landscape architecture in the community, post-industrial projects, and its relationship with ecological urbanism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Christina Riggs
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191505250
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 153

Book Description
From Berlin to Boston, and St Petersburg to Sydney, ancient Egyptian art fills the galleries of some of the world's greatest museums, while the architecture of Egyptian temples and pyramids has attracted tourists to Egypt for centuries. But what did Egyptian art and architecture mean to the people who first made and used it - and why has it had such an enduring appeal? In this Very Short Introduction, Christina Riggs explores the visual arts produced in Egypt over a span of some 4,000 years. The stories behind these objects and buildings have much to tell us about how people in ancient Egypt lived their lives in relation to each other, the natural environment, and the world of the gods. Demonstrating how ancient Egypt has fascinated Western audiences over the centuries with its impressive pyramids, eerie mummies, and distinctive visual style, Riggs considers the relationship between ancient Egypt and the modern world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Design: A Very Short Introduction

Author: John Heskett
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0192854461
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
This book will transform the way you think about design by showing how integral it is to our daily lives, from the spoon we use to eat our breakfast cereal to the medical equipment used to save lives. John Heskett goes beyond style and taste to look at how different cultures and individuals personalise objects.

History: A Very Short Introduction

Author: John Arnold
Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks
ISBN: 019285352X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Book Description
Starting with an examination of how historians work, this "Very Short Introduction" aims to explore history in a general, pithy, and accessible manner, rather than to delve into specific periods.

Rastafari: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Ennis Barrington Edmonds
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199584524
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Book Description
Rastafari has grown into an international socio-religious movement, with adherents of Rastafari found in most of the major population centres and outposts of the world. This Very Short Introduction provides a brief account of this widespread but often poorly understood movement, looking at its history, central principles, and practices.

Computer Science

Author: Subrata Dasgupta
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198733461
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
While the development of Information Technology has been obvious to all, the underpinning computer science has been less apparent. Subrata Dasgupta provides a thought-provoking introduction to the field and its core principles, considering computer science as a science of symbol processing.

Introduction to Architecture

Author: Francis D. K. Ching
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118142063
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 439

Book Description
A survey of the built environment distills the work of legendary author and illustrator Francis D. K. Ching into a single volume Introduction to Architecture presents the essential texts and drawings of Francis D. K. Ching for those new to architecture and design. With his typical highly graphic approach, this is the first introductory text from Ching that surveys the design of spaces, buildings, and cities. In an easy to understand format, readers will explore the histories and theories of architecture, design elements and process, and the technical aspects of the contemporary profession of architecture. The book explains the experience and practice of architecture and allied disciplines for future professionals, while those who love the beauty of architecture drawing will delight in the gorgeous illustrations included. Overview of the issues and practices of architecture in an all-in-one introductory text Includes new chapters and introductory essays by James Eckler, and features more than 1,000 drawings throughout Professor Ching is the bestselling author of numerous books on architecture and design, all published by Wiley; his works have been translated into 16 languages and are regarded as classics for their renowned graphical presentation For those pursuing a career in architecture or anyone who loves architectural design and drawing, Introduction to Architecture presents a beautifully illustrated and comprehensive guide to the subject.

The Gothic: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Nick Groom
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780199586790
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
There are many interpretations of the word 'Gothic'. Nick Groom explores the rich history and chronology of the term, bringing together various underlying and disparate elements to clarify its meaning. By examining its history, he argues that we can better interpret and understand society today.

Modern Architecture: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Adam Sharr
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191086185
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Book Description
Somewhere between 1910 and 1970, architecture changed. Now that modern architecture has become familiar (sometimes celebrated, sometimes vilified), it's hard to imagine how novel it once seemed. Expensive buildings were transformed from ornamental fancies which referred to the classical and medieval pasts into strikingly plain reflections of novel materials, functions, and technologies. Modern architecture promised the transformation of cities from overcrowded conurbations characterised by packed slums and dirty industries to spacious realms of generous housing and clean mechanised production set in parkland. At certain times and in certain cultures, it stood for the liberation of the future from the past. This Very Short Introduction explores the technical innovations that opened-up the cultural and intellectual opportunities for modern architecture to happen. Adam Sharr shows how the invention of steel and reinforced concrete radically altered possibilities for shaping buildings, transforming what architects were able to imagine, as did new systems for air conditioning and lighting. While architects weren't responsible for these innovations, they were among the first to appreciate how they could make the world look and feel different, in connection with imagery from other spheres like modern art and industrial design. Focusing on a selection of modern buildings that also symbolize bigger cultural ideas, Sharr discusses what modern architecture was like, why it was like that, and how it was imagined. Considering the work of some of the historians and critics who helped to shape modern architecture, he demonstrates how the field owes as much to its storytellers as to its buildings. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.