The Case Study House program (1945 1966) was an exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture and remains to this day unique. The program, which concentrated on the Los Angeles area and oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed during the postwar building boom. Highly experimental, the program generated houses that were designed to redefine the modern home, and thus had a pronounced influence on architecture American and international both during the program's existence and even to this day. This compact guide includes all projects featured in our XL version, with over 150 photos and plans and a map of where all houses are (or were) located.
From the Ferris wheel to the integrated circuit, feats ofengineering have changed our environment in countless ways, big andsmall. In Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering, DukeUniversity's Henry Petroski focuses on the big: Malaysia's1,482-foot Petronas Towers as well as the Panama Canal, a cutthrough the continental divide that required the excavation of 311million cubic yards of earth. Remaking the World tells the stories behind the man-made wondersof the world, from squabbles over the naming of the Hoover Dam tothe effects the Titanic disaster had on the engineering communityof 1912. Here, too, are the stories of the personalities behind the wonders, from the jaunty IsambardKingdom Brunel, designer of nineteenth-century transatlanticsteamships, to Charles Steinmetz, oddball genius of the GeneralElectric Company, whose office of preference was a batteredtwelve-foot canoe. Spirited and absorbing, Remaking the World is acelebration of the creative instinct and of the men and women
This book guides you systematically through the whole processof designing and building your own house. It offers practicalassistance from the moment you begin thinking about the kind ofhouse you want. It helps you focus your ideas and translate theminto working plans. It shows you how to estimate costs. Then, stepby step, it shows you how to construct the house -- explaining andillustrating every step systematically so that you can proceedconfidently from beginning to end. Here are complete, clear instructions on everything you need toknow, including: -- How to decide what you want the house to be like -- inside andoutside, and in relation to the environment and neighborhood -- How to translate your ideas and decisions into workingdrawings -- How to deal with all the components of a house: structural(roof, floor, walls, columns, foundations), mechanical (plumbingand heating), electrical, interior and exterior finishingmaterials -- How to establish the exact dimensions of e
In this engaging and thought-provoking book, Colin Davies subjects the canonical architecture of the twentieth century to a thorough reassessment. Rather than repeating the standard wisdom, Davies questions the values and judgements that are so often the mainstay of architectural surveys, and in doing so asks: what is the importance of the style we know as Modernism? Combining a fascinating, well-researched, and, above all, readable text with photographs and drawings, this history is a must for students and lovers of modern architecture alike.,