Dictionary of Architecture

Amazon.com
This newly researched and up-to-date architectural reference work should appeal to curious readers as well as serious researchers, as it offers a complete guide to the history of architecture. Its entries cover both biographical and historical material. The information on architects, designers, and craftsmen--from ancient to contemporary--is annotated with useful and relevant cross-references that together tell a complete story about a particular subject, style, or theory. Attractive illustrations render the architectural terms more accessible and help readers to better understand the differences between, for example, Doric or Ionic columns. Biographical entries for a great number of well- and lesser-known architects, some with illustrations of their best-known works, and entries about their influences and contemporaries offer a well-rounded guide through the centuries of architectural achievement. Editor James Stevens Curl is well suited for this job: he is Emeritus Professor of Architectural History and a senior Research Fellow, School of Architecture, De Montfort University in Leicester, England, and he wrote the award-winning The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry. His credentials form a strong foundation of reliability upon which A Dictionary of Architecture is built, making it a solid reference for students and lay readers alike. --Amazon.co.uk

From Library Journal
The scope of a visual dictionary, seldom indicated by its title, may be its defining characteristic. The compilers and authors of a dictionary of architecture will necessarily ask whether to include a glossary of terms that describe the physical elements of building, as in Cyril M. Harris's Dictionary of Architecture and Construction (McGraw-Hill, 1993); to arrange the entries by broad historical classifications, as in Russell Sturgis's A Dictionary of Architecture and Building (1902); to abbreviate the entries and transpose the illustrations to the end of the volume to create a visual glossary, as in Henry Saylor's very concise Dictionary of Architecture (1952); or to expand the undertaking beyond a single volume, as in the Encyclopedia of Architecture: Design, Engineering & Construction (Wiley, 1990) and the International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture (St. James, 1993). Each of these works demonstrates a particular strength. For example, the International Dictionary's essays are longer and its chronologies of works exhaustive, giving it the greatest depth but the smallest number of entries, while the Dictionary of Architecture and Construction excludes biographical and specific building data. For a single-volume, well-illustrated source, the Oxford Dictionary supersedes its predecessors. It merges entries on individual architects with a carefully illustrated and impressively comprehensive set of building terms. In a helpful but judiciously employed device, asterisks indicate separate entries for terms with an essay; there are also bibliographic references for most of the topics. The dictionary's terse prose is more than balanced by its breadth and excellent illustrations. Recommended for all libraries.APaul Glassman, New York Sch. of Interior Design Lib.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Offering lucid explanations for terms ranging from Aalto to ziggurat, this is an authoritative, accessible guide to architecture and its history. Wholly comprehensive and contemporary, A Dictionary of Architecture will be a must for anyone interested in learning--or else learning more--about this rich subject. * More than 5,000 entries--twice as many as its nearest competitor * Covers styles ranging from Assyrian architecture to Flemish Mannerism * Provides extensive coverage for all periods of Western architectural history, from ancient times to the present day * Over 250 attractive illustrations, all adding crucial visual information to terms like arch and cross * Features several longer entries that explain the different schools of architecture, from Bauhaus to the Federal Style, and that likewise set each movement in its historical context * Also provides biographical entries for a great number of architects, dating from the ancients up to the leading figures of modern times--from Brunelleschi and Gropius to Le Corbusier and Brunel

Book Info
Contains over 5,000 entries from Aalto to Zwirner, this is the most comprehensive and up-to-date dictionary of architecture in paperback. Softcover.


Buy from Amazon     Compare Prices

The scope of a visual dictionary, seldom indicated by its title, may be its defining characteristic. The compilers and authors of a dictionary of architecture will necessarily ask whether to include a glossary of terms that describe the physical elements of building, as in Cyril M. Harris's Dictionary of Architecture and Construction (McGraw-Hill, 1993); to arrange the entries by broad historical classifications, as in Russell Sturgis's A Dictionary of Architecture and Building (1902); to abbreviate the entries and transpose the illustrations to the end of the volume to create a visual glossary, as in Henry Saylor's very concise Dictionary of Architecture (1952); or to expand the undertaking beyond a single volume, as in the Encyclopedia of Architecture: Design, Engineering & Construction (Wiley, 1990) and the International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture (St. James, 1993). Each of these works demonstrates a particular strength. For example, the International Dictionary's essays are longer and its chronologies of works exhaustive, giving it the greatest depth but the smallest number of entries, while the Dictionary of Architecture and Construction excludes biographical and specific building data. For a single-volume, well-illustrated source, the Oxford Dictionary supersedes its predecessors. It merges entries on individual architects with a carefully illustrated and impressively comprehensive set of building terms. In a helpful but judiciously employed device, asterisks indicate separate entries for terms with an essay; there are also bibliographic references for most of the topics. The dictionary's terse prose is more than balanced by its breadth and excellent illustrations. Recommended for all libraries.--Paul Glassman, New York Sch. of Interior Design Lib.


Buy from Barnes & Noble     Compare Prices