A noted American architect of the early twentieth century discusses universal principles behind the harmonious forms and proportions of ancient and modern buildings. Seven essays by Claude Bragdon offer a master class in the architectural union of art, beauty, and science. His observations and analyses encompass a tremendous variety of buildings, from Gothic cathedrals to Giotto's Campanile to the Taj Mahal, and his examples extend far beyond architecture...

A narrative history of western architecture offers insight into its reflection of cultural influences and transformations, documenting some of the most dramatic examples of dynamic western architecture from Notre Dame's cathedral to the Berlin Wall.

"For forty years (1880-1920), the now-legendary architectural firm led by Charles Follen McKim, William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White was responsible for many of the finest buildings in America. The Boston Public Library, Pennsylvania Station in New York, and the campus of Columbia University are among the national landmarks designed by these men and their partners, Bert Fenner and William Mitchell Kendall. This anthology of plans, elevations,...

From 1925 to 1929, two young architectural draftsmen set out to record a select number of examples of the "minor domestic architecture" of Mexico due to a lack of measured drawings of rural ranch houses and Monterey-inspired dwellings. The result is a wonderful collection of houses from the days of Mexico's viceroys, elaborately presented in this handsomely illustrated book. Every aficionado of architecture or home design will find the patios, window...

"In California, authentic Spanish colonial houses were built with local materials for comfort and convenience, with both construction and ornamentation traditional of Spanish and New England settlers. This book gives architects, home builders and historians a chance to view photos, sketches, and twenty-six full pages of measured drawings of interior and exterior doorways, paneling, balconies, wrought-iron, and mantels-most from houses that are no...

"An arched stone gate, a millstone path, a blue-and-white tiled pool with a quiet fountain, brilliant marigolds, stone sculptures of playful angels, and stately lions-the Mexican garden is a serene oasis that displays a diversity and ingenuity that is truly astonishing. Mexico's temperate climate, conducive to outdoor living, combined with its Indian and Spanish heritage have resulted in a unique style of design and architecture. Through more than...

Whilst there are, some studies of architecture in Scotland post-devolution, writings on design are largely non-existent. Designs on Democracy seeks to fill that gap and ranges over the debates concerning architecture, urbanism, design and the Creative and Cultural Industries and the policies, people and places that stimulate and animate them. The book also tells a story about Scotland's creatives, where they work and how their ideas and what they,...

A remarkable classic work on traditional Japanese architecture and its general integrative quality, the order of space and form, the flexibility of partitions and room functions and other important or unique qualities. The author describes in detail, and with numerous architectural plans and drawings, the influence of the anatomy of the Japanese human body on traditional units of measurement and on house construction. This work is not simply a description...

"Architecture is far more than the construction of buildings. Architects marry form and function to create structures that are particularly suited to a purpose while adding visual drama to landscapes and skylines. For millennia, architects have fashioned homes, religious shrines, governmental spaces, public facilities, and more. The evolution of architecture in many ways reflects the history of how we live, think, worship, govern, and form societies....