How Buildings Work: The Natural Order of Architecture with Drawings by David Swoboda and Edward Allen

Allen, Edward

ISBN 10: 0195091000 / ISBN 13: 9780195091007

Published by Oxford University Press, New York - Oxford, 1995

About this Item

Beautifully design second edition, fifth printing. Oversize 9" x 11 1/4" design. Apprx. half dark maroon and forest green full-cloth boards, crisp gilt cover and spine titles, fine. Heavy stock coated pages, fine. Pictorial dust wrapper in cream, maroon, and green, fine; unclipped 42.50, protected in new clear sleeve. Detailed nine page index. Illustrated with hundreds of illuminating line drawings, this classic guide reveals virtually every secret of a building's function: how it stands up, keeps its occupants safe and comfortable, gets built, grows old, and dies - and why some buildings do this so much better than others. Drawing on things he's learned from the many buildings he himself designed (and in some cases built with his own hands), Edward Allen explains complex phenomena such as the role of the sun in heating buildings and the range of structural devices that are used for support, from trusses and bearing walls to post-tensioned concrete beams and corbeled vaults. He stresses the importance of intelligent design in dealing with such problems as overheating and overcooling, excessive energy use, leaky roofs and windows, fire safety, and noisy interiors. He serves up some surprises: thermal insulation is generally a better investment than solar collectors; board fences are not effective noise barriers; there's one type of window that can be left open during a rainstorm. The second edition emphasizes "green" architecture and eco-conscious design and construction. It features a prologue on sustainable construction, and includes new information on topics such as the collapse of the World Trade Center, sick building syndrome, and exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS) failures and how they can beprevented. Allen also highlights the array of amazing new building materials now available, such as self-cleaning glass, photovoltaics, transparent ceramics, cloud gel, and super-high-strength concrete and structural fibers. Edward Allen makes it easy for everyone - from armchair architects and sidewalk superintendents to students of architecture and construction - to understand the mysteries and complexities of even the largest building, from how it recycles waste and controls the movement of air, to how it is kept alive and growing. 245 pages. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.

Seller Inventory # 020616

Bibliographic Details

• Title: How Buildings Work: The Natural Order of Architecture with Drawings by David Swoboda and Edward Allen
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, New York - Oxford
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195091000
• ISBN 13: 9780195091007
• Binding: Hard Cover
• Illustrator: Swoboda, David; Allen, Edward
• Edition: Second Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Although we live and work in buildings every day, many of us never really understand the concepts behind building design. How Buildings Work presents a broad, balanced view of the physical functions that a building performs, the physical principles under which it performs these functions, and an introduction to the complex interrelationships among these functions. For the building professional, the student, or the amateur, its chapters give lucid, non-mathematical explanations of complex phenomena such as the role of the sun in heating buildings, the design of buildings for protection against fire, and the range of structural devices that are used to support buildings.

About the Authors

Edward Allen teaches in the School of Architecture at Yale University.


Edward Allen is an architect and teacher who enjoys explaining things through his words and drawings: What makes buildings work, what makes buildings habitable and lovable, how architects' design ideas become realities. He has published seven books on these subjects and teaches in the School of Architecture at Yale University.