Architecture for dummies / by Deborah K. Dietsch ; foreword by Robert A.M. Stern.

Includes index.

Knowing and Appreciating Architecture -- Knowing When a Building Is Just a Building and When It's Architecture -- The Beauty of Form Meets Function -- Why Is Architecture Important? -- What Makes Architecture Good? -- How to Spot Good Architecture -- Where Can You See Architecture? -- If You Do Go ... -- How to Look at a Building -- Space: Solids and Voids -- Scale and Proportion: Size Matters -- Weight and Mass: It Ain't Heavy, It Just Looks That Way -- The Elements of Design -- Building Your Architectural Vocabulary -- Essential Elements of Architecture -- Nuts and Bolts: Looking at How Architecture Is Designed and Built -- How Buildings Are Born -- In the Beginning: The Program -- Different Building Types and the Evolution of Style -- Using the Past to Design the Future -- Just What Do Architects Do, Anyway? -- The Roles They Are A-Changin' -- How Architects Get to Be Architects -- What Architects Really Do from 9 to 5 -- Okay, Now Do It Like I Drew It -- A Simple Structure: How Buildings Stand Up -- May the Force Be with It: Carrying the Loads -- Structural Forces: How a Building Gets Stressed -- Posts and Lintels: Trabeated Systems -- Watch Those Curves: Arcuated Systems -- New Shapes for Modern Structures -- Western Architecture: A Survey of the Most Important Structures -- Gimme Shelter: Prehistoric Structures and the Ancient World -- From Tipis to Tombs: Prehistoric Architecture -- Ancient Pyramids: Stairways to Heaven -- Mythology Comes to Life: The Aegean -- Acropolis Now: Classical Greece and Rome -- The Greeks: Pursuit of Perfection -- The Etruscans: Prelude to Rome -- The Romans: Structural Revolution -- Domes, Arches, and Vaults, Oh My: Byzantine and Medieval Architecture -- Early Christian Churches -- Aspiring to New Heights: Byzantine Churches -- The Middle Ages: Not as Dark as You Think -- Roman Glory Lives On: Romanesque Churches -- The Super Church: Gothic Cathedrals -- Beauty Meets Mathematics and Drama: From Renaissance to Rococo -- The Renaissance: A Classical Revival with Some Mathematical Stuff -- Bridges to the Baroque: Mannerism -- Here Come the Drama Kings: The Baroque -- Early Funhouses: The Rococo -- Revivals Everywhere: The Classical and Gothic Are New Again -- Rage Against the Baroque: Classical Revivals -- Playing on Your Emotions: Romanticism -- Coming Full Circle: Beaux-Arts Eclecticism -- Here Comes the Industrial Age: Perfab Is Here to Stay -- Mass Production Begins: Materials Get a Revamp -- Managing the Forces: Enter the Engineer -- Flying High and Close to the Sun: Skyscrapers! -- Buildings Go Up, the Sky Falls Down: The First Skyscrapers -- Chicago's Steel Skeletons -- A Skyscraper State of Mind: Rise of the New York Skyline -- More Recent Skyscapers -- Mother Nature versus the Machines: Modern Styles -- All You Need Is Art: Arts and Crafts for Everyday People -- A Modern Style Takes Root: Art Nouveau and Its Architects -- Mother Nature's Out the Door: More "isms" and Other Styles -- Modernism Gets Real: The International Style -- The Only Constant Is Change: From Modern Purism to Postmodern Pluralism -- Modernism Gets a Makeover by Late Modern Masters -- Lotsa Concrete, Folks: The New Brutalism Branch of Modernism -- The Modernism Backlash: Postmodernism and the Past to the Rescue -- Modernism with a Postmodernist Twist -- New Directions for a New Millennium -- Eastern Architecture: A Survey of the Most Important Structures -- China and Japan: Traditions in Wood -- Chinese Architecture: The Basics -- Japanese Architecture: Chinese Refinements -- More Than the Taj Mahal: Architecture in India -- Early Temples and Shrines -- India's Influence on Southeast Asia -- The Islamic Golden Age, Mughal Style -- Spoils of the British Empire: West Meets East -- Contemporary Architecture in India -- The Islamic World -- Bow and Pray to Mecca -- Royal Calling Cards: Middle Eastern Mosques -- Mosques for All Seasons: African Mosques -- The Moors Create Their Own Style in Spain -- Arranging the Present and Saving the Past -- Understanding Urban Design -- The First Cities of Humankind -- Ancient Greek and Roman Town Order: Hooked on a Classic -- Medieval Towns: Defense and Commerce -- The Ideal Cities of the Renaissance -- Royal Bombast and Power: Baroque Grand Plans -- Cities in the Age of Enlightenment -- American Cities: Growing on the Grid -- Staying Connected: Urban Growth Explosion -- Modern Cities of Tomorrow: The 'Burbs -- Postwar Plans: From Sprawl to Smart Growth -- Historic Preservation: Saving the Past for the Future -- Just How Far Should It Go? -- The Gold Standards of Architectural Rescue -- The Upside of Preservation -- Patriotism Saves the Day (And a Few Buildings, Too!) -- The Face of Preservation Today -- The Part of Tens -- The Ten Most Fascinating Architects Working Today -- Tadao Ando -- Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio -- Frank Gehry -- Zaha Hadid -- Jacques Herzog and Pierre De Meuron -- Rem Koolhaas -- Daniel Libeskind -- Jean Nouvel -- Renzo Piano -- Antoine Predock -- Ten Architectural Masterpieces -- The Parthenon -- The Pantheon -- Chartres Cathedral -- Tempietto di San Pietro in Montorio -- Katsura Palace -- San Ivo della Sapienza -- Altes Museum -- Thomas Crane Library -- Villa Savoye -- Seagram Building -- Ten Amazing Items of Trivia That'll Impress All Your Friends! -- One of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World Is Still Around! -- French Gothic Cathedral Collapses! -- World's Largest Art Gallery Is Russian! -- Disney Steals Design from Bavarian Castle! -- Women Join All-Male Architecture Profession! -- Architect Murdered by Jealous Husband! -- Hotel Survives Worst Japanese Earthquake of the Twentieth Century! -- New York City Home to the World's Largest Gothic Cathedral! -- Famous Architect Disqualified for Using the Wrong Ink! -- Skyscraper Resembles Chippendale Furniture! -- The Top Ten Skyscrapers -- Chrysler Building: Art Deco Fantasy -- Empire State Building: New York's Highest -- Lever House: Cleaning Up the Avenue -- John Hancock Center: "Big John" -- Sears Tower: Office in a Tube -- Boston's Hancock Tower: Blowing in the Wind -- Hong Kong Shanghai Bank: High-Tech Beauty -- Petronas Towers: The World's Tallest -- World Trade Towers: An Icon Destroyed.

Just the essential information for readers on the go who want to understand architecture. Covers the highlights of architectural history, from the Great Pyramids to Frank Gehry's Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. Explains how to look at a building and appreciate it. Explains when a building's a building and when it's art. Part of Tens includes: Ten Great Architectural Masterpieces, Ten Biggest Architectural and Engineering Failures, Ten of the Most Interesting Architects Working Today-and more.