In the course of my practice as a structural engineer and as a visiting teacher at a variety of architecture and engineering schools, I have encountered much discussion, debate, information, and misinformation about the role of “technology” in architecture. Many use the subject to discuss the different ways in which buildings are put together, while others draw on the digital realm – where the materials are processes, networks, and flows that have been enabled by the pace of change in computers as a design tool.
What is clear to me is that the best systems prosper when both of these approaches are exploited in design development – as intellectual activities that integrate production, assembly, and creation to bring together quantative and qualitative satisfaction in the built environment.
At one extreme very little practical illustration is published that shows, for example, the role of basic structural systems or basic ways of using materials. On the other hand it is common to see students produce amazing diagrams of flow or stress analysis that then magically produce “architecture” at the other extreme.
What is needed is the middle ground, and in this respect, this book provides easy access for the beginning student of architecture. Learning through a selection of contemporary architectural projects introduces students to basic systems and appropriate use of both new and old materials, of both techniques and tools.
What the authors have carefully catalogued is the fundamental information that the architecture student must know, and to be aware of the need to work with experts in various disciplines and to learn from past precedents. This will give them a better chance of designing with originality and novelty without becoming an engineer or computer scientist. They will learn to produce architecture by facilitating dialogue between experts, manufacturers, politicians, and communities.
At a time when we are not short of information, what is needed is the skill to edit the information to suit the purpose; something which this book achieves with great success.
Hanif Kara, F.I. StructE, FRIBA (hon)
Adams Kara Taylor
November 2007