Proportional Systems in the History of Architecture

Proportional Systems in the History of Architecture
Author: Matthew A. Cohen
Publisher: Leiden University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9789087282776

In this collection of original essays, twenty-five leading scholars reconsider the long history of proportional systems across numerous periods and places, and from diverse methodological approaches including archival exploration, advanced laser scanning, and more. Prior to the advent of modern structural engineering, architects and builders used proportional systems to imbue their works with a general condition of order that was integral to their intertwined notions of beauty and structural stability. These mostly invisible intellectual frameworks ranged from simple grids and symbolic numbers, to sly manipulations of geometry and numbers that required privileged knowledge and arithmetical calculations to access. Since the origins of architectural history, proportional systems have served as objects of belief and modes of iconographical communication. Whether they are capable of fulfilling more tangible functions remains a matter of debate today, for this ancient and diverse belief system continues to infiltrate architectural thinking in subtle and sometimes surprising ways.

Proportion

Proportion
Author: Richard Padovan
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2002-09-11
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1135811113

This handbook provides the student, practising architect or interested layman with a well-illustrated and readable comparative guide to proportion systems in architecture.

The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays

The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays
Author: Colin Rowe
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 1982-09-14
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780262680370

This collection of an important architectural theorist's essays considers and compares designs by Palladio and Le Corbusier, discusses mannerism and modern architecture, architectural vocabulary in the 19th century, the architecture of Chicago, neoclassicism and modern architecture, and the architecture of utopia.

Palladio

Palladio
Author: James Ackerman
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 222
Release: 1991-07-25
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 014193638X

Palladio (1508-80) combined classical restraint with constant inventiveness. In this study, Professor Ackerman sets Palladio in the context of his age - the Humanist era of Michelangelo and Raphael, Titian and Veronese - and examines each of the villas, churches and palaces in turn and tries to penetrate to the heart of the Palladian miracle. Palladio's theoretical writings are important and illuminating, he suggests, yet they never do justice to the intense intuitive skills of "a magician of light and colour". Indeed, as the photographs in this book reveal, Palladio was "as sensual, as skilled in visual alchemy as any Venetian painter of his time", and his countless imitators have usually captured the details, but not the essence of his style. There are buildings all the way from Philadelphia to Leningrad which bear witness to Palladio's "permanent place in the making of architecture", yet he also deserves to be seen on his own terms.

The Genius of Architecture, Or, The Analogy of that Art with Our Sensations

The Genius of Architecture, Or, The Analogy of that Art with Our Sensations
Author: Nicolas Le Camus de Mézières
Publisher: Getty Publications
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1992
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780892362356

This series offers a range of heretofore unavailable writings in English translation on the subjects of art, architecture, and aesthetics. Camus's description of the French hotel argues that architecture should please the senses and the mind.

The Theory of Proportion in Architecture

The Theory of Proportion in Architecture
Author: P. H. Scholfield
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011-06-09
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780521243155

A building cannot be good to look at if it is unplanned, with its parts totally unrelated to one another; but on the other hand if the arrangement is too regular it becomes boring and dull. The object of architectural proportion is to strike the balance between these extremes, creating an interesting visible order by the repetition of similar shapes. In this book, first published in 1958, Mr Scholfield deals with the history of the theory of proportion, and in doing so develops his own positive theory, which reconciles the apparent contradictions of rival systems and serves as a key to historical understanding. Even when he is dealing with complex themes, Mr Scholfield's exposition can be followed by the uninitiated reader. Those already interested in architecture and the visual arts will certainly want the book; and those who are not will find, on reading it, that their interest is stimulated.

Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism

Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism
Author: Rudolf Wittkower
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 244
Release: 1971
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780393005998

Sir Kenneth Clark wrote in the Architectural Review, that the first result of this book was "to dispose, once and for all, of the hedonist, or purely aesthetic, theory of Renaissance architecture, ' and this defines Wittkower's intention in a nutshell.

The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems

The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems
Author: Erik S. Herron
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1017
Release: 2018-03-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0190258675

No subject is more central to the study of politics than elections. All across the globe, elections are a focal point for citizens, the media, and politicians long before--and sometimes long after--they occur. Electoral systems, the rules about how voters' preferences are translated into election results, profoundly shape the results not only of individual elections but also of many other important political outcomes, including party systems, candidate selection, and policy choices. Electoral systems have been a hot topic in established democracies from the UK and Italy to New Zealand and Japan. Even in the United States, events like the 2016 presidential election and court decisions such as Citizens United have sparked advocates to promote change in the Electoral College, redistricting, and campaign-finance rules. Elections and electoral systems have also intensified as a field of academic study, with groundbreaking work over the past decade sharpening our understanding of how electoral systems fundamentally shape the connections among citizens, government, and policy. This volume provides an in-depth exploration of the origins and effects of electoral systems.

Real Choices/new Voices

Real Choices/new Voices
Author: Douglas J. Amy
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2002
Genre: Elections
ISBN: 0231125496

There is a growing realization that many of the problems afflicting American elections can be traced to the electoral system itself, in particular to our winner-take-all approach to electing officials. Douglas Amy demonstrates that switching to proportional representation elections--the voting system used in most other Western democracies, by which officials are elected in large, multimember districts according to the proportion of the vote won by their parties--would enliven democratic political debate, increase voter choice and voter turnout, ensure fair representation for third parties and minorities, eliminate wasted votes and "spoliers," and ultimately produce policies that better reflect the public will. Looking beyond new voting machines and other quick fixes for our electoral predicament, this new edition of Real Choices/New Voices offers a timely and imaginative way out of the frustrations of our current system of choosing leaders.

Architecture

Architecture
Author: Francis D. K. Ching
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 1784
Release: 2012-07-16
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1118004825

A superb visual reference to the principles of architecture Now including interactive CD-ROM! For more than thirty years, the beautifully illustrated Architecture: Form, Space, and Order has been the classic introduction to the basic vocabulary of architectural design. The updated Third Edition features expanded sections on circulation, light, views, and site context, along with new considerations of environmental factors, building codes, and contemporary examples of form, space, and order. This classic visual reference helps both students and practicing architects understand the basic vocabulary of architectural design by examining how form and space are ordered in the built environment.? Using his trademark meticulous drawing, Professor Ching shows the relationship between fundamental elements of architecture through the ages and across cultural boundaries. By looking at these seminal ideas, Architecture: Form, Space, and Order encourages the reader to look critically at the built environment and promotes a more evocative understanding of architecture. In addition to updates to content and many of the illustrations, this new edition includes a companion CD-ROM that brings the book's architectural concepts to life through three-dimensional models and animations created by Professor Ching.