Archis

Widely used in architectural circles in the heat of discussion, the recurrent use of particular words and terms has evolved into a language of design jargon. Commonly found in architectural literature and journalism, in critical design debate and especially in student project reviews, Archispeak can seem insular and perplexing to others and -- particularly to the new architectural student -- often incomprehensible. There is a need to translate architectural design concepts into spoken and written commentary -- each word in use embodying a precise and universally accepted architectural meaning. If we explore the vocabulary of this language we gain insight into good design practice and into collective understanding of what constitutes a refined architecture. This unique illustrated guide will help students understand the nuances of this specialized language and help them in communicating their own design ideas.

A Financial Times Best Book of the Year A Guardian Best Architecture Book of the Year “Sharp, revealing, funny.” —The Guardian “An original and even occasionally hilarious book about losing ideals and finding them again... [De Graaf] deftly shows that architecture cannot be better or more pure than the flawed humans who make it.” —The Economist Architecture, we like to believe, is an elevated art form that shapes the world as it pleases. Four Walls and a Roof turns this fiction on its head, offering a candid account of what it’s really like to work as an architect. Drawing on his own tragicomic experiences in the field, Reinier de Graaf reveals the world of contemporary architecture in vivid snapshots: from the corridors of wealth in London, Moscow, and Dubai to the demolished hopes of postwar social housing in New York and St. Louis. We meet ambitious oligarchs, developers for whom architecture is nothing more than an investment, and layers of bureaucrats, consultants, and mysterious hangers-on who lie between any architect’s idea and the chance of its execution. “This is a book about power, money and influence, and architecture’s complete lack of any of them... Witty, insightful and funny, it is a (sometimes painful) dissection of a profession that thinks it is still in control.” —Financial Times “This is the most stimulating book on architecture and its practice that I have read for years.” —Architects’ Journal

This informative and engaging book uses a variety of inventive infographics to take an unusual look at architecture in a way that would not be possible with words and images alone. Through a variety of different infographics it compares, for example, the range of materials and colours used by different architects, the relative locations of their buildings, who influenced who, and which architects are the most discussed. It also approaches architecture from more unconventional angles with spreads that show the kinds of architecture favoured by dictators, the networks of love affairs that architects got entangled in; the defining facial features of famous architects and so on. Irreverent and entertaining, this book will appeal to all those with an interest in architecture or infographics.

The prolific architect, designer and Domus editor reinvented the look of everyday life from the spoon to the cathedral With more than 100 buildings and scores of design objects to his name, Italian architect and designer Gio Ponti revolutionized postwar architecture and opened up prospects for new ways of life. Gio Ponti: Archi-Designer covers Ponti's entire career from 1921 to 1978, highlighting the many aspects of his work: from mechanical production to handicraft, from architecture to industrial design, from furniture to lighting, from the creation of magazines to his forays into the fields of glass, ceramics and goldsmithing. His work exemplified a certain tendency identified by his fellow architect Ernesto Rogers in 1952, an interest in designing dal cucchiaio alla città ("from the spoon to the town")--giving equal attention and applying the same innovative design thinking to small spoon and skyscraper alike. Featuring more than 500 pieces, this book traces Ponti's multidisciplinary journeys through architecture, furniture and design in his work for private homes and public buildings, including universities and cathedrals. Regarded as one of the most influential architects and designers of the 20th century, Giovanni "Gio" Ponti (1891-1979) established his architectural firm in 1921 and was extraordinarily prolific from that point on, working as an architect, industrial designer, artist, furniture designer, teacher and writer. In 1928 he founded the magazine Domus, which he would direct for most of his life, helping to spread his vision of a revitalized modern aesthetics in Italian industrial production, architecture, interior design and the decorative arts.

This innovative book is the first to provide a fun, interactive way to learn about architecture. Filled with an array of beautiful and elegant drawings, it poses all manner of architectural challenges for the user: from designing your own skyscraper, to drawing an island house or creating a Constructivist monument, plus many others more. Aimed at anyone who loves drawing buildings, it encourages the user to imagine their own creative solutions by sketching, drawing and painting in the pages of the book. In so doing, they will learn about a whole range of significant architectural issues, such as the importance of site and materials, how to furnish a space, how to read plans, how to create sustainable cities and so on. The book also includes numerous examples of works and ideas by major architects to draw inspiration from and will appeal to everyone from children to students to architects.

Guidance for Professional Development in Drinking Water and Wastewater Industry recognises the water practitioners journey from the novice student phase all the way to an established expert position, both on technological and professional fronts. This book reviews various career phases and helps realise purpose, motivation, responsibilities and milestones for each professional stage. Since professional journeys are significantly different for individuals and designations, titles vary widely from organization to organization, general terminologies are used for describing career phases, mainly Student Phase, Entry-Level Professional, Mid-Level Professional and Established Practitioner. This guide helps the reader to understand a step-by-step professional development process in the industry and at the same time receive key inputs to minimise or avoid common mistakes related to the drinking water or wastewater occupations. The book provides an overview of common educational options available for students including short-term courses, diploma and certificates, associate degrees, bachelor degree, masters degree, doctorate degree, post-doctoral fellowship and continued education. With respect to job profiles, the guide covers different professional avenues such as consultant, engineer, designer, researcher, academic faculty member, sales and marketing, permitting authority staff, laboratory professionals, system operators, construction management staff, manufacturing and industry staff. In terms of technological knowledge, both drinking water and wastewater infrastructure systems are reviewed in the book. Discussions on drinking water systems mainly include intake structures, treatment systems, distributions network components whereas wastewater systems include collection and conveyance systems, treatment options and sludge management systems. Guidance for Professional Development in Drinking Water and Wastewater Industryis useful for every professional in the industry and particularly prospective students. It can be used by mentors and established practitioners as a guidance tool for training newcomers. Author: Archis Ambulkar, Harrisburg, PA, USA

This book presents a controlled evaluation of three widely practised syntactic theories on the basis of the extremely complex agreement system of Archi, an endangered Nakh-Daghestanian language. Even straightforward agreement examples are puzzling for syntacticians because agreement involves both redundancy and arbitrariness. Agreement is a significant source of syntactic complexity, exacerbated by the great diversity of its morphological expression. Imagine how the discipline of linguistics would be if expert practitioners of different theories met in a collaborative setting to tackle such challenging agreement data - to test the limits of their models and examine how the predictions of their theories differ given the same linguistic facts. Following an overview of the essentials of Archi grammar and an introduction to the remarkable agreement phenomena found in this language, three distinct accounts of the Archi data examine the tractability and predictive power of major syntactic theories: Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar, Lexical Functional Grammar, and Minimalism. The final chapter compares the problems encountered and the solutions proposed in the different syntactic analyses and outlines the implications of the challenges that the Archi agreement system poses for linguistic theory.

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