Customer Reviews

ABC of Architecture

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My college freshman daughter told me she was thinking about majoring in environmental design. Knowing nothing about environmental design, I decided I needed to know more. Architecture is a part of environmental design, and I feel fortunate to have found this book. It is a fast read at about 120 pages, and it is focused on the three principles of an ancient Roman architect named Vitruvius: Utilitas, Firmitas, and Venustas in Latin, or function, structure, and beauty. The book devotes a chapter to each of these principles, and has additional chapters on architecture as communication and the vocabulary of architecture. The book also stresses the importance of history on architecture. The book has numerous drawings that help illustrate the points in the text. After reading this book I feel like I have a high-level picture of what architects have to consider in their profession.

This pleasant little book can be a valuable tool in the education of any amateur interested in architecture. It's of such a convenient size that you can take it with you, on long or short trips, and learn its concepts: ashlar, battered, common bond, dado, exoskeleton, firmitas, groin vault, and so on and so forth, through voussoir and wind bracing and many others.

It's a coherent story of architecture, not a glossary or dictionary, but the fresh, new words accumulate.

This is a very informative, short book. While he doesn't ignore periods entirely, O'Gormans approach is to concentrate on key architectural principles, primarily structural, and use buildings, or even simplified sketches, to illustrate them. The book would have been even better if the glossary at the end were expanded, and used some sketches: words are frequently far less useful than pictures in explaining a term. Also, I found O'Gormans introduction a bit forced and wordy. Conversely, the last few pages of the book, in which he hurriedly covers such topics as the importance of history and association in interpreting architectural work, were fascinating, but rushed.

"ABC of Architecture" is a catchier title than "Introduction to Architecture" but a little misleading. It sounds like it might be a dictionary of architectural terms. The book is, in fact, an introduction to the principles of architecture written for the uninitiated by James F. O'Gorman, professor of architecture and author of a dozen books on the subject. His intention is to demystify the basics for interested laypersons or beginning undergraduates. There is a Précis, which one may read instead of the entire book to get the basics of the basics, but I don't think it contains enough specifics or examples to be helpful.

O'Gorman's approach is to explain architecture by explaining its three components, as proposed by ancient Roman architect Vetruvius: Utilitas (function), Firmitas (structure), and Venustas (beauty). A building's function is expressed by the client in a building program. It is given structure by the builder, while design or beauty is the domain of the architect. A chapter is devoted to each of these aspects of building creation, in which the basic choices are explained: The plan may be additive or divisive, the structural system trabeated or arcuated, the design formal or picturesque, with the ideas, implications, and examples for these basic options.

There is also a chapter that addresses how architecture communicates through associative meaning and one that gives the reader an amusing tour of architectural vocabulary. There is a short glossary of terms in the back and a list of recommended reading. Black-and-white drawings by Dennis E. McGrath provide examples of basic concepts and designs. "ABC of Architecture" is a nice primer that avoids overwhelming the beginner with perplexing terms and engineering but tells the reader enough to know if you want to find out more about the subject or not.

Just as the title implies, this book is about how to read architecture. Reading requires understanding the vocabulary and structure of the language concerned. O'Gorman begins with Vitruvius' notions of function, structure, and beauty, and relates them to a building's plan, section, and elevation drawings respectively. Those, he claims, are the ABC's of architecture. But he also, knowingly or not, emphasizes that the future architect or critic study another, less metaphorical, vocabulary. It is important to know the names of architectural components and activities, and O'Gorman includes a chapter in which he recommends several dictionaries and presents some words, their meanings, and their histories.

For an introductory book on architecture, ABC OF ARCHITECTURE is very concise and well structured. His text is accompanied by useful illustrations. While he seems a bit disdainful of "celebrity architects," that is fine for the beginning architect who needs a strong foundation. The main flaw is its emphasis on Western architecture, but that is a characteristic shared by many other books.

Although it is intended for a more amateur architectural audience, O'Gorman doesn't seem to encompass modern thinking into his book. He pretty much re-vamps Vitruvius' famous work into this contemporary style. However, with his contemporary writing, he doesn't bring in any contemporary ideas... He leaves post modernism and modernism out completely... He refers to Mies Van der Rohe, yet he wrongly references him. Mies wasn't concerned with utility, where as O'Gorman's main thesis is that architecture IS utilitarian. The book is a fast easy read however, and it's been interesting... and it WILL certainly help first year arch. students.

This book is a great starter book for the beginning arch. student. It has a quick synopsis of the text in the front and the more lengthy, though still brief, read afterward. This was useful for me to just figure out what the elements of architecture are.

This book has provided me with an excellent foundation to the fundamental notion of architecture itself. The writing is unpretentious, clear and logical. There are images which are instructive and clarify the points made in the text. The information provides a powerful set of ideas with which to understand the purpose of architecture and to understand architectural examples in the real world. Very pleased to have purchased and read the book. Thanks to the author for being an approachable teacher.

Mr O'Gorman has written a useful practicle guide for the layperson. In a clear style he provides alarge amount of information.

I got this book just for my arch class. First, the price is good. but the book itself is very thin. it doesn't help with the course.