ArchiCAD: Best Practice: The Virtual Building Revealed [Hardcover]

Bob Martens (Author), Herbert Peter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2006

On the market since 1984, ArchiCAD has firmly established itself among the best Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software packages available. The number of ArchiCAD users continues to increase as constant product development broadens the program's spectrum of possible applications. ArchiCAD Best Practice: The Virtual Building™ Revealed provides comprehensive information on the many tools, functions, and processes of the program’s research, professional, and educational uses.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Voices from the ArchiCAD Community worldwide, reviewing the German edition: "As an avid ArchiCAD user, it would be extremely beneficial to learn more about how other architects use ArchiCAD in the design process.” Jeffrey Benningfield "I would like an English book on ArchiCAD for my students.” John Counsell "We are just incorporating ArchiCAD into our curriculum. I would be very interested in this endeavor.” Elizabeth Bollinger "We would be interested and recommand the book to our students.” Kristian Agger "The book you forwarded me (German version) was fantastic ... I believe there would be a great demand for this book ... however it would need to be an english version.” Steve Johnson

About the Author

BOB MARTENS, is a visiting professor at Vienna Technical University. He teaches spatial simulation and spatial design. He has been involved in teaching and researching ArchiCAD since 1993.

HERBERT PETER, studied architecture at Vienna Technical University. He worked as an ArchiCAD product manager at A-Null for many years and teaches CAD at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Springer Vienna Architecture; 2nd edition (December 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3211327894
• ISBN-13: 978-3211327890
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,407,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, October 15, 2004

By 

Jack K. Rogers "Thirst for archicad knowledge" (East Coast) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ArchiCAD: The User Handbook (Hardcover)

I have waited for this book for 11 months.
I finally got it two days ago.

I was anticipating receiving a book with
many tips and tricks on how to use Archicad.

Instead I just got a broad brush history,
no good how to's,a limited how firms are
using it, and an incredibly insulting
talk about stories and layers.

The whole text of the book could have been
contained in one large magazine article,
but the designers of the book choose instead
to double space the sentences and leave a
lot of white space in the margins.
The composition of the pages is fine, but
I bought the book for knowledge
(which it did not contain),
not a pretty page format.

Don't waste your time or money.

I hope some one else does write a
good archicad book.I'll gladly pay
for one, but they should have paid
me for looking thru this waste of good paper.

I have never written a review of any kind of
book or product before, but this book was sooo
baaad that I am writing one now.

Jack Rogers AIA

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An Utter Waste of Time, January 4, 2005

By 

Peter F. Stubbs (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ArchiCAD: The User Handbook (Hardcover)

I got this book before the previous review was written, and boy am I sorry. It is essentially a nearly 300-page sales brochure. Fantastic examples of what can be done with ArchiCAD, but rarely does it give even the most rudimentary directions on how to do any of these things. No explanation of technique is found, just nifty examples of what you could do if you already knew how to do it. That any reputable author or printer would issue this bound joke is a point of lasting perturbation for me.

Save yourself the money. Save yourself the frustration. Don't bother with this overpriced, underwritten book.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars nice software, but book is poorly presented, November 4, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ArchiCAD: The User Handbook (Hardcover)

While AutoCAD dominates the CAD field, ArchiCAD aims to do the same for architecture. The book has many examples of how traditional architectural tasks can be performed under ArchiCAD. You can see traditional floor plans being laid out. Plus a natural extension into different floors of a building. As well as 3d image rendering derived from the blueprints.

For large buildings, or a group of buildings, there is also a neat feature of being able to define terrain that the buildings sit on. The text also discusses how to organise interior space, aided by reasonably realistic renderings.

The problem with the book is that it has the format of a large glossy coffeetable book. You know, the artsy kind, with nice pictures on many pages. But if you want an actual user's manual, this text may be somewhat deficient. And that is the problem. The very title bills this as a user handbook. It does not live up to that.