Architectural Graphic Standards [Hardcover]

Charles George Ramsey (Author), Harold Reeve Sleeper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0471174092 | ISBN-13: 978-0471174097 | Edition: 9th

The architect's standard reference for over 60 years is now available as a book/CD-ROM set. Use the book for ideas and inspiration. Then use one of five powerful search methods on the CD-ROM to quickly find all the information you need for a design project.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"But there is no question that libraries with any interest in architecture, building, remodeling, or similar areas must own a copy." (Libraries Unlimited, Spring 2002) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

The classic reference used by architects and builders since 1932. No other source contains as much information in such an easy-to-use and convenient format. Totally revised and updated this edition is organized according to the CSI Masterformat3. Each chapter opens with an introduction which provides an overview of the topic and essential data. Integrates material offered by the update program into the main text and brings the book into compliance with ADA requirements and other building code changes made over the past six years. Features a new section on building types and an expanded one on energy and resource conservation.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 928 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 9th edition (June 7, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471174092
• ISBN-13: 978-0471174097
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.5 x 3.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,819,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

197 of 205 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't Be Fooled by the Enclosed CD-Rom, May 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Architectural Graphic Standards, Tenth Edition (Hardcover)

While the Architectural Graphics Standards book is as good a reference as always, the enticement of a CD-Rom is a false promise. You have to purchase an unlock code to access the Rom. Said access code is available for a fee of $425.00. That wasn't disclosed before I purchased it.

124 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Big Red Book, March 30, 2000

By 

Curtis Harkin, AIA (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Architectural Graphic Standards, Tenth Edition (Hardcover)

It has 154 more pages than the 9th edition, so it has new information, but as you page through it you will find it seems almost identical. They need to keep most of the old data, so I wouldn't take off points for that. You can see the publisher's review for all of the new features: I noticed that the Historic Preservation chapter has been shortened a bit.

Potentially, the biggest addition is the CD-ROM, which has CAD files ready to use, and includes pretty much everything from the book. You might think that you are getting all that for the cost of the book, but...no. The "demo" CD comes in a sleeve inside the back cover, and is noted: "Full functionality, Limited data." You can access a drawing of a bar joist, for example. It exports a DWG or DXF file with layers based on line weights. The interface is pretty clear; you don't have to read any instructions to start using it. The CD actually has all of the data, but you have to pay another $425 online to "unlock" it. That could be a bargain, but I suspect that most firms will feel that their own detail library is more applicable to the work they do. Still, $425 represents less than a day's worth of billable hours.

Every architect knows the value of this book, and most every architecture firm (in the U.S. anyway) will want at least one copy just to stay current, and because the old one is getting worn out. You might as well get it now, and decide on the CD-ROM later. I'd love to have a special edition set with each page ever published in all of the AGS books, or even just the last 3 or 4. I'd give that 6 stars.

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Hay, but Very Few Needles, October 26, 2003

By 

S. Colley (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Architectural Graphic Standards, Tenth Edition (Hardcover)

Once again the editors of Graphic Standards have promised a useful reference for architects, and have fallen way short. In architecture school (1972), I purchased the sixth edition and found it better than most reference books for students of architecture. However, even then I noticed many sections of questionable value. Pages and pages of dimensions of designer furniture and kitchenware fall into this category.

Recently, after practicing architecture for 20 years, I was suckered back by publisher Wiley's siren song of how the new tenth edition is new, informative, refreshing, up to date, etc. Fooled again. Sure, the Graphic Standards is a fair source of information, but I question the editors' judgement as to what is worth publishing between the wonderfully bound front and rear cover. For example, look up "R-value" in the index and you are directed to 55 words on page 486 how R-value relates to windows and that it's the inverse of U-values. Nothing on the R-value of all exterior skin construction materials or how the R-value relates poorly to thermal massing materials. These things should be very important to architects and are disappointingly absent from the Graphic Standards. However, if you ever need to know what a Zamboni looks like, or need to know the dimensions required for a rodeo barrel race, this is your book! Want an entire page showing ten pieces of gymnastics equipment (pg. 777) or how to draw an ellipse using pen or pencil (pg.999)? Seek no more. Twenty four pages of kitchen utensils and garden tools are still there. This is the best place to find loads of pages of barely useful information of dubious worth.

Once the editors of Graphic Standards discover that a meaningful discussion on R-values in building materials deserves more space than the dimensions of a belt sander, then I might reconsider purchasing a later edition, but I won't hold my breath. Oh, one more thing, for you architects out there working on a Macintosh platform, the accompanying CD-ROM is useless.