Customer Reviews

Architecture: Form, Space, and Order

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This gook is a great value if you are new or just a beginning your career and want to get some nice perspective fast. I know that some reviews here indicate that this book is not the right book for architects.and i can understand their point of view, because they were expecting something the book didn't give.as a matter of face i was dissappionted too when i 1st got the book, but now i know it's a real treasure and definately a must-have for architects and new designers.
This book is the greatest illustrator of buildings throughout time, not in pictures but in beautiful sketches, from different angles and with a brief explaination of the design concept...it helps if u r studying history of arhitecture and u want to know the architects and their works.

I've read several books on architecture and this one gives the best description of the fundamental necessities of design. It has a creative flow and page layout that are a nice change from code quoting textbooks.

This book is a must for anyone studying drawing, drafting or architecture. Fantastic detail and examples.

Beatifull book with superb pencil drawings. All the aspects for architectural composition are covered with a lot of drawings and historical examples. Perfect for students and a must for architecs as a reminder of all the options available and, also, as an inspiration.

I've had this book for a while now. It should be a staple for any young, budding architect and the principles contained within are examples of what make architecture different from engineering.

Great book by a great author.

This is an invaluable reference for architecture students and professionals alike. Ching's illustrations are amazing and the depth of information presented is incredible. I highly recommend this book.

what i don't understand is how you can give any book but this book especially, anything below 5 stars. Ching seriously BREAKS it down! I got most of my ching books my freshman year of architecture school and you couldn't pry them from my hands. They are sooo helpful especially architectural graphic along with Form, Space and order. No one pursuing a career in architecture in their right mind, not have ching in their library arsenal.

Item was delivered in perfect shape and in a decent amount of time

Contents have helped in this last project a bunch

Great book

This book is elementary in the true sense of the word, presenting the basic components that create form, space and order in architecture. It is extremely methodical and organized. It actually starts off with the definition of a point before going on to lines, planes and volumes! The result is somewhat dull and often borders on platitudes. For instance, rhythm is defined as «a unifying movement characterized by a patterned repetition».

In fact, the book actually contains very little text but is abundantly illustrated with the author's black and white renderings, some of conceptual notions and the others of actual architectural works.

These are not restricted to the western world but include examples from the Middle East, India, China and Japan. However, no historical or cultural context is provided whatsoever. Also, hardly any 19th century structure is depicted and there is an anachronistically strong bias in favour of Modernism. Many examples are taken from Le Corbusier's (small) production and indeed he is given the final word with a quote from «Towards a New Architecture».

The book is totally impersonal and appears detached from its author, giving the impression of exposing absolute truths. This is insidious since many readers are certainly new to the field and the information provided is far from neutral. Program and context, for example, consistently appear as very secondary facets of architecture.

The CD integrated as a bonus is extremely basic but does include in addition to simple animation two elements absent from the printed book: colour and photographs. This is not devoid of interest but one wonders why the style is so utterly different.

Overall, this book cannot unfortunately be recommended as a worthwhile investment in time and money.

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Spanish to English translation
Frank (Francis DK) Ching (born 1943) is a widely known author of books on architecture and graphic design. Ching's books have been very influential and continue to shape the visual language in all branches of design. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington.