Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture: Includes CD-ROM (Hardcover)

by Virginia McLeod (Author) "The house is located on the top of a north-facing hill on the outskirts of Madrid, overlooking a tranquil village in a valley with a..." (more)
Key Phrases: resin paint finish, timber block construction, sliding aluminium window, Ground Floor Plan, Wall Detail, First Floor Plan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Architectural detailing makes a building unique and an architect outstanding. This book provides analysis of both the technical and the aesthetic importance of details in the development of contemporary domestic architecture from 2000 to 2005. Featuring many of the world's most highly acclaimed architects, the book presents over 50 of the most recently completed and influential house designs. For each house there are color photographs, plans of every floor, sections and elevations, and numerous construction details. The book also features in-depth information for each project, including the size, the client, the architectural project team, main consultants, and contractors. With CD-ROM.

About the Author
Virignia McLeod studied architecture in Australia and has worked for a number of private practices in London. She was the editor of The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture and currently works as a freelance writer and editor.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Laurence King Publishers (May 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856694828
• ISBN-13: 978-1856694827
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 10.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,917 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but kind of misses the point., April 2, 2008

By	J. Lin (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An account of the 2 hours I spent flipping through this book after it arrived at my door:

1. When I saw that the intricacy of the illustration on the cover is produced by overlapping several drawings, I thought, "uh-oh."

2. After looking through a few projects, I was a little disappointed with the haphazard organization of the "details." For example, full wall sections were more often than not excluded. Envelope details were presented as partial sections, thereby losing the context. The different lineweights were also practically indistinguishable.

3. I was impressed, however, with the comprehensive list of materials/components accompanying the drawings.

4. I was disappointed with the choice of photographs, in general, of the projects. Most projects had photos that basically show the same part of the building, but from a different angle, or slightly zoomed in.

5. More overlapping drawings. This bothers me quite a bit, since these are just page-fillers, and do not offer anything except examples of what not to do when presenting construction details.

6. One project was entirely devoted to the detailing of a window box, when that building had used a very interesting roofing material (handcrafted lead sheets), what appeared to be hidden gutters, and a very well integrated envelope from roof to grade. I flipped through this section repeatedly to check if I had missed some pages, then I grew a little angry that these very worthwhile details were forgone in favour of a single window.

7. After going through the entire book, I flipped through it quickly to see if there were any projects from South America since I didn't remember seeing any. I recalled only two projects from Central America. A quick look through the list of projects seem to indicate a coastal North America and Western European bias.

8. I wished I could afford a subscription to the German version of Detail.

I would not recommend this book for something that one expects from well-drafted construction documents. The method of reference and presentation is a little messy. Drawings seem to be organized by how well they fit together on a single page, rather than their as-built relationship. Given the precious lack of real-estate dedicated to photos, certain photographs could be omitted and replaced by more telling shots. Perhaps coordinate the details presented with a photo of the detail in situ and in context? A larger-scale foundation-to-roof envelope section can be a good organizational tool for subsequent details. Did I mention that overlapping drawings bother me?

What I find good is the abundance of projects, the organization by material, and the list of components used. While I have a lot to complain about in terms of the drawings, there is still quite a bit one can take away from them. It would be a good book to go to for initial ideas.

In short, this book is a coffee-table architectural book - a lot of pictures without definite purpose - disguised as a technical book. Sort of misses the point for a book that's about details.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good DD details book, October 6, 2007

By	Rich (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

Overall this is a fairly good detail book and well presented with nice modern houses. The level of details is more on the level of DD and SD and varies from project to project. The best CD details are only found in real construction drawings. The German's "Detail" magazine and books also shows comprehensive details. Another good detail book is "The architectural Detail, Dutch architects visualize their concepts" by Ed Melet.

Well this book has less texts then the Dutch architects detail book. Also, the drawing details are on average larger. The details are also drawing in an American's standard presentation. The Dutch book is presented with European hatches and drawing standards, which are not as easy to understand. The range of details type methogolies are very good, from some what of a roof garden to cylinder metal house.

At time there are too many SD overall sections and plans that take too many pages. The CD (disc) is nice and includes a lot of drawings in CAD .dwg and .eps format with no texts.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Details, September 19, 2007

By	9p09ty4e - See all my reviews

This book is an excellent buy. Not only does it include overviews of the projects (by John Pawson, Sean Godsell, Scogin-Elam, and many others) but it includes plans, elevations, and MOST IMPORTANTLY multiple detail drawings of each residence. The book is organized into sections such as steel, masonry, bamboo, and others. If you dont just want strictly images (although roughly 5-10 images of each house are provided) but want to know how the projects were put together, then I would recommend this book. Thanks.