In Detail : Single Family Housing [Hardcover]

Christian Schittich (Editor), Gert Kähler (Contributor), Rüdiger Krisch (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: In Detail (englisch) | Publication Date: December 1, 2000

The private single-family house is by far the most popular form of housing, and because of its size, it is a popular project with architects. In this book, 15 international examples are presented, reviewing the most important aspects of construction including the use of wood, steel, brickwork and concrete which have all become established materials for this type of building. All plans and details from the base to the roof have been painstakingly researched with the high degree of competence typical of the review Detail and the uniform presentation makes the information immediately accessible, inviting comparison and analysis. The authors provide explanatory introductions to the fundamental aspects of planning, from the design of the floor plans to the realisation, and they set this type of building within the context of the 20th century, pointing towards the potential developments of the single family house. In cooperation with DETAIL, review of architecture and construction detail

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Birkhauser; 1 edition (December 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3764363282
• ISBN-13: 978-3764363284
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,577,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expand Yourself, July 6, 2002

By 

Edward J. Shannon, AIA (Elgin, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Detail : Single Family Housing (Hardcover)

In itself this is a beautiful book. The book contains sixteen, excellently crafted homes with superb photography. The houses are organized into 4 categories: Timber, Steel, Concrete, and Masonry. The drawings (building/wall sections, plan details) are very clear and reveal some hidden truths. The book also contains three short essays (Single family house: Myth and Reality; A Small House with a Garden; The Image of the House) that are equally as inspiring.

Yes, these are high-end, avant-garde, mostly European homes as the previous reviewer has pointed out. But, Isn't this the type of book us more conventional architects should be getting our inspiration from? Perhaps some of these elegant details and constructs could trickle down into conventional residential practice, even speculative housing. If every residential architect were to study these types of details and enlighten their clients, I'm sure the quality of the built environment would improve. Let's broaden our horizons.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Order carefully, January 14, 2006

By 

Gibby, please (Portland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Detail : Single Family Housing (Hardcover)

Amazon's listing's for these fine books is a little screwy. There are 2 versions of "Single Family Housing", which are substantially the same but have different covers. Had I ordered the one published in 2006 without noticing this first in person, I'd have been disappointed.

At any rate, each volume features a few worthwhile essays and a collection of exquisitely presented photos and drawings. Despite the fact that all dimensions are metric, and many of the materials are not common to construction in the United States, there is a lot of inspiration to be had in these pages.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Avant garde European houses, April 18, 2002

By 

misterbeets "misterbeets" (Safe Harbor, MD USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Detail : Single Family Housing (Hardcover)

The drawings are exactly like the ones in Detail magazine, which means Americans might have occasional trouble translating some of the terminology, but the presentation is top quality. Features cutting-edge designs that are the stuff of architectural journalism: shed roofs, floor-to-ceiling windows, natural wood slat siding, and, my favorite, a house built with two-foot-thick sand-lime brick cavity walls. Not your average homes; then again, no reason to compile them into a book if they were.