Great Buildings Collection : A Designer's Library of Architecture on CD-ROM (Paperback)

~ Kevin Matthews (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

It's one thing to read about a great work of architecture, quite another to gaze upon it. "The Great Buildings Collection, a Designer's Library of Architecture on CD-ROM" should please demanding aficionados unsatisfied with traditional architectural reference books, which are often short on renderings.

...Users will be able to summon to their computer screens 600 examples of architecture and landscape design, portrayed in color and black-and-white photographs and supplemented with architectural drawings, three-dimensional computer models, video clips, and sound...

The buildings in the collection vary in style, age and grandeur, from the legendary Palace of Minos at Knossos, Crete, dating from about 1700 B.C. to 1400 B.C., to I. M. Pei's Pyramide du Louvre (1989). Distinctive but not well known buildings like the Gregory Farmhouse in Santa Cruz, Calif. an example of regional design, built by William Wurster in 1926 and 1927, are also included.

While the graphics are plentiful, the texts accompanying each entry are brief enough to keep architectural encyclopedias in print. "The emphasis is on the graphics," Mr. Matthews said. -- New York Times, February 3, 1994

Product Description

The Great Buildings Collection on CD-ROM documents over 750 buildings and 400 leading architects from around the world and across history, with more than 2200 photographic images and over 2500 architectural drawings, plus commentaries, bibliographies, dozens of digital video clips, and more than 300 live 3D walkthrough computer models (software included). For Windows 95/98/NT and Power Macintosh.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 367 pages
• Publisher: Artifice Inc; dual platform CD-ROM edition (July 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966709845
• ISBN-13: 978-0966709841
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,364,440 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touring Europe without leaving home, November 16, 2000

By	Kathleen Meredith (Eugene, Oregon) - See all my reviews

I recently returned from Europe, and wanting to revisit some of the buildings I'd seen, I turned to Great Buildings Collection. I was able to view the buildings, and in some cases even walk through them at my leisure (no tourists in my way!) This is a "one of a kind" CD that enables the user to browse through centuries of great architecture without ever leaving home. I'm especially impressed by the numerous ways in which one can browse: by architect, country, city, and other cross references. Anyone with an interest in architecture would enjoy finding this CD in their christmas stocking.

I've also visited the GreatBuildings.com website, where you can see hundreds of the buildings free of charge, but it's even better having it on the CD , because there are thousands more images, and you're not slowed down by the modem.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so Great Building documentation, June 23, 2004

By	Stephen E. Blood - See all my reviews

Dont't buy this book unless you are looking for low resolution images and minimal information. Is a start as a building index but you're better off with a good book. Expensive and I regret my purchase.

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE MOST USEFUL BOOKS, November 8, 2001

By A Customer

if you are interested in architecture, this is a great book for you, at least it is something that you would go back to from time to time.
for architecture students, this book is a must. enough said. :)

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