Essential Architecture

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A World History of Western Architecture

Essentials
general audience
from 14 years on
12 x 16 cm
512 pages
ca. 1000 illustrations
ca. 100 000 words
full color on 140 g Offset
flexicover
spring 2008
ca. 1 000 illustrations, introduction and reference

This incredibly informative pocket-size

volume promises much and delivers.
Organized chronologically, it encompasses
the story of architecture from pre-histor
ical examples such as Stonehenge to
present day ecological office buildings and
Blobitecture.
The history of architecture unfolds
through colorful and insightful images
and texts that trace the development of
major movements and their architects
throughout the ages and around the
world. Technological innovations, building methods, and historical references are

explained in an easy-to-understand way.

Each chapter is opened by a time-line and
an introduction pointing out the essential
developments of the time in design and
building techniques.
While the focus lies on Western architec
ture, each chapter also includes pages
examining the Islamic, Asian and African
styles and methods.
Fullcolor photographs are enriched by
floor plans and drawings that outline every
thing you need to know about architecture.
Great for anyone interested in the stylistic
and technical aspects of everyday living.

Sales arguments:
ca . 1 000 illustrations, low price
a survey of the greatest architects and
buildings
creative and technical inventions and
their lasting effects
chronologically and thematically sorted
for easy reference
unique combination of visual and text
information

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A rchi t ec t u re

Content
Pre- and Early History 10,000 BCE300 BCE
Topics include:
Prehistoric Architecture, Egypt,

Mesopotamia and Persia, Minoan and Mycenaean
Building Techniques: Megaliths
Antiquity and Early Christianity 600 BCE600 CE
Topics include:
Greek, Roman, Byzantine
Spotlight:
The Parthenon and the Colosseum
Innovations:
The Classical Orders
Around the Wold: India, Early Buddhism, China, the Americas
Romanesque 7901140
Topics include:
Carolingian Renaissance, Ottonian,

German, Cluny, Norman, Moorish
Spotlight:
Monasteries
Innovations:
The Vault
Around the World: East Asian, Early Mosques, Pueblos
Gothic 11401520
Topics include:
French and British styles, German,

Bohemian, Spanish, Italian, Fortifications
Spotlight:
Westminster Abbey
Innovations:
Gothic height and divisions
Around the World: Southeast Asia and Ethiopia

Renaissance 14201620
Topics include:
Brunelleschi, Alberi, Michelangelo,

Palladio, France, Germany, Elizabethan
Spotlight:
St. Peters Basilica
Innovations:
The Dome of Florence Cathedral
Around the World: India, East Asia

Baroque 15501790
Topics include:
Bernini, Borromini, Mansart, Louis Le Vau,

Castles, Bohemian, Iberian, Islamic, Ottoman,

Rococo
Spotlight:
Versailles
Innovations:
Concave and Convex facades
Around the World: Japan, Latin America

Neoclassicism 16401850
Topics include:
Wren, Nash, Schinkel, Latrobe, Jefferson
Spotlight:
The US Capitol
Innovations:
The Rebirth of the orders
19th Century
Topics include:


Spotlight:
Innovations:

Greek Revival, Neo-Renaissance, Gothic

Revival, Egyptian Revival, Exoticism, the
Haussmannization of Paris, Second Empire...
Louvre
Industrial Architecture

20th Century - before 1945

Topics include:
Sullivan, Flank Lloyd Wright, Art Nouveau,

Modernism, Walter Gropius, Le Courbusier,

Social Housing Estates, Totalitarian Architecture
Spotlight:
Steel Frames
Architecture after 1945
Topics include:
Mies van der Rohe, Louis Kahn, Eero Saarinen,

Oscar Niemeyer, Siza, SOM, Pei, Norman Foster,

High Tech Architecture, the New York Five,

Theoretical Urban Utopias, Gehry, Hadid,

Koolhaas, Blobitecture...
Spotlight:
Sydney Opera House and the Seagram Building
Innovations:
Complex Curvature

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The Great Pyramids

of Giza

About 75 years after the construction of

the Step Pyramid of Djoser, Djosers
grandson, Khufuson of Snefru
began his own pyramid. Learning from
the mistakes of Snefrus pyramids, the
architects devised ingenious techniques to build Khufus Great Pyramid
on a truly monumental scale. At 480
feet (146 meters) high, the pyramid was
the worlds tallest building until Lincoln
Cathedral was completed in 1300.
Along with the two later pyramids next
to it, the Great Pyramid remains one of
humankinds greatest achievements.

Legend:
1 Air Shafts
2 Grand Gallery
3 Horizontal Passage
4 Ascending Passage
5 Entrance
6 Descending Passage
7 Mortuary Temple
8 Subterranean Chamber
9 Queens Chamber
10 Air Shafts
11 Kings Chamber

10

2
3
4
5

8
6
7

The Great Pyramid of Khufu has

two air shafts and two main
chambers. Near the center of
the pyramid lies the main
roomthe Kings
Chamberand the
Queens Chamber lies
just beneath.

The masonry inside the Great

Pyramid is so fine that a knife
tip cannot be inserted between
the stones. The Grand Gallery,
shown above, leads to the
Kings Chamber. Thought to be
the pharaohs burial room,
today it holds only an empty
sarcophagus.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu is

made of about 2,400,000
blocks, each weighing an average of 2.5 tons. The rough interior blocks were quarried nearby, but the granite for the
interior Kings Chamber came
from about 500 miles (800 km)
away.
Pre- and Early History 10,000300 BCE

Great Pyramids, 26th

century BCE, Giza

estimated number of workers

needed ranges from 30,000 to
300,000 men working for 20
Many mysteries surround the
years. The Pyramid of Menkaure
pyramids, especially their con(foreground), son of Khufu, is
struction. How were 2 million
about half as tall as his fathers.
blocks of stone quarried,
dressed, and moved into place? The three main pyramids were
surrounded by a necropolis of
Theories include the use of
long, straight ramps leading to the tombs of nobles, including
the small pyramids for
the top of the structure, or a
Menkaures queens. The scale
ramp winding up the outside
of the project is staggering, but
of the pyramids. Some
perhaps equally impressive are
scientists believe an internal ramp was used the leaps made in technical
to build them, and skillbuilders, who started
working with stone only 75
that it still lies
years earlier, were able to
inside.
master masonry on
The
such a large scale.

23

11

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

22

A rch i tec t u re : Sam ple Page

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A rchi t ec t u re : Sam ple Page

Groin vaults are useful when

two volumessuch as the nave
and transept of a churchneed
to be joined. They can also be
used as individual components
of a system of repeating strucSainte-Madeleine, groin
tural bays, replacing the cumvault, ca. 1120, Vezelay, France bersome barrel vault. In contrast to the barrel vault, the
The groin vault is the result of
groin vault allows some of the
the intersection of two barrel
vaults of equal diameter at right gravitational pull to be transangles to each other. The points ferred directly to point supports
or piers, rather than over the
of intersection form paraboloids that are known as groins.
entire length of the wall.
Romanesque 7901140

93

The size, durability, and aesthetics of roof and ceiling

designs occupied architects even in the earliest days
of building. To create a monumental space, the roof
had to span large distances. While this was achievable in wood, stone was is durable and less prone to
fire. Greeks spans were limited by narrowly spaced
columns, but the Romans wanted to build large, unobstructed spaces and so used vaults on an unprecedented scale. A timber roof works in tension, because
the vertical loads are distributed along the beams, but
stone has limited tensile capabilities and works best
in compression. The arch answers this problem by
working only in compression, and the simplest barrel
vault is basically an extruded, or repeated, arch.

Romanesque

Romanesque

92

The Vault

Saint-Guilhem-le-Dsert
Abbey, barrel vault, 105070,
Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Krak des Chevaliers, ribbed

quadripartite vault, begun
1144, near Homs, Syria

The barrel vault is the simplest

and oldest form of vault. By
horizontally extending the arch,
wider areas were able to be
covered than would have been
with post-and-lintel construction. This early innovation was
problematic in that the weight
of the barreled ceiling put too
much stress on the side walls,
pushing them outward.

The quadripartite ribbed vault

is the last, and most important
stage of the vaults evolution.
From this innovation, more intricate designssuch as sixpartite, net, star, fan, cell, and palm
vaultingwould later become
possible. The quadrapartite
vault is a variation on the groin
vault, but with two pointed
barrel vaults intersecting in-

stead of two semicircular ones.

However, the rib in the vault is
the key to understanding
skeletal construction, a specialty of the Gothic period. The
groin vault is more effective at
transferring the weight of the
ceiling to point supports, but
loads the transverse wall and
produces massive outward
thrust. The ribs function like
structural funnels, gathering
the load from the vault and
transferring it directly to point

supports, essentially eliminating the need for a continuous expanses of thick walls.
The point supports create a
shape that produces less of an
outward push, allowing piers to
be thinner and the buttresses
smaller. During the construction of a vaulted area, the ribs
were used as scaffolding for the
building of the webbingthe
area that creates the vaulted
ceiling, filling in the space between ribs.
The Vault

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The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank building significantly revolutionized the tall building typology. Constructed from five structural modules
that were prefabricated in Glasgow, UK, the
building was designed to allow for flexibility in its
internal configuration. With structure and service
cores pushed to the periphery, the deep, open
floor plates and a 10-story atrium are naturally lit
by a mirrored central sun-scoop. Although all of
the buildings technology fulfills functional
requirements, Foster also allowed the structural
elements of the building to be the primary motifs
of its aesthetics, as well as its organizationparticularly the V-shaped suspension trusses on the
exterior, which are a prominent symbol of the
building and that also form double-height
spaces inside. This relationship between aesthetics and technology makes the Hongkong
and Shanghai Bank one of the icons of High
Tech architecture.

1935, Manchester
Pioneers new materials, structural and environmental controls, and construction technologies Projects are often characterized by the extensive
use of glass Emphasizes constructability, materiality, and an adherence
to time and budget constraints Forgoes historical conventions

Corporate Modernism

466

1935 Born in Manchester

1961 Receives degree
from Manchester University; wins Yale scholarship
1967 Founds his own firm,
Foster + Partners
1979 Begins Hongkong
and Shanghai Bank headquarters
1983 Wins RIBA Gold
Medal
1994 Wins AIA Gold Medal
1998 Awarded the Stirling
Prize for Imperial War
Museum, Duxford
1999 Wins the Pritzker Prize
2004 Awarded the Stirling
Prize for 30 St. Mary Axe
2007 Wins the Aga Khan
Award

30 St. Mary Axe,

19972004, London
Known as the Gherkin, 30
St. Mary Axe is Londons
first ecological tall building.
Its unique shape and triangulated structural surface is
designed to resist wind,
while double glazing allows
for passive solar heating
and natural cooling. Designed to maximize the use
of natural light, the building
is fitted with sensors to minimize energy waste.
Architecture after 1945

The architecture practice of Sir Norman Foster is renowned

for its pursuit of and Modernist belief in technological innovation. One of the most famous contemporary architecture
practices in the world, Foster + Partners often works closely
with engineers and has designed a vast number of largescale, institutional, and infrastructural buildings around the
world that are characterized by their use of glass, stainless
steel, and exposed and aestheticized
structures, often in iconic and
metaphoric forms. Since the 1970s,
the firm has been internationally
recognized for its environmentally
sustainable designs, which make
use of natural daylight and passive climate-control strategies,
thus revolutionizing the typology of tall
buildings in
this a embracing

Reichstag Dome, 199299, Berlin

Fosters glass dome on top of the existing Neoclassical Reichstag building was conceived as a
visual metaphor for the transparency and openness of the newly unified German government. In
addition to serving as the primary attraction for
visitors to the German parliament, with a spiral
ramp providing panoramic views of the city, the
interior cone of the dome provides reflected daylight to the chambers below, with an automated
sunshade to reduce heat gain during the warmer
summer months.
Other Important Works by Foster
Willis Faber & Dumas
Headquarters,
197175, Ipswich, UK

Chep Lap Kok

Airport, 199297,
Hong Kong

Sainsbury Center for

Visual Arts, 197478,
Norwich, UK

The Great Court

at the British Museum,
19942000, London

Canary Wharf
Underground Station,
199199, London

Masdar Initiative
Master Plan, 2007,
Abu Dhabi

Sir Norman Foster

Corporate Modernism

Sir Norman Foster

467

Hongkong and Shanghai Bank

Headquarters, 197986, Hong Kong

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Clyde Auditorium, 1997,

Glasgow
Nicknamed the Armadillo, the
Clyde Auditorium is a massive
addition to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center,

extending its use for concerts

and public events. The structure, shaped like sails, references the shipping tradition of
the area, and it is now one of
Glasgows most recognizable

Essen Design Center,

199297, Essen, Germany

forms. Flat aluminum sheeting

is fixed to hull-shaped frames.
The overlapping shells create
an arced canopy at the entrance. Inside, the centers facilities are multifunctional.

469

The Essen Design Center is

located on the site of the
former Zeche Zollverein, a
decommissioned coal-mining
complex. The center uses the
architectural bones of the old
powerhouse, exposing the
functional, industrial aspects on
the inside concealed behind a
sleek geometric facade. The
entire complex of buildings is
united by its use of brown walls
and red exposed I-beams. The
center contains galleries and
work spaces within the context
of a 1930s factoryjuxtaposing
Modern designs with early
technologies. The building
offers design and display space
of over 43,000 square feet
(4,000 square meters), making
it the largest design center in
the world.

Corporate Modernism

Corporate Modernism

468

Modernity and High Tech innovations, both his architectural and infrastructural designs maintain a level of
cultural sensitivity. His work spans 40 years, adapting to
technological and social changes, maintaining his
status as a leader in the world of architectural design.

Chesa Futura, 200004,

St. Moritz, Switzerland
The Chesa Futura apartments
were constructed using stateof-the-art computer design

techniques mixed with traditional local timber on the buildings framing and facade. The
wooden shingles, from local
trees, are extremely

durable in the cold climate and,

despite an eventual change in
color from exposure to the elements, will not need maintenance for many years to come.

Millau Viaduct, 19932004,

Millau, France
Spanning nearly 1.5 miles (2.5
kilometers), the Millau Viaduct
is taller than the Empire State
Building, making it the tallest
vehicular bridge in the world.
Aesthetically, the horizontal
deck of the bridge appears light
in comparison to the massive
masts, accentuating its span.
The deck employs an innovative steel material that allows
for flexibility and resistance to
wear and wind.

Architecture after 1945

Sir Norman Foster