Architectural Details: a visual guide to 5,000 years of building styles
Architectural Details: a visual guide to 5,000 years of building styles, Emily Cole (general editor), Ivy Press, 2015, 352 pages, paperback.
The book’s subtitle A visual guide to 5,000 years of building styles sounds pretty comprehensive. But a reader hoping to learn about many of the styles that he or she will see in wandering around a city in the UK – arts and crafts, art deco, modernism, brutalism, high tech or postmodernism, for example – will be disappointed. The book covers almost nothing after 1850.
The reason, I suspect, is simple: the book consists mainly of engravings taken from various 18th- and 19th-century architectural treatises, and such copyright-free material is not available for more modern buildings.
The introduction states, lamely, that ‘the architectural language that followed, in the later 1800s and 1900s was, even more than that of the preceding generations, one of recurring motifs. Terminology remained for the most part traditional and set, and attention was given instead to building materials and methods of construction. One need only understand, for example, Gothic architectural terms in order to be able to codify and describe the buildings of the Gothic Revival...’.
But the book is about building styles, not just terminology. Strangely, the introduction refers to the book’s title as A Concise History of Architectural Styles (which would have been a better title), rather than Architectural Details. The small print tells us that it was first published in 2002 as Grammar of Architecture.
That confusion apart, the book has much to recommend it. The main section, on architectural styles, is followed by a shorter one on elements of architecture (domes, columns, doorways and so on) and a useful glossary. The hundreds of engravings are beautiful and informative. The brief text and captions describe the styles, buildings, details and terminology well.
The book is attractively presented, and at £14.99 it is good value. Readers who know little about architecture will find it a highly accessible introduction, and experts will enjoy browsing some unfamiliar images.
This article originally appeared as ‘The sum of the parts’ in Context 142, published by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) in November 2015. It was written by Rob Cowan, editor of Context and author of the Dictionary of Urbanism.
--Institute of Historic Building Conservation
Related articles on Designing Buildings
IHBC NewsBlog
Stirling Prize-winning Salford building to be demolished
The Centenary Building will be bulldozed as part of the wider £2.5bn Crescent regeneration project
Volunteers work to transform 100-year-old ‘hidden’ building into bothy
The building, named Druimnashallag, is located southeast of Oban.
The new ‘Arches for HERs’ Demo site, from the Getty Conservation Institute via HE
It shows how organisations responsible for historic environment records (HER) management can benefit from its powerful features.
ICOMOS-CIF 2024 Symposium celebrates 40th anniversary in Venice
It aims to critically review current practices and theories of conservation of built heritage around the world, and more.
HES establishes new national centre for retrofit of traditional buildings
HES plans to develop the centre follows £1m of funding from UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council.
High Court rejects oral appeal against tower block decision in historic Bloomsbury
The request was for a full Judicial Review hearing against Camden Council’s approval of a 74m-high tower block in Bloomsbury.
Mayor of London and Government announce bold plans to transform Oxford Street
Plans include turning the road into a traffic-free pedestrianised avenue, creating a beautiful public space.
Crystal Palace Subway, for 160th anniversary
The remarkable Grade II* listed Crystal Palace Subway in South London begins a new era following major restoration.
National Trust brings nature back to an area twice the size of Manchester in less than a decade
The National Trust has achieved its aim of creating or restoring 25,000 hectares of priority habitat on its land by 2025.
18th-century hospital in York to become sustainable homes
A former mental health establishment founded by a Quaker in 1792 is to be converted into 120 energy-efficient homes in York.