This book makes the extremely complex process of architectural perception far more transparent and thus contributes to a better understanding of our built environment. Why is there so much debate about the appearance of our built environment, about the aesthetics of architecture today? Why do opinions about the aesthetic quality of buildings often diverge extremely even among experts? Why can’t we agree on architecture, on what is beautiful and what is not? Most areas of construction, such as statics and building physics, are measurable and can therefore be substantiated with objective arguments. Yet this does not apply to the unquantifiable aesthetics of architecture. Accordingly, judgments on aesthetics are always subject-specific, and strongly dependent on the viewer. Nevertheless, the aesthetics of architecture is not just a matter of taste. Many relationships between buildings as objects and viewers as subjects can be determined objectively with the help of perceptual psychology and information theory, as this book demonstrates.

This book makes the extremely complex process of architectural perception far more transparent and thus contributes to a better understanding of our built environment. Why is there so much debate about the appearance of our built environment, about the aesthetics of architecture today? Why do opinions about the aesthetic quality of buildings often diverge extremely even among experts? Why can’t we agree on architecture, on what is beautiful and what is not? Most areas of construction, such as statics and building physics, are measurable and can therefore be substantiated with objective arguments. Yet this does not apply to the unquantifiable aesthetics of architecture. Accordingly, judgments on aesthetics are always subject-specific, and strongly dependent on the viewer. Nevertheless, the aesthetics of architecture is not just a matter of taste. Many relationships between buildings as objects and viewers as subjects can be determined objectively with the help of perceptual psychology and information theory, as this book demonstrates.

Definitions of space are as diverse as the disciplines in which it plays a fundamental role; from science and philosophy to art and architecture, each field’s perception of space is often simplified or reduced. This consequently denies access to ‘new spaces’, whose definitions and perspectives, strategies and impacts on human perception are rarely considered in any cohesive manner. This is where the Aedes Network Campus Berlin (ANCB) programme ‘No Space Without Traits’ came in: particularly through artistic approaches, it aimed to open doors into spatial worlds that until now have remained closed. The symposium ‘PERCEPTION in Architecture. HERE and NOW’ was part of this programme and invited critical and comprehensive contributions by academics, artists, architects, designers and curators. These presentations are brought together in this volume to reflect upon new spatial concepts and thus access ‘new spaces’ of perception in architecture. The symposium stimulated a discourse focused on spaces as a collective entity, notions of spatial truth, the multiplicity of experience, and Wahrnehmnungsapparate, as well as physical, visual, acoustic and virtual manifestations of space in relation to social, cultural, historical and political forces.

Certain aspects and contexts of the perception of architecture can best be explained by means of images - that is the idea upon which this book is based. The author has divided selected structural details into individual chapters, including such subjects as space, color, dynamics and surface. The reader can discover analogies as well as contradictions and view the photos completely independent of the texts. In the back of the book all the information about the structures depicted in the front can be found, as well as a complete view of the buildings and texts about architecture and perception. The photographs were taken in foreign countries on every continent and depict a great number of famous and representative structures from different ages and cultures.

This book discusses the design of comfortable buildings and shows that design perception and, as a result, comfort should be an intentional feature of architectural design. Modern buildings are often sealed boxes without operable windows or daylighting design. However, contemporary designers increasingly find themselves faced with the task of creating spaces that are comfortable in terms of thermal and visual aspects.

A highly interdisciplinary work, The Black Skyscraper reclaims the influence of race on modern architectural design as well as the less-well-understood effects these designs had on the experience and perception of race.

Does the way in which buildings are looked at, and made sense of, change over the course of time? How can we find out about this? By looking at a selection of travel writings spanning four centuries, Anne Hultzsch suggests that it is language, the description of architecture, which offers answers to such questions. The words authors use to transcribe what they see for the reader to re-imagine offer glimpses at modes of perception specific to one moment, place and person. Hultzsch constructs an intriguing patchwork of local and often fragmentary narratives discussing texts as diverse as the 17th-century diary of John Evelyn, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) and an 1855 art guide by Swiss art historian Jacob Burckhardt. Further authors considered include 17th-century collector John Bargrave, 18th-century novelist Tobias Smollett, poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, critic John Ruskin as well as the 20th-century architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner. Anne Hultzsch teaches at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.

Introduction to Architecture: Global Disciplinary Knowledge provides students with a holistic exploration of the history of architectural discourse. The anthology features select readings in architectural theory, which are supplemented by clear introductory remarks to help guide students through critical concepts and themes. The book expands the repertoire of traditional Euro-American based theory anthologies by presenting texts from an explicitly global perspective. It engages a diverse range of debates on the built environment throughout history and around the world. The collection addresses the what, how, and why of architecture and architectural theory, specifically addressing the following questions: What is architecture? What are the ideas behind some of the most significant buildings in history? How does architecture manifest cultural values and aspirations in different contexts? Why is all of this important in the first place? To answer these questions, the anthology offers students readings on architectural thought and theory from some of the most renowned and revered architects and theorists of their time. The text also provides students with case studies and images of exemplary buildings to help them connect the dots between theoretical concepts and constructed works of architecture. Designed to serve as a supplementary text, Introduction to Architecture is a cross-disciplinary anthology well suited for foundational courses in architectural history, architecture, theory of architecture, cultural studies, anthropology, and urban studies. An architectural theorist, historian, and practitioner, Joseph Godlewski earned Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in architectural history and theory from the University of California, Berkeley. He is an assistant professor at the Syracuse University School of Architecture, where he teaches courses in theory and design. His writing has been featured in various forums including CLOG, The Plan Journal, MONU, ArchDaily.com, Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review, and the book The Dissertation: An Architecture Student's Handbook. He's a member of the Global Architectural History Teaching Collaborative (GAHTC).

A superb visual reference to the principles of architecture Now including interactive CD-ROM! For more than thirty years, the beautifully illustrated Architecture: Form, Space, and Order has been the classic introduction to the basic vocabulary of architectural design. The updated Third Edition features expanded sections on circulation, light, views, and site context, along with new considerations of environmental factors, building codes, and contemporary examples of form, space, and order. This classic visual reference helps both students and practicing architects understand the basic vocabulary of architectural design by examining how form and space are ordered in the built environment.? Using his trademark meticulous drawing, Professor Ching shows the relationship between fundamental elements of architecture through the ages and across cultural boundaries. By looking at these seminal ideas, Architecture: Form, Space, and Order encourages the reader to look critically at the built environment and promotes a more evocative understanding of architecture. In addition to updates to content and many of the illustrations, this new edition includes a companion CD-ROM that brings the book's architectural concepts to life through three-dimensional models and animations created by Professor Ching.