What if the house you are about to enter was built with the confessed purpose of seducing you, of creating various sensations destined to touch your soul and make you reflect on who you are? Could architecture have such power? This was the assumption of generations of architects at the beginning of modernity. Exploring the role of theatre and fiction in defining character in architecture, Louise Pelletier examines how architecture developed to express political and social intent. Applying this to the modern day, Pelletier considers how architects can learn from these eighteenth century attitudes in order to restore architecture's communicative dimension. Through an in-depth and interdisciplinary analysis of the beginning of modernity, Louise Pelletier encourages today's architects to consider the political and linguistic implications of their tools. Combining theory, historical studies and research, Architecture in Words will provoke thought and enrich the work of any architect.

Available again, a wholly original study of the complex relationship between architecture and language that has changed and enriched the way we think and talk about architecture.The words we use when we talk and write about architecture describe more than just bricks and mortar they direct the ways we think of and live with buildings. This groundbreaking book is the first thorough examination of the complex relationship between architecture and language as intricate social practices. Six rigorously argued chapters investigate the language of modernism, language and drawing, masculine and feminine architecture, language metaphors, science in architecture, and the social properties of architecture. There follows a vocabulary of key words such as Character, Form, History and Space, locating each words modern meaning within an historical and theoretical framework, and setting out clearly its development and relevance for architects, historians, philosophers, critics and the users of the buildings themselves. Architects should be made to read Words and Buildings Architecture Today Unusually clear and accessible Students of all kinds will love this book The Architectural Review A forceful, clear and sophisticated exposition of the role of conceptual thought in architectural discourse The Architects Journal

With more than 20,000 words and terms individually defined, the Dictionary offers huge coverage for anyone studying or working in architecture, construction or any of the built environment fields. The innovative and detailed cross-referencing system allows readers to track down elusive definitions from general subject headings. Starting from only the vaguest idea of the word required, a reader can quickly track down precisely the term they are looking for. The book is illustrated with stunning drawings that provide a visual as well as a textual definition of both key concepts and subtle differences in meaning. Davies and Jokiniemi's work sets a new standard for reference books for all those interested in the buildings that surround us. To browse the book and to see how this title is an invaluable resource for both students and professionals alike, visit www.architectsdictionary.com.

The conditions in which present-day architecture is produced are partly local and singular and partly global and universal. Understanding contemporary architecture means understanding all of these aspects. What are the pivotal themes? Gert Wingårdh and Rasmus Wærn, Swedenâs most active architect and its best-known architecture critic, asked themselves this question and made a selection of approximately fifty terms and concepts, including Branding, Collaborators, Corporate, Desire, Future, Everyday, Ornament, and Wheelchair. The result is a very special dictionary with humorous illustrations and original articles by interesting protagonists such as Denise Scott Brown, Kenneth Frampton, Massimiliano Fuksas, Hans Ibelings, Peter Blundell Jones, Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Juhani Pallasmaa, Joseph Rykwert, Jaime Salazar, Axel Sowa, and Wilfried Wang. A special highlight is the text by Nobel laureate Ohran Pamuk.

Selected writings of Max Bill - this collection makes many of his key texts available in English for the first time.

English architecture. With 200 illustrations.

Wes Jones has defined a new industrial aesthetic for the 21st century.