* More than 60 case studies of sensational curved buildings from around the world* Includes a short historical overview and the most recent design and technical developmentsIn Curved: Bending Architecture, the author seeks out the most sensational contemporary buildings from around the world that incorporate wave-like, rounded forms into their design. Curved forms in architecture are found throughout history (like the Colosseum in Rome) but today's constructions explore the curve to its utmost fluid and freeform potential. From Zaha Hadid to Bosjes Chapel and from Brussels to China, this is a selection of amazing buildings by world class architects who think outside the box and have redefined the built world around us.

This book is the frrst to focus on mechanical aspects of fibrous and layered composite material with curved structure. By mechanical aspects we mean statics, vibration, stability loss, elastic and fracture problems. By curved structures we mean that the reinforcing layers or fibres are not straight: they have some initial curvature, bending or distortion. This curvature may occur as a result of design, or as a consequence of some technological process. During the last two decades, we and our students have investigated problems relating to curved composites intensively. These investigations have allowed us to study stresses and strains in regions of a composite which are small compared to the curvature wavelength. These new, accurate, techniques were developed in the framework of continuum theories for piecewise homogeneous bodies. We use the exact equations of elasticity or viscoelasticity for anisotropic bodies, and consider linear and non-linear problems in the framework of this continuum theory as well as in the framework of the piecewise homogeneous model. For the latter the method of solution of related problems is proposed. We have focussed our attention on self-balanced stresses which arise from the curvature, but have provided sufficient information for the study of other effects. We assume that the reader is familiar with the theory of elasticity for anisotropic bodies, with partial differential equations and integral transformations, and also with the Finite Element Method.

The origami introduced in this book is based on simple techniques. Some were previously known by origami artists and some were discovered by the author. Curved-Folding Origami Design shows a way to explore new area of origami composed of curved folds. Each technique is introduced in a step-by-step fashion, followed by some beautiful artwork examples. A commentary explaining the theory behind the technique is placed at the end of each chapter. Features Explains the techniques for designing curved-folding origami in seven chapters Contains many illustrations and photos (over 140 figures), with simple instructions Contains photos of 24 beautiful origami artworks, as well as their crease patterns Some basic theories behind the techniques are introduced

This text explains special relativity and the basics of general relativity from a geometric viewpoint. Space-time geometry is emphasised throughout, and up-to-date information is provided on black holes, gravitational collapse, and cosmology.

Starting from the foundations, the author presents an almost entirely self-contained treatment of differentiable spaces of nonpositive curvature, focusing on the symmetric spaces in which every geodesic lies in a flat Euclidean space of dimension at least two. The book builds to a discussion of the Mostow Rigidity Theorem and its generalizations, and concludes by exploring the relationship in nonpositively curved spaces between geometric and algebraic properties of the fundamental group. This introduction to the geometry of symmetric spaces of non-compact type will serve as an excellent guide for graduate students new to the material, and will also be a useful reference text for mathematicians already familiar with the subject.