Structure and Architecture
The theme of this book is the relationship between structural engineering and architecture. Its purposes are to provide insights into the role of structural design in architecture, and to offer the reader the key components of the know ledge required to make informed judgements about structure in the critical appraisal of buildings.
The preliminary Chapters (1 to 6) are similar to those in the previous editions and are concerned principally with explaining the properties and behaviour of structures, as a preliminary to the discussion of the types of rela - tionship possible between structural design and architectural design. These chapters have been comprehensively revised and updated, with new illustrations.
Four new chapters have been added in this third edition; these widen the scope of the book to include coverage of the following important topics: structural theory; structural philosophy; the works of prominent engineers of the Modern period; and environmental sustainability. The intention in these additional chapters is to give an indication of the contribution made by each of these specific topics to the subject as a whole. Each is also intended to demonstrate the breadth and depth of its respective topic, by exploring a limited number of aspects of it in detail.
The new chapter on structural theory, for example, closely examines two areas only of this very large field, selected because these allow general conclusions to be drawn about the role and influence of theory on design, and to allow insights into the depth of the subject. Similarly, the chapter on engineers deals with only a very few of the many members of that profession who have made
important contributions to the development of architecture in the Modern period, again selected for their particularly significant roles. The final chapter on environmental sustainability is intended to give a general view of this increasingly relevant topic on present and future relationships between structural engineering and architecture.
The book does not attempt to be comprehensive: no single-volume
treatment could cover all aspects of this very large field in detail and space limitations have inevitably necessitated many omissions. I hope nevertheless that the book will provide a useful overview of the subject for students and practitioners of both structural engineering and architecture, and also for members of related professions such as urban planning, landscape architecture and architectural history