Showing titles in Architecture

It is ordinary homes, not grand public buildings or the mansions of the rich that have all the best stories. The rises and falls, the shifts in the fortunes of neighbourhoods and whole cities are here, tracing the often surprising journey one single house can take from elegant dwelling in a fashionable district to a tenement for society’s rejects. Packed with remarkable human stories, it is a phenomenal insight into living history, a history we can see every day on the streets where we live.

In The 15-Minute City: A Solution to Saving Our Time and Our Planet, Carlos Moreno delivers an exciting and insightful discussion of the deceptively simple and revolutionary idea that everyday destinations like schools, stores, and offices should only be a short walk or bike ride away from home. This book tells the story of an idea that spread from city to city, describing a new way of looking at living that addresses many of the most intractable challenges of our time.

In this concise and incredibly engaging short history, Dr Campbell Price takes us through every aspect of Ancient Egypt, from the incredible architectural marvels of the pyramids of Giza to the visually stunning and complex language of hieroglyphics all the way through to those at the top of society, pharaohs such as Tutankhamen and queens like Cleopatra.

In his extraordinary new book, Alain de Botton explores the importance of buildings in our lives, pondering our attachment to our homes and considering such questions as: Why do people disagree about taste? Can beautiful surroundings make us good?

This is the step-by-step method from the social media sensation Tidy Dad. A father of three with a stressful job, Tyler Moore felt his life resembled an overstuffed closet: disorganized and overly busy behind the tidy, closed doors. When it all became too much for their 750-square-foot apartment and his nerves, he set out to unpack the physical and emotional mess around him. He learned that tidying is about so much more than the decluttering of a physical space. When he analyzed what was 'just enough', he was able to devise systems and hacks that brought order to his whole life.

Architect Laura Jane Clark, from the BBC and Netflix smash-hit series Your Home Made Perfect, has spent over 15 years designing, remodelling, and building homes with budgets that range from modest to enormous. The Handbook of Home Design distils Laura's wealth of experience and enthusiasm giving you an accessible yet detailed guide to design, empowering you with the tools and knowledge to shape your home how you want.

Part hands-on archaeological history of Britain, part deeply personal insight into this ancient craft by a stonemason who has worked on Britain's greatest monuments, from Salisbury Cathedral to St Paul's. Following a tradition that dates back hundreds of years, stonemason Andrew Ziminski has worked on many of Britain's greatest monuments, from the Roman ruins of Bath to Salisbury Cathedral's spire to St Paul's, and his three decades of work give a unique perspective on the warp and weft of English history, nature and geology.

Acclaimed historian Mary McAuliffe vividly recaptures the Paris of Napoleon III, Claude Monet, and Victor Hugo as Georges Haussmann tore down and rebuilt Paris into the beautiful City of Light we know today. Paris, City of Dreams traces the transformation of the City of Light during Napoleon III’s Second Empire into the beloved city of today.

From the medieval cobbles, through Dickensian iron and fog, to the neon lights and bustle of the twenty-first century, the ever-changing streets of London map out the vibrant stories, triumphs and struggles of everyone who ever called London home. From the Roman and Celts marching along the ancient Old Kent Road, to the rattling newspaper presses of Fleet Street, the game of Monopoly has painted London's story across cheerful coloured tiles. But those Monopoly streets live and breathe—they don't just illuminate our history.

Soho - illicit, glamorous, sordid, louche, poverty-stricken, squalid, exhilarating. One of Britain's best loved historians, Dan Cruickshank, grants us an intimacy with centuries of rich and varied history as he guides us around the Soho of the last 500 years. We learn of its original aspirations towards respectability, how it became London's bohemian quarter and why it was once home to its criminal underworld. The bars, clubs and theatres and their frequenters are described with detail that evokes the heart of the district.

Feng Shui and decluttering shift the energy of your place, which in turn shifts the energy and circumstances of your life. You might have heard the quote, “Home is not a place, it’s a feeling”, but how can you make sure this feeling is as good as it can possibly be? Your home should be your safe place, but for some, it feels like a place where they are stuck in old thoughts, stubborn habits, and stalled life goals.

Wildly irreverent and warm, this is a story about practice, competence and failure, told through tales in a world most of us never see. Glamour, luxury and refinement are products of a flawed, human process, of missed deadlines, overrun budgets, heated tantrums and scrapped blueprints. Throughout my career I have observed, erred, learned, finessed, apologised, and resisted the urge to say I told you so. I offer these tales from the trade in the hope that others might find them amusing, instructive and inspirational. There are many good reasons to work. Here are a few of them.

This book is not a dictionary, though it tells you all you need know about everything from authenticity to zips. It's not an autobiography, though it does offer a revealing and highly personal inside view of contemporary culture. It's an essential tool kit for understanding the world around us. It's about what makes a Warhol a genuine fake; the creation of national identities; the mania to collect.

Jeff Speck has dedicated his career to determining what makes cities thrive. And he has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. The very idea of a modern metropolis evokes visions of bustling sidewalks, vital mass transit, and a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban core. But in the typical American city, the car is still king, and downtown is a place that’s easy to drive to but often not worth arriving at. Making walkability happen is relatively easy and cheap; seeing exactly what needs to be done is the trick.

Beginning with their introduction in the 11th century, and ending with their widespread abandonment in the 17th, Marc Morris explores many of the country's most famous castles, as well as some spectacular lesser-known examples. At times this is an epic tale, driven by characters like William the Conqueror, King John, and Edward I, full of sieges and conquest on an awesome scale.

Your home is probably your largest monthly expense and ultimately you want it to become an asset, perhaps to pass on to your kids when you’re gone. Why then do homeowners put so little value in the people they hire to work on their homes? If you own an expensive car, you’re not likely to take it to the cheapest garage you can find. If you want a nice smile, you seek out an expensive, private dentist to give you that smile. No one goes to a cheap plastic surgeon or a cheap tattoo artist. Going to court? “Better find myself the cheapest lawyer I can” – said no one ever.

Running a successful architectural firm is a juggling act. You need expertise in your area of architecture to provide services to clients. You also need the know-how to run a small business. You've probably been well prepared by your education and experience for the technical ins and outs of an architecture firm. Yet what training has prepared you to run a business? The E-Myth Architect fills this knowledge gap, giving you a complete toolkit for either starting a successful firm from scratch or maximizing an existing firm's performance.

In Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, renowned speaker and author of Strong Towns Charles L. Marohn, Jr., delivers an accessible and engaging exploration of America's transportation system, laying bare the reasons why it no longer works as it once did, and how to modernize transportation to better serve local communities.

Set against the backdrop of the Nazi occupation of World War II, The Hôtel on Place Vendôme is the captivating history of Paris' world-famous Hôtel Ritz - a breathtaking tale of glamour, opulence, and celebrity and of dangerous liaisons, espionage, and resistance.

Out of Architecture is both a call to reassess the architecture profession and its education, and a toolkit for graduates and working architects to untangle their skills, passions, and value from traditional architectural practice and consider alternate pathways. Written by design professionals and expert career consultants, this book is informed by numerous client accounts as well as the authors' own stories and routes out of architecture.