The visual dictionary of buildings.

Format:

Book

Title:

The visual dictionary of buildings.

ISBN:

9781564581020

9780863189616

Edition:

1st American ed.

Publication Information:

London ; New York : Dorling Kindersley, 1992.

Physical Description:

64 pages : color illustrations ; 32 cm.

Series title(s):

Eyewitness visual dictionaries.

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

Ancient Egypt -- Ancient Greece -- Ancient Rome -- Walls -- Roofs and chimneys -- Medieval castles and houses -- Medieval churches -- Gothic -- Renaissance -- Baroque and neoclassical -- Ceilings -- Arches and vaults -- Domes -- Islamic buildings -- South and east Asia -- Doors -- Windows -- The 19th century -- The early 20th century -- Modern buildings -- Architectural styles.

Summary:

Labeled illustrations with explanatory text depict historical and contemporary structures, architectural elements, and building components from ancient times to the present.

Subject(s):

Architecture -- Dictionaries.

Decoration and ornament, Architectural -- Dictionaries.

Architecture -- Dictionaries, Juvenile.

Decoration and ornament, Architectural -- Dictionaries, Juvenile.

Buildings.

Buildings -- Pictorial works -- Juvenile literature.

Buildings -- Terminology -- Juvenile literature.

Architecture.

Decoration and ornament, Architectural.

Genre:

Added Corporate Author:

Dorling Kindersley, Inc.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	J 720.3 Visual	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

"The Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries differ from the Eyewitness books in that the text is longer and the vocabulary more difficult.... The photographs are outstanding.... The brief text compresses many details into a few sentences, The vocabulary is scholarly...and charts combined with the text give a clear overview of the subject s ". -- RQ

Reviews (2)

Horn Book Review

More a guide to identifying architectural details and forms than a dictionary where terms are explained, the book has stunning illustrations. However, with only a few pages devoted to non-European buildings, the volume's scope is somewhat limited. Ind. From HORN BOOK 1993, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

A handsome ``Eyewitness'' book with spreads covering the obvious historical periods and places (ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to ``The Early 20th Century'' and ``Modern Buildings'') plus ``Islamic Buildings,'' ``South and East Asia,'' and such additional topics as ``Walls,'' ``Domes,'' and ``Doors.'' A typical spread includes crisply detailed color photos of a major building, a ruin (serving as a cutaway), or a model (Wren's 1674 proposal for St. Paul's); photos and drawings of decorative and structural details; a brief paragraph overview; and dozens of terms for the architectural elements depicted. As a survey of styles and of the wealth of specialized vocabulary used to describe them, this is a rich source. For knowledgeable readers, it provides hundreds of fine visual examples, many traceable through the index: friezes appear in 11 settings. For those less sophisticated, the visual definition will often not be enough- -e.g., there's no way to tell whether ``fixed light'' refers to part of a window frame, the glass, or the fact that it doesn't open; nor do any of the three depictions of the ``mortise'' and ``tenon'' make it clear that one is a cavity into which the other fits. Some basic ideas are also missing: the Romans' use of the arch is described with no mention of its enormous structural significance. An attractive, often fascinating source, but one that demands a conventional dictionary as a supplement. Index. (Nonfiction. 10+)