The Art of Architecture

Author: Stanley Abercrombie
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2003-10-01
Features: The author of this book sets chapters based on the "big themes" in architecture, meticulously analyzing form, volume, location, and function. It explores the relationship between human physiology, senses, and architectural art, integrating architecture with heaven, earth, and humanity in its discussion. Starting from concrete and tangible aspects, it reveals the artistic value of architecture. This book introduces the artistic nature of architecture, as well as how to appreciate it, covering elements such as size, shape, and function. It is a popular science book introducing basic architectural knowledge.
Architecture is the most familiar art to people; books about architecture are among the few that offer something meaningful within their titles (even if the reader is not inside a building, perhaps on the street, in a nearby town, or vividly present in the reader's mind). However, familiarity with architecture blurs our vision, forgetting that it is also art, especially when we know that many aspects of architecture have nothing to do with art: its location, what the previous building was, insurance rates or mortgage compensation amounts, the owner or furniture, how the air conditioning system works, how often the floors are cleaned, and so on. We cannot separate these information unrelated to beauty, just as we cannot avoid architecture.