Materials for Design

As architecture programs throughout the country break out of the classroom and adopt the holistic methods of design/build programs, the need for a textbook that bridges the gap between construction materials and design sensibility is sorely needed. "Materials of Design" is that book. Students must be taught how a choice of material affects the form and look of a structure; they must also learn how inspired design can inject any material with true personality and zeal. Broken into four sections - glass, metals, plastics, and concrete - "Materials for Design" makes a thorough study of each materials history, quality, and variation, followed by a series of 10-12 case studies of that material put to imaginative use by today's brightest architects from around the world. Color photographs, plan drawings, and detailed architectural diagrams illustrate how material choices impacted the works of Steven Holl, Shigeru Ban, Dominique Perrault, Rural Studio, ARO, Sejima & Nishizawa and many more.