House construction

Bill notes from the onset that this book is about building engineering, which is a term not commonly used and a term that does not differentiate between engineer and architect. They are two sides of the same coin, and books that treat them as completely different fields miss this point. Consequently we often find books on structures that are devoid of expressive forms and books on architecture that are devoid of the technicalities that allow form to exist. What I wanted was a book that skipped over the overly opinionated theories and exceedingly dry differential equations, a book that balanced beautiful photos and artwork with prose that is clear, concise, and free from pomp and artifice. Geoff Manaugh’s blog gave me hope and, via his book, I became acquainted with this book by Bill Addis. I would say this was a serendipitous event as I was on the verge of piecing together all the elements that compose this book on my own.

I owe you a debt of gratitude, Bill, for saving me thirty-plus years of research and allowing me to turn to one highly readable yet mind-blowingly vast tome for everything I hoped for and then some. I have coupled this with books such as Form and Forces and Structure Systems for a full range of information that is both enlightening and creativity-inducing. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn exactly how we as a race managed to get where we are in terms of what we live, work, and play in.