Dover Architecture Series

John Henry Parker's remarkably timeless dictionary of architecture, first published in 1846, became such a success that he continued to revise it for several years. A profusely illustrated manual that is valuable as a reference or as a portable guide on visits to historical buildings, this authoritative glossary of nearly 500 words used in Greek, Roman, Italian, and Gothic architecture remains highly instructive and informative. Accurate engravings complement many of the author's incisive descriptions — from a buttress in Glastonbury Abbey to zig-zag mouldings in a Norman doorway. Extended entries cover arches, windows, tombs, and other architectural elements; while shorter notes define less commonly used terms such as cavetto, dado, and embrasure. An indispensable reference for architects and students of architecture, the text includes a topographical index to the illustrations, identifying the many British cathedrals, castles, and parish churches used as examples.

An intriguing examination of classic colonial houses, this fact-filled foray explores with remarkable concision the "medieval period" of American architecture. The treatise takes for its examples the first houses built along the Atlantic coast in the seventeenth century. While these early structures were usually based on traditional English and Dutch styles, their design and methods of construction soon acquired a unique character of their own. Geographically remote from the stylistic restrictions of Europe, American architects used new plans and construction elements to create fresh new dwellings with individual beauty and charm.  Early American Houses includes over 100 photographs and illustrations that highlight the architecture of young America, with a particular focus on the Tudor and late Gothic styles that ultimately shaped the distinctive house designs of today. Original floor plans and sketches abound — including interior and exterior treatments, elevations, and framing — partnered with detailed descriptions that breathe life into each construction. Accompanying this work is a comprehensive Glossary of Colonial Architectural Terms. Originally published separately, it provides definitions for everything from "arch" to "wainscot," and it is reprinted here to enhance the overall value of the companion volume.

At the turn of the twentieth century, George F. Barber ran a successful architectural firm. Today, surviving examples of Barber's signature designs are the pride of their communities. This architectural snapshot from 1901 features working floor plans and fine drawings of more than eighty of Barber's distinctive dwellings. Specializing in serving a mail-order clientele, Barber's company produced catalogs "giving floor plans of a convenient and practical character, and exterior designs of artistic merit in the various prevailing styles." Prepared from long, practical experience, the handsome designs and plans range from the modest to the magnificent, including stately Georgians and colonials as well as snug country homes and seaside cottages. Loaded with spacious kitchens and double parlors as well as porches and balconies of beautiful classic design, this authentic guide will fascinate architectural historians, preservationists, and home restorers, along with anyone interested in Victorian-era architecture.

A treasure trove of measured drawings and photographs, this volume depicts wood fences, gates, and small garden houses of New England. Several of these elegantly detailed constructions were built between the Revolutionary War and 1825, and many of them no longer exist. Restorationists and preservationists will find this collection a valuable resource.

The famous American architect's fascinating look at the early years of his pioneering work, which led to his being called the "father of the skyscraper." Far from an ordinary document of records and dates, Sullivan's passionate book crystallizes his insights and opinions into an organic theory of architecture. Includes a wealth of projects and evaluations, as well as 34 full-page plates.

It is better to build a small house than to overburden the budget with debt for a larger one," advised the noted architectural firm of Stillwell & Company. In their guide to economical homes, the Los Angeles-based builders declared, "A beautiful small house is just as expressive of character, aims, and aspirations as the large house. Mere size is a waste of money and human endeavor." A reaction to the excesses of the Victorian era, the modest bungalow provided a practical, affordable answer to the huge demands of California's housing market in the 1920s. This handsome reprint of a Stillwell & Company catalog is an ideal resource for 21st-century bungalow buyers and renovators as well as for builders seeking details of authentic materials and techniques. Its 50 examples of the classic California bungalow style include magnificently reproduced photographs, in addition to floor plans, estimated costs, and descriptions of exteriors and interiors.

An annual publication intended as a reference work for contractors, suppliers, architects, and homeowners, the 1929 Home Builders Catalog offered a beautifully illustrated look at a variety of homes. Painstakingly reproduced from a rare edition, this volume offers old-house restorers, preservationists, and lovers of 1920s architecture an authentic view of American homes of the era.

This vintage volume offers a treasure trove of floor plans, elevations, and details of residences and public buildings. Artists, architects, and historians alike will find it an endless source of inspiration. Featured buildings include villas, cottages, and farm houses as well as churches, schools, banks, and many other structures. Eighty-one remarkably detailed illustrations capture the elaborate, distinctive beauty of Victorian-era cornices, staircases, gables, verandas, doors, dormers, and other architectural elements. In addition, a fascinating "Specifications" section highlights construction guidelines for masons, bricklayers, and carpenters.

Bridges serve a practical purpose, providing passage over rivers, valleys, roads, railroad tracks, and other obstacles to transportation. But many bridges are also works of art. This splendid archive by an expert on the history of bridges and civil engineering amply illustrates the art of good bridge design, as exemplified by ancient and modern constructions. Wilbur J. Watson's study ranges far and wide, and his text — accompanied by 200 rare photographs and illustrations — contains vivid descriptions of many of the Old and New World's finest bridges, as well as historical data, and considerable literary and legendary lore. Bridges of all purposes and sizes are considered—from stone viaducts in Roman Iberia and Chinese masonry arches of the Han dynasty to the pontoon spans of Asia Minor and the modern steel and concrete suspension bridges in Geneva, Switzerland, and in New York. Here also are views of the Old London Bridge (1209), the Karlsbrücke in Prague, the imposing 14th-century Valentré bridge in Cahors, France, and scores more. A fact-filled pictorial guide, this volume will be welcomed by students of engineering and architecture, and anyone who has ever marveled at the size and grandeur of a well-built bridge.

Volume 2 of monumental 3-volume classic offers comprehensive and detailed coverage of architectural terms, individuals and national styles. Total in set: over 100 photographs and more than 1000 illustrations. Bibliography.

Splendid pictorial record of architectural style strongly influenced by Bauhaus movement. Over 300 illustrations show interiors, exteriors. Details on construction, site, cost, more.

Volume 1 of an unabridged reprint of extremely influential work by great 19th-century architect, champion of the Gothic Revival. Coverage of Greek and Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, teaching of architecture, monumental sculpture, domestic architecture, much more. Over 230 engravings and woodcuts (most by Viollet-le-Duc) enhance the text. Republication of rare English edition (1877—1881).

Cozy, charming, and distinctly Californian, the bungalow is an enduring architectural icon. Originally designed to survive earthquakes, the low, rambling structures combined grace, beauty, and comfort at minimum cost. Early in the twentieth century, Los Angeles architect Henry Wilson, who called himself "The Bungalow Man," compiled 112 of the most popular and economic bungalow blueprints of his time in a catalog for would-be homeowners. Complementing each set of prints was an illustration or photograph of the completed house, which most frequently contained two or three bedrooms with closet space, living and dining rooms, a kitchen with pantry, and a bath. An ideal reference for preservationists and restorers, this reprint of Wilson's rare catalog represents a wonderful time capsule and invaluable guide to a popular style of American domestic architecture.

One of England's most respected and influential architects, James Gibbs was born in Scotland, studied in Rome, and left a legacy of design the world will treasure forever. His legendary 1728 folio, a sprawling gallery of Gibbs's magnificent drawings, perspectives, and blueprints, is a brilliant testimony to his remarkable talent.  Profusely illustrated, the volume features such notable commissions as London's St. Martin in the Fields — the inspiration for many steeple churches of the colonial period in America; St. Mary le Strand, his first public building; Marybone Chapel; The Church of Allhallows in Derby; plus Gibbs's first commission, an addition for King's College at Cambridge. His most outstanding accomplishment may be the circular Radcliffe Library at Oxford, for which he received a Master of Arts. Also included here are detailed floor plans, plus fine drawings of decorative marble cisterns, ornamental iron gates, stately funeral monuments, and much more. Essential for an understanding of classic architecture, this stunning edition should grace the bookshelf of every architect, as well as architectural students, teachers, and historians.

An architect who excelled at transforming an architectural fantasy into a practical, livable home, Addison Mizner was one of the most original and influential designers America has produced. The houses, clubs, and shops he built for the wealthy of Palm Beach and Boca Raton, Florida, evince a brilliant grasp of how to blend a building with the environment, how to adapt it to the climate and how to situate it in order to make the best use of the elements of sea, light, and air. This lavishly illustrated volume recaptures the genius of Addison Mizner. It contains over 180 photographs — both interiors and exteriors — depicting more than 30 residences, including Mizner's own, plus those of Harold Vanderbilt, Rudman Wanamaker, A. J. Drexel Biddle, Jr., Edward Shearson, Mrs. Hugh Dillman, and many more. Also covered are such landmark Mizner creations as the Everglades Club, Via Parigi, the Singer Building, The Cloister at Boca Raton, the Riverside Baptist Church at Jacksonville, and many others. A superb appreciation by author and journalist Ida M. Tarbell offers fascinating glimpses into Mizner's early life and background, and how it prepared him to develop architecture that "belonged" in the Florida landscape. Inspired by the beauty and charm of the villas and palaces of the Mediterranean, Mizner designed in a Spanish Colonial style far better suited to the subtropical sun and climate of Florida than the transplanted houses of the North at first so common in the state. A new Introduction by Mizner scholar Donald W. Curl offers an additional appreciation of the architect and his innovative and imaginative conceptions, which continue to win new admirers among connoisseurs of classic design. Reproduced from a rare edition much sought after by collectors, this inexpensive volume will be welcomed by architects, students and historians of architecture — and anyone interested in the life and achievements of Addison Mizner.

With its wealth of representative styles and its emphasis on craftsmanship and exterior design, the late-Victorian era ranks among the halcyon days in American house building. This survey of the era's traditional designs—reproduced from a rare edition—offers a complete and authentic guide to faithful restorations or re-creations. A New York City-based firm prepared and published this catalog in 1897, selecting the very best models from more than 12,000 houses built from their plans. Designed with style, utility, and low cost of construction uppermost in mind, it features hundreds of illustrations, including perspective drawings and floor plans. Details of interior and exterior materials and potential modifications include remarks on the particular amenities of each house, plus estimates of building costs. Antique collectors, home hobbyists, and fans of traditional design will find this volume a valuable reference and an endless source of inspiration.

Originally published in 1878, this now-rare collection of designs supplies views of a remarkable variety of modestly priced structures: houses, villas, cottages, many others. Handsome drawings of perspective views and elevations, some of which include floor plans, plus suggestions for interior design. 98 black-and-white illustrations.

Once affordable only among the wealthy, brick homes became more easily available to the average American in the early years of the twentieth century. This book, originally published in 1920 by a member of The Common Brick Manufacturers' Association, served as a practical guide for prospective homeowners from working class families. Many soon found that attractive, durable, and comfortable homes--made from nature's own building material--were easily within their financial reach. Thirty-five sets of floor plans, elevations, and specifications in this excellent reproduction of that now-rare volume depict a wide variety of brick houses, bungalows, cottages, garages, and multi-dwelling buildings--from the four-bedroom Pocatello to the handsome Saratoga, featuring a wraparound porch and two bathrooms. This practical guide will appeal to anyone wanting to buy or renovate an existing home of the period. It will also serve as a how-to manual for all desiring to build their own homes today with authentic materials and techniques. For those who love fine, old buildings, Small Brick Houses of the Twenties offers a charming view of American homes from that era.

There is scarcely a New England town which does not contain houses, church spires, or ornamental interior details derived from the Late Colonial architectural designs of Asher Benjamin (1773–1845). Benjamin disseminated his ideas chiefly through his publications, of which this book is the most important. Books such as The American Builder's Companion were written for local carpenters to be used as manuals and guides. They made it possible for small-town carpenters, who were already skilled in rudimentary carpentry and house construction, to give their buildings sophistication and style. There were instructions for raising and supporting several types of roofs, constructing winding stairs, spacing fluting evenly on columns, modeling and mounting friezes, etc. Carpenters were thus able to plan, build, and decorate complex, ornate structures. The American Builder's Companion includes rules and definitions of practical geometry and discussion of methods for drawing basic shapes and cutting them out of solids. There are designs for interior ornament — patterns for decorative cornices, moldings, banisters, stucco ceiling ornaments, mantels, etc., as well as designs for doorways and windows. Benjamin also deals with problematic structural elements, and finally provides full plans and elevations for private houses, wooden churches, and a court house. Important as one of the single, major disseminators of a style which became almost ubiquitous in the Northeast, Benjamin's book also contains a rich store of evidence on problems and achievements of early American builders. Direct references to tools, materials, common practices and processes, and unconscious indication of taste and aesthetic values of the time will be invaluable to students of architecture, experts in restoration, and readers interested in American history and culture. New introduction by William Morgan. 70 plates.

From the golden age of American architecture comes this splendid survey, documenting scores of masterpieces built between 1900 and 1930. More than 260 illustrations include plans, sections, exterior and interior details, and photographs. A sampling of featured buildings include Lincoln Memorial, Boston Public Library, Tribune Tower, and Woolworth Building.

By the 1880's, American architecture had turned to a heavily formal, almost grandiose style, forsaking the more delicate ornamentation and graceful line of the previous decade. Just prior to the shift, A. J. Bicknell & Co. published a handsome volume of contemporary designs, plans and specifications for a wide range of public and private buildings from many parts of America. Their intention was to feature a complete village which could be constructed at moderate cost; in fact they published one of the last inclusive documentations of that style of mixed Gothic, Romanesque and classical cornices, pedestals, spires and gables known as "Victorian." Forty-five buildings of all sorts — cottages, villas, suburban houses, town houses, a farm, a jail, courthouses, banks, store fronts, churches, schools, even stables — are portrayed in beautiful architectural drawings of scaled elevations and floor plans. Large-sized details show the principal corners, panels, railings, arches, finials, window and verandah sections; scales range from 3/32 of an inch to the foot for the elevations, to 1/2"/1' for the details. The designs come from architects in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, and were built in many large and small communities. Along with the private homes and standard public buildings, there are plans for the first completely fireproof courthouse (built of marble and cast iron) in the United States, at Macoupin County, Illinois; the Bay County Courthouse in Bay City, Michigan, may also be numbered among the noteworthy inclusions. A three-story home in this book, with four bedrooms, dining room, kitchen, parlor, verandah, hall, portico, and cellar (with servants' quarters, if necessary) cost, at that time, $5000 to build; a series of specifications, both general and particular (for carpenters, plumbers, painters and masons) and sample contracts (with provisions for bad weather and striking workmen) offer some idea how such buildings were possible at such prices. The detailed measurements and specifications provide modellers, miniaturists, set designers, woodworkers, or even full-scale builders, with the information necessary to recreate these designs. Historians of architecture, home restorers, anyone who delights in the felicities of American Victorian, will find this book a superb primary source of authentic building style.

Designs for 60 homes, from a simple four-room cottage with a front porch to a comfortable two-story home with four bedrooms, a reception hall, and pantry. Shown in landscaped exteriors, floor plans, and overhead cutaway views. With detailed commentaries on each design.

In 1927, the Chicago Tribune sponsored a competition for "trained men of talent, incorporating into the small home ideas of real worth, types of rare charm, and the best possible plans for comfort and convenience." This collection spotlights the challenge’s top results, presenting the nineteen prize-winning designs for five- and six-room houses, plus eighty additional sets of the best architectural plans. A new introduction by Daniel D. Reiff, Ph.D., adds interesting detail about the competition and the competitors. These fascinating snapshots of American domestic architecture of the 1920s include glimpses of New England and Southern colonials, Normandy cottages, stately Italianate dwellings, and other styles. Each of the designs features a floor plan and exterior views of the house. Architects, architecture buffs, and historians will prize these authentic renderings of the leading designs in American architecture of nearly a century ago.

Throughout the early Victorian period, American domestic architecture was dominated by the ideas and designs of Andrew Jackson Downing (1815‒52). Downing, who was America's first important landscape architect, was instrumental in establishing a well-styled, efficient, yet low-priced house that offered many features that previously only mansions could provide. His designs were widely spread both by his books and by periodical republication. Downing's most important work was his Architecture of Country Houses (1850), which passed through nine editions by 1866 and served as the stylebook for tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of homes throughout the Eastern United States. It contains 34 designs for model homes (country house in this context simply meaning a separate house, as opposed to a town house), with elevations, floor plans, and discussion of design, construction, and function. The English country house of the period is the ground style, upon which other styles are overlaid; designs showing Gothic, French, Italian, and Elizabethan styles allow the user considerable choice. In many ways these designs form one of the first steps toward the modern house, with avowed emphasis on function and convenience, expression of personality, Catholicism of taste, and concord with environment. Decoration, of course, was not frowned upon. Most valuable today is the author's full, thorough discussion of many other aspects of the early Victorian house: aesthetic concerns of architecture, adjustment to locality, materials, construction, costs, floor plan, roofing, shingling, painting, chimneys, and fireplaces, interior woodwork, wallpapering, decoration, furnishing, ventilation, sanitation, central heating, and landscaping. Since most of the houses concerned have been destroyed or altered, and practically no living situations have been preserved, this book is indispensable to everyone interested in early American culture, interior decoration, restoration, or Victorian architecture. It is far and away the richest source for the period.

In the post-World War I era, as the economic boom of the 1920s gathered momentum, millions of Americans set out to make the dream of owning their own home come true. Labor and materials were plentiful and cheap, and new trends in home design made the prospect of homebuilding an exciting venture. This fascinating book, a reprint of a rare catalog of prefabricated houses from 1923, reveals in detail the types of design offered to those in the market for a new home in the early 1920s. Of the 117 designs included, most are substantial middle-class homes. But the popularity of cottages and bungalows is also apparent in the wide selection of practical and appealing designs depicted. And there are large, formal homes as well, many of which embody America's unflagging interest in colonial styling. Some have affluent touches such as a sleeping porch or a sun room. Many reflect a strong interest in exterior detailing, in the form of cypress siding, broad eaves, heavy timber brackets, stucco pillars, and flower boxes, among other features. Each house is shown in a large frontal illustration. Floor plans for the first and second floors are included, and interior and exterior detailing are extensively described. The specifics of plumbing, heating, and lighting are included in a special section at the back of the book. Architects, architectural and social historians — anyone interested in American home design — will enjoy the rich variety of designs presented. Republished in association with the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, this authentic catalog provides not only an indispensable repository of information about the homes themselves but a source of insight into American life at a time when owning a home became a widely realizable dream for a rapidly growing middle class.

In this 1929 classic, the great architect Le Corbusier turned from the design of houses to the planning of cities, surveying urban problems and venturing bold new solutions. The book shocked and thrilled a world already deep in the throes of the modern age. Today it is revered as a work that, quite literally, helped to shape our world. Le Corbusier articulates concepts and ideas he would put to work in his city planning schemes for Algiers, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Geneva, Stockholm, and Antwerp, as well as schemes for a variety of structures from a museum in Tokyo to the United Nations buildings. The influence it exerted on a new generation of architects is now legendary. The City of To-morrow and Its Planning characterizes European cities as a chaos of poor design, inadequate housing, and inefficient transportation that grew out of the unplanned jumble of medieval cities. Developing his thesis that a great modern city can only function on a basis of strict order, Le Corbusier presents two imposing schemes for urban reconstruction — the "Voisin" scheme for the center of Paris, and his more developed plans for the "City of Three Million Inhabitants," which envisioned, among other things, 60-story skyscrapers, set well apart, to house commercial activities, and residential housing grouped in great blocks of "villas." For those who live in cities as well as anyone interested in their planning, here is a probing survey of the problems of modern urban life and a master architect's stimulating vision of how they might be solved, enlivened by the innovative spirit and passionate creativity that distinguished all of Le Corbusier's work.

When the Renaissance reached Northern Europe, Jan Vredeman de Vries (1527–1604) ranked among its most influential advocates. His books of architectural engravings opened new avenues of invention, reflecting the era's artistic crosscurrents. Their combination of Northern and Southern elements forms a powerful expression of sixteenth-century Netherlands culture and constitutes a new style that spread throughout Germany, Scandinavia, and the British Isles. This book, the last and greatest of Vredeman's works, perpetuated not only the Renaissance interest in perspective but also the important work done by Dürer, from whom Vredeman acquired much of his knowledge. These engravings include exteriors of architectural structures, Gothic interiors, gardens, medieval townscapes, and views into domes or vaults and down many-tiered stairwells. More than 70 plates offer a fascinating collection for any art lover.

This classic portfolio uses elevations, floor plans, and other line drawings by Scotland's first great classical architect to document the high Scottish style of the eighteenth century. It was assembled by William Adam (1689–1748), whose sons were the developers of the "Adam style," and published posthumously in 1812. The elder Adam designed, extended, and remodeled numerous country homes and undertook many public contracts. Vitruvius Scoticus's 160 plates include 100 of his own designs. Unlike the Vitruvius Britannicus books, this volume features plans for many smaller buildings that served as models for American builders and architects of the nineteenth century. Its engravings include images of such stately homes as Mavisbank House, Haddo House, and Fasque House; Hamilton Palace, one of the nation's grandest homes, and Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the monarch in Scotland; and a series of bridges at Inveraray in the county of Argyll. Never before available in an affordable edition, this volume is an essential reference for architectural historians and students. It includes an Introduction and Notes to the Plates by James Simpson.

Well arranged, logical, and aptly illustrated, this classic survey covers every aspect of the design process. It addresses architectural principles as well as their practical application, examining general questions of scale, balance, proportion, and symmetry and presenting detailed treatments of doors, windows, walls, stairways, columns, and other features. Long acknowledged as a valuable resource for students and teachers alike, this volume is unsurpassed in terms of the richness of its material and the consistency of its insights. It was written by Nathaniel Cortlandt Curtis, an influential designer and artist who served as the head of the Tulane School of Architecture. Curtis illustrated his work with nearly 250 line drawings that depict architectural elements from a splendid variety of periods and settings, from ancient Rome's temples and palaces to modern-day hotels and museums of Paris and New York.

Gustav Stickley pioneered a form of architecture based on beauty, simplicity, utility, and organic harmony. This inexpensive reprint of a very rare catalog testifies to the enduring charm of his designs. It comprises numerous architectural drawings and photographs of Mission-style homes, including floor plans and descriptive text. "Planned for comfort, convenience, and economy," each of these homes features a simple arrangement of rooms and sturdy structural features. Combining good taste with practicality, they offer openness for common household life, as well as sufficient seclusion for privacy. Models range from a two-family house of cement or stucco to a nine-room cottage of brick and shingles and a seven-room country bungalow. Restorers of old houses, preservationists, and students of American architectural history will prize this well-illustrated treasury of authentic plans and details.