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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000003592304 | NA4120 C35 2003 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
This totally original architecture bookthe first comprehensive work on brick, the essential building materialranges over every culture throughout history. It follows the story of brick from 5,000 BC to the twenty-first century, from the vast baths and basilicas of ancient Rome, through the wonders of Gothic brick in Germany, Buddhist shrines in Burma, and Mughal mosques in Iran, to the modern revival of brick in the hands of architects like Gaudi. Marvelously illustrated with specially taken photographs, the book is at once an historical account of how bricks have been employed by architects of every period, a technical survey of brickmaking and bricklaying, and an essay in architectural and cultural history. More than one hundred themes are covered, from bricks in ancient Egypt to their distinctive use by Louis Kahn, Alvar Aalto, and Renzo Piano. Works of engineeringrailway tunnels, viaducts, dams, and bridgesare given prominence alongside the great cathedrals and country houses, castles and temples, testifying to the versatility and importance of brick and brickwork. An illustrated glossary explains all technical terms and the various construction and bonding methods in use. The book will prove indispensable to anyone professionally involved in, studying, or simply interested in architecture, design, and materials. Over 600 illustrations, 570 in color.
Author Notes
James W. P. Campbell is Fellow in Architecture and History of Art, Queens' College, Cambridge, and Director of Conservation with Finch Forman Architects, London
Will Pryce is a leading documentary photographer, based in London. His work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers including The Daily Telegraph, The Observer and the Financial Times. Trained as an architect at Cambridge University and The Royal College of Art he has a particular comprehension of architectural subjects
Reviews 4
Publisher's Weekly Review
Proceeding chronologically from the first Neolithic "bun bricks" to relatively high-tech contemporary forms, Cambridge University art historian Campbell and documentary photographer Pryce reveal the building blocks of the Coliseum, the Taj Mahal, the Florence Cathedral and the Chrysler Building, as well as more humble abodes. Pryce's photos are stunning, making up the bulk of the 600 illustrations here (570 in color) and miraculously capturing the outlines of each brick, even in such massive structures as the Great Mosque in Isfahan, Iran, or the beautiful Buddhist temples of Pagan in Myanmar. He also documents brickmaking in the Bulmer Brickworks in Suffolk, England, as a worker moulds, "strikes," "drops" and dusts large, ochre, rectangular bricks. The photos, as well as excellent period technical illustrations, are laid out in compelling two-page spreads, each with subheading (e.g., "Petrus Cuypers and the Gothic Revival in Holland") in this 9.75" 12.5" book, and are matched by Campbell's clear and intense historiography. In Sumerian times, he notes, offerings of food and drink were presented to "the brick god," who was "represented in the ritual by the first brick." More recently, mortar for the foundations of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was mixed with "a broth of barley and bark of elm" and sacred relics, accompanied by prayers, placed between every 12 bricks. A lack of detail on Chinese use of brick, particularly early brickwork, is a drawback, but the Islamic world is well-covered, and Campbell's refreshing focus on the brickmakers (often family-run businesses) and bricklayers themselves shows how techniques were kept secret to prevent early forms of industrial espionage, now posing a challenge to contemporary scholars trying to figure out how bricks were engineered even as late as the Victorian era. (Dec.) FYI: For the New York-centric, there is the recently-published, 8.5" 11" Bricks and Brownstone: The New York Row House 1783-1929, by Charles Lockwood (Manhattan Moves Uptown), including 300 b&w and color illustrations, among them many photos by Madeleine Isom (Rizzoli, $75 384p ISBN 0-847-82522-1). (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
An ur-building material, brick is astonishingly versatile and often stunning. Art historian Campbell and architect and photographer Pryce present the first comprehensive international study of the technology and aesthetics of the humble but endlessly useful brick in a volume meritorious for its spectacular color photographs, nearly 600 in number, and the panoramic scope of its text. The fired brick was first invented in Neolithic Jericho, then taken up with great alacrity and skill in Mesopotamia and Egypt and by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Moving slowly forward in time, Campbell and Bryce chart the rapid evolution of brick making and bricklaying, explicating such marvels as the Colosseum and the Great Wall of China. Religious ardor in the Middle Ages inspired the construction of incredibly elaborate brick cathedrals, intricately patterned mosques, and such beautiful Asian Buddhist structures as Pagan, Burma, a brick dream consisting of several thousand temples and stupas. From castles to schools to New York's Chrysler Building, Campbell and Pryce explicate premier examples of engineering ingenuity and architectural grace, all based on the ubiquitous brick. --Donna Seaman Copyright 2003 Booklist
Choice Review
There has long been a need for this oversize book, a comprehensive survey of brick architecture from around the world from Neolithic times to the present. Campbell (Queen's College, Cambridge) and Pryce (photographer) are two art and architecturally trained architects from England, the former an expert on English building conservation and the latter an experienced architectural photographer. The book is a treasure trove of photographs, all in luscious color and detailed documentation, on some of the most beautiful works of architecture on the planet. Especially valuable are the gorgeous color details, which are nowhere else available at this high level of quality. This book is a real work of art as well as a heroic act of documentation, involving years of arduous travel on the part of the authors; this is no coffee-table gloss, but a copious and authoritative international survey complete with glossary, index, and bibliography. One hopes that the authors and publisher will produce companion volumes on other basic staples of architectural design from around the world in the same manner, such as masonry or columns. To an effort like this, one can only say: Bravo! Encore! ^BSumming Up: Essential. All levels. P. Kaufman Boston Architectural Center
Library Journal Review
This tome should generate new respect for the lowly unit of fired clay. As we are reminded by Campbell (architecture, Cambridge Univ.), many famous buildings are constructed of brick (e.g., the Taj Mahal, the Hampton Court Palace, the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence), though the brick may be hidden. In a brilliant collaboration that claims to be "the first complete guide to the development of brick across the globe," the author and photographer document many of these buildings while tracing the development of brickwork and brickmaking. Brief, illustrated articles cover selected times and places, from medieval Russia to Colonial America, with Campbell concluding that brick is the most appropriate and affordable building technology for the world. The text is clear, concise, and authoritative despite a few typographical errors and benefits greatly from the addition of an illustrated glossary. The hundreds of color photographs are stunning in their clarity and composition, showing the structural versatility and decorative capabilities of brick. Highly recommended for public and specialized collections.-David R. Conn, Surrey P.L., B.C. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments | p. 10 |
| Foreword | p. 11 |
| Introduction | p. 12 |
| Chapter 1 Ancient Civilisations 10,000 - 500 BC | p. 22 |
| Chapter 2 The Classical World 500 BC - AD 1000 | p. 38 |
| Chapter 3 The Medieval World AD 1000 - 1450 | p. 78 |
| Chapter 4 The Birth of the Modern World 1450 - 1650 | p. 122 |
| Chapter 5 Enlightenment Ideals 1650 - 1800 | p. 160 |
| Chapter 6 Mechanisation and Industrialisation 1800 - 1900 | p. 202 |
| Chapter 7 Into the Twentieth Century 1900 - 2000 | p. 244 |
| Conclusion: What Future for Brick? | p. 300 |
| Glossary | p. 304 |
| Bibliographical Essay | p. 312 |
| Index | p. 318 |
