William Muschenheim: Elements of the Art of Architecture

"In recent times there has been a particular emphasis on the functional aspects of architecture: no building has sufficient reason to exist unless it fulfills the need for which it was designed. Nevertheless, the artistic quality of architecture remainS a matter of the first importance, especially if the interest of the layman is to be captured. This book has been planned as a conspectus of the elements of architectural art, and will be invaluable to the practising architect and the student as well as to the layman. The approach is almost entirely visual. Photographs of buildings created in many periodsand places, ranging from the great civilization of ancient Greece ,to modern Europe and America, have been juxtaposed in order to show how specific characteristics as well as basic elements of design have constantly reappeared in different guises down the centuries. The photographs illustrate every type of architecture, from classical to modern, from religious to civic, from single houses to cOmmunity dwellings, from romantic palace fa.p.des to simple modern designs. . A synopsis of the principál characteristics of the varidus periods of architecture in the Western world is iricluded at tlie end of the book for easy reference."