Isms - 9780789313805

Following in the footsteps of ...Isms: Understanding Art comes this guide for anyone who loves beautiful buildings yet lacks a formal education in architectural history. With this pocket-sized tool in hand, anyone can navigate through the world's byways learning to identify architectural styles, recognize significant movements, and intelligently discuss the built environment.
...Isms: Understanding Architectural Styles features an engaging yet informative style with an informal, direct tone in order to demystify the "isms" that are often used to define, yet more often misleadingly cloud, stylistic movements in architecture. Each architectural movement is explained in simple terms and made more accessible to the casual architecture aficionado with an array of pictured examples. Alongside these examples are highlights of the key features of the style, past stylistic sources and influences, important practitioners, and notable built examples. Readers are encouraged to think of the "isms" as useful yet imprecise tools for conversation and exploration rather than as restrictive academic definitions.
The comprehensive structure of ...Isms: Understanding Architectural Styles makes it possible for anyone to enjoy and understand great - and sometimes not-so-great - architecture whether viewing a Baroque masterpiece from a European cafe or wandering the urban canyons of a North American metropolis. No other portable guide will so clearly and succinctly put into context the world's many "built environments."