Beyond the Cube: The Architecture of Space Frames and Polyhedra / Edition 1

by Jean-François Gabriel

Overview

This book offers an in-depth look at space frame architecture, including space frame projects completed by such notable architects as I. M. Pei, Buckminster Fuller, Philip Johnson and Louis Kahn. Both theory and practice are included to offer a comprehensive overview of the history, current use, and future outlook for creating space frame structures. The 15 distinguised contributors to this book have extensive background in the architecture of space frames and offer an international perspective on the subject. The text is illustrated with hundreds of line drawings, black-and-white photos, and an eight-page color insert.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471122616
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	08/12/1997
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

J. FRANÇOIS GABRIEL is a professor at Syracuse University who specializes in the architecture of space frames. He is a member of the International Association of Shell and Spatial Structures, and he cofounded its Structural Morphology Working Group. Professor Gabriel has lectured worldwide and published widely on the topic of space frames and has conducted significant research on configurations.

Table of Contents

Partial table of contents:
Polyhedra, from Pythagoras to Alexander G. Bell (J. Tomlow).
Polyhedrality in the Architecture of Bruce Goff (R. Ristine).
Louis Kahn and Space Frames (I. Ayad).
Buckminster Fuller and the Relevant Pattern (A. Loeb).
Philip Johnson's Crystal Cathedral and the Rhetoric of Its Free-Form Polyhedral Structure (L. Davis).
Tetrahedral Purity: The Javits Center (M. Levy).
Proportion and Symbolism in Polyhedra (R. Motro).
The Structural Morphology of Basic Polyhedra (T. Wester).
Computer-Aided Processing of Polyhedric Configurations (H. Nooshin, et al.).
Tensegrity: Theory and Application (A. Hanaor).
Visual Morphology of Space Labyrinths: A Source for Architecture and Design (H. Lalvani).
Are Space Frames Habitable?
(J. Gabriel).
Contributors.
Index.

Editorial Reviews

Proclaiming that we have nothing to lose but our corners, an international cadre of architects, historians, and structural engineers leads the struggle to liberate our buildings from their quadrilateral right angles. They invoke the attitudes of earlier 20th- century champions of polyhedra, such as Bruce Goff, Louis Kahn, and Philip Johnson; describe the triumph of geodesic domes and I. M. Pei's Javits Convention Center; and explore the theoretical aspects of polyhedra, their bonds with the cube, and their specific structure. Illustrated mostly in black and white, with many drawings and a few photographs. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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