Unwin - Twenty-Five Buildings Every Architect Should Understand

TWENTY-FIVE BUILDINGS every architect should understand

Twenty-Five Buildings Every Architect Should Understand is an essential companion to Simon Unwins Analysing Architecture, and part of the trilogy which also includes his Exercises in Architecture: Learning to Think as an Architect. Together the three books offer an introduction to the workings of architecture providing for the three aspects of learning: theory, examples and practice. Twenty-Five Buildings focusses on analysing examples using the methodology offered by Analysing Architecture, which operates primarily through the medium of drawing.

In this second edition five further buildings have been added to the original twenty from an even wider geographical area, which now includes the USA, France, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, Finland, Germany, Australia, Norway, Sweden, India and Japan.

The underlying theme of Twenty-Five Buildings Every Architect Should Understand is the relationship of architecture to the human being, how it frames our lives and orchestrates our experiences; how it can help us make sense of the world and contribute to our senses of identity and place. Exploring these dimensions through a wide range of case studies that illustrate the rich diversity of twentieth- and twenty-first-century architecture, this book is essential reading for every architect.

Simon Unwin is Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of Dundee, Scotland. He has lived in Great Britain and Australia, and taught or lectured on his work in China, Israel, India, Sweden, Turkey and the United States. The international relevance of his book Analysing Architecture is indicated by its translation into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish and its adoption for architecture courses around the world. Twenty Buildings Every Architect Should Understand has been translated into Chinese and Portuguese.

Some reviews of Twenty Buildings Every Architect Should Understand:

What a wonderful book. I received this book as a gift for Christmas, and I must say it is a delight. The line drawings are clear and interesting, and the way the author moves through each building explaining design choices, such as the setting, form/shape etc. is wonderful. Recommended.

Mike, Amazon.co.uk website

This book is a systematic study of basic architectural styles. Its well organized and well written Id recommend to any architecture student.

sojourner, Amazon.com website

This book is really a good work, and even if you are an architect you can surely find some details you missed or forgot about these masterpieces. Simple, clear, but not an easy book

matteo f., Amazon.com website

Endorsements for Twenty-Five Buildings Every Architect Should Understand:

Simon Unwins new case studies stretch his original analytical agenda beyond its more conventional architectural history and theory parameters: it broadens the topic to open up themes and concerns very immediate to current architectural debate. A must-have for all teachers of architecture and their students.

Claude Saint-Arroman, Goldsmiths University (Research), School of Architecture, University of East London, UK

Twenty-Five Buildings Every Architect Should Understand illuminates a different perspective on understanding and decoding the theories and philosophies of architects through their works across the globe, signifying the regional context in the design process. This book is an exemplary contribution from Simon Unwin to the academic and practical interest of architecture.

T.L. Shaji, Professor, Department of Architecture, College of Engineering, Trivandrum, Kerala, India

Unwins writings and drawings harmonize so well, and treat their manifold subject with such surgical precision and care, that they enable the reader who has not visited (in most cases never will visit) these exemplary projects, to feel as though we have entered into them, and felt with our own bodies their widely diverse and often intimate choreographies.

Ted Landrum, Archi-Poet, University of Manitoba, Canada

In Twenty-Five Buildings Every Architect Should Understand, which expands on the first edition Twenty Buildings, Simon Unwin continues a go slow approach to architectural analysis. Eschewing flashy photographs, Unwin uses the classic architectural tools of exquisitely drawn two-dimensional plans, sections, and elevations to analyze systematically each of the twentyfive buildings. A valuable work not only for students of architecture, but for anyone wanting to understand the process of creating spaces for human habitation and enjoyment.

Marie-Alice LHeureux, Architect, Associate Professor, University of Kansas, USA

Some reviews of Analysing Architecture:

The most lucid and readable introduction to architecture I have read.

Professor Roger Stonehouse, Manchester School of Architecture

What is striking about the book is the thoughtfulness and consideration which is present in each phrase, each sentence, each plan, each section and each view, all contributing to an overarching quality which makes the book particularly applicable and appropriate to students in their efforts to make sense of the complex and diverse aspects of architecture Unwin writes with an architects sensibility and draws with an accomplished architects hand.

Susan Rice, Rice and Ewald Architects, Architectural Science Review

Simply the best! I have just gone through the first three chapters of this book and find myself compelled to write this review. I can simply say it is the best and a MUST to everyone in the field of architecture. Students, teachers, and practitioners alike will all find inspirations from this book.

Depsis, Amazon.com website

The text has been carefully written to avoid the use of jargon and it introduces architectural ideas in a straightforward fashion. This, I suspect, will give it a well-deserved market beyond that of architects and architectural students.

Barry Russell, Environments BY DESIGN

Probably the best introductory book on architecture.

Andrew Higgott, Lecturer in Architecture, University of East London, UK

Analysing Architecture by Simon Unwin is one of the finest introductions in print to architecture and its technique.

thecoolist.com/architecture-books-10-must-read-books-for-the-amateur-archophile/ (October 2014)

Simon Unwins Analysing Architecture is required reading a primary textbook Beautifully illustrated with drawings from the authors own notebooks, it also manages to balance legibility with depth: this is a superbly lucid primer on the fundamental principles of architecture. I recommend this book wholeheartedly, for readers both new to architecture, and experienced architects as well. A joy to read, a thing of beauty.

G.B. Piranesi, Amazon.com website

One would have no hesitation in recommending this book to new students: it introduces many ideas and references central to the study of architecture. The case studies are particularly informative. A student would find this a useful aid to identifying the many important issues seriously engaged with in Architecture.

Lorraine Farrelly, Architectural Design

Simon Unwins sketches are fascinating. He includes simplified and thematic drawings, floorplans with associated views, details and three-dimensional drawings to illustrate the principles of identification of place. He doesnt judge architects, but discusses works in their context through thematic perspectives. It is exactly what he says it is; one broad system of analysis. A comprehensive and valuable overview of architecture as a whole.