100 Ideas that Changed Architecture is a handy new title that offers insight into the evolution and history of the built world around us. The ideas are arranged roughly in chronological order in the form of concise illustrated essays which can be read happily from beginning to end or randomly sampled.

The author begins with the simplest elements of construction, like fireplace, floor, door and window. Then there are ideas about spatial types, from the Roman basilica which became the pattern for most Christian churches to the introduction of the corridor, a relatively recent innovation.

He explores the impact of design and drawing techniques, like computer-aided design, and also social ideas and innovations, such as universal design which provides for those with disabilities.

The book also covers philosophies that have made a big impact, for example, humanism and phenomenology. The essays are written in layman’s prose with a glossary at the back of more obscure terms.

It’s a nifty little book that will help you pepper your conversation with words like 'zeitgeist' and 'postmodernism'. How cool is that?

-Jane

Today's blog comes from Candace Weir, Central Library staff:

Who doesn’t dream of a secret hideaway in some remote spot, where you are surrounded by the beauty of nature? More fodder for those dreams is encapsulated in one small book entitled Under Arizona Skies: the apprenticeship desert shelters at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen West.

It starts, “Tucked away in the desert surrounding Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West is a landscape of architectural experiments.” For seventy- five years, students from the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesen West have been building and living in experimental designs. Conceived as an alternative to dormitory rooms, they are spaces where students can experience the natural environment and learn to design in response to it.

Some of the more adventurous students have taken the miniscule start-up money provided by the school. Then, they scrounged materials from the School junkyard, from the surrounding desert or found builders to donate materials for these fascinating little shelters.

Some of the shelters are identified by the name or nationality of the builder like Lath Shelter or Japanese Shelter. Other names refer to the type of structure or place like Desert Perch, Lotus and Ironwood. The Brittlebush Shelter really caught my eye with its graceful amorphous canvas roof, elevated sleeping platform and fireplace. I also found a blog which offers an in depth perspective to the design.

It is nice to dream and maybe plot and plan. How lovely it would be to live in a climate where an open-sided tent seems like a great idea for most of the year. Sigh.

- Candace

Vancouver is a gorgeous city and one of my favourite places to visit. Lucky for me, my son and his family live in Seattle; I love to include a trip to Vancouver on my way there.

I think we are fortunate in Calgary to have Vancouver so handy and I sometimes wonder whether Vancouverites feel the same way about Calgary. Calgary is a great city to live in and Vancouver is a great city to visit. (This reminds me of my daughter’s characterization of her two dogs: “Arthur is smart and Dudley is sweet.”)

If, like me, you are heading to Vancouver this summer, check out Exploring Vancouver: The Architectural Guide. Harold Kalman and Robin Ward take you on a tour of the city, district by district, to reveal the stories behind the beautiful buildings.

From the extravagant Canada Place megastructure on the waterfront to the heritage buildings in Gastown, they tell you about the style, distinctive features and the architects who designed them. There are stories about owners, tenants and communities.

You could visit the Arthur Erickson House & Garden to see that this celebrated architect built for himself an unremarkable house, but designed an enchanting garden around it. You can also check out his other distinguished buildings, like the Museum of Anthropology designed to house Haida totem poles.

You learn that the market on Granville Island “was among the first waterfront revitalization schemes to recycle industrial buildings, setting the tone for similar projects around the world”.

So much to see in this great Canadian city.

Today’s blog comes from Janet, Central Library staff, who explores exhilarating architecture at her coffee table:

One of the most memorable moments of my life was a rainy cold June day in Westminster Abbey. The exterior looked massive and very dark in the wet, but inside the stone arches just soared up and away from my eyes like nothing I had seen before.

At the time I felt awe and wonder. Now that I am older I feel even more awe and wonder at the master builders who raised these abbeys and cathedrals up from their paper plans. New and urgent problems had to be solved as the stone rose higher with the weight always pushing out and down. In fact many buildings did collapse often to be started again.

In Guided by a Stone-Mason: exploring the cathedrals, abbeys and churches of Britain, Thomas Maude tells the story. A stone mason by trade, he takes the reader on tour through British sites and reveals the intense medieval competition to build the finest and the tallest religious building in the land. It’s a fascinating account by a man who looks at the buildings as a builder and explains the extraordinary problems and solutions in plain language.

If you want to see beautiful colour images of these buildings, try books such as Cathedrals of the World by Graziella Leyla Ciaga, Churches and Cathedrals of London by Stephen Humphrey or High Gothic: the age of the great cathedrals by Gunther Binding.

Many of our fine art books are weighty and oversize as a result of the high standards in the publishing industry; so please handle with care. The images are crystal clear and the lighting and details are so perfect it makes me want to go see the world again.

Janet

The world is a scary place.

“Two hundred million people … have been affected by natural disasters and hazards in the last decade…Ninety-eight percent of these victims are in the developing world.”

This sobering information comes from the introduction to Beyond Shelter: Architecture and Human Dignity. The book presents 25 reports from the field by experts who work on disaster prevention and recovery.

After a disaster, designers face the challenge of “building back better” while working quickly and within the capacity and rhythms of the community.

In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, following the earthquake of 2004, 190 temporary barracks were built by the military. The sites selected were chosen by fear of new quakes and tsunamis. However, these sites were so remote that refugees could not return to work or assist with reconstruction.

When project planners began working with the community, women were initially excluded. Residents were opposed to building traditional stilt houses which are climatically efficient and earthquake safe. They favoured modern houses with masonry walls that are often fatal during an earthquake or tsunami.

Providing the building materials threatened to exhaust local resources which could potentially cause a secondary environmental disaster. And the construction boom sent the price of materials soaring.

The story of reconstruction outlines the enormous complexity faced, the solutions that evolved and what the project team learned from the experience.

The book is a call-to-action to the architectural and design communities to provide leadership and innovative solutions to enormous global problems. It's a fascinating read.