Architecture for Dummies

Rating:
Summary: Good information. Terrible editing.
Review: "Architecture for Dummies" provides a solid overview of the development of buildings and structural philosophies from ancient times to the present. It doesn't really break any new ground; the examples presented are the same you'd get in any similar sort of publication or course (Gothic = Chartres, Art Deco = Chrysler Bldg, Wright = Fallingwater, Modern = Utrecht, etc.). The sense of humor is occasionally dorky, and feels like it's been forced into the text to meet the conventions of the Dummies series, but the information is still good and, for the most part, well organized.

Where the book seriously falls down, though, is in the editing. The text is riddled with typographical errors and irritating redundancies, the paragraph-label icons in the margin frequently seem randomly dispersed (especially the ones purporting to highlight "technical info," whose paragraphs often don't seem materially different from neighboring text), and there's at least one "take a look!" icon that falsely indicates the building being discussed is featured in the handful of color plates in the middle of the book.

Worst of all are the limited and oddly chosen illustrations, a very distressing problem for a subject that by its very nature demands visual representation for understanding. The vast majority of the photos are credited to "GreatBuildings.com," and show the structures at obscure angles or from a distance, appearing to be little better than tourist snapshots. This suggests to this reader a desire on the part of the Dummies editors to pinch pennies on the pictures, and sadly mars the book's effectiveness to a considerable degree.

Ms. Dietsch is an authority in the field, and if I were her, I'd be highly displeased with this barely professional treatment of my material. The shoddily edited text and the parsimonious imagery greatly undercut the value of the presentation, and reduce my rating from four stars to three. The book is adequately informative, but little more.

Rating:
Summary: See Chapter 11
Review: The pictures are tiny, grainy, black and white--the text is worse. Almost every paragraph is punctuated with brackets. (See chapter 3.)

Most of the (parenthesis) are unnecessary or allude to information, which is practically non-existent. (For more information see any chapter.)

The abundance of cross-referencing makes this book almost impossible to read. The most blatant example was the last sentence of chapter ten. (See chapter 11.)

Definitely and only for dummies.