Graphics for Architecture

For architects-to-be and architects alike, this is the VERY BEST DRAFTING BOOK presently (11-06-07) available on HOW to draw (draft, as we call it in the architecture profession). Drafting equipment and getting a feel for these tools and the linework they produce is thoroughly explained and illustrated; then, orthographic, axonometric and perspective drafting techniques are just as thoroughly illustrated and explained using some familiar shapes and forms, but, crucially, many NON-FAMILIAR shapes, forms, object positions and views from many angles - shapes, forms, positions and views that can ONLY be accurately drawn by knowledgably utilizing the techniques so well explained in this text BECAUSE they are unfamiliar. Though a few simple architectural objects (houses) are one of this book's illustrative vehicles, the book does NOT really intend to teach you WHAT to draw - what architecture and construction are and how or why they go together the way they do - nor should it; acquisition of that knowledge is unimportant at this point and can come later. HOW to draw entails alot of concentrated and sustained visual, hand-skill and, often, mathematical effort. Once you really learn what this book teaches, then you will be ready to turn to learning about WHAT you wish to draw and begin drawing that whether it is airplanes, automobiles, machine parts or assemblies, watercraft, manufactured products, packaging, fashions, sheet metal patterns ... whatever. These and many other industries require the sophisticated visualization skills and supportive mathematics that HOW to draw entails; and this book, with a nod to architecture as a vehicle, teaches this better than any other (Even better, for this purpose, than Frederick Giesecke's almost 800-page Engineering Graphics, sorry to say, though, except for it's length, Giesecke is a close second). So, if you're serious about developing real drafting skills, you need this book to guide you and serve as a continuing reference. If you merely want to get by through mimicking familiar forms, thinking you know how to draft, other drafting books may do ... sort of (though I cannot recommend one). In addition to being an architect, I teach architectural drafting at our local community college. You should know that the HOW to draw knowledge, visualization and hand skill base is no easier to learn within a computer-aided drawing (CAD) program than by using hand tools and drafting paper. As most typically taught, CAD assumes that you already know what this book teaches; if you do not, then you must learn what this text (or it's equivalent, if you can find such) teaches - whether on CAD or by using hand equipment. CAD only makes it easier to draft what you already know how to draft; there is no shortcut to learning HOW to draw (draft).