Böcker av Jonathan Ochshorn

In this book, the author argues that architectural functionality is often constrained by political and economic forces, while it is also effectively undermined by modes of expression. Utilitarian building elements-for example, windows or skylights intended to bring daylight into offices or factories-may be subject to excessive heat gain, thereby coming into conflict with an evolving politics of energy conservation and global warming mitigation. Yet at the other extreme they may be deployed as part of expressive systems whose value, understood in terms of symbol and metaphor, can overwhelm these utilitarian considerations. Politics and economics, in other words, establish lower and upper bounds for all utilitarian functions, whose costs and benefits are continually assessed on the basis of the profitable accumulation of wealth within a competitive global economy. Simultaneously, an artistic sensibility, also driven by competition, often contorts buildings into increasingly untenable forms. With utility both constrained by politics and attacked by expression, buildings-especially those that aim to be fashionable and avant-garde-often experience various degrees of utilitarian failure. The political constraints and expressive tendencies affecting architectural utility are separately examined in the two parts of this book, while an epilogue looks at the implications for architectural education.

Concise but comprehensive, Jonathan Ochshorn's Structural Elements for Architects and Builders explains how to design and analyze columns, beams, tension members and their connections. The material is organized into a single, self-sufficient volume, including all necessary data for the preliminary design and analysis of these structural elements in wood, steel, and reinforced concrete. Every chapter contains insights developed by the author and generally not found elsewhere. Appendices included at the end of each chapter contain numerous tables and graphs, based on material contained in industry publications, but reorganized and formatted especially for this text to improve clarity and simplicity, without sacrificing comprehensiveness. Procedures for design and analysis are based on the latest editions of the National Design Specification for Wood Construction (AF&PA and AWC), the Steel Construction Manual (AISC), Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI), and Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE/SEI).This thoroughly revised and expanded second edition of Structural Elements includes an introduction to statics and strength of materials, an examination of loads, and new sections on material properties and construction systems within the chapters on wood, steel, and reinforced concrete design. This permits a more comprehensive overview of the various design and analysis procedures for each of the major structural materials used in modern buildings. Free structural calculators (search online for: Ochshorn calculators) have been created for many examples in the book, enabling architects and builders to quickly find preliminary answers to structural design questions commonly encountered in school or in practice.