Design 'cook books'

[Nick Grant]

I am always looking for building and design 'cook books'. A classic on the strategic design side is Christopher Alexander's pattern Language but I have found few books with good nitty grity detail design.

Whilst not 'eco', Detail Magazine is well worth a look http://www.detail.de/En/Sitemap.

[Eric Parks]

Thanks for the link to Detail magzine.

I also feel there is a definite lack of 'nuts & bolts@ books.  Most details seem to be in the trade magazines and specifically related to published projects. 

I haven't come across anything comparable to 'A Pattern Language ' for details . 

One book that may be worth a look is the 'Timber Construction Manual' by Thomas Herzog.  It looks like quite a hefty (in terms of weight & price) book with a range of different details and approaches in timber construction. 

[Eric Parks]

Hi Nick -

I've come across some potential design 'cook books' on my publisher website excursions. 

Birkhaueser (Swiss I believe) publish a series of "Detail Construction Manuals" on timber, masonry, concrete, glass, steel and  pitched roofs (?).  They are expensive, however if you are interested in one, I will request a review copy from the publisher.  I'm putting in for the timber construction manual, as mentioned in previous fourm postings. 

Take a look at the books at:

http://www.springeronline.com/sgw/cda/frontpage/0,11855,3-40463-69-34787869-0,00.html

I've also added a book to the "Books" section of the website that is a design "cook book" of sorts:
"The Principles of Architectural Detailing".  It's less a source book and more about rethinking our approach to detailing and coming to grips with the mental process and ecological implications of detailing.  It's not exactly a 'nuts and bolts' book as such, but some of the tools and the exercises at the end of the book are interesting. 

Eric

[Andrew Tomlins]

A book that goes one level down from Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language on the architectural side but is very much in the same vane is (I think the do and don't diagrams are rather good):
Traditional Construction Patterns, design & detail rules of thumb by Stephen A Mouzen with Susan M Henderson, published by McGraw Hill, 2004, ISBN 0-07-141632-3, £23.99.