{"product_id":"9781350176225","title":"Building Materials : Material theory and the architectural specification","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eBuilding Materials\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Katie Lloyd Thomas\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt a time of unprecedented levels of change in the production of building materials and their deployment in construction, better theoretical and historical tools are needed to understand these new developments and how they are altering the practices and concepts of architecture. \u003ci\u003eBuilding Materials \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a radical rethink of how materials, as they are constituted in architectural practice, are themselves constructed and, in turn, uncovers a vast and neglected resource of architectural writing about materials as they are mobilized in architecture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe book is unique in conceiving architectural specification as a starting point for architectural theory, arguing that how materials are prescribed - through a range of practices from the literal processes of procurement and manufacture to epistemological, contractual, social and economic frameworks - radically alters their potential in architecture. Drawing on the work of French philosopher Gilbert Simondon, as well as rare archival materials of specifications, the book reveals why materials do not pre-exist their shaping or use in the world, but come into being through the processes that constitute them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe book addresses three distinct methods of specification each through the lens of a different material – 'naming' through timber, 'process-based' through concrete, and 'performance specification through' glass – in turn revealing how the process of architectural specification (or 'Preliminary Operations' as Simondon puts it) allows for development of specific relationships between material and function.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781350176225\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury Visual Arts","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40826295484622,"sku":"9781350176225","price":115.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_beec71ec-73d8-458d-97e8-916716d11564.jpg?v=1643200540","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781350176225","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}