Francis D. K. Ching & James F. Eckler 
Introduction to Architecture [PDF ebook] 

Preface vii
1 Introduction: Object, Space, Building, City 1
2 The Beginnings of Architecture: Early History–From Ancient Times to the Renaissance 13
3 A Concise History: Architecture from the Renaissance to the Contemporary 37
4 Fundamentals of Architecture: Form 51
5 Fundamentals of Architecture: Space 79
6 Fundamentals of Architecture: Order 125
7 Elements of Architecture: Types, Systems, and Components That Inform Design 165
8 The Design Process: Tools and Techniques for Generating Ideas 199
9 Materials of Architecture: Their Qualities, Characteristics, and Behaviors 231
10 Methods of Construction 249
11 Building Structure: Resisting the Forces That Act against Buildings 281
12 Building Systems 299
13 Architectural Practice and Communication 321
14 Allied Disciplines: Interior Design 349
15 Allied Disciplines: Urbanism 373
Glossary 409
Index 415

Francis D.K. Ching is Professor Emeritus of Architecture
at the University of Washington and a registered architect. He is
the author or coauthor of numerous architecture and design books,
including Architectural Graphics; Building Construction
Illustrated; Architecture: Form, Space, and Order; A Visual
Dictionary of Architecture; A Global History of Architecture;
Interior Design Illustrated; and Design Drawing.
James F. Eckler is the Architecture Program Director of
the Marywood University School of Architecture. In addition to
teaching, Professor Eckler is actively engaged in research
concerning the culture of place in the urban environment and
architecture’s role in the development of community. He is also the
author of Language of Space and Form.