Reddit reviews Building Construction Illustrated

Buy yourself a copy of Building Construction Illustrated by Francis Ching. You will undoubtedly use it in future classes and even into your first years of internship.

Ching also has a Building "Structures" Illustrated but, honestly, the "Construction" Illustrated will probably be more useful.

Amazon Link

A couple of texts:

Building Construction Illustrated

The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling

Also check out the building code that governs residences in your area. For instance the International Residential Code has a handful of structural details that can form the basis of your own details.

[Building Codes Illustrated](Building Codes Illustrated: A Guide to Understanding the 2012 International Building Code https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470903570/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_cr46wbYAW1WCR) and [Building Construction Illustrated](Building Construction Illustrated https://www.amazon.com/dp/1118458346/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_au46wbHJM3Q9N) are good ones too.

edit: link

Francis D. K. Ching books would be a place to start.

D.K. Ching Books

I would suggest: Building Construction Illustrated and Architecture: Form, Space, and Order

Then maybe some more of his books as you are interested.

There is also a series of HomeDepot books: Plumbing 1-2-3 Wiring 1-2-3 etc that have lots of basic info: 1-2-3 Series

Feel free to ask if you are looking for anything more specific.

Francis Ching, Building Construction illustrated https://www.amazon.com/Building-Construction-Illustrated-Francis-Ching/dp/1118458346

Oh good ol' Materials and Methods class...I just read this book. I didn't copy the damn thing! lol. Nice work.

Francis Ching is the industry standard for building details and architectural drawing. His books primarily focus on contemporary building but it will give you a good understanding.

Here is a link to his bibliography

This is a great book showing construction details

Good luck!

Francis Ching wrote half the books I used for detailing in school, if you don't mind reading up and studying, I'd definitely look into getting some of his books. We specifically used this one a lot https://www.amazon.ca/Building-Construction-Illustrated-Francis-Ching/dp/1118458346

Fundamentals of Building Construction

Building Construction Illustrated

My favorite is Ching's Building Construction Illustrated: http://www.amazon.com/Building-Construction-Illustrated-Francis-Ching/dp/1118458346

I used it when taking my licensing exams. Wish I had it in school.

Anything in particular that interests you? It's such a broad topic that it's difficult to suggest a point of entry.

A library will be your best bet. This book gives a nice overview of notable buildings: www.amazon.com/Buildings-across-Time-Introduction-Architecture/dp/007305304X/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_1968491462?_encoding=UTF8&Version=1&entries=0&pf_rd_p=1968491462&pf_rd_s=smile-campaign&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=007305304X&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1V150HKR2JVVBKAEJT9G

An introduction to how buildings are assembled:http://www.amazon.com/Building-Construction-Illustrated-Francis-Ching/dp/1118458346/ref=zg_bs_173508_11

This book has some good info in it. It is where I get a lot of my dimensions.

No problem, if you haven't already I would suggest reading:

https://www.amazon.com/European-Building-Construction-Illustrated-Francis/dp/1119953170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494355026&sr=8-1&keywords=european+building+illustrated

https://www.amazon.com/Building-Construction-Illustrated-Francis-Ching/dp/1118458346/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494354977&sr=8-1&keywords=building+construction+illustrated

https://www.amazon.com/Why-Buildings-Stand-Up-Architecture/dp/0393306763/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1494355012&sr=8-2&keywords=strength+of+architecture

and

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306812835/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Some books to help with that, depending on what you need.

Architecture Reference - A good introduction that also goes into specifics.

Building Construction Illustrated - A broad overview of most parts of putting a building together (technical).

The Function of Ornament - A more theoretical view of architecture in a modern cultural context; you might find it interesting in regards to your job as a social scientist (not cheap, though).

Hope this helps!

The first class I ever took was a mechanical drafting course in high school. We learned the fundamentals of drafting: orthographic projection, how to dimension a drawing, intro to CAD, etc. I still use those skills every day. So that's where I'd start on the - 'how architects communicate their ideas to clients, contractors, and engineers.'

Another aspect of architecture is learning how buildings get built. For this I'd recommend a book like Building Construction Illustrated. It's got a lot of info that will seem intense at first, but will become common knowledge if you go into the AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) field. One way to get the most out of a book like this is to read a section of it and look up all the terms you don't understand or that interest you. You'll go down rabbit holes that never end. A lot of the knowledge in the construction industry is held by manufacturers and their trade groups. They publish reports, white papers, do testing, etc. on how to use their products. I reference this material constantly and I learn stuff every day.

There's also architectural history; fundamentals of design; sustainable design; structural, mechanical, civil engineering; there's a whole area of legal expertise surrounding architecture; current software being used (Revit, Rhino, Sketchup, AutoCAD, Grasshopper...); etc. If any of these topics interest you let me know and I'll point you towards some sources.

I think you would enjoy "Building Construction Illustrated" by Francis D. K. Ching. Link here. Our office has a copy of this and it does a reasonable job of explaining "conventional framing." By that I mean the kind of layout and details that contractors are familiar with, less likely to complain about, and less likely to improperly install. I think it focuses more on timber framing. We rarely spec masonry but have to deal with it with existing structures; I think CERM's chapters on masonry are a good primer on that.

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Off the top of my head I don't know of any publicly available drawing and design calculation examples, but for low-rise structures you'll rarely see performance-based design unless it's a (well-funded) historic or institutional building. Lateral design will largely come out of ASCE 7-10, SDPWS, and TMS 402/602 and be copied into MS Excel. I've seen engineering calc packages from other firms and the visual/ functional quality is all over the place. I also saw an ASCE 7-10 wind design spreadsheet online last year if that helps. The International Residential Code (as adopted by California here) has some figures in there if you're interested in how prescriptive timber design looks. There are some figures in R602 and R606 that set the baseline for timber and masonry construction, respectively.