In some post-industrial areas, re-designing structural interiors in an attractive way is becoming increasingly important to community members, as it helps promote local pride and a higher quality of life. Design Innovations for Contemporary Interiors and Civic Art examines novel techniques in structural designs in various cultural and social scenarios. Featuring innovative application methods, emergent trends, and research on tools being utilized in the field, this publication is a pivotal reference source for designers, researchers, practitioners, and professionals interested in interior design, urban culture, and structural aesthetics.

Art and Architecture in Ladakh shows how the region's cultural development has been influenced by its location across the great communications routes linking India with Tibet and Central Asia. Edited by Erberto Lo Bue and John Bray, the collection contains 17 research papers by experienced international art historians and architectural conservationists, as well as emerging scholars from Ladakh itself. Their topics range widely over time, from prehistoric rock art to mediaeval Buddhist stupas and wall paintings, as well as early modern castle architecture, the inter-regional trade in silk brocades, and the challenges of 21st century conservation. Taken together, these studies complement each other to provide a detailed view of Ladakh's varied cultural inheritance in the light of the latest research. Contributors include: Monisha Ahmed, Marjo Alafouzo, Andre Alexander, Chiara Bellini, Kristin Blancke, John Bray, Laurianne Bruneau, Andreas Catanese, Philip Denwood, Quentin Devers, Phuntsog Dorjay, Hubert Feiglstorfer, John Harrison, Neil and Kath Howard, Gerald Kozicz, Erberto Lo Bue, Filippo Lunardo, Kacho Mumtaz Ali Khan, Heinrich Poell, Tashi Ldawa Thsangspa and Martin Vernier.

The social sciences have mostly ignored the role of physical buildings in shaping the social fabric of communities and groups. Although the emerging field of the sociology of architecture has started to pay attention to physical structures, Brenneman and Miller are the first to combine the light of sociological theory and the empirical method in order to understand the impact of physical structures on religious groups that build, transform, and maintain them. Religious buildings not only reflect the groups that build them or use them; these physical structures actually shape and change those who gather and worship there. Religious buildings are all around us. From Wall Street to Main Street, from sublime and historic cathedrals to humble converted storefronts, these buildings shape the global religious landscape, "building faith" among those who worship in them while providing a testament to the shape and duration of the faith of those who built them and those who maintain them. Building Faith explores the social impact of religious buildings in places as diverse as a Chicago suburb and a Guatemalan indigenous Mayan village, all the while asking the questions, "How does space shape community?" and "How do communities shape the spaces that speak for them?"

"Faith it All" is a guide to help individuals as they go through the storms of life such as, the death of a loved one, diagnosed with cancer, divorced, receiving a pink slip, teenage daughter becomes pregnant, home foreclosure, and much more. The reader will learn how to cope with storms, the reason for storms, and a step by step approach on ways to cope during the stormy season.

BUILDING SUPERINTENDENCE FOR STEEL STRUCTURES - A PRACTICAL WORK ON THE DUTIES OF A BUILDING SUPERINTENDENT FOR STEEL-FRAME BUILDINGS AND THE PROPER METHODS OF HANDLING THE MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION by EDGAR S. BELDEN. INTRODUCTION: THE problems of superintendence of steel frame structures aie JL so different from those which arise in connection with other types of buildings that it has been necessary for men to make a specialty of building superintendence for steel buildings. The knowledge of the best types of design, the proper methods of fabrication, the tests which should be connected for quality of steel, and finally the proper methods of erecting the steel, all call for special training apart from the usual building superintendence methods. It is with the idea of giving engineer and layman the most authoritative information on this important subject that this little volume has been published. It does not attempt to go into the theory of design of steel structures, but confines itself to the problems of superintendence alone. The author is abundantly quali- fied to speak on this subject as he has erected many steel buildings for one of the biggest contracting firms in the country. He has given the reader the benefit of his experience as a superintendent by outlining the duties of this office, and making clear the engineering, legal, and practical knowledge required. Then he goes into detail regarding the inspection of the steel material in the fabrication shops and the proper method of storing it until needed. The problems of erection are all treated equipment required, foundations, the handling of the steel, riveting, and painting. The author closes the article with some adviceas to the proper organization of his force, how the superintendent should work with architect and owner and what qualities a good superintendent should possess. Altogether the article should prove a valuable addition to the technical literature in this field. Contents include: Introduction 1 Classes of structures 1 Structural steel 1 Good design 2 Divisions of work 2 General superintendence problems 5 Reconciling theory and practice 5 Value of forethought 5 Judgment in handling mistakes 5 Theories of designing engineer vs. actualities of contractor 6 Problem of handlingmen 6 Progress charts 8 Shifting character of contractors organization 8 Handling business details 9 Value of business methods with businessmen 9 Appointments Contractors payments Superintendents rulings Purchases Legal points encountered 11 Importance of legal knowledge 11 Rudiments of law 11 Field of private law 12 Contracts 12 Agency 16 Liability law 18 Building laws 18 Lien laws 18 Application of the law 19 Duties regarding drawings 20 Draftsmanship and superintendence compared 20 Knowledge of drawings important 20 Accuracy of drawings 21 Supplying workmen with drawings 21 Handling drawings 21 Classes of drawings 22 Conflict in requirements 23 Inspection of material and erection of steel work 24 Mill inspection Knowledge necessary for mill inspector Cast iron Wrought iron Steel Necessity of mill inspection 10 10 10 11 24 24 25 26 27 30 Inspection of material and erection of steel work Continued Shop inspection 30 Amount of inspection varies with work 30 Drawings in shop 31 Shop processes 31 Reports 38 Inspection and superintendence of erection 38 Kinds of structure 38 Different methods of erecting steel ...

Sacred Thresholds. The Door to the Sanctuary in Late Antiquity offers a far-reaching account of boundaries within pagan and Christian sanctuaries: gateways in a precinct, outer doors of a temple or church, inner doors of a cella. The study of these liminal spaces within Late Antiquity - itself a key period of transition during the spread of Christianity, when cultural paradigms were redefined - demands an approach that is both interdisciplinary and diachronic. Emilie van Opstall brings together both upcoming and noted scholars of Greek and Latin literature and epigraphy, archaeology, art history, philosophy, and religion to discuss the experience of those who crossed from the worldly to the divine, both physically and symbolically. What did this passage from the profane to the sacred mean to them, on a sensory, emotive and intellectual level? Who was excluded, and who was admitted? The articles each offer a unique perspective on pagan and Christian sanctuary doors in the Late Antique Mediterranean.

Martha Banta reaches across several disciplines to investigate America's early quest to shape an aesthetic equal to the nation's belief in its cultural worth. Marked by an unusually wide-ranging sweep, the book focuses on three major "testing grounds" where nineteenth-century Americans responded to Ralph Waldo Emerson's call to embrace "everything" in order to uncover the theoretical principles underlying "the idea of creation." The interactions of those who rose to this urgent challenge--artists, architects, writers, politicians, and the technocrats of scientific inquiry--brought about an engrossing tangle of achievements and failures. The first section of the book traces efforts to advance the status of the arts in the face of the aspersion that America lacked an Art Soul as deep as Europe's. Following that is a hard look at heated political debates over how to embellish the architecture of Washington, D.C., with the icons of cherished republican ideals. The concluding section probes novels in which artists' lives are portrayed and aesthetic principles tested.