Architecture and Computers: Action and Reaction in the Digital Design Revolution by James Steele (Watson-Guptil) Computers have revolutionized architecture, raising deep issues that are forcing a shift within the industry. This cutting-edge guide examines the pros, cons, and various aspects of using the computer in architectural design. A fascinating introduction explores the theory behind cyberspace and traces the effects that the worship of technology has had on society. Five other chapters discuss such topics as Frank Gehry's pioneering use of the catia program, first developed to design fighter planes; the backlash led by Eric Owen Moss and Moore, Ruble, Yudell; and the place of the computer in architectural education, with examples of student projects from USC's School of Architecture. Also featured are incredible projects by such industry leaders as Frank Gehry, Morphosis, Hamzah and Yeang, Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, and others.

JAmerican Architecture: A History by Leland M. Roth (Westview) introduces the major developments that shaped the American‑built environment from before the arrival of the Europeans to the present, from ceremonial enclosures and homes to modernism and its discontents. On both the high‑style architecture of aspiration and the everyday vernacular architecture, Leland Roth presents the historical impact of changes in conceptual imagery, style, building technology, landscape design, and town‑planning theory. There is also extensive historical coverage of 17th­and 18th‑century architecture and regional styles. Throughout Roth charts the gradual development of towns, cities, and suburbs along with the social, cultural, and political forces that shaped their growth.

"Buildings, like politics, are based on the fine art o f compromise, and every building represents a judicious balance between the conflicting needs and aspirations o f the client, architect, and builder. Americans, especially, it would seem, have been caught between divergent needs and desires, between the impulse, on the one hand, to build pragmatically and efficiently, and the wish, on the other hand, to realize a conceptual ideal," writes Roth.

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