Architecture students can use this introduction to AutoCAD as a lab manual or for self-study. Its illustrations show how to visualize the design process as it merges function, form, and technology for a structure. The material is clearly presented, particularly for the reader who is somewhat weak in mathematics.

Space and form in architecture are represented first in pencil and paper form, then by CAD. Two lines of development follow. First, architectural components are formed from geometric elements, which are joined into larger structures--walls are defined by lines, joined to form rooms, and openings added. Alternately, Boolean manipulation of geometric primitives yields complete structures--boxes, cylinders, and hemispheres become a hemispherical dome on a square chamber.

The emphasis is on visualizing the many alternatives at each step of the design process. Copious illustrations show the various steps of developing the ideas, although some are not identified, and a few are wrongly identified. Many of the glossary definitions are vague in terms of either mathematics or architecture. The few typos are generally obvious. The index is excellent.

Where Renaissance architectural treatises added to classical methods the then recently discovered ideas of geometric perspective and projection, the author now adds modern CAD technology. Her examples include famous buildings, ancient and modern; a generalized skyscraper; and an urban grid. A diskette of AutoCAD and AutoLISP files is included. The reader’s computer should have AutoCAD release 11 or better, or the student version of AutoCAD, plus Windows or DOS.