Edward R. Ford, AIA, Vincent and Eleanor Shea Professor at the University of Virginia, has been awarded the Prize for Design Research and Scholarship for the work presented in his pending book The Architectural Detail.
“The Architectural Detail impressed us as a study that linked theory and practice by focusing on the most minute aspects of design. It is a unique, accessible treatment of a topic that has seen a lot of writing but little clarity, and its ambitious scope and thorough analysis make it an important study that has implications for how detailing is taught and executed. Its conclusions are provocative, and they will likely create much needed debate and reflection on a subject that is often taken for granted or overlooked,” observed the jury.
The Prize for Design Research & Scholarship will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Membership, during Architecture Exchange East, at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3.
Find out more about the winning work at a session presented by Ford at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3 at ArchEx.
From the submission brief:
The Architectural Detail is concerned not just with the fundamentals of construction but with their larger implications. This book is meant to be the definitive work on detail quite literally. Beyond the objective of defining the detail, or more accurately the act of detailing, there is the question of defining the good detail, of establishing a framework for evaluating details beyond technical competence. While there are numerous anthologies of details and numerous how-to books on detailing, there is little real theory of detail. The originality of The Architectural Detail lies in filling this void.
The Architectural Detail is expected to be published in 2011.