Students must be taught how a choice of material affects the form and look of a structure; they must also learn how inspired design can inject any material with true personality and zeal. Broken into five sectionsglass, wood, metals, plastics, and concreteMaterials for Design makes a thorough study of each material's properties, followed by a series of 1012 case studies of that material put to imaginative use by today's brightest architects from around the world.

There is no other textbook on the market that tackles material details so thoroughly while presenting lush, inspired color photographs, plan drawings, and detailed architectural diagrams.