Architects' Data

by Ernst Neufert, John Thackara

This is an essential aid in the initial design and planning of a project. The relevant building type is located by a comprehensive index and cross reference system, a condensed commentary covers user requireements, planning criteria, basic dimensions and other considerations of function, siting aspect etc. A system of references based on an extensive bibliography supports the text. In every section plans, sections, site layouts, design details and graphs illustrated key aspects of a building type's design. Most illustrations are dimensioned or scaled - the metric system of measurement is used throughout, and the equivalent in feet/inches can easily be read either off a graphic scale on the page or from the built-in conversion table. The illustrations are international in origin and include both well know and less famous designers. Architects Data is primarily a handbook of building types rather than of construction techniques and details. However its treatment of components (such as doors and windows) and of spaces for building services is extremely thorough, since consideration of this data is an essential element of the planning process. The opening pages of basic data on man and his buildings cover critical subjects such as scale, drawing practice, noise, light and space for the same reason. Particular attention has also been paid to the implications of energy conservation, means of escape from fire and the needs of the elderly and the disabled.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Design, Reference, Interior Design, Art, Civil Engineering

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Ernst Neufert was a German architect who is known as an assistant of Walter Gropius, as a teacher and member of various standardization organizations, and especially for his essential handbook Architects' Data.

At the age of 17, after five years of working as a bricklayer, Neufert entered the school of construction (Baugewerbeschule) in Weimar. His teacher recommended him to Walter Gropius in 1919 as one of his first students of the Bauhaus. He finished his studies in 1920, and together with the expressionist architect Paul Linder (1897-1968) embarked on a year-long study tour of Spain, where he sketched medieval churches. In Barcelona he met Antonio Gaudi, whose architecture made a deep impression on the young student. Neufert later became one of the first advocates of Gaudi in Germany. After 1921 he returned to the Bauhaus and became chief architect under Gropius in one of the most prominent architecture studios of the Weimar Republic.
In 1923 he met the painter Alice Spies-Neufert, a student of the Bauhaus masters Georg Muche and Paul Klee, and married her in 1924. They had four children (Peter, Christa, Ingrid and Ilas).

In 1925 Neufert worked in close collaboration with Gropius on the realization of the new Bauhaus buildings in Dessau and the completion of the masters' houses for Muche, Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky. In 1926 he returned to Weimar and became a teacher under Otto Bartning at the Bauhochschule (Building College), known as "the other Bauhaus". From 1928 to 1930 he realized various projects, such as the Mensa am Philosophenweg and the Abbeanum in Jena.

In 1929 he built his private home in Gelmeroda, a village near Weimar (today the home of the Neufert Foundation and Neufert Box, a small museum with changing exhibitions). After closure of the Bauhochschule by the Nazis, he moved to Berlin and worked in a private school for art and architecture founded by Johannes Itten, which was forced to close as well in 1934.

Very early Neufert recognized the possibilities for rationalization of building processes, but also the need for normative rules.

In 1934 he became the resident architect of Vereinigte Lausitzer Glaswerke (United Lusatia Glassworks). He designed the private home of its director Dr. Kindt (with colour glass by Charles Crodel) and various housing, office, and factory buildings in Weißwasser, Tschernitz and Kamenz. At the same time he worked on his Architects' Data, which was published in March 1936 and which remains an essential reference work, having been translated into 18 languages. In 1936 traveled to New York and Taliesin to visit Frank Lloyd Wright and gauge his prospects of finding work in the United States. But in New York he was notified of the enormous success of the first edition of his book and returned to Berlin to prepare the second edition. New industrial commissions for his studio led to his decision to remain in Germany. In 1939 he was appointed by Albert Speer to work on the standardization of German industrial architecture.

After World War II, Neufert was appointed professor at the Darmstadt University of Technology. He opened his own office, Neufert und Neufert, with his son Peter in 1953 and realized numerous projects, including many industrial buildings. He died in 1986 in his home in Bugneaux-sur-Rolle in Switzerland.

Reviews

[Hyginus Mantiri]

Architect's Bible. That's all

[زاهي رستم]

هذا العمل الموسوعي هام جداً، وبرأيي ليس فقط للمعماريين.. بل يجب الإطلاع عليه من قبل الجميع.. ولاسيما أن العمارة تعتبر الفن الأول.. فهي تدخل في كل شيء تقريباً في حياتنا اليومية، فكل واجداً منا عنده منزل يحتاج لهذا الكتب، والذي كان ترجمته للعربية حلماً يشكر على تحقيقه المهندس الحرستاني.

[Brenda Chiquito]

Our field's bible while studying

[Özlem]

Projem için okuduğum, bana iyi ki mimarlık okumuyorum dedirten kitap

[Zahraa زهراء]

Must-read book for architecture students.
Will be perfect if the graphics were better.

[Lorenzo Diaz campos]

No veo un poeta sin diccionario como no veo un arquitecto sin Neufert.
Ernst Neufert es sin duda una de las más emblemáticas figuras de la arquitectura moderna y los procesos de estandarización y normalización del proceso constructivo moderno. Su libro, publicado originalmente en 1936, fue desde sus inicios una referencia importantísima y un Best Seller. Pocos son los estudiantes que no han acudido a sus páginas para comprender temas dimensionales, constructivos y las normas que a éstos le rigen. Por supuesto es referencia obligada en cualquier despacho u oficina de arquitectura que se dé a respetar.
Gustavo Gili, creadora de referencias técnicas desde su fundación hace más de 110 años, ha hecho de esté clásico una publicación conocida y respetada en el mundo de habla hispana. Ahora en su 16va edición, completamente actualizada –y con nuevos temas como el de la sustentabilidad– este libro se renueva.
Pocas referencias encuentro en mi biblioteca que conecten la era de Walter Gropius y la Bauhaus con el moderno mundo de las construcciones paramétricas y orgánicas de la era del CAD y el render. El hilo conductor racional y objetivo de este libro nos da mucho de qué hablar, son sin duda generaciones de conocimiento encerradas en el que llamaría “El diccionario del arquitecto”. En el Neufert están las palabras, la poesía está por escribirse.

[Indy]

On our first assignment for design studio class, we had to collect data and analyze case studies. This was the first book I got for my data collection. Currently, I am going to graduate, and so far it has been an essential tool for research and studying. If you are a new student, what are you waiting for, get it. It will be a guiding tool for life.

[rizka]

Buku wajib mahasiswa arsitektur-arsitek. Sangat bermanfaat dan akan selalu dipakai dan dibuka-buka sebagai pedoman dan pegangan dalam merancang.

[Yulika]

This is a useful book. That's all. That's it. No further explaination.

[Topulek]

Jako jo, musím uznat, že kolega Neufert byl najetej jak sviň. Toto je knížka, kterou by měl mít u sebe každý architekt, ať už začínající, či zběhlý ve svém povolání. Tohlecto se nedá ani pořádně hodnotit, protože by to bylo jako kdybych hodnotil jakoukoliv učebnici. Kresba je klasická stavařská, informací je zde víc než dost. Jsou dva mínusy, a to je cena této masivní svině (nechť žije pirátění), a očekávatelná absence řešení novější stavařské a architektonické problematiky. 4 hvězdy, protože proč ne.

[Ünal İpekçioğlu]

I'm third grade Architecture student and just finished this book , and can say that this book teaches me more than i learn by my school.
Each Architecture Student should not should have to read this book.

[readingchiwawa]

very helpful in my course. I use this as a reference in my design class

[Chan Rith]

it is the great book for architecture !!

[SOUKY 🤓📚]

The perfect Design reference... it’s like a dictionary for the tiny tiny details...

[Alaa Zaqout]

كتاب جيد

[Mohammed Alrubayan]

مهم جدا لكل معماري

[Yudhi Wiradinata]

architect starter pack :D

[Leandro Llorente]

Constant source of basic research.

[omar]

i literally would’ve saved precious hours of my life measuring all the furniture in my entire neighborhood instead of reading this useless book.

[Mariya Frantseva]

Always by the hand. The bright mind in the ominous chaos of the data ;) Poor Neufert! His frustrations are still more than actual.

[Rituparna]

A

[Mau Nguyen]

Sach goi dau cho dan xay dung

[Tamara]

Every architect’s scripture.

[Chi Ha]

A must-have book for all architectural students

[Aldy Junizar]

dosen marah marah mulu karena harus mengikuti standar dari buku ini

[احمد سعد]

It is so great to all architects in all World.

[Wojtek Konieczny]

9/10

[Komeil]

Definitely, this book will be a useful book in the field of architecture, especially for people whose field of study is architecture and related fields. Good and simple technical explanation.

[ana ☽]

i owe everything to this book

[Kun]

Love you