Theatre Design & Technology - May 1974 - 35

Acoustics for its depth of background information, long

The difference in backgrounds between the two authors is
evidently the reason for the difference in approaches
between these two books.

list of statistical data on theatres, and its excellent
selection of supporting figures and photographs. After one
has read through this book several times I would then
highly recommend Egan's Concepts in Architectural
Acoustics to the reader in order to gain a more complete
understanding of the basic principles underlying
architectural acoustics. Its unique graphic presentation,
good tables of acoustical data, and useful problems and
answers to typical acoustical problems does that.

As stated in the preface of this book, Egan's primary
approach is to present "the basics of building acoustics in
a graphical format." This he does, and does quite well,
Limited text is presented in the book and then it is used
only to supplement the information presented in the
sketches. Again, quoting from the preface: "The sketches
are not supplements to the text but in a very real sense are
the text." In this sense the title of the book, Concepts in
Architectural Acoustics, is most appropr iate, since
essentially only concepts are presented.

David P. Walsh
Wilson, Ihrig & Associates, Inc.

The book is divided into seven sections and follows the
standard architectural Clcoustics topics of theory,
absorption, isolation, speech privacy, mechanical systems,
room acoustics, and sound reinforcement systems. The
theory section is more extensive than in the Doelle book
and the graphics are interesting, even though the material
is also severely simplified. The section on room acoustics
is also well presented and its emphasis is on the acoustical
elements from an architectural design standpoint rather
than that of a performer or user. The other sections are
equally well presented and cover the full range of
architectural acoustics situations with limited information
on basic theatre or theatre types. The append ices of the
book are also quite good and include basic data on the use
of logarithms and decibel add ition-both of wh ich are so
important in acoustics. Also included are six pages on
which basic formulae for the most common acoustical
situations are summarized. This is perhaps one of the most
useful sections of the book since it provides an easily
readable reference source.

ARCHITECTURAL AND INTERIOR MODELS
I)ESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
by Sanford Hohauser
New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company,

1970.210 pp; $20.00
Modelmakers, regardless of their design profession,
should find this book an invaluable addition to their
working libraries. The amount of information on a wide
variety of materials and the many techniques and short
cuts for working them should be of particular value to the
occasional model maker and the designer who finds it
necessary to use materials about which he may know
little.
For instance, if it were decided to construct a model
with polystyrene, there is enough information about the
various methods of forming, cutting, bonding, and finishing of this material to answer any or all questions that
might crop up during construction.

The greatest strength of this book is also its biggest
drawback, that is, its graphic presentation. This type of
presentation is not the most appropriate way to present a
subject to anyone not already somewhat fami liar with it
or without additional information. One might well assume
that this book is to be used primarily as a basic textbook
for a course in architectural acoustics. As such, it is an
excellent volume in that it provides the basic information
upon which a course or series of lectures can be given that
expands and explains the subject material. It is also very
useful as a quick reference book for the practicing
consultant or architect knowledgeable in acoustics.
Unfortunately, one really has to know what one is looking
for before the book can be most effectively used. It is
similar to most university level textbooks; as you thumb
through the book at the beginning of the semester you
can certainly enjoy the wealth of excellent sketches it
contains, but little or no useable information is conveyed.
However, at the end of the course, the book suddenly
becomes most useful.
In summary, I recommend Doelle's Environmental

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

Mr. Hohauser has compiled as complete and up-to-date
a reference as I have seen about the materials and methods
of model construction and their use. The potential as a
text for architectural and design students should be great
as well as its obvious use as a reference by professionals.
The text is clear, and informative with excellent photographs and illustrations. Some pages do not read easily, as
the layout puts the captions in the same columns with the
text, and where there is small difference in the type faces,
one tends to read the captions as text.
It was noted that very little space was allocated for
stage set models. This area is one that has a great deal of
potential especially in a permanent type of theatre model
whereby only the basic structural elements are permanent
and the moveable elements could be changed when designing for each new production.
Aside from these minor points, it is obvious that Mr.
Hohauser put a great deal of care and planning into this
book. He has answered all questions from the reasons for
building the model, through the construction. to how to
create and sh ip it.

MAY. 1974

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