Ching's Visual Dictionary of Architecture

This is a wonderful book. I mean, wonderful like Tufte and Bringhurst and Christopher Alexander and Scott McCloud... a book you open and can't put down because you get drawn into the beauty and details.

Even architects think it's a thing of amazement, and will tell stories about the original edition with Francis Ching's handwritten annotations, before later editions switched to the cursive font.

I spent about half an hour incapable of picking examples to display, but here are a few that I liked in that time. The discussion of rooms and room arrangements is enchanting. I've cut off the little people ascending to the adject level, alas.

Here's another example showing stress diagrams for trusses. (Trusses have been a big deal in my office recently. I had to look them up.)

There are sections on the tiniest details of joints to the widest of concepts, drawing, and what it's used for and how. Architects love it. Buy this book for someone for the holidays and then get it for yourself!