1 comments about Mapping HK.

1. The authors say this is a book for residents of Hong Kong rather than for tourists, but really it is ideal for the kind of traveller who is interested in how various cities work and "feel". I bought this in HK while travelling there in 2001, and can attest that it faithfully and insightfully captures what Hong Kong is "like" (at least at a certain level).

   The format basically that of a photo essay, with high-quality photography of distinctive features of HK's urban landscape and often insightful commentary. The authors have a predilection for the language of postmodern continental philosophy, not usually my favourite reading, but sometimes used here to good effect.

No comments about New Architecture:San Fran.

No comments about La Arquitectura como experiencia: Espacio cuerpo y sensibilidad.

1 comments about Terminal Architecture (Reaktion Books - Essays in Art and Culture).

1. Review

   This thesis, Terminal Architecture by Martin Pawley, supports the trend in architecture towards "formlessness" as a post-postmodern cultural expression. Formlessness denies material and structure while embracing landscape and activity. Pawley begins a discourse on what "terminal landscapes" might contain. "Sheds", "large single storey buildings", and "stealth buildings" are metaphors. Other images might be "Monster houses", museums, cafes, and "dogs". Toyo Ito suggests the fictional and ephemeral.

   Pawley describes two images, "Terminal 1... where the art-historical notion of architecture is conducted to its grave", and "Terminal 2... machine art, an abstract tartan grid made up of overlaid networks... buildings like distribution centers, factories and petrol stations that are reserved as instruments." The strength in this autonomous yet interconnected Terminal Architecture form of "city states" or post-urban pods in America is described in detail by Robert Kaplan, in An Empire Wilderness, 1998.

   Quoted from

   The vision described in Terminal Architrecture is apocalyptic... it will be free to exploit the products of research and development in every developing field of technology, living like a parasite upon the body of all productive industry, from aerospace to biotechnology- a paperless profession that will travel light, relying on electronic brainwork instead of voodoo symbolism and the tribal taboo of the past.

   Copyright 1999 Robert Hotten

1 comments about Aspects of Minimal Architecture II (Architectural Design).

1. second part of an in depth discussion on minimal architecture...the book gives both beginner and the expert a good piece of resource on all aspects of this specific area of design in architecture, that of the minimum...within are example of many completed projects in theory and illustrations in glorious colour which exemplify the idea of using less to achieve more in design...high profile firm herzog de moron and many other featured in the book give me no hesitation to reccomend this book...

2 comments about Buildings of Colorado (Buildings of the United States).

1. The fifth in an ongoing series of field guides to the buildings of the United States, commissioned from experts by the Society of Architectural Historians. Companion volumes are available on Alaska, DC, Iowa, Michigan, and Nevada, with another dozen in preparation. It's an invaluable project, the most ambitious of its kind since the WPA State guides of the 1930s, and it maps the terra incognita between the few major cities that have been professionally surveyed.

   Colorado is more notable for natural wonders than architecture, and had little more to show than Mesa Verde 150 years ago. Noel provides an encyclopedic 600 pages of plans, photos, and commentary on boom towns-from those that have faded to those, like Denver, that have exploded. He is equally sympathetic to the best new work, but stumbles in his appraisal of an Ed Niles house-a controversial cluster of glass cubes in Vail-as he observes: "This eyecatcher revives the International Style in the Postmodern tradition of Richard Meier."




2. There is much architecture to see in Colorado and Mr. Noel has eloquently documented the variety of buildings one might make a special trip to visit. I especially enjoyed the small town examples. For information on the bigger cities in Colorado, there are more complete guides to Architecture and history... read those too! Keep in mind, that the point of this book was to document those buildings which you could visit or experience; there aren't many examples of private residences or secure buildings. Buy this book and start to plan your road trips through Colorado!

No comments about Duurzaam Huisvesten/Buildings That Last: Een Leidraad Voor.

No comments about Glitter Stucco and Dumpster Diving: Reflections on Building Production in the Vernacular City.

No comments about Architecture For Education.

No comments about New Commitment: In Architecture, Art And Design (Reflect # 01).