No comments about Style and Time: Essays on the Politics of Appearance (Avant-Garde & Modernism Studies).

No comments about Florence - Architectural Guide (Allemandi's Architecture Guides).

No comments about Media House Project: The House Is The Computer The Structure The Network.

3 comments about Lloyd Wright.

1. Lloyd Wright's work is brilliant, agitated and theatrical. Many people mistake his buildings for those of his father, but FLW could never have created the marvelous and fanciful designs that came from the hand of his son. FLW was a domineering genius, and I suppose Lloyd went a little overboard in trying to make his own mark; perhaps without his father's vision, but with a sure sense of drama and glamour -- Lloyd's buildings always impress. The post-FLW architects of Taliesin have never been able to come close to the brilliance of their founder, but Lloyd Wright was able to use his father's ideals and still make his own statement. This book surveys his most important creations and contains many beautiful, contemporary photographs. If something is missing, it's more photos of the original interiors -- but perhaps these pictures no longer exist. An excellent and worthy tribute to a long-neglected master.



2. I've long marveled at Lloyd Wright's Southern California residences and wondered when a book like this might appear. His buildings are so sensual, complex and full of surprises that any large-format photo collection couldn't help but be magnificently beautiful. And this one certainly is. My only diappointments with the book came in regard to the paucity of floorplans and the many extant buildings which receive only a token mention and a tiny photo in the appendix.



3. The photos of the Wayfarer's chapel in Palos Verdes, CA is worth half the price of the book. I know it had a profound influence on an architect friend, Lee A. Ward A.I.A. in Napa, on his way to Taliasen West.

3 comments about Morocco Modern (Ypma, Herbert J. M. World Design, 4.).

1. Don't let yourself be fooled by the title. This isn't really an interior design book at all. It's more of a Moroccan themed photography book, filled with artsy camera angles, photos of random people, and extreme closeup shots of architecture, while also focusing on the history and various exports of Morocco. As a Moroccan sourcebook, it's not half bad. It's very informative and written in a very informal style that's easily digested by the average reader. I really enjoyed reading the historical information and looking at the gorgeous pictures, hence the 4 stars.
   
   However, if you are thinking of picking this up as a resource for Moroccan style interior decorating, I wouldn't recommend this as one of your top picks. There are many other interior decorating books out there which are so much better for that purpose... "Moroccan Style" by Alexandra Bonfante-Warren, "Moroccan Interiors" by Lisa Lovatt-Smith, and "Exotic Style" by Sara Bliss, to name just a few. I picked this up to add to my Moroccan decorating collection, and was pretty disappointed with it as a design book. It hardly focuses on design at all.
   
   There aren't any interior pictures at all of average Moroccan homes. The few interior pictures featured are limited to public buildings such as mosques, historical sites, hotels, and government buildings. Most of the photographs in this book are exterior shots combined with closeup pictures of tilework, grillework, calligraphy, pottery, and textiles. To get a better idea of what I mean, take a look at the back cover of the book. The 6 pictures featured on the back cover of the book give a pretty fair overview of most of the photographic content of this book. The pictures are very lovely, but most of them aren't going to be too terrible helpful as design inspiration.



2. I bought this book for its colorful, lush photography, high production values, and because I just really wanted it when I saw it. As a book collector, I had to have it. As an artist, I can't walk by it on the shelf without picking it up and looking inside - it's very inspiring. Makes me want to go to Morocco !



3. The richness of the colors, the incredible patterns for the tiles, the bountiful King's Palmeraie... I was just inspired. Immensily superior to Moroccan Interiors, better photos and no comparison in terms of the tex

No comments about The Architecture Timecharts (Timechart Histories).

1 comments about Morality and Architecture Revisited.

1. It doesn't seem as though there are many buyers for this book. It is just as well as David Watkin couldn't be any more wrong-headed about Modern architecture even if he made more of an effort to understand its principles. He charts the evolution of modern architectural thought from Pugin's classic text, Contrasts, published in 1836, to Nicholas Pevsner's
   Pioneers of Modern, published a century later. Along the way Mr. Watkin provides snippets of thought from some of the leading lights of the Modern movement, ranging from Viollet-le-Duc to Le Corbusier. Mr. Watkin does state that he in no way presents a full portrait of any one of these individuals, but is more or less culling from their copious texts to provide a commentary on the presumed thesis of a moral imperative in Modern architecture.

   The fallacy to this argument is that few architects and critics of this period saw architecture in moral terms, but rather in ethical terms. Pugin did give the idea of modern architecture an ecclesiastical spin, but Viollet-le-Duc and Le Corbusier both saw a modern movement along ethical lines, a truth in materials and forms of structural expression. These architects pointed to the major works in Greek and Gothic architecture as the ideological origins of a modern architecture.

   Few architectural historians would argue with this premise, except to say that the Renaissance was rather callously left out of the picture. After all, it too was a form of classical revival. But Mr. Watkin not only dishes the Modernists for their summary dismissal of Renaissance architecture, but for their rather short-sighted views on Greek and Gothic architecture.

   Morality and Architecture Revisited (first published in the 1970's) amounts to little more than a petty tirade against the Modern movement. Mr. Watkins seemed to be most upset with its rather confined historic view of Modern architecture and its various technological conceits. Mr. Watkins' text lacks any thorough examination on the subject, but rather presents a "cut-and-paste" of quotes excised from the various Modernist texts, which he chose to cross-examine as though Modern architecture were on trial.

   Modern architecture has survived the test of time. It attempted to resolve many of the pressing housing and municipal concerns that arose after World War I and grew to be a major shaper of cities in the wake of World War II. Its original socialist agenda was transmuted into many variants, including fascism, for good and for bad. What is needed are more holistic views of Modern Architecture, like that of William J.R. Curtis, rather than reprints of the rants against the machine that occurred in the 1960's and 70's.

3 comments about Edifices de Rome Moderne (Reprint Series).

1. it is stellar book. However, this reprinted version reduces quality of original version.
   In the original version all plates were printed on one side only so there is no see-through problem. Original version is printed on much larger paper size so your visual treat are more fulfilled.
   
   anyway, with this price what can we ask for more.



2. This is by far the most impressive book in my collection. Afeast for the eyes, this book illustrates some of the most beautifularchitecture of all time. The exacting detail, and vast collection of drawings make this book a true work of art. I had seen it years ago, and have been searching for it to add to my library ever since. A MASTERPIECE!!!



3. I found a paperback copy of Letarouilly's Edifices De Rome Moderne in my local library - now out of print - after a vacation to Rome. Nothing has captured the feelings of awe I felt since that trip quite like this new publication. The book itself is a work of art. It should be framed, mounted or placed on an alter, or in a family shrine; "Edifices De Rome Moderne" is the most beautiful book I own. The attention to detail from the original etchings is remarkable. Any Roman Historian of the renaissance or lover of great architecture will not want be without this book. Princeton Architectural Press has a masterpiece with this publication.

5 comments about The House Book (Architecture).

1. it was one of my favourites until i got the phaidon atlas of contemporary architecture but this book is also a good one. 500 houses over the world. quick guide to have information around the world.
   ayse gokbakan yildiz, architect



2. I was thrilled with this book (and all the other mini-Phaidon books: The Art Book, The Movie Book, The Fashion Book, and The Garden Book -- I think that's all). It's absolutely gorgeous with large pictures on each page and just enough text to make it interesting and informative. I love the alphabetical organization that essentially randomizes all the eras and countries, thus making the diversity more apparent. And, of course, IT'S CHEAP! I love it!



3. This book is absolutley the most amazing book on house architecture I have ever seen. Anyone who is interested in houses and house architecture around the world should have this remarkable work.



4. Fascinating tour of homes, with most of the really rewarding images revealing the indigenous styles of homes across the globe, including the iglu, the long house, dung hovels, and dozens of other styles that incorporate the folk wisdom of humans across the centuries. The modernist austerities were the least interesting, even more boring than castles from the Hapsburgs. Some of the contemporary puzzle pieces were striking, and each page repaid the time invested pouring over the details captured. I wish that they would double page load, and show a representative interior of each exterior captured here.



5. In the best tradition of the phaidon culture books, this one explores architectural styles.
   It covers most periods and is eclectic in terms of style and the cultural heritage of the buildings. It also manages to present a huge time span of works, though the focus is on the boom years of architectural styles and changes (from the Victorian era onwards).
   Inspires plans for lots of day trips for culture vultures or indeed travels abroad. Very interesting, I imagine there was not quite the struggle to overcome snobberies with this book as there must have been with this books family members, Art, Modern Art, Fashion and Photography.

No comments about What People Want: Populism in Architecture and Design.