No comments about Domesticity at War.

1 comments about Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment.

1. This is an excellent book. I read it in the early 1970's and it has to be a classic as it has stuck with me all this time. By suggesting that the mechanical and electrical apparatus of our modern dwellings is more important than decorative appearance it puts forward the seminal concepts that have driven the architecture of Sirs Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, and today's High-Tech Movement in architecture.

No comments about Siena: Constructing the Renaissance City.

No comments about Perspecta 39 "Re_Urbanism: Transforming Capitals": The Yale Architectural Journal (Perspecta).

No comments about Architecture Between Spectacle and Use (Clark Studies in the Visual Arts).

2 comments about Tall Buildings.

1. 25 selected, half realized and half not projects are very well depicted in this survey by excellent photos, renderings, plans, sections, site plans, models, sketches, details, hard line presentation drawings, etc. There is a balance between larger photos and more numerous tech. drawings. The book "Skyscrapers: The New Millennium" (ISBN: 3791323431) includes more projects, but fewer tech. drawings.
   CONTENTS:
   Foreword 7
   Preface 8
   Tall Building as Metaphor 10
   PROJECTS 33
   Edificio Manantiales, Santiago 34
   Monte Laa PORR Towers, Vienna 38
   Max Reinhardt Haus, Berlin 42
   Elephant and Castle Eco Towers, London 46
   Electricité de France (EDF) Headquarters, Paris 50
   Landmark Lofts, New York 56
   Arcos Bosques Corporativo, Mexico City 62
   Fifth Avenue and Forty-second Street Tower, New York 68
   30 St. Mary Axe, London 72
   New York Times Headquarters, New York 80
   Turning Torso, MalmO 86
   Industrialized Housing System, Korea 92
   122 Leadenhall Street, London 98
   Central Chinese Television (CCTV) Tower, Beijing 102
   Highcliff and The Summit, Hong Kong 110
   JR Ueno Railway Station Redevelopment, Tokyo 116
   London Bridge Tower, London 122
   World Trade Center, New York 126
   New York Times Headquarters, New York 132
   Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai 138
   Togok (XL Towers), Seoul 144
   Kowloon Station Tower, Hong Kong 150
   World Trade Center, New York 156
   World Trade Center, New York 164
   7 South Dearborn, Chicago 170
   Appendix 177
   Acknowledgments 187
   Photograph Credits 189
   Trustees of The Museum of Modern Art 191



2. This book by MOMA is tremendously informative and visual. Great images from drawings, renderings, models and actual building photos really enhance the viewing of this book. There is also a corresponding exhibition at the MOMA QNS from July 2004-Sept 2004.

5 comments about Mutations.

1. This ridiculous book is nothing more and nothing less than a sad example of the disdain these authors feel for the world at large and for their poor readers in particular. Riddled with typos, filled with pictures of the poorest quality and utterly devoid of any original ideas, the book falls back, again and again, on worn, political cliches and pompous, unnecessarily complex phrasings that serve only one purpose: to conceal the fact that there is absolutely nothing of worth or merit being said here (beyond the incredibly, utterly astounding insight that cities, third world cities especially, are growing pretty darn fast!) At certain points it seems that even the writers can't follow their own ramblings. One particularly confused contributor (McKenzie Wark) writes " . . . technologies enclose, they count and rank what they enclose." Then, four sentences later, he/she writes: "Technologies do not enframe. There's no enclosure . . ." And that is about as coherent as that writer gets. One can only conclude that these people never expected anyone to actually read their book, since they obviously didn't take the time to read it themselves. Thank you Rem Koolhaas and your band of incompetent contributors for wasting my time and money on this utter disgrace of a book.



2. this book is packed with info. some of it is relatively hard to get at (your eyes are likely to glaze over at the reams of essays formatted in a narrow, sans-serif OCR-esque font) but the content and data is pretty good. it looks very nice in your bookshelf, but when hitting it up for a re-read, you may find yourself cursing the designers' decisions to go with form over function, IMHO.



3. This book is to be considered a piece of historical evidence of the tendencies of thought of the new era. Whether you may find the concepts proposed not suitable, every prospective or practicing architect, designer or urban planner must be aware of the latest tendencies of thought in order to be the best-educated he/she can be.

   The Pearl River Delta investigation is impecable. For the "reasonably intelligent person" that wrote a comment above, it is a shame that you overlooked the whole analysis on shopping, perhaps because you are so immersed in it in the USA that you cannot see the forest for the trees.

   I agree that the language is dense and often martian-like. This is the case of the introductory essay "Telegram from nowhere". But read between the lines. Reading is re-reading said Joyce. You will find a very smart concept regarding the architecture built for the media.

   This book is all about cities in different parts in the world. It helps a lot if you are a culturally aware person. If you have had contact with diverse forms of living and thinking, may I highly suggest you get hold of this book. If you are not, you may either feel that the text is just wobbling on things you cannot be empathic with, or you may be on your way to becoming a more educated human being. And do not think by any means that this is a meek and mild pro-globalization text. This book is just rasing questions and proposing concepts, like all masterpiece limit themselves to do.




4. This book was a required textbook for an urban planning class I took at college. I was very disappointed with the book overall. The photographs were very nice, but the text was utterly confusing, and difficult to follow. I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person, but I could not grasp most of what the authors were trying to say. The only parts of the book I enjoyed was the sections on the United States, which covered urban sprawl, gangs in cities, generic, look-alike architecture, etc. The rest of the book left much to be desired. The other students in my urban planning class agreed with my opinion of the book. Nobody seemed to get much use out of it except for the professor.



5. I bought this book because of the Pearl River Delta Study. For me who actually grew up in that part of the world I wanted to see how these "foreigners" look at my home town. It gave me new insights on how to look at cities... in a different way.. in different eyes. To me it is valuable at least in this sense.

4 comments about Rethinking Architecture: Reader in Cultural Theory.

1. Contrary to the opinion of the fellow who gave this book 1 star, this book has an excellent selection of essays from many key 20th century thinkers (including three essays and 1 extract from Heidegger, which should be enough to undermine the critic's credibility). For the most part, they are presented unedited in full. Many of the selections are must-reads for people who wish to understand particular periods in the history of modern architecture, and it is nice to have them all together under a single cover.



2. I read this book and was instantly struck by the mis-representation and editing of the theories of some of the centuries most important thinkers. The discourse is limited to a one-dimensional view of architectural theory that seems to dismiss the most potent ideas of critical theory and radical critique. The book is structured around themed chapters containing several extracts with a logic of "this is a critique of this" in a rather naive way. The author's ommission of Heidegger's thinking is bizarre and his critique of Loos misses out the crucial influence of the intellectual milieu of early 20th century Vienna (Kraus, Wittgenstein etc.). Some interesting lesser known figures are brought to light (Kracauer for example)and there is some fantastic material here extracted from larger works, but be warned! this is a book with its own agenda.



3. I read this book and was instantly struck by the mis-representation and editing of the theories of some of the centuries most important thinkers. The discourse is limited to a one-dimensional view of architectural theory that seems to dismiss the most potent ideas of critical theory and radical critique. The book is structured around themed chapters containing several extracts with a logic of "this is a critique of this" in a rather naive way. The author's ommission of Heidegger's thinking is bizarre and his critique of Loos misses out the crucial influence of the intellectual milieu of early 20th century Vienna (Kraus, Wittgenstein etc.). Some interesting lesser known figures are brought to light (Kracauer for example)and there is some fantastic material here extracted from larger works, but be warned! this is a book with its own agenda.



4. This book is a compilation of essays on architecture from a very distinctive and unique point of view, which shows people involved with architecture or its related fields the perspective of recognised sociologists, communicators, semiologists et cetera, and which constitutes a very valuable tool for a deeper understanding of our everyday proceedings in such a globalizing practice as the art of designing works of art where we can dwell.

1 comments about Intertwining:.

1. Steven Holl has become one of great architect in our time. He already discover the way to handle the nature of light more than Louis I. Khan do.

5 comments about Looking Around: A Journey Through Architecture.

1. I am a big fan of architecture critic Witold Rybczynski. If you haven't read his books HOME, or WAITING FOR THE WEEKEND, or CITY LIFE, this book is a good way to get familiar with many of the themes he has addressed time and again over his long and prolific career (e.g., the place of houses in people's lives, living smaller, the role of architects, the legacy of modernism, the place and meaning of ornament, the intrusion of fashion into the world of architecture, and the importance of the Vitruvian values of commodity, firmness and beauty in identifying "good" architecture). Many of these pieces were previously published in magazines and journals. Some are more thoughtful, well-researched, and even polemical; others read like Sunday magazine fluff pieces (not too many of these, though). Like many of Rybczynski's books, there are no illustrations. If you're like me, you'll find youself going to the Internet often to get images of some of the buildings, places, and people he mentions. It slows down the reading, but is necessary, it seems, to get the full impact of what Rybczynski is saying.



2. Planning on building a house, I was especially interested in Rybczynski's thoughts and insights about homes and what they should look like. From the start I was captivated. Wanting to be sleek and modern, I thought an architect would quickly confirm my ideas. Instead, at the start of the book Rybczynski, with reasoning, brings the reader back to the traditional home and approves of it; and makes me want to build one... and live in a lovely little neighborhood.
   He moves beyond the house and Looking Around takes us into the cities and towns to look at public buildings like art museums. The history and progression that he packs into this book is very insightful.



3. This is an incredible book and I recommend it to anyone, whatever field you are in, you live in this world and may as well enjoy it.



4. Here is an unusual book: Witold Rybczynski takes us wandering through the professional byways of a subject usually reserved for a more intellectual readership, if such a thing exists. Why architecture is important and what makes it so is the subject matter here, brought to us by a very competent writer. Delightfully so, in fact, as Rybczynski has the storyteller's ability to weft and weave.

   The stories he has chosen here are a mixed bunch and we are asked to think about such diverse constructions as the American bungalow, the Grow Home and public buildings like the Canadian Centre for Architecture. He has stories to tell about all of them, the people who live in or use them and the odd trends which are sometimes responsible for a particular design. As he points out, although we use architecture every day of our lives and are clearly affected by it (whether we know it or not), we are more than prone to take it for granted. Should we not be more aware of what's around us, in general? This book offers up some thoughtful ideas on the subject.




5. This is an easy reader.

   I bought this book a long time ago, but never had the time to open it, then one day I was looking for a magazine to read in, you know, those intimate moments, and in the rush I grabed 'looking around'.

   Fact is: I couldn't stop reading it. Even tough I am not what you'd call a lay-man on architectural issues, Witold's book really made me see that's possible to write about architecture without being too academic or technical. I can say that I've learned a great deal, not only about architecture, but about life.

   my advice? buy it now!