1 comments about Pamphlet Architecture 28: Augmented Landscapes (Pamphlet Architecture).

1. I am pleased I added this title to my growing Pamphlet Architecture collection.
   
   In the best of meanings - this book is one that must be read from cover to cover to gain a very precious in-sight to the work of Laura Allen and Mark Smout. Immaculate drawings with detailed modelling combine with clear informative text that describes propositions that are at once both architectonic in mechanised terms whilst exhibiting kinetic and static sculptural intensities.
   
   Another small book that will give plentiful food for thought.

1 comments about New Bar and Club Design.

1. This book is a classy edition to library of any nightclub industry professional and to anyone who enjoys fine design.
   
   A sequel to "Bar and Club Design", a book I have not had the opportunity to view, this second book is reminiscent of the popular photograph books published with works of famous photographers. It is physically weighted, an unusual, square shape with high quality glossy pages. The book is divided by chapters that categorize the types of bars. Starting with bars, the book leads into restaurant bars, hotel bars, and clubs.
   
   It visually captures fifty of the worlds most beautifully designed bars and clubs with detailed text descriptions that tell a story of their own. There are several floor plans that show the uniqueness of each of these clubs, beyond the photograph. Ryder, the books author, is a journalist from London specializing in lifestyle topics and interior design. This explains why each image in the book appears a true work of art.
   
   Visit Coconclub in Moscow, Russia which is described as a "giant termite mound" by the author and as a "four level biomorphic formation like a mountain peppered with caves, suddenly put inside a building with a an eclectic façade" by its architects. The images that follow are an amazing feat of architecture and artwork weaved together.
   
   See how Hajime in Tokyo, Japan has maximized the appearance of a small square footage area using some illumination and shadowing to create the illusion of a much larger space. Or the 2 million dollar color changing XL club in New York. The ideas, creativity and beauty seems endless.
   
   This is a pleasant read and even more pleasant just to thumb through and enjoy the photographic art that it contains. If you own a bar or club, let it inspire you to make changes and differentiate your bar from others. If you just enjoy the nightlife, know that there are fascinating places you can spend your time.

No comments about AutoCAD 2009: One Step at a Time.

1 comments about Havana Deco.

1. While Miami Beach is the world capitol of Art Deco, it really doesn't compare to Havana. Here are 175 pages of everything from world class, French inspired Deco to modest streamlined structures.
   
   But wait, there's more. In fact, there is so much Art Deco in neighborhoods like Vedado, that this is but a sample. And that's just Havana! Take the Autopista in either direction and you will find many Cuban cities have more Art Deco. (Also a smaller amount of beautiful Art Noveau).
   
   Professional quality photos, too. Sharp and highly detailed, with the buildings standing up straight. They sure picked a bland building for the cover though. Why not Edifico Bicardi or the Baro-Lasa house?

1 comments about Designing the World's Best Bars.

1. This is a nice book for viewing bars that have already been designed. However, I wanted to actually design a bar and this book didn't help me with that at all. Good book. Nice pictures. But if you are looking to actually design a bar, then this book will not help. This book would have been more accurate if it were titled "the world's best designed bars."

3 comments about Green Roof: A Case Study: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates' Design For the Headquarters of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

1. This book is perfect for readers who already know that green roofs are good for our planet, but are looking for technical information on how to build one. Product and plant guidelines and the construction process are marvelously detailed. It's also generous with photos and diagrams. This particular green roof demonstrates that they can be more than just sedum in planters on a flat roof--green roofs can be a building amenity and enhance the viewshed for nearby buildings as well. The book is very well written. It should be noted that the author is a German landscape architect and Germany leads the world in green roof design. An excellent resource for developers, real estate executives, building owners, and designers.



2. Exceptional text, supplemented with beautiful and informative graphics and diagrams. Very good book for anyone interested in Greenroofs.



3. This case study is primarily geared towards the client's requirements and satisfaction, rather than basic green roof benefits. For example, there is more emphasis put on employee/ human use of the roof over the traditional benefits that roof greening putatively confers. Although there are some interesting techniques employed, like the grating over the sedum plantings, it is quite clear that roof greening is still for the elite rather than us common folk. Considering this, the concept of roof greening still has a long way to go before it will become a truly 'sustainable' practice in North America. The ASLA intended this project to showcase their involvement in this arena, but we would all be better served if they would test/employ techniques that were affordable to the masses rather than the wealthy elite.

1 comments about 21st Century Office.

1. This was a visually impressive book on modern office fit-outs. The book did however lack evaluative criticism of the workspaces. Working in the industry myself I continuously have to deal with defective fit-outs, so an evaluation of the space with feedback from staff would have been great. Having said this though, the book shows some stunning designs and talks about the process behind the artistic decisions. A pity there are not many Asian/Pacific offices looked at.

   Definitely one of the best office design books. Great for the office or coffee table.

5 comments about Technical Drawing (12th Edition).

1. This book is an excellent reference for anyone needing an introduction to or a reference for technical drawing. Most of the content concerning machine component drawings are geared (no pun intended) more toward traditional methods for technical drawings (i.e. compass, ruler and pencil), but the methods given are well suited to modern computer-oriented methods of solid modeling. Engineers in the manufacturing industry will find it especially useful, as it can be a helpful reference for weldment drawings.



2. The thing this book does best is demonstrate the inferiority of 2D drafting when compared with 3D modeling. In several parts, the 2D documentation of the parts glosses over some of the more complex implications, and simply leaves it to someone else downstream to figure out. If you try to build some of the example parts in 3D, you see that the dimensions in probably 40% of the parts I worked through simply don't add up.
   
   Shouldn't the book at least describe the concept of draft on example parts that are for the most part cast and forged parts? Some of the example parts become extremely difficult if you consider draft.
   
   Also there is the combination of some very dated material with some semi-modern entries, especially when covering computer hardware. This kind of thing is almost impossible to cover in a published hardcopy because the computer hardware has gone through two generations between writing and distribution of the book.
   
   On the plus side, it does have some nice examples, but this is far from complete if it is being used to prepare college students for jobs in the 2000's.



3. I can only speculate that this book is, as was one of the previous editions I've read, used and loved, is bound to provide an exceptional foundational education in the skill of technical (engineering design) drawing/drafting for those with the natural aptitude for freehand drawing. Readers will indeed learn about and develop precision drawing skills--whether drawing with instruments or computer.
   
   The true value of this book is in its ability to guide and therefore transform the natural artist's raw talent into that of a professional grade design artist--capable of rendering technical depictions, representations, or designs, at any time, with little effort, and without error. As with learning to walk, this of course takes time, patience, and practice.
   
   I have personally witnessed the struggles of many whom, having necessity to complete a course of study based upon this book, were ill-suited by their own admission for the discipline required of the eye, hand, and attention (or mind) as demanded by the capable sketch artist--to say nothing of the trained detail design drafter.
   
   If realizing the instructional value of Technical Drawing, 12th edition, seems to come at great pain and effort, the obvious question clearly becomes one of aptitude for drawing. However, while the aptitude for drawing is extremely beneficial, proficiency in technical drawing can still be achieved by sheer tenacity.
   
   Technical Drawing, 12th edition, as with previous editions, is therefore highly recommended for the tenacious engineer, designer and drafter. It has stood the test of time as a solid component of engineering design instruction in this nation's premiere academic institutions.



4. .: edit, June 30 2007 :.
   
   New rating: 3 stars
   
   I wrote the original review in 2005, after several hours of trying to decipher this book and find misplaced information within it so as to complete a class assignment. Discovering that one of its specific textual errors made my specific task impossible, I wrote the following.
   
   If Amazon let me increase my rating, at this point I would, but I maintain that it is unpolished and desperately under-edited.
   
   .: end edit :.
   
   As a freshman engineering major, I have been compelled to use Technical Drawing for a graphics course. This has been a profoundly frustrating experience. It seems that the authors, in their zeal to attain unto the dry, lifeless style characteristic of most professional engineering publications, also unintentionally created a text which is superlatively unclear.
   
   I am recurrently astonished at the utter incomprehensibility of entire paragraphs. I will read a section, cynically assert that it communicates nothing, read it over a dozen more times, show it to others who in turn read it a dozen times, only to have my first conclusion affirmed.
   
   There are extremely blatant contradictions.
   
   Terms are used at the beginning of a chapter and not defined until the end.
   
   It speaks voluminously about how critical it is to follow the prescribed techniques, only to devote less-than-the-bare-minimum amount of space to the actual descriptions of those techniques.
   
   The review questions are frequently unrelated to the content they are supposed to be reinforcing, or are simply placed in the wrong chapter.
   
   This (expensive!) book is a conspicuous example of "writing by committee." Technical Drawing may well be a decent-enough reference book - useful if you need a reminder about material you already know - but expect to get angry at it, especially if you're learning the information for the first time.



5. This book is loaded with technical information for the dratsman and designer. A must have for anyone who is in the mechanical technology field.

No comments about The Nature & Art of Workmanship.

3 comments about Interior Design Portable Handbook : First-Step Rules of Thumb for Interior Architecutre.

1. This book is a required textbook for a drafting class I am taking. It is a reference book Designers will always need, therefore, I wanted it new. It was $12 below retail cost at Amazon. It arrived in perfect condition within 2 days of ordering it. I was very happy with this purchase.



2. The handbook provides great information for any drafting classes and more information that you can use out in the field of Design



3. You ca learn a lot from this book I'm a interior design student and this book it's been very helpful.