4 comments about American Homes: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture - A landmark reference with more than 1,000 illustrations, elevations, and palns.

1. I teach a High School architecture class and I highly recommend this book for several reasons.
   1) The black and white line drawings allow my students to focus on the specific details without being distracted by the colors of photographs.
   2) The drawings are highly descriptive of the elements of style that distinguish one period from another and one region to another.
   3) Walker breaks down the sections first by year and then by region.
   
   You are able to see how the styles changed over a period of years and focus on the phases of development.
   
   I especially liked that he devoted separate chapters to individual architects that made a significant contribution to the development of the distinct styles and Walker does a good job of picking houses that showcase these talented individuals.



2. I am interested in historic architecture -- mostly eastern coast architecture of the colonial period. And this book does a grand job of displaying it in its varied forms and regional and ethnic differences. As you can see I rated it at 4. Why not 5? Because I caught a couple of mistakes in the identification of some of the buildings -- both as to location and to period of history from which they came.
   The first mistake I noticed is the octaginal blockhouse on Davis Island in Edgecome, Maine on page 67. Mr. Walker idenitifies it as a building from the 1650's. It was in fact built in 1805 as the central fortification of an earthwork and palsade gun battery to protect Sheepscot Bay. It is one of a whole string of idential coastal fortifications designed and built by the Army Corp of Engineers the specific engineer for this series of fortifications was Moses Porter -- at that time based at West Point. I have lived most of my life within 40 miles of this building.
   The second building that I believe to be mislocated is found on page 95. It is correctly identified as an early georgian house. Where I disagree with Mr. Walker is it location. It is in fact a house that stands to this day in the city of Portmouth, New Hampshire and was the home of an 18th century merchant of that city. There is also a wooden example of the same house on route 1a just outside of the town of Newberryport, Massachusetts and another one built, 1782, in Saco, Maine.
   With these exceptions I have enjoyed reading and re-reading this book



3. "American Homes" by Lester Walker is a bargain at the price Amazon is charging. It is a lavishly illustrated (albeit in black and white) comprehensive work detailing every style of American home in drawings, sections, and elevations emphasizing the differences that make a certain home or style unique. In this way it is extremely useful for anyone with even a passing interest in architecture to learn about the varying styles of American homes.

   Mr. Walker does not visibly seem to favor any one style over another, and avoids editorializing for the most part. Instead he seems to love all the differing styles for what they are, in different ways, and for different reasons, depending of the particular house in question. In addition to specifics on certain examples and styles, Mr. Walker also gives the reader a historical perspective of housing developments in a developmental time frame, starting with Pueblo and Tipi styles to the Inflatable, Deconstruction, Brutalism, and Neomodern styles that are decidedly more recent. As a fan of creative contemporary architecture, I especially found the coverage of the International Revival movement, the quirky Silo and Yurt homes of the early 1970s, and Fantasy homes from the 1940s in the shapes of an elephant (Margate City, NJ), Mother Goose (Hazard, KY), and a pig (Los Angeles, CA), among others, to be delightful.

   This is a wonderful volume and I highly endorse it to anyone from architectural historian to collectors of Americana.




4. I really love this book - it has given me some useful information on the kinds of houses and buildings I may see all over the country - an historical education that I have wanted. And this book makes it fun & easy to learn. The illustrations are cool and the format is very helpful.

3 comments about Cuba Style: Graphics from the Golden Age of Design.

1. Like anything by Steven Heller, there's tons of amazing imagery in this book. Great for the price! Fun & exotic!



2. I haven't finished it and I can say that this book is a "must have", this images are worth not a thousand words but a million words (any Cuban could give you a million words speech in a matter of five minutes), this book is going to solve me just that, whenever somebody would ask me questions about Cuba before Castro, all I have to do is show them this book. This book will show you exactly what Graphics and Arts, in general, were before Castro, not the political propaganda that it became after the revolution-take as an example the image of Murder, Che Guevara, shown all over Cuba promising you "Victory"-. For some, this book will bring back memories and nostalgia, for others like me, born and raised during the communist period, a confirmation that things were a lot better, not perfect, not the paradise they proclaimed it was, simply the place to be, it was for most Cubans the place to be born Cuban and die Cuban.



3. Ahhh, nostalgia. Nothing but that. Excellent, outstanding...

5 comments about Architects' Data (3rd Edition).

1. An on hand reference for all the immediate details required by Interior Designers and Architects. Quite often a lot of time is wasted searching in numerous texts for information. The Architect's Data has it all-between the covers. User friendly and well illustrated.



2. This has always been a staple reference book for architects since my student days. I haven't bought a copy for many years, so I was pleased to see that it has been revised and updated to include plenty of relevant new data. Unlike a US-published competitor this book is in metric, and is more expansive in its coverage of building types. A really useful reference tool for all building space planners, architects and interior designers.



3. With all the countless references and easy-to-read diagrams illustrating key dimensions for almost any type or category of use, this book is an architect's Bible. It's not only a useful reference, but this one is a joy to read at one's own leisurely time! Must buy!



4. It was in our varsity library where I opened "Neufert" for the first time back in late 70s (they had a two-volume Russian version). Amazingly, then as I studied Architecture I was rather impressed by a broad selection of examples of Western Architecture than by reference data themselves. Now I am more interested in the latter... And the newly edition I have surely provides that! You may blame it for slightly outdated materials or general incompleteness. But, remember, those features are generic for sources like this. Instead the book is useful specifically at preliminary design phases when an architect needs the most general guidelines. You can quickly navigate in a fat volume and can get desired information easily and in full. The only drawback, I think, is that the book is rather based on a continental (mostly German) and British content which can be somewhat inconvenient for, say, an American reader.



5. I have used the previous editions very frequently especially during my time working abroad. This is the only comprehensive source of metric and International standards for design data that I am aware of and is organized in very readable way. In fact, when I introduced the book to my co-workers abroad, everyone bought a copy. It is a great book for rules-of-thumb reference for designing buildings, spaces and layouts for national and especially International standards.

5 comments about Mastering Autodesk Revit Building (Autodesk Revit).

1. As Revit is a totally new/ different concept to Autocad and it requires a bit of effort to grasp, this book is a valuable resource and it will prepare you well for the fast approaching BIM. I have tried Triforma from Bentley before and I hated it, most intellectual wankers use it or rather abuse it and use it senselessly...I have fallen in love with Revit and this book certainly helped me to understand Revit's incredible power...fully recomended reading...jisco- architect, Melbourne, Australia



2. Needs simple illustrations not long descriptions.You can not quickly learn
   you must go through long excercises instead of short descriptions with drawing.The problem is I have not seen anything different for Revit or Architectural Desktop.



3. When you do a search for Revit 8.0 this book comes up as a suggestion, but beware. It is only for 8.1 because the files only work in 8.1. That makes the book totally useless to Revit 8.0 users.



4. Good transaction, exactly what was advertised. No pain, just smooth deal. No hesitation



5. This book does a good job of teaching you how to do specific things in Revit. However, some of the techniques it teaches are a little too specific to the Sample Files that it uses to teach the techniques. But still does a very good job.

No comments about ANSYS Workbench Tutorial Release 11.

5 comments about Architectural Drafting and Design.

1. Just the book I was looking for. The price was right delivery was fast.
   I would buy from Amazon again.



2. item was received in a time manner and in great condition at a cheaper price
   thanks, would like to do business again in the future



3. I bought it used (1996 edition)at a bargain rate, in top condition. I'm changing from mechanical to architectural design and the book is priceless for me. It has all the basics, and lots of details. The book is a textbook with assignments and tests. Saves going to class. The focus is on design rather than CAD.



4. I have this book. This book is a poor atempt at up dateing a drafting book to a CAD world. The CAD parts of this book are small and short. They were added to an existing book to bring it into the 1980-90's. The seems to be witten by a school teacher not a practiceing Architect with very little background into what is done in a small Architectal firm. I have not looked at the new addition but here is what it needs, a total rework of the existing material to bring it up to the year 2000, along with a CD-ROM that includes all the question at least one or two full sets of house plans. First a stock set of plan would allow the teacher to due a room addition project, change to a set of stock plans. a second set of plans be unfinished just the outline of the house, and a door and window schedule with blocks of all the windows, other drawing could be started also. It's not worth the ..., when there are up to date books for far less money. A stock set of plan would allow the teacher to due a room addition project, change a set of stock plans. a second set of plans could be unfinished just the outline of the house, and a door and window schedule with blocks of all the windows.



5. This text has the ability to encourage the student in architectural drawings because of its excellent use of architectural designs and actual color photographs which back up the drawings. Clear examples are used to make the drawings come alive to the student. The text is challenging but understandable to the college student. It is creativly written in a clear and concise way. Great work, Mr. Jefferis!

No comments about Freehand Sketching: An Introduction.

No comments about The New 100 Houses x 100 Architects.

5 comments about Rapid Viz, Third Edition: A New Method for the Rapid Visualitzation of Ideas.

1. Smaller overall size to save money? Why?
   The result is overall poor quality, hard to see images, reduced sized graphics and WHY is a portion of refections lessons removed from this edition but present in the 2nd?!? I now have to use a copy machine to enlarge the pages for my college student use the text/lessons.
   
   But don't forget, the 3rd edition now has an exciting new cover...Big deal!
   
   Wake up publishers, give me BACK quality , perhaps in a 4th edition?



2. I suppose the smaller format kept the cost down, but I was disappointed to find that out AFTER I bought them. (That's right, "them". I ordered a dozen for a drawing class I held at my company.)
   
   It still has great content though, and I further suppose that if you never ran into the larger format edition, you may not miss it. Excellent content. Not just another drawing book.



3. This new 3rd edition is barely decent, not great. In some ways, it's easily worse than the good 2nd edition(!)...
   
   First off: the most obvious change here is in its *size*: this 3rd edition is about 2/3 as big as the 2nd edition- tiny! I'm talking about the overall physical dimensions: mainly length & width, with depth not being radically changed.
   
   Most of the lettering is the same size as before, although a few pages include microscopic printing. These new physical dimensions are *not* an improvement. This whole book has an uncomfortably crammed look & feel, not unlike a packed elevator ride. "Get me outta this thing!" is my honest reaction here.
   
   Maybe it's because I'm so used to the 2nd edition: I consider it to be the *BEST* version, even though I only rated it as being somewhat above average. The 2nd edition is basically good, and I'm glad I have it, but I still don't think *any* version of Rapid Viz has lived up to its real, full potential. My basic complaint with these books is that the illustrations themselves often look a little too unfinished and sketchy, lacking the true detail & depth that a 5-star book might have. At other times, some drawings actually have *too much* microscopic detail. And in an effort to make an already conceptually clear & concise book even more clear & concise, this new 3rd edition eliminates some drawings & photos along the way(!). Even worse: the photos that *have* been included are reproduced poorly, as if they were printed with a cheap, pre-Internet, black & white inkjet printer. I thought new editions of books were supposed to get better, not worse! I give this thing 1 star because it's a completely unnecessary downgrade- at best.
   
   In short: Yes, this 3rd edition has a fancy, new, computer designed cover, but I easily recommend the better 2nd edition *by far*.
   
   **Copy and paste 1560520558 to search for the better 2nd edition here on Amazon!**



4. Don't worry if you can't draw. The right brain really gets a exercise in this precise exploration of visualization of concrete concepts or large illustrations. Great for jotting down those quick notes. Simple notes through small visual captions which communicate your thoughts to your clients. Master the napkin drawing in minutes. Bring your ideas to life through simple drawing principles explained in Kurt's book.



5. This is a new edition of Rapid Viz. It is basically the same in terms of contents as the earlier edition.
   
   I have always enjoyed reading - and playing around with the ideas from - Kurt Hank's books. I have all his books, which include Draw!, Design Yourself, The Change Navigator, Wake Up Your Creative Genius, Up Your Productivity.
   
   Like his other books, this book is very well illustrated, conceptually & graphically. It's primary focus is the introduction of a Rapid Visualisation Process, which one can learn easily & then use readily to capture & convert fleeting thoughts into visual forms on paper. It is packed with ideas, games, puzzles & exercises to guide the reader.
   
   It is written for the novice in mind. It provides a step by step approach to the practical strategies of seeing, thinking, & drawing.
   
   For the benefit of readers, I append herewith the Table of Contents:
   
   - All we need is another drawing book;
   - Another way of learning: an insight into intuitive, holistic thinking;
   - The bilingual method: using the often neglected visual abilities we all possess;
   - What you need to get started: a description of tools & techniques to aid visual learning;
   - The box method: a very simple drawing technique for rapid viz;
   - Rapid indication: visual symbols & cliches for rapid viz;
   - The visualisation process: drawing made easier by evolving a visual concept to a finished drawing;
   - Graphic expression: communication with visual images;
   - Graphic creation: using visual thinking to stimulate & refine creative thinking;
   - Learning with visuals: using visual patterns to improve learning, memory & recall;
   
   I must say: The entire book is really great stuff to get you moving with visual thinking!
   
   One word of advice: Readers who are more logically oriented by nature, should firstly take a look at 'Thinking with a Pencil' by Henning Nelms. This book has a more structured approach to visual thinking.

5 comments about AutoCAD 2006 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)).

1. This book really makes AutoCAD fool proof. The only problem is, you need to read the boof BEFORE you load your program!
   Pay attention too the details.



2. I would not recommend this book. There are other Autocad books better at teaching autocad. If you want a good book on AutoCad try "AutoCAD 2004 and AutoCAD LT 2004: No Experience Required".



3. Anyone who has attempted to use Autocad in the past knows that it is a very formidable task. At the present time I have only gotten into a few chapters of Autocad for Dummies. What I have read so far is written in plain English and is very easy to understand. I have high hopes for the rest of the book. As with any technical course, the material must be read and reread a number of times to absorb it completely. It is structured in a logical manner and addresses a wide spectrum of AutoCad techniques which I find very helpful. I am confident that with the help of this book, I will eventually be able to produce a usable drawing. Looks to be a good buy!!!



4. AutoCAD is an powerful program. This books takes you into the world of AutoCAD with baby steps. AutoCAD for Dummies throws in a line of humor on every page which keeps the reader from getting stressed about all there is to learn. If you read this book, practice on AutoCAD and then read some more - you'll be a pro soon. To learn AutoCAD also plan to go to some classes !!



5. Middlebrook writes in a deliberately breezy and informal style that is characteristic of the Dummies series. He explains the very latest 2006 version of AutoCAD. Necessarily, in an introductory book, he does not go very deep into the full extent of AutoCAD. But given just a minimal maths background on your part, you should be able to quickly lay out simple two and three dimensional objects using his advice. That maths mostly involves a good grasp of trigonometry and algebra.
   
   If you are already familiar with the 2005 or earlier recent versions of AutoCAD, then avoid this book. You already know enough that you should get a more advanced text on 2006.