No comments about Earthquake Resistant Design: For Engineers and Architects , 2nd Edition.

1 comments about Mario Botta: Architectural Poetics (Universe Architecture Series).

1. Architects transcribe their thoughts and emotions through their designs, forms, and spaces. Botta is without a doubt
   a master in his own right.
   But what compelled me to write this review is the "text", the writing. The author of the book is a practicing architect who has worked along side Botta. She seems to really understand what lies at the heart of architecture in General and Botta's design philosophy in particular.
   If you are a student of architecture READ this book.
   If you love to contemplate beautiful creations READ this book. And finally if you are a fan of good writing I urge you to read this book!

No comments about AutoCAD LT 97: Problem Solving Approach.

5 comments about Luxury Coastal/Mediterranean Style Homes.

1. Anyone here who says these designs are "cookie cutter" aren't really looking at the interior layouts. The exteriors ARE similar to one another. But, honestly, they are Mediterranean style. How different are they supposed to look.
   
   It's the interiors that are distinguished. The individual touches in the houses gives them their spark. Admittedly, you'll see many of these elements in other houses, but it's how they're put together that makes a house great.
   
   Use your imagination and walk through the house. They're homey and yet elegant. A difficult combination to pull off.



2. Sater II has some of the most elegant designs I have ever seen. I love the way he combines the out doors with the indoors with extensive use of the veranda and varied use of all different types of ceilings. His Fiorentino and Prestonwood plans are masterpieces of elegant and stately designs. The only fault I see is that I wish his foyers were larger and more isolated from the living room like Frank Lloyd Wright's and his designs are somewhat cookie cutter.



3. The reviewer who has called this book "cookie cutter" suffers from delusion. The homes in this book are some of the most unique designs I have found anywhere, and the photography does a great job of showing this.

   As far as I can tell, the designer of the homes in this book has probably allowed the Homeplanners magazines to reproduce his designs with the hope of exposing more potential customers to his work.

   I suppose the writer of this review would accuse her local newspaper of plagiarism if a column by one of their writers appeared in USA Today or the New York Times.




4. I purchased this book thinking it would offer a variety of styles and details. What I found was a run of the mill Florida cookie cutter style (neither mediterranean, nor Spanish, nor Italian, nor classic), the kind you find at just about every cookie cutter development in the Southwest and Florida. Even more disappointing, however, was the fact that I found the exact same plans, illustrations, and photos found in several home plans magazines, particularly those by Home Planners, inc.

   Overall, the book was short on substance and detail, and the plans were so convoluted, I felt I had opened a puzzle book instead of an architecture/design book.




5. This book has some of the most beautiful homes I've ever seen! The photography is stunning and the interiors are extremely well detailed. More importantly the floor plan designs themselves are well thought out and give a unique livability to it's occupants.This is a great source for truly one of a kind luxury home designs!

3 comments about Understanding MicroStation 95/SE: A Basic Guide to MicroStation(R), MicroStation Modeler(R), and MasterPiece.

1. Have purchased a number of Microstation texts in the past and this is absolutely as good as they come. I use Microstation daily in my present employment and this book leaves nothing to chance. Any person not giving it a 5 star rating does not work in the "real world". Thanks-



2. This book barely covers the basics of ustation. Intermediate users should look elsewhere.



3. This is a very systematic approach to MicroStation. I had used AutoCad before and found that this book helped me quickly get up to speed on MicroStation. I refer back to it frequently - just wish it was a bit more directed to civil type projects.

1 comments about On Line and On Paper: Visual Representations, Visual Culture, and Computer Graphics in Design Engineering (Inside Technology).

1. Dr. Henderson provides a rich understanding of how real engineers really integrate pencil and paper with automated approaches. Extensive on-site studies with a clear eye help overcome the hype of CAD and highlight the many ways that visual cognition expresses itself. Those involved in developing systems to support engineering (especially design engineering), specifying and acquiring those systems, or supporting them would be well advised to read this book. The systems that we do build and buy need to work with how people really work; Henderson gives a rich description of how designers design.

   Engineers who have not be enamored of CAD will find their case sympathetically presented. Those whose careers have changed may have a better appreciation of why. Those who manage, train, and support engineers are the ones who most need to read this book. If you sell CAD systems, you should read this so you know what they say about you after you leave. Those of us studying practice and the role of technology might have asked for a few more tables and comparisions to help us keep the different stories and companies straight.

   If you like to read about design (that is, you're a fan of Henry Petroski's The Pencil), you'll enjoy the discussion of visual culture and the origins of engineering drawing customs.

   If you are not used to reading research, you might want to skip the first section (or come back to it later).

No comments about Inside Autocad Release 13C4: For Windows 95, Windows Nt, and Windows (Inside).

No comments about Consensus Design: Socially inclusive process.

No comments about Inside Autocad Release 13 for Windows and Windows Nt/Book and Disk (Inside).

2 comments about Mastering AutoCAD 2000 for Mechanical Engineers.

1. The book does a good job showing you how to use AutoCad 2000 in a mechanical environment. However the book did not deal with the menu and commands found in AutoCad Mechanical 2000 that I will be using to do mechanical drafting.



2. I am a novice, self-taught autocad user. This book bridged the gap between me, a mechanical engineer, and my autocad drafters. After completing each chapter, including the exercises, I am now a fully capable and independent drafter. The mechanical engineer version is perfectly tailored to everyday designs for the M.E. I highly recommend this book for those new to autocad and for those who want to greatly improve their autocad efficiency.