2 comments about The Next Architect: A New Twist on the Future of Design.

1. The previous comment is actually more insightful than the book itself. As a student I found it insulting to my intelligence. Also, as the previous review hints, it is a criminal waste of paper. Literally, I have seen longer magazine articles but this somehow manages to cost more than a year's subscription.



2. First of all, with 144 pages (which really equates to 72 pages with text only on one leaf) the $40 dollar price tag is a way too steep. Secondly the 'new' insights and twists into the profession are really not all that new and groundbreaking. Here's a summary of the point's they bring up in the book. You be the judge.
   - Design is a team sport.
   - clients come first
   - the essence of design is in creating value
   - process innovation - bringing all the stakeholders into the project as early as possible. a.k.a. Integrated Practice. (most insightful point, however simplified)
   - faster and faster (chapter name)
   - Dynamic Decision-making (chapter name) Here's an italicized quote the authors pulled out of their text: "The ability to make a decision is the essential act of design" (By the way, the opposing leaf or every other page is dedicated to these 'salient' quotes from the text.)
   - Another quote, different chapter: "The next architect understands that money is a design tool"
   - Leadership (chapter name) Quote: "Without a conductor, no orchestra can function to its full potential - thus it is with team leaders of design."
   - The green machine (chapter name) - sustainability.
   - TCB: taking care of business (chapter name) - explains itself
   
   I guess unless you haven't practice architecture since 1901, a lot of these principles are not all that new. I guess my gripe with the book stems from not really delivering what the title suggests. If, however, you are a student just entering into the profession, the book would be a good source for a list of oversimplified tenants of what an architect does , but not really all that insightful into the ways the future architect will work.
   
   But that's just my opinion.
   
   
   
   -

1 comments about Acoustical Designing in Architecture.

1. You have a problem: To choice material to architect a control room, conference romm and the like.
   
   This books shows you the way and explain its foudations.
   
   If you want more, that's another problem...
   
   Mario Cesar Vidal
   Engienner and Ergonomist

1 comments about Autocad for Interior Design and Space Planning.

1. This is an excellent resource for anyone who has previously tried to utilize other "beginner's manuals" on AutoCAD and have been confused or overwhelmed. It is a step-by-step guide written in simple terminology with pictures! My kind of to-the-point without the extemporaneous info!

4 comments about Customizing AutoCAD 2004 (Autodesk's Programmer Series).

1. Don't waste your money if you want to actually write a LISP program with a dialog box that is not listed in this book....it ONLY covers the few (already in ACAD) dialog boxes. There are TONS of information not listed in this book for DCL's and the LISP interface to go with them. I am very disappointed. I have been writing LISP programs for years and was hoping this book would help me take my programs to the next level (dialog boxes), I was wrong. If you want to play with your menu's and draw a box using LISP, this is the book for you.



2. Searching some good text on the customizing of AutoCAD was always like touching a tip of the mountain. When I came across the book by Prof. Sham Tickoo I was thinking that it would be also have same programmes with errors but it was my myth for all customizing books. I really had a good time using this book, as I am able to created and run all the programs that are given in this book. This is the reason I have recommended this book to my colleagues and fellow students. Good job Prof. Tickoo.



3. One of the reason why to bank on this book is that the approach makes learning customizing of AutoCAD easy. Others add-ons like, free technical support, chapter detailing how to create your own menus and toolbars, examples, tips and notes, and many more. I cannot see this much in any other customizing book. As a learner I recommend this book to those who want to learn customizing of AutoCAD.



4. As an AutoCAD instructor in a community college, I was searching for books on AutoCAD that explains the fundamentals of customizing AutoCAD. I read the book by Sham Tickoo and found it very helpful. Author has explained all the methods that can be used to customize AutoCAD. I am using this book in my class and until now found no difficulty in teaching through this book. This book is one of the rare books that explain how to create solid models using VBA. I strongly recommend this book to all the students.

2 comments about Autodesk Architectural Desktop: An Advanced Implementation Guide.

1. This book should be used in conjunction with the Mastering Autodesk ADT 2007 or Mastering Architecture 2008 books. This is more for the person that sets the standards. If you are like me, a pretty much one man team, then this makes your understanding of ADT a lot more comprehensive. It explains a lot more of the "why" than the "Mastering books" did. My picture of the project got a lot bigger frame as I was going thru this book. It is written in such a way that you can go from the beginning to the end, as usual. But, it is also written so that you can go & look up certain areas that you have questions about, go to that part of the book & get your answer without a loss of understanding because you took it out of sequence.
   
   I would recommend this book to any user of ADT or Architecture from intermediate & up. I also would recommend it to any CAD managers or those that want to be CAD managers. If you want to get the most complete education of ADT or Architecture you can have, get both books, the one for this review and either Mastering AutoCAD Architecture 2008 or Mastering Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007, depending on which program you have. I would also recommend getting The Illustrated AutoCAD 2008 Quick Reference (Illustrated AutoCAD Quick Reference) or the year that matches the year of your program. It doesn't contain the ADT or Architecture commands but does a great job on the AutoCAD commnads & system variables.



2. This is an excellent companion to Mastering Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007 and in many cases picks up where MADD leaves off. If you are using MADD to get up & going with ADT and find yourelf thumbing the index thinking "There's got to be more detail", it is here. Detailed information and sound advice for figuring out and making sense of the whole Projects, Display, Styles and Objects systems is here.
   We are a 2 seat high end residential firm. I have been using ACAD since R9 and ArchT as an architectural front end for 10 years. ADT2007 is my first go at ADT. It is definitely complex & multi-layered, but I believe that it will improve the quality & timeliness of our production. This book is an integral part of the process. It's worth it.

No comments about Designing Commercial Interiors.

1 comments about Building Codes Illustrated for Healthcare Facilities: A Guide to Understanding the 2006 International Building Code (Building Codes Illustrated).

1. This book contains very little healthcare specific code information. During my first round flipping through the book, I did not manage to notice any information on healthcare code issues. Upon further inspection, I did manage to find a few healthcare related items... but nothing even close to being useful - or worth the price of the book, for that matter.
   
   This book seems to be simply a repackaging of the book "Building Codes Illustrated," by some of the same authors - which I own as well. The table of contents for both books are nearly identical. Non of the chapters have anything healthcare related in their titles. Most of the graphics appear to be straight out of "Building Codes Illustrated" as well. The index contains more references to subjects such as "brick expansion joints," "cripple studs," and "concrete piles" than it does to anything healthcare specific. Disappointing, to say the least.
   
   If you are looking for industry specific code information, this is NOT your book. This is an unfortunate mislabeling/retitling.

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.

1 comments about Computer-Aided Manufacturing (3rd Edition) (Prentice Hall International Series on Industrial and Systems Engineering).

1. This thorough book will help anyone concerned with CAD/CAM related technology stay in touch with a fast changing world. It covers a wide range of topics from product design to manufacturing control. All of the major CAD/CAM topics are included as well as chapters on automation, numerical control and robotics. This is a serious tool for the dedicated engineering professional.

1 comments about One-Story Homes: 450 Exceptional Home Plans from 810 to 5400 Square Feet.

1. There are lots of plans in here with ridiculously high pitched roof-lines, tiny, barely functional rooms, and for a book that was supposed to feature ONE STORY homes, a surprising number of TWO STORY plans. No matter how small the total square footage of the house, these designers (surely not architects) worked in three bedrooms and sometimes a "media room", leaving some of the bedrooms as small as 9 x 9, and hardly any that were larger than 12 x 15. Nobody could live in such cramped spaces, and you'd never find furniture to fit the rooms.

   There are elaborate Master Bath plans, tacked carelessly onto medium sized bedrooms, and throughout the book, you'll see dozens of upper floor "loft" spaces and "bonus" rooms, that people who are seeking single level homes would never need or want.

   As for the claim that there are 450 floor plans, I guess it would be about half of that, if you eliminated all of the "mirror image" plans, and multiple plans that are identical, except for some minor variation.

   This book is a waste of time and trees.