No comments about Furniture + Architecture (Architectural Design).

2 comments about The Victorian House Book.

1. Wow! A lot of work went into this one. It is excellent in all respects.



2. Although this is a mainly a design book for the Victorian home owner, and a good one, with several excellent pictures on every page, it is also a history book. The author explains how each new wallpaper style, or window treatment, or ceiling ornament, and so on, is a consequence of this Paris Exhibition, or that widely circulated pattern book, or the writings of this influential person.

   And considerable research and effort went into the book. In addition to the pictures, which cover subjects in Britain, America, and occasionally Australia, there are cutaway drawings showing construction of masonry and wood houses, and, at the close of every chapter, a page or two of drawings to illustrate typical ballusters, wall lamps, wardrobes, etc.

   It was written for an American audience, going by the spellings and the list of suppliers in the appendix, by an Englishman, who occasionally gets things wrong. Like saying that at the turn of the century porches fell out of favor here and were replaced by conservatories. But his advice on restoration is always good.

   Although it's an engaging history of the era, it's not a how-to book. The final chapter on repairs is familair material, although it might contain something you've not seen before: sample floor plans for a typical basement or attic conversions.

4 comments about Feng Shui for Children's Spaces.

1. Do it right when planning your child's space. This book has great tips on incorporating Feng Shui into your plans.



2. I would like to thank the author for her work. Great book with great advices, not some phishy stuff. If you have children, and would like to "do it right" from Feng Shui point of view, combine knowledge from this book with basis of Feng Shui, and you will be all set.



3. I read this book while pregnant with my daughter. It was (and still is) a great resource in planning her space. I have a home daycare, and use the book as a guide for play areas. It is well written, easy to understand AND apply. I feel the author's views and opinions are well educated and workable. I have recomended this book to anyone who is planning to redecorate their children's space.



4. A delicious look at the childs world from the view of feng shui. A practical tool for parents and anyone concerned with children, not only for creating spaces where children can thrive, but to understand them better.

3 comments about Wooden Houses: From Log Cabins to Beach Houses.

1. The moment you open this book you will feel inspired to work with wood in your home. It covers wooden building styles from medieval huts (still in existence from pre 1350 in Finland), through New England clapperboard, through log cabins and swiss chalets. These are enchanting enough, but the photographs of the interiors are fantastic. From deepest rustic, heavy hewn log interiors, to beautrifully painted 18th and 19th century wood panelled rooms. Its all in here.

   A celebration of wood. As a huge fan of this natural building material I was delighted with the rich and endlessly varied illustrations. This is not, I should add, a "how to build" book. There is relatively little text, and all illustrations are full colour photographs of real wooden houses (no line drawings, or plans.) But that said, I have drawn great inspiration from it, and would use it directly to instruct a carpenter or architect I was working with.

   For all who truely love wood as a buliding and decorative material, this book is a must.




2. It is a good book, but based on the cover, the description and the other review, I was expecting more Arts & Crafts/Craftsman/Post & Beam/Greene & Greene/Frank Lloyd Wright/Mahady & Associates/etc. style homes and fewer Colonial/Log Cabin/Rustic homes. I just don't consider the latter group to be "elegant". Overall, it is a good book, but not quite what I was expecting.



3. The moment you open this book, you feel the reverance for wood. There is the comfort and coziness in the settings and the elegance in the designs. This is a unique book both for the purist and for traditionalist and every page is a delight. A required reading.

   editor/ranchandhome.com

1 comments about Porch Style.

1. Porch Style: Just what I was looking for! I had been thinking of re-designing my back yard to include a porch, and was looking for ideas that illustrated more than the traditional decking and roofing. I wanted a book that each time I browsed I would find something new to think about. I wanted a reference and learning guide. For those who are considering a change to an existing porch, adding a new porch or creating a free-standing porch in a garden area, this book offers many possibilities. The authors provided a wide variety of styles, both conventional and not-so-conventional, decorating tips that stimulated and complimented my own, information and history that educated. A bonus I didn't expect to find but did is a travel book that engulfed me in the scenery of the subjects. So... you're not designing or re-designing a porch, but love coffee table books, it's a great read for the vacationers who once a year find themselves on someone else's porch. The title and the serentity of the cover, simply stated and eyecatching, beckon a reader to reach for it. The chair has your name on it. Just what the doctor ordered - your very own "peace of the porch".

1 comments about Tropical Design (Design (Daab)).

1. I don't know that there is an 'official' definition for 'Tropical' architecture. Yet mention 'Tropical Architecture' and an open air bamboo structure with thatched roof comes to mind. Yet when you actually travel to the tropics, that's just the structures designed to fit the preconceived notions that tourists already have. In real life, the banks, offices, manufacturing plants, and whatever are not built this way.
   
   This book, another of Daab's excellent idea books shows a wide assortment of buildings built in tropical environments from around the world. The buildings reflect the peaceful climates of the locations: lots of open air access, much glass, lots of water often in pools that often lead to the ocean, perhaps directly, perhaps just visually.
   
   As you would expect, here are some spectacular designs with virtually every architectural model shown in some form or another. Yes, there are even thatched roofs and beds with mosquito netting.

No comments about Cool Restaurants Prague (Cool Restaurants).

No comments about The Context of Scripture.

4 comments about Little Retreats.

1. a wonderful and diverse photo essay on many small houses around the world. Great detail provided - so great ideas that can be projected into your own project.
   good writing providing background and approach to each house by its owners, great photos.



2. The Retreats are mostly exceedingly expensive or wildly funky (it takes a special person to really enjoy a sojourn in a teepee). The photography is beautiful, which is a saving grace for the book.

   Perhaps this reader is overly attuned to comfort, but I was dismayed at all the circular stairways, ladders, and challenging skywalks to enter or navigate these homes-away-from homes. Some were set in such boggy, swampy areas, all I could think of were mosquitoes and other unpleasant insects. If readers are expecting examples in the United States, they will be disappointed; most of the retreats were set in the British Isles.

   The book illustrates a variety of settings: seaside, desert, mountains, lake and forest as advertised. "Little Retreats" is fun to read, but I would not recommend it as a practical guide.




3. "Little Retreats" covers what it sets out to do. It's not a house plan or how-to book---and it doesn't claim to be. It succeeds in the task the author set for it, with pictures of charming, whimsical, personal homes. Places are quaint without lapsing over into funky and the text is concise. Looking through it is like a tiny vacation as one imagines having a private space of one's own as a refuge.

   I rated it at four stars instead of five because while I like it, I'm not passionately in love with it or transformed by it. (The recently released "Storybook Style" raises the bar for perfection in a home & garden book, in my opinion.) It's an enjoyable book and I'm glad to have it in my collection.




4. Lovely book, wonderful photos of creative little retreats. Lovley word descriptions, too. But it was not what I was hoping for. Few interior shots that show how the spaces actually work. No floorplans, no useful information on how to plan or design a little retreat of your own. Lovely book though.

2 comments about Moorish Style.

1. So sad, a very nice looking book with an interesting approach -- looking at Islamic art and architecture as seen through Western eyes over the last few hundred years. The book showcases some excellent reproductions of fabulous old paintings, historic photographs, and contemporary photographs. Why sad? because the narrative text is printed in light gray in a very skinny sans serif type that swims before my eyes. I admit I don't have perfect vision, but I can read most books perfectly well. In Moorish Style I can read a paragraph or two under a strong light, but it is so agonizing (actually nauseating) I soon give up.

   Curse the art director who came up with this great idea!! .... Books have to be more than just pretty.

   If it weren't for this 'slight' problem, I would give it four, maybe five stars. For the excellent graphics, I give it three.




2. Synopsis The architecture and decorative art of the Islamic world, particularly Moorish Spain, is illustrated in this book. It shows how it acted as an influence for designers and architects in the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and America. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title

   Book Information In the 19th Century a European fascination with the exotic Orient generated what has come to be known as "Orientalism". The costumes, landscapes and townscapes of the Ottoman, Arab and Mogul worlds inspired painters ranging from Delacroix and Ingres to David Roberts and even Matisse. When expressed in architecture and design, buildings and gardens, this phenomenon became known as the Moorish Style.

   This style has been used in a vast variety of ways throughout the western world, appearing in gentlemen's clubs and synagogues, cinemas (often called "The Alhambra") and Tuscan villas. In this magnificently illustrated survey, Miles Danby examines the roots of the style in art and architecture throughout the Islamic world. He discusses the factors of space and pattern and the structural and decorative elements that are commonly found in mosques and palaces, whether in Mogul India, Ottoman Turkey or Moorish Spain.

   Of all the buildings key to the style, the Alhambra in Granada is perhaps the most important. Expertly recorded by the great 19th-century designer, Owen Jones, its features were to inspire both public and private building into the 20th Century, and make concrete the exotic dreams of a number of wealthy aesthetes. This book, the first to examine the style from its origins to its contemporary manifestation, will act as an inspiration for architects and designers, as well as being a source of visual pleasure and stimulation for all.