1 comments about Brilliant: Lights & Lighting (V & A Contemporary).

1. The book has less than 130 pages and despite its tiny size, it packs a punch. I find it to be a cerebral book written by an intellect who has a passion for lighting. Complemented by lights and lighting system from the past & present time (some of them iconoclastic), the author wrote an essay about what those things (lights and lighting system) represent to different people. No longer that light is simply there as an utility but it's an art on its own right. Then, there are lights that encompass fashion, textile, sculpture, theatre (Sharon Marston's). With advent of technology, it's foreseeable that light can be wearable in the future. Now, designers are endeavouring to design wearable light that is comfortable too (Ixilab from Japan, Karada Italia). There are lights that are done from sparse materials (from designers who are mindful about the plight of our environment and who endeavours not to design lights for lights' sake) (Boym Design Studio, Ingo Maurer, etc). Some designers incorporate lights into items such as a chair or a table because they emphasise the importance & significance of space but not highlighting the lights themselves (Horgen Glarus & N2). There are lights that remind us of the past, lights that are designed by touching upon memory (Philippe Starck); lights that stir our emotions (perhaps, for all the wrong reasons) such as Gitta Gschwendtner's lights comprising of hugging lamp, double vision lamp, corner lamp, up-the-wall lamp (give people's impression that the light is a living being & stalking the occupants of the house: sense of intimidation), Hector Serrano's A Lamp in the Swimming Pool (shade lamp but floating on water!: sense of humour), & the list goes on. Then, the author also questioned lights that are defined as rude for some due to social strata difference, generation gap, etc. Some companies are trying to redefine the meaning of lights and they lead the charge by commissioning various designers to come up with conceptual plans which are mind-blowing such as Swaroski's chandellier's project. I can keep on writing about this book but this shall be a book that you should read yourself. A book filled with many brilliant ideas, a book that would broaden your horizon regarding lights and a book that you would cherish very much. Highly recommended.

1 comments about Handbook to the Exegesis of the New Testament.

1. It has been a few years since I made use of this book, but I see no one has reviewed it, so my few comments can only help.

   This is a top-quality resource, providing papers and essays by some of the finest biblical scholars on each of the main methods of critical interpretation. The tone is academic, but accessible enough for your regular pastor or serious student of theology, if not the entirely untrained layman.

   I would not hesitate to recommend this as the best volume of its kind available, although on the negative side, not many people are going to be in a position to spend [dollar amount] on a single volume. I recommend ordering a copy from your library or finding some other way of borrowing it.

   For an infinitely better-priced compendium, albeit only a second-runner to Porter's volume, you can purchase I H Marshall's New Testament Interpretation for [dollar amount] or less.

No comments about Traditional Decorating.

No comments about Best Designed Hotels in Europe I: Urban Locations.

1 comments about Empire Stylebook of Interior Design: All 72 Plates from the "Recueil De Decorations Interieures" with New English Text (Dover Books on Architecture).

1. The authors, who lived from the 1760s `til the mid-1800s, met in or after art school, and created what came to be known as the First Empire Style of design. It's described as neoclassical, influenced by Greek, Roman, and most especially Egyptian elements. The book covers the gamut of design elements, from elegant chandeliers to whole room treatments. After a brief introduction to the Dover edition, and an essay by the authors, the book is all line drawings with explanatory notes at the end.
   
   There's nothing here that would be useful in anything smaller than a palace, and only then if you would be comfortable living on a movie set from an early talkie version of Cleopatra. If you like to use Empire style elements in your furniture design - which is why I bought the book - this won't help you. The target audience here would be a small niche of historical architecture buffs or museum staffs.

3 comments about A Handbook for Interior Designers.

1. I really enjoyed this book. It's filled with wonderful designs and pictures that compliment the subject being discussed. It's a great book for beginning students to help them understand the essentials of the business without being so overwhelming.



2. This book should not be called "A Handbook for Interior Designers, it should be called "Interior Design 101". This book is a very basic crash course in principles of interior design. I would not recommend this book to anyone who has any background in interior design.



3. I loved this book. It is basic yet wonderful. Easy to read. Will give you knowledge and tools to make your own propositions. I really enjoyed it.

No comments about Conceptualizing Religion: Immanent Anthropologists, Transcendent Natives, and Unbounded Categories (Studies in the History of Religions) (Studies in the History of Religions).

5 comments about Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration.

1. James Abbot and Elaine Rice are right on the money! This book entails the Kennedy restoration of the White House during 1961 - 1963. Much research has gone in to producing an excellent history that otherwise would be lost. Great photographs of the Kennedy White House as well. I can say this book is a treasure for both Kennedy and White House enthusiasts alike. I have had this book for several years and still find myself picking it up.



2. James Abbott and Elaine Rice have documented the blueprinting and designing of much more than rooms in the White House. The title says it all. Camelot was about all things Kennedy Administration. Navy suits and Limousines were younger and more progressive. Presentations on the lawn for visiting heads of states by far surpassed the ho-hum receptions at the train station. No detail of Camelot, the White House public rooms and the family quarters escaped scrutiny of Jackie, Sister Parrish and Boudin. Jackie even designed the ash stands with Boudin's help.

   I don't understand the criticism of this book as dry or wordy. It's a book. It's a narrative, not a coffee table book. Tomes have been printed and documented of the restored rooms, before and after. The photos are what they were. In this world of colorized movies, Photoshopped magazine covers and remastered music, Abbott and Rice have given us the plain unvarnished way it was, warts and all. I found the background very interesting. It was a collaborative effort between the committee, Jackie, Sister Parrish and Boudin, with a giant does of Henry duPont thrown in. Any one person could have completely changed the way the great house looked, but Jackie rescued the building from it's Gimbell's basement look. It remains generally true to her vision, even though eight First Ladies have imprinted on it. This country would not exist if not for the help of France during the Revolution. It influenced this country greatly and I see nothing wrong with the influence. No one criticized Mamie Eisenhower for the his and hers tvs in the wall or the Mamie Pink.

   I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone.




3. The writing is dry. The pictures are not the best and it fails to show whnat the White House looked like before the restoration. Everyone says that it looked horrible so why not give the reader a taste of what was so wrong with it? If you can find the White House guidebook that was produced to pay for the restoration read that instead. It has much betters photos.



4. A superb survey of the White House decor of President & Mrs. Kennedy. The book documents the ideas, process, decisions and choices behind the stunning interiors of the Kennedy White House-both the public and private rooms. What comes through the text is Mrs. Kennedy's leadership and vision - combining taste, history, beauty and great cunning - just to create and then manage this melange of egos, talent and intelligence was an accomplishment, and the results live on today (albeit not as beautifully or artistically). We all gained a greater knowledge and appreciation of our nation's historic and artistic past because of Mrs. Kennedy's work.

   I've corresponded with Mr. Abbott and he's been most kind and interesting. He assisted in the current show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years," and there's a number of items on display relating to the White House decorations.

   Read the book, catch the exhibit (it moves to the JFK Library in Boston in the fall).




5. I was very disappointed with this book. I found the writing style dry and the photographs/layout just not up to par. It almost seemed like somebody's thesis with som photos thrown in. Somebody needs to do a large format picture book on this subject with more about Jackie!

No comments about Natural Interiors.

1 comments about Picture This!: Ideas to Create Unique Wall Art.

1. Hanging colorful art on the walls doesn't have to mean an expensive purchase: easy craft techniques and low-cost materials can easily produce individual wall art, and PICTURE THIS! IDEAS TO CREATE UNIQUE WALL ART tells how to use everything from gift wrap mounted in beech wood picture frames to 'cutlery art' produced by patterns in light-sensitive paper. A wonderful set of unique artistic ideas makes this a fine choice for both crafter and home and garden public lending libraries.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch