No comments about Wall Design (Design Books).

No comments about Stores and Retail Spaces 8.

No comments about Corporate Interiors No. 7 (Corporate Interiors).

5 comments about Dictator Style: Lifestyles of the World's Most Colorful Despots.

1. "Dictator Style" is so repulsive you can't look away. This insight into the homes of some of the most evil men and women of the twentieth century reveals depravity, a ghastly lack of taste, and a glimpse into their lives.
   
   Common themes from a century of dictators are discussed up front. Gold, glass, marble, and 'larger than life' are the essentials. Other influences, are mentioned, but these stuck with me. Looking at the themes common to all the homes profiled, I was put in mind of pictures of Graceland, a Trump casino, or the home of someone who came into money entirely too quickly. As I write, I see that this is redundant.
   
   Imagery from the homes of Mobuto, Ceachescu, Saddam Hussein, Milosovic, Tito, Hitler, The Marcoses, Noreiga, and others, along with discussions of the... design decisions, provides a window into the minds of people who sought out absolute power. Milosovic's home struck me as the most tasteful (overdone for my tastes, but to each his own), without the insane overstatement of many of the others. He stood on the cusp between what appeared to be an 'old school' of over-doing European palaces, and the new school of just over-doing everything. Mobuto was amazing, creating a Chinese palace in Africa. Of course, Saddam Hussein took the cake with his dozens of palaces, in the most hideous taste. Even more interesting was that he routinely retired to very modest quarters.
   
   The snapshots of how these people chose to live are disturbing, pathetic, and tacky all at once. The taste displayed is utterly repulsive, but the people behind the images are so facinating that (in a repulsive way) you can't turn away.



2. Very entertaining and a good present for someone who is difficult to buy for.



3. Page 102 Slobodan Milosevic. I am shocked that Mr York did not even bother to see who has been living in the Royal Compound in Belgrade following our revolution 5 October 2000. The text is loaded with lies. Mr York did not even bother to inform himself of the facts. For example page 103 shows my desk, a picture of my wife and I and three sons Peter, Philip and Alexander, look at the pen holder with the A and crown. The White House is the White Palace and page 106 shows the main hall with a portrait of my grandfather King Alexander above the fireplace. Page 107 was never a chapel and the theme is about Czar Dushan poems and what Mr York refers to as a cross is a billiard cue holder. My family name is Karadjordjevic and not Kradordevice. There are many more errors. Full of Lies - no proper research



4. The front end flap of the dust jacket says a lot about the book. It's a quote from P. J. O'Rourke: 'Saddam's chandelier was the size of a two-car garage. If a reason to invade Iraq was wanted, felony interior decorating would have done.'
   
   This book is a private look into the homes of sixteen dictators from around the world. Here are people to whom money is absolutely no object. But they did not contact Frank Lloyd Wright to seek a brilliant new design. They knew what they liked and they got it.
   
   Many of the photographs come from fifty or more years ago, so you need to temper your view with what was in fashion at the time. This is particularly true of the homes of Hitler, Stalin, Juan Peron. The more recent homes have a kind of fancy hotel lobby look.
   
   The book is fascinating. It's with a kind of macabre fascination that you want to see just how these people lived.



5. DICTATOR STYLE: LIFESTYLES OF THE WORLD'S MOST COLORFUL DESPOTS is a hard book to peg: pairing interior design with a funny look at history's alarming dictators, it blends a racy sense of humor with fun profiles of the inner sanctums of the terrifying. Sixteen such interiors - largely bygone by now - are featured along with dictator profiles and 'achievements': you don't know whether to laugh or cry - but will probably wind up doing both.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

No comments about Dream Homes Pacific Northwest: An Exclusive Showcase of the Finest Architects, Designers & Builders in Oregon & Washington (Dream Homes).

No comments about Living With Light: Decorating the Scandinavian Way.

4 comments about Materials: A Directory for Home Design.

1. Wow - this is a great book, especially if you like contemporary spaces. Good general information and many pictures with creative use of materials and textures. As a teacher I assigned this book for a class - negative: only two students were able to get the book, so now I am hunting for a replacement...



2. this is a great book. i used it as a reference source as i planned the renovation of a building i had recently purchased. it offers great info (and pics) on different materials and how they can be used in an interior space....
   highly recommended; esp. good for detailed overview/survey...



3. If you're studying Interior Design, you learn about hard and soft finishes and where you can apply what. If you're a novice, you just want ideas on what can go where. This book caters for both. Lots of picture with examples of hard finish materials and applications for it. It doesn't exhaust all the advantages and disadvantages of each hard finish, nor does it mention them all... but it's a great book for understanding what can go where!



4. There is a lot of good information, although it is very general. The photos are great for ideas of use of materials.

No comments about AutoCAD 2009 for Interior Design: A 3D Modeling Approach (Autodesk Design Institute Press).

1 comments about Cool Hotels: America (Designpocket).

1. Like other books in this type like Hip Hotels, Designer Hotels or Book Hoteles Argentinos, Cool Hotels is an interesting selection of unique hotels.
   In 400 pages you will discover the creativity of hotelliers, architects and interior designers who develop those properties.

1 comments about Cool Hotels: India, Maldives, Sri Lanka.

1. Students of architecture, hotel and commercial building design, and travel will all find much to attract in Cool Hotels: India, Maldives, Sri Lanka: it features the best hotels of the region, from rustic to big city, and discusses craftsmanship, artistic d‚cor, and landscaping qualities which make each hotel exceptional. The meat of Cool Hotels lies in its full-page color photos of both interior and exteriors of featured hotels.