4 comments about The Bayeux Tapestry on CD-Rom: Individual Licence (Scholarly Digital Editions).

1. While reading "A Needle in the Right Hand of God" I got frustrated by the size of the plates and the lack of clear references to the various scenes. Then, I bought this...Voila! This incredible piece of work is so illuminating, amazing in its details and versatility. It is filled with surprises and knowledge. I thought it was a bit pricey, but now I would have paid even more for it!



2. Being a Hood (and a student of Dr. Foys), I found this CD to be extremely informational and easy to use for background information regarding assignments. Pop the CD and you're on your way towards a whole bank of knowledge.

   This CD proves to be handy to the novice who wishes to know more about the Bayeux Tapestry or the time period, to professors and students alike. One piece of advice: TAKE IT SLOW--regardless of your level of knowledge. This CD is filled with information, as well as detailed maps, photographs and clips.

   I recommend this CD to all people alike interested in this particular field.




3. This amazing CD offers not only incredible visual detail of the tapestry, but also a treasure of historical, literary and topographical information related to the battle. A panoramic photograph of the battle site and an interactive map are just two examples of the many wonderful features of this CD. Anyone interested in the Middle Ages, the tapestry, the battle, or the era of the Norman Conquest must own this invaluable resource. (I have very little savvy when it comes to computers; but I had no trouble at all running this on Windows--very user friendly.)



4. This CD-ROM edition of the Bayeux Tapestry is a great program for students, teachers or people just interested in learning about this famous piece of history. An amazing amount of detail is included, from a basic introduction, to scholarly arguments about how to interpret a single inscription or figure in the border. The videos and colour maps are helpful, as is the ability to search through the entire program by keyword. As a Mac user, I was also grateful to find that it runs on both PCs and Macs.

No comments about Candela (Basic Architecture).

5 comments about The Passive Solar House (Real Goods Independent Living Books).

1. a very disappointed old book ! a book from the seventies! very few pictures, many boards for american countries. Solar means, for me, interest for nature and for health. technical solutions suggested are not for health ! technik will kill us. let's us go to more simplicity !



2. The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design To Heat And Cool Your Home by civil engineering and solar home expert James Kachadorian is an informed and informative guide to the complexities involved in converting a building to the effective, environmentally friendly, financially beneficial technology of solar power. Deftly presenting a "reader friendly" study of the solar power conversion process, The Passive Solar House covers such relevant issues as equipment and insulation requirements for a designing and adapting solar powered house; "sun spaces"; heating and cooling requirement; insulation, venting, and fresh air; basic layouts and floor plans; interior design for year around comfort, and more. A welcome addition to personal, community library, and academic library Architectural Studies reference collections, The Passive Solar House is very strongly recommended for non-specialist general readers searching for a comprehensive introduction to creating a solar powered home in any urban or rural climate zone or region of the country.



3. My father found this book and used it, in the Southwest, to design his passive solar heating/cooling system. I am in the process of doing the same. In the winter he needs only a few cords of pine to heat a large 2 story house and in the summer, while I swelter in an appartment w/only North facing glass (!!!), his house is very cool and comfortable. The few negative reviews above appear to be from folks who either didn't pay attention as they read or have pie-in-the-sky "theories" of what passive solar really can do for you. Kachadorian is an engineer and very pragmatic. He is not a "green" builder so keep that in mind. His system works very well in real conditions and does so in a cost effective manner if you do the calculations which are all at about the 7th grade level. Id recommend building them in a spreadsheet- easy to do and lets you "tweak" your design as you go along. Honestly, even if you don't use his system, his calculations are very worth while to design in adequate thermal mass and back-up heating into any house.
   
   Good luck!



4. This is a well-written book about passive solar design. The author easily convinces you that he knows what he is talking about. Facts, formulas, calculation charts and instructions: he gives you all you need to plan and build your own passive solar home ... and get about half of your heating and cooling costs for free from the sun. Live with nature, design with nature, whatever. Buy the book and read it. It is long over due (about 35 years!). I gave away my copy and bought another one for friends, then I ordered the latest book authored by James Kachadorian.



5. James Kachadorian invented the most advanced method for doing passive solar. This book describes the method in ways almost anyone could understand. I live in New Mexico where passive solar houses are popular but generally primitive in their design. I was not planning on building a home but after reading his book I knew I had to in order to have the best possible passive solar home. His technique is applicable to a wide variety of home styles. It is the one hest able to create a comfortable, healthy and efficient passive solar house. I am certain he will become a real hero of the renewable energy movement. Anyone who considers having a passive solar home, and that ought to be most of us, owes it to themselves to read this book. You won't find many passive solar mentors as expert and as talented at coveying their ideas as James Kachadorian.

No comments about Homes Within Reach: A Guide to the Planning, Design, and Construction of Affordable Homes and Communities.

4 comments about Transparenz.

1. This book is not out of print and is available from the publisher. It has been published in Germnan and in English so if you want an English version make sure you order the correct edition.



2. Rowe's obtuse, convoluted writing style buries his ideas in a morass of verbal sludge, rendering them totally inaccessible to the layman and barely comprehensible to the typical architecture student. After encountering this book several times in the course of various classes, I was surprised to realize how comparatively simple the ideas it contains are. In the typical fashion of upper-level humanities academia, however, Rowe hides his point behind impossibly twisted sentences and an onslaught of outside references that seems designed more to impress the reader with Rowe's own wide-ranging knowledge than to enlighten. The ideas of this book could be condensed to a short essay, and the only thing lost would be the page count.



3. I'm a student, Transperency: the book gives you a new way to think about architecture, outlining a basic characteristic in architecture that transcends major movements. Crucial to the understanding of buildings. best of all. .. Colin Rowe is really easy to read.



4. This article defined visual analysis of two dimensional architectural and urban design compostion.

2 comments about Trompe L'Oeil Today.

1. This book is best described as an overview of other books written by the author. With limited "How To" I consider the book for ideas rather than teaching.



2. I was waiting for this book to become available, and bought it right away. I was disappointed, first of all, at how pathetically small the book is for the price. Also, I was expecting to see some really awesome stuff...new stuff. However many of the photos are of murals I've seen in other books on the subject. (To be clear, I'm not saying these artists' works are bad, it's just I've seen it all before) There were a few new ones, but not incredibly impressive. I guess if you're looking for some books with some stunning work in it, I would go for some of these:
   Revisiting The Painted House by Graham Rust (as well as his other titles), and The Art of Trompe L'oeil Murals by Yves Lanthier.

No comments about Sri Lanka Style: Tropical Design and Architecture.

No comments about Crusader Castles in the Holy Land 1192-1302 (Fortress).

5 comments about Places of the Soul: Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art.

1. Are you looking for a book that recognizes the need for designing buildings to meet lofty sustainability goals, but that also places human needs on an equal or superior plane? Do you look at new mechanistic buildings of steel, titanium and low-e glass and wonder how it's possible to feel inspired, or even comfortable, when you're in them? If you answer yes to these questions, then perhaps you would benefit from reading the second edition of Christopher Day's book, Places of the Soul, Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art (Grammarians might suggest "as Healing Arts").

   Day wrote the book in 1988, long before the birth of LEEDS, to address his perception of a growing lack of concern about human needs for variety in the form of spaces, the connection of spaces to nature and natural processes, and craft in the production of habitation. From his concerns one would assume that he was a student of the work of Christopher Alexander, particularly "A Timeless Way of Building". However, he moves beyond Alexander in citing the results of empirical studies that support his theses.

   In the chapter Architecture: Does It Matter? Day discusses how good design adds value, increases productivity, reduces health care costs, and accelerates healing. He cites the work of Dr. Roger Ulrich that demonstrated faster healing of patients in ICU's with views of nature. Important to architects struggling with limited budgets is the cited research that demonstrates how a 6.5% increase in productivity can justify a building four times as expensive!

   This book takes a broad-brush look at regionalism, vernacular architecture, the art of architecture, human and planetary health, quality versus quantity, making spaces livable, and even design as a listening process. Responding to criticism from clients that listening is a problem with some architects, the National Architectural Accrediting Board has made a recent change in its student performance criteria that emphasizes listening as a required skill.

   From listening, Day moves to making buildings with soul, building as a health-giving process, silence and peace in architecture, and the creation of appropriate spaces for children. He concludes with an important chapter on the urban environment, the conflict between sustainable values and urban pressures, the needs of urban life, cities as places for people and for life, and whether eco-cities might be utopian or practicable.

   Places of the Soul is an excellent primer for students of architecture seeking a balance between design for sustainability and for human needs, between a mass-produced machine aesthetic and one that includes hand-craftsmanship, and between sterile mind-numbing sameness and invigorating variety. It is illustrated with photographs and drawings of buildings and places in Great Britain that, while relevant, could be supplemented with more recent global examples. This book raises challenging questions about the buildings and places we will design and build, and the affect they will have on us as people and as a society.




2. My God, I was forced to read this book for a construction management class at a four-year university in the United States and struggled through every minute. I don't know what was more frustrating, having to read this dull-minded and repetative junk or reading four words at a time because for whatever reason the prestigious author, Christopher Day, was forced to go against conventional thinking and put two columns on each page. This was hands down the worst book I have ever read throughout my life. The guy is hypocritical of everyone who lives in an ordinary house and works in an ordinary job in an ordinary office building. Sorry Mr. Day, but most of us don't have the time and monetary security to write a 200-page book regarding soulful places. We just trudge off to work everyday in our non-biologically inducing office buildings. A bunch of junk!



3. A bit wordy and repetitive, but some of his ideas are first rate. The pictures are really nice too.



4. This is a seminal piece of work, that I would recomend for anyone involved with homes and living spaces, (I think that means everyone!) There is much wisdom in this book, and it is as much a book about how we live as it is a life philosopy book.
   Best book I have read about our 'third Skin'



5. PLACES OF THE SOUL is a very satisfying, powerful look at how the architectural environment makes an impact health, thought, and especially spirit. Mr. Day's writing is beautiful, drawing the reader through ideas of space, light, structure, environment, location and intention. Reading it was both inspiring and informative. An elegant book about an important subject.

No comments about The Contemporary Tea House: Japan's Top Architects Redefine a Tradition.