1 comments about Havana, La Habana.

1. Excellent book on Havana's architecture from Colonial times to the present. It is a very well structured book with a camera eye that gets deeply into the soul of the city.

   This book takes us to a living tour of Havana's dwellings from "Palaces to Huts" showing through beautiful and insightful details the diversity of styles that characterizes the organized anarchy of this city.

   La Habana captures the ingenuity, creativity and diversity of the cuban mind in the instance of a building. It also shows how this creative mind has been shut down by the experiments on communism.

No comments about The Complete Architecture Handbook: From the First Civilizations to the Present Day.

4 comments about Diary of a Madman: Ozzy Osbourne: The Stories Behind the Songs.

1. As a writer whose major influence has always been the writings of Ozzy Osbourne, I decided to buy this book, to learn about the stories behind the classics. I was elated to see the many photos the book contains-many of which that are rarities-but as for the book itself, I was disappointed greatly.
   
   First, I should mention that the stories for Ozzy's earlier work are inaccurate. Back in 2002, Bob Daisley started a feud with Ozzy over lost royalties. Daisley made many remarks about the music, including that he was the sole writer of nearly every Ozzy song from his first three albums, including the classic song "Suicide Solution" (Daisley claimed he wrote the song specifically about Ozzy's alcoholism, while Ozzy contends that it was written about Bon Scott, of AC/DC fame). The writer of this book used faulty information for most of Ozzy's solo career; the above was only one example of the book's errors. The book, itself, was written in 2002.
   
   Sadly, the book is also very incomplete. There are no stories whatsoever for the "Ultimate Sin" album-the book claims that there aren't many stories on it. That's still no excuse for not including any known facts about it. Most of the book is full of stories that everyone already knows (Ozzy fans-why was "Goodbye to Romance" written? How did Randy Rhoads die?) while it lacks depth in the so-called "unknown stories," filling up many passages with stories of the dove & bat decapitations and miscellaneous other well-worn tales. What's worse, many of the classics aren't even discussed in detail. I was hoping to read about the writing of "Waiting for Darkness" but I came up disappointed, as this book only mentions it in a sentence or two.
   
   Overall, this book is dreadful and a huge waste of money. If you want to see the many pictures it contains, go for it. But if you want to know about the real stories, save your money and make guesses. In comparison, they just might be accurate.



2. Diary of a Madman is a must have book for any Sabbath/Ozzy fan. Carol Clark takes you through "Black Sabbath" all the way to "Down to Earth" highlighting all the important band events along the way while providing interesting information on all the important Ozzy/Sabbath songs. This book is a easy and fascinating read. Even if your a die hard Ozzy/Sabbath fan you will still find many interesting tidbits in this coffe table book. It also contains a GREAT selection of pictures!



3. One thing that needs to mentioned is the rarity of the Black Sabbath pictures included. I've been a Sabbath collector for years, and have not seen most of the pictures included--live, backstage, and photo-shoot settings. Many of them are of Tony Iommi (Ozzy's arch-enemy of old), as it happens.
   As far as the actual commentary on the songs, in this subject matter it is hard to tell what is truly legitimate. Manipulated statements and entirely invented statements abound in the music journalism industry, so you have to take that at face value. Some comments attributed to Ozzy are rather articulate (not his style), and therefore one would have to wonder if they are really his own.
   There is one GLARING mistake in the pictures which tends to sap the already-low credibility from a publication of this sort: a photo of Brad Gillis (brief Ozzy guitarist) is next to a photo of Dave Spitz (brief Sabbath bassist), and the caption below them reads something to the effect of "Brad Gillis was replaced by Jake E. Lee", implying that the photo of Dave Spitz is really Jake E. Lee (which is strange since Dave is clearly holding a bass guitar!).
   This book is great for the rare old pictures, but it is still nothing more than one of a million books of questionable accuracy put together by bandwagon-jumping "authors" who most likely have little idea of who or what they're talking about and are trying to cash in on a current fad.



4. First and foremost, this book is a glossy, photo-packed, coffee-table tome. I originally purchased it because I was hoping for in-depth, analytical breakdowns of Ozzy's songs by himself and his band members. I didn't quite get it.
   
   While there are plenty of Ozzy, Sabbath and other quotes, they're pretty much the same ones we've been hearing for years. It also only covers Ozzy's hit standards (i.e. Crazy Train, War Pigs, NIB). None of my favorites were covered, but I can't blame the author for that, I suppose. It also covered the infamous (and so, so tired) stories of the bat, the Alamo, the doves.
   
   The saving grace of this book is the photos. It's absolutely overflowing with awesome pics of Ozzy, Sabbath, Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde and other band members. A lot of these photos are pretty rare, and I'm sure some of them are never-before-seen.
   
   It's not too shabby in the writing department either. Clerk is a lucid and fun author, and the format of the book is very eye-catching. The pages are multi-colored, the title fonts are trippy, and in every chapter, there's a paragraph that has been written backwards and upside down faintly apparent in the background (a shoutout to all those who believe in subliminal messages). The editors did an outstanding job of making it enjoyable to read, but not silly and overloaded with visuals.
   
   Price is very good, and the book isn't a disappointment for what it is. I'm very pleased with it. An essential for any Ozzy fan.

1 comments about Gathering Places: Balinese Architecture - A Spiritual and Spatial Orientation.

1. Splendid looking book, fills the eyes with wonder. I am overwhelmed with the incredibly rich content. So much more about this culture than I ever knew, fascinating. The author obviously has a good grasp of her subject in its context, and a deeper background in architectural design.

No comments about Architecture and Sensuality: Andrew Bromberg of Aedas.

No comments about Burgundy: Art, Architecture, Landscape.

2 comments about Structure Systems.

1. This is ASTRONOMICALLY THE BEST architectural structures book of all time!! This is the second book for a serious architecture student or architect to buy after Deplazes' foundation book. My structures education was so frustrating because it was not VISUAL. I longed for a book like this 20 years ago!! But better than I could have ever imagined, this book is intensely visual, almost no numbers, instead an encyclopedic catalogue of structural spanning options in a maniacally ordered logic, drawn with a sweet German version of Ching's style. Just skimming this book several times will aquaint you with the logic, the systems, the options, and the breathtaking possibilities this great book throws at your feet. "Take that", it says, "and go do something great!"



2. This is almost the only graphically illustrated book on structural principles for architect.
   
   Most of the structure book concentrate on calculation which are more important to structural engineer than to architect. However, this book put emphasis on structural principals and structural typology. The author uses very clear drawn illustration + table + text to illustrate different structural types.
   
   This is a helpful resources if readers are architects interesting in structural design. The book could be more complete if real building examples are illustrated together with the diagrams.

No comments about Exactitudes New Expanded Edition.

5 comments about Craftsman Homes: Architecture and Furnishings of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.

1. Please understand that the author of this book, Gustav Stickley, is founder of the original Arts and Crafts movement which evolved to American Crafstman in the United States in the early part of the 20th century. This book is in fact the original work from that time period, so is dated in its composition, but, of course, an historically significant piece of literature.



2. This book has very poor sructural building plans. It informs of the classic arts and craftsman period and how it effected design. It did not inspire nor reveal any proceedure's on how certain designs were accomplished.



3. I was dissappointed in the poor illustrations and lack of depth on the topic.



4. This is a reprint of a house plan catalog from 1909. These books are actually exact reprints of original plan books from the turn of the century (1880-1925, roughly). Dover adds little or no modern explanations, just presenting the catalog as it was. So when one looks to review these books, one isn't really judging the modern-day publisher, or editing, or writing. The only modern element is the accuracy of reproduction- in some cases, if pages in the originals that Dover found are damaged or torn, that page is reproduced in the original with the tear, smudge, blot, or hole showing. So to judge the books, one has to compare each one to others of its kind, and then to decide whether the material in it is thorough and complete according to the standards of its time. Since there are several dozen of these catalogs published by Dover, we have the basis for such a comparison.

   Stickley and the Craftsman school of design are well known. Many people own bungalows, or admire them even if they don't own them. What getting a book such as this does, is give a person insight into the details of the lifestyle of the time, of the philosophy of the architects/designers, and so on.

   This particular book is one of my favorites. As with other Stickley catalogs, it includes several essays. The first one is "The Simplification of Life: A Chapter from Edward Carpenter's book called 'England's Ideal'". This essay resonates today, with people who are looking to get away from some of the modern excesses of possessions and displays of wealth, to a simpler life. There is also a review of another book, with quotes from it: "The Art of Building a Home" by Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin.

   One of the features of this catalog is that along with the exterior view and floor plan of every house, there is an extensive written description. For many of the houses there are drawings of the interior, with suggestions for furnishings. There are also examples of what types of light fixtures one might use. The written descriptions, in some cases, even include alternate ways to finish the house to save money or to adapt it to a particular type of location. Most of the illustrations are drawings/paintings; there are a few photographs, but not many. The drawings of the interiors include wallpapers and curtains. One illustration even shows a Craftsman piano! There are some concrete/cement houses, including ones mixing concrete with wood construction.

   There are a few houses in the book without indoor bathrooms, which is not unusual for the period, but most have a full bath, and some have two bathrooms. Almost all have extensive built-ins: sideboards, bookcases, benches and settles, shelves. There are illustrations of the kitchens; while built-in kitchen cabinets as we know them now were not common at the time, these illustrations show kitchens furnished with the cabinets and tables that were common, and show the placement of stoves, water heaters, etc. There are also some wonderful examples of inlaid decorative wood flooring, and large sections on Craftsman furniture, metal work, and fabrics and needlework.

   One of my favorite things in the whole book is "Two Inexpensive but Charming Cottages for Women Who Want Their Own Homes." It's difficult for us to imagine now, how radical an idea that was - that women might want to own their own homes without necessarily getting married. Recognizing that even if she works, a woman's income at that time would be significantly less than a man's, Stickley designs these homes to be economically built. He describes how two or three single women might manage to share such a home, making it more affordable. Very forward-thinking for the time!

   In sum: this is more than just a plan book; the only bad point is that if this is your first exposure to plan books, then the subsequent ones you read will seem plain and lacking by comparison. Definitely should be in the collection of anyone interested in turn-of-the-century architecture or restoring houses.




5. This book assisted us in the redesign of our home in the craftsman tradition. A good reference for us to formulate our ideas, and for our architects to see what we liked. Worth the price

No comments about Case: Le Corbusier's Venice Hospital and the Mat Building Revival (Case Series).