No comments about The Problem of the House: French Domestic Life And the Rise of Modern Architecture (A Mclellan Book).

1 comments about Pretty Vacant: The Los Angeles Dingbat Observed.

1. The publisher's trade catalog for this book says 'The only thing better than one boring building is hundreds of them' and the photographer Clive Piercy says of his images 'This is not a book about architecture-or photography. It is a visual poem, a love letter and a simple attempt to help preserve these fantastic, quirky characters'. Well, maybe and this chunky little book delivers 480 photos of them. Piercy was struck by the LA apartment that has the design characteristic of having an open to the street ground floor parking space the width of the building.
   
   Flicking through the pages you get the impression that maybe the local builders have formed a cartel to make sure their efforts look as identical as possible, so to add a little bit of individual flavor to their apartments many owners have fixed large numbers or names to the buildings (set in appropriate typestyles: Atomic Bold Italic or Googie Casual Cursive) Piercy photographed many examples of this building detail and being a designer I found these fascinating. A thing I found rather disappointing though, was that nearly all the photos are in black and white and the reproduction makes them look rather grey (I wonder if they were originally transparencies?) so to break up this greyness color graphic elements are scattered through the pages, mostly type dingbats, how appropriate!
   
   Piercy is not the only photographer to celebrate the 'Pretty Vacant' style, Jeff Brouws in his lovely book of color photos, Readymades: American Roadside Artifacts has a chapter devoted to ticky tacky homes in Daly City, California, especially interesting because he sought out homes that were painted in bright colors. Lewis Baltz photographed pretty vacant commercial units in his famous The New Industrial Parks Near Irvine, California.
   
   I bet a copy of 'Pretty Vacant' will be popping up on the coffee tables of architects, designers and those interested in pop Americana.
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

2 comments about Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science.

1. Perez-Gomez takes you on an amazing trip from the discoveries of Galileo the arguments of Durand towards the 19th Century.
   The explanation of the way in which we lost the mythic aspect of the architecture discipline is devastatingly logical and to the point.
   This book is nothing short of a must-read for anyone interested on understanding how things got to be the way they are.



2. From the very title Alberto Pérez-Goméz 's remarkable study refers to Edmond Husserl's phenomenolgy. Using Husserl and Heidegger's thought Pérez-Goméz analyses the crisis of the methaphorical role of architecture. The advent of Cartesianism is for him the starting point of a process that has, from that time, developed until our contemporary epoch. Scientific thinking has instrumentalized architectural thinking changing architecture into a merely purposeful activity. Architecture has; in this way; losen its role of metaphor of universal meaning and it has more and more become a pragmatic and non-representational culture. At the very beginning of this crisis the author places Claude Perrault's theories on architectural orders. They reveal quite clearly that orders have become only guidelines for design rather than portrayers of a divine, poetic reality as they were in the Classical tradition. Pérez-Goméz very profoundly analysises theories of architecture from that time until the end of 19th century, focusing on the central role played by Durand, the French theorist who more than any other stigmatized this trend. The book, firstly written as a doctoral thesis, focuses upon geometry and the changed use of it within architecture. To this regard very insightful are those parts where Guarino Guarini and Girard Desargues are dealt with. The book constitues one of the best reflections on the modern condition in architecture and it manages to suggest a path for a correct rethinking of architecture within modern culture.

1 comments about Covered Bridges Across North America.

1. From a novice to a person loving covered bridges,this book has something for everyone. And the book is beautifully done in color. Quite a bargin for the price.

1 comments about Victorian Cottage Architecture: An American Catalog of Designs, 1891.

1. As a Victorian Architecture buff, I'm hard pressed to give a distinct verdict on this book. It has great illustrations, offers general plans with dimensions for all of the designs, and gives a down and dirty description of each, but it seems to raise more questions than answers. If you are looking to discover what this type of architecture looked like, both in overall appearance and in selected details, then this is the book for you. If you are looking to discover how these things were built, then you are going to be slightly disappointed.

4 comments about Provence Interiors/Interieurs de Provence (Midsize).

1. I've owned this book for years & I return to it regularly. There is something magical about this book. Although most of us will never experience living in a Provence villa, the photography takes you away & it is absoultely wonderful to look at. Every page offers delightful discoveries. This book has it all and is by far my favorite interior design book in my collection.



2. This book is a gorgeously photographed journey into the homes of wealthy and/or very stylish residents of Provence. Not a book of typical 'French Country Interiors', it covers a wide range of styles from super modern to 17th century grandeur, from 'to the manor born', to gypsy caravans (stunning). As with all things French I adore the way they so gracefully combine the old and the new. These are for the most part not homes that were 'designed', but instead homes that 'grew' with thier owners over time. This book is one of a series of books by this publisher/editor team and they are all wonderful. I have this one, the book on Indian Interiors, the book on Moroccan Interiors (my favorite) and the one on Tuscan Interiors. Each of these books is pure quality. The photography, the variety of well chosen homes, the layout and design of the books, including paper quality, binding etc. is superb. There isn't one aspect of any of these books, including this one, that is run-of-the-mill or poorly conceived. If you are interested in Provencial style, creative interiors, use of colour and texture, and French Culture, you will adore this book. It is without a doubt the best book on French Interiors that I have found.



3. I have never been there, but through samplings such as this treasure of a book, I have seen on print what I most want to see: Provence! This "gift" presents the reader with the best views of interiors that I am aware of. I have combed my library and bookstores for views of Provence for almost forever. This book almost makes me cry, I long to see it so! Until I do, this sumptuous look at this magical region is availble in this outstanding book. I am SO glad I have my copy!



4. In this rich photographic essay of interiors in Provence, Lovatt-Smith captures the design, style, essence, texture, life and breath of this magical location and its occupant's beautiful interiors.

1 comments about Scientific Photography and Applied Imaging.

1. Knowing Sidney Ray's writings for Applied Photographic Opitcs (second edition) and from his/her (?) introductory overview textbooks, I was certainly positively inclined towards the author. The book is well structured with historical introduction and a chapter on human perception at the beginning. The technical chapters on lighting, optics, processing, and specialty applications are up to date and fully referenced (which is a rarety among the usual crop of photographic how-to books). Those interested in more recent technological devlopments (lasers, UV, far IR, spectrophotometry, ...) will find a treasure chest in this volume.

   The only significant let-down was the chapter 11 on image processing and analysis (including Photoshop). The chapters concentrates on simplistic examples of gadget filters (gaussian blur etc.) that are not employed in science (at least as far as I have ever experienced it). Explaing the use of alpha channels to improve color contrast in B&W print images would have been much more helpful. The omission of NIH image is yet another inexplicable phenomenon, as it is THE premier platform for quantitative image analysis.

   Overall, I highly recommend this book for those interested in scientific applications of photography. This includes those like myself who deal on a day-to-day basis with various photographic challenges as working scientists (repro, extreme macro, micro, SEM/TEM, field photography, underwater). For a fuller mathematical treatment of the optical principles, you may want also to get his/her (?) '94 volume on optics. In the end you will find yourself referring back and forth between these two complementary tomes.

1 comments about St Paul's: The Story of the Cathedral.

1. Dr. Saunders taught a 'History of London' course at Richmond College back in the early 80's, which I had the privilege of attending. She knows more about the history of this city and its great architecture than anyone else I've ever met. She instills history with meaning and relevancy and genuine emotion. If you're looking for the best history of this magnificent cathedral, stop right now and buy this book.

No comments about Small Italian Villas and Farmhouses.

No comments about History of Architecture Super Review (Super Reviews).