No comments about Soil Design Protocols for Landscape Architects and Contractors.

5 comments about Structural Wood Design: A Practice-Oriented Approach.

1. The first item I noticed in reading through this book was the practical design guidance an individual with wood design experience under their belt or someone at university learning it for the first time would be able to pick up and gain a common sense understanding of wood engineering. Every engineering book has its place, this book does and it should be on your desk ready for reference.
   
   Dr. Aghayere and Jason Vigil give you one of the most complete wood design aids that will allow you to learn how to design a wood structure almost sequentially from page one through the end. With hard hit subjects with real-world examples from horizontal diaphrams, vertical diaphrams, flitch beams (rare to find covered), floor vibrations, and even connections.
   
   They are thorough enough to dive into P-delta effects with an explanation (not everyone is a structural engineering scientists) they make concepts attainable for everyone.
   
   Some of their concepts will use the building code requirements as a launch pad but actually go beyond the code requirements creating more durable, long-term effecient structural wood designs (i.e. shearwall design). Remember that the building codes are just a guidance/minimal requirements. Don't just design for today but the future and note that the building code is meant to be exceeded not just matched.
   
   If you don't understand the basis of one of their approaches vs. IBC or some other code email one of them, I am sure they would be more than happy to respond.
   
   This is a book for anyone interested in learning about wood design (they even do a case study) in a concise, practical and thorough matter. You won't be disappointed.



2. In 2007, I used this text for a timber design class. As an engineering student with a background in residential construction, I found the text to be very practical in its presentation of the design process for wood-framed structures. Following the examples and working through the problems at the end of each chapter, I became comfortable finding and using relevant codes, especially NDS codes. The progression of the text to the building design case study helped me to apply the design examples for individual members to a complete structure, more relevant to construction or engineering practice.
   
   Since I remain interested in carpentry and residential construction, this text will continue to be a valuable reference for me. I would not hesitate to use it as a guide for the design of simple wood-framed structures not requiring a professional designer.



3. I wish more text book authors would write their text in a way befitting that for students and not cryptic nor elusive. Over four years of school, and I have never until now used a text that encourages my enthusiasm and stimulated my learning interest. I can guarantee that this is not one of those text that will be used for my PC monitor height adjuster.... It is "plainly absurd" to have read and use this text and "discern" otherwise...



4. This book is exceptionally informative and easy to navigate. This text has been very useful in teaching/training our office engineering staff. Highly recommend.



5. I just recently took a Timber Design class and this book really helped me grasp the overall concept of Timber Design. With having no experience with timber design, the book's sequence is excellent with helping the reader develop and understand the reasoning behind this type of structural design.
   
   The examples in this book are great. They are not standard textbook examples, which lack real design concepts. This book goes above and beyond with applying the examples to real world scenarios. I have just graduated and found myself going back to this book to reference examples and also sharing it with my fellow co-workers.
   
   I highly encourage people at all levels in their engineering career to buy this book to use, it is highly helpful.
   
   Jennie Wilson
   Structural Engineer

No comments about Seaside Picket Fences.

1 comments about Adolf Loos.

1. This is a paperback survey of major works at only 9.5 x 6 inches on 196 pages with a biography, writings, project grouped as renovations (apartments, stores, cafes), individual houses, mixed-use buildings and workers' housing, monumental buildings and large projects, and also analysis of Loos's architecture and bibliography, and contains 150 only B&W illustrations, of which at least a half is technical (plans, sections, sketches, elevations, etc.), but also B&W photos of a good quality.

1 comments about Wellness Centers: A Guide for the Design Professional (Wiley Series in Healthcare and Senior Living Design).

1. My first introduction to this book was when I met, worked with and befriended the author. It is packed full of information on Wellness Centers but also provides a great discussion on the business case for the development of this building type. Inspired by her mother's battle and death from breast cancer, Joan Whaley combined her training as an architect, her talent as a writer, and her passion to teach others how to live for optimal wellness in the creation of this book. Sadly, Joan herself lost her own personal battle with cancer last year. However, this book is a continual reminder of her positive and outgoing energy and her enthusiam for life.

No comments about Mary Gilliatts Dictionary of Architecture and Interior Design.

3 comments about Journey Through the Ice Age.

1. I wasn't sure whether this book or "Prehistoric Art: The Symbolic Journey of Humankind" by Randall White would be better, so I bought them both.
   
   It turns out that they are both excellent books. Both are loaded with color photographs of artifacts famous and less well-known. Both have scholarly, informative text, considering anthropological and historical contexts, the techniques and materials used by the artists, the history of the study of prehistoric art, and plenty of cautious speculation about the functions the art had to its artists' communities.
   
   They are organized quite differently: Bahn's moves from topic to topic: chapter 7 is on portable art, chapter 8 on rock shelters and cave art, chapter 9 on outdoors art, and so on. But White's book has a regional arrangement: chapter 4 is on Western Europe, chapter 5 is on Central and Eastern Europe and Sibera, chapter 6 is on Africa, the Near East and Anatolia, and so on.
   
   Obviously you can see that White's book has more of a global focus than Bahn's. In fact, Bahn's third chapter deals with prehistoric art outside of Europe; in every other chapter he focuses on European art, especially the caves.
   
   Although Bahn's book devotes a chapter to "Portable Art" such as jewelry and miniature statues (including the famous "Venus figurines"), White's book has a far superior coverage. On the other hand, Bahn has better coverage of interesting issues such as how to reproduce prehistoric art for public enjoyment, dating issues, and forgeries.
   
   If you are primarily interested in European cave art and will be content with a glance at the rest of the world, then Bahn's book is better for you. Personally, although Bahn deals with some interesting issues that White neglects, ultimately I prefer White's global perspective; further, I appreciate his introductory comments about modern Western art and cultural assumptions, and consideration of what might be universal in human art.
   
   Incidently, when it comes to books about art, for some reason I prefer hardcover to paperback; and at this time White's book in hardcover is available at great discount on Amazon, making it almost as inexpensive as Bahn's.
   
   So, my preference is clear. However, I want to emphasize that despite my partiality to White's book, they are certainly both excellent, and I do not think one of them is clearly, inherently better than the other. It just depends on what you are looking for.



2. After a brief overview of the "oldest art in the world" and a discussion of the caveats associated with the term `art' as applied to extinct cultures Bahn describes the problem of taphonomy where knowledge of another older culture is shaped by the survival of artifacts. He also discusses the problem of controlled and limited access to ancient sites, as well as the use of modern photography to capture and transmit information about these sites to a larger audience.

   Next, Bahn discusses different kinds of ice age art, which he categorizes as: 1) parietal art which takes the form of wall paintings and sculptures, floor tiles, and other large relatively immovable blocks of stone on which "signs" have been worked. Wall art can be incised, sculpted (additive or subtractive), or painted. 2) portable art which takes the form of figurines, musical instruments, tools, weapons, pottery, and other items that could be easily carried. Surviving portable items are generally made of ivory, bone, or ceramic clay or some other relatively durable inorganic substance.

   Bahn then describes how analysts attempt to date ice age material. At one time, scientists believed ice age art could not be dated because it was either inorganic or the methods available for dating organic material were clumsy and destructive. Recent improvements in dating techniques have changed that. For example, charcoal (an organic substance) was frequently used by ice age artists to create the black outlines seen in many wall paintings. For years, scientists thought the black paint was manganese dioxide, an inorganic substance. Since only a pinprick of paint is now required for radio carbon analysis, scientists have been able to test the black paint, discover it was carbon based, and date it.

   The book is filled with wonderful technical material as well as plenty of stylistic and other material of interest to art historians. I most appreciated the section that reviewed the various theories about "Why" ice age art was created. Was it art for art's sake? Was it the work of hunters practicing sympathetic magic? Was it a fertility ritual? Bahn pretty much dismisses these theories with practical observations about their shortcomings. What he does not dismiss is the creation of the ice age art for mythical purposes associated with healing rituals. Parietal ice age art is located inside dark passages near water. Often this water derives from warm springs. Sometimes the water flows from dark passages into the daylight. Often, mysterious markings that correspond to the seasons and the moon can be found at the entryways to cave chambers. Does this circumstantial evidence point to ritual undertakings that involved a Mother Goddess?




3. As an artist whose work is inspired by the cave paintings of Lascaux, I am always on the lookout for new books about the prehistoric cave art of Europe. This book is a delightful addition to my collection. I should caution that I approach books like this strictly from a layman's and artist's point of view, as I have a limited background in archeology.

   Before I read this book, I'd always considered the cave art of Lascaux as the "birthplace of human art" (which was how it was presented in most of my art history courses at school.) Now I realize that the artists of that period are actually almost exactly halfway, timewise, between the earliest evidence of prehistoric art, and the art of today. Each new discovery of prehistoric cave art seems to push back the "birthdate" of human art a few tens of thousands of years.

   Rather than focusing on a single cave site, this book is a more comprehensive treatment of Ice age art, discussing caves across Europe, with references to caves in Russia and China. It presents a more complete treatment of all aspects of these caves, discussing anthropological characteristics of the people who created the art, similarities and differences in the artwork, theories about their signicance(mostly debunked here), forgeries, history of the caves' discovery, etc. The photographs are excellent, and many are of paintings and objects I've never seen before. The writing, though comprehensive, is also entertaining and engaging, a good read. I enjoyed this book immensely.

   This book is unique to me for several reasons. First, the wonderful photographs not only feature the more widely known paintings inside the caves (referred to in the book as "parietal art" or wall art), but also the artifacts found in conjunction with the paintings--"portable art". I found more photographs of such objects than in any other book I've read. Many are of artifacts I've never read about before.

   Also, almost every possible theory ever presented to explain these paintings and artifacts is examined--and most of them debunked. Somehow, this is reassuring to me as an artist--although it would be exciting to understand more about the purpose of the art, it is also satisfying to realize that there is still no encompassing theory about why these amazing paintings and artifacts were created. Their mystery is still profound, intact and untouched. The various theories and conjecture throughout the years about these caves, argues the author, clearly reveals more about US, as modern people, than it does about the cultures that created the cave art. We overlay our desires, prejudices and blind spots onto the art, and for the last 150 years, observers have tended to "find" what they are looking for in the paintings.

   There is a whole chapter devoted to fakes and forgeries of Ice Age art, a subject I find fascinating. My favorite phrase in this chapter is a caption of a photograph (p. 81)"...the dot and plantlike sign near the dreadful hand stencil appeared after the first photographs were taken."

   In summary, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in archeology, cave paintings, art history, and art.

No comments about Antonio Sant' Elia (Archipockets).

3 comments about Painting Nature in Pen & Ink With Watercolor.

1. I love Claudia Nice and buy her books. She is the real expert on pen and ink. That's why I bought this one. It is an excellent book but imagine my vast disappointment when I discovered I already had it. Except for a few overview pages, this entire book is in Painting With Watercolor, Pen and Ink.



2. This is an excellent book... IF you don't already own "Painting with Watercolor, Pen and Ink" by Claudia Nice. The material in this book is entirely duplicated in the "Painting with...". Please do not buy this book if you already own a copy of "Painting with Watercolor, Pen and Ink". I did and was thoroughly disappointed that there was no new material in the "Painting Nature in Pen & Ink with Watercolor".

   Now, if you own the other book "Creating Textures with Watercolor, Pen and Ink" then I highly recommend this book as it has subject matter that was not covered in the "Creating Textures..." book.

   If you don't own any of her books, then buy the "Painting with Watercolor Pen and Ink" ISBN 158180265X because it completely combines the material in both "Creating Textures..." and "Painting Nature..." books.




3. I really don't see why anyone would buy this. I'm a real art fanatic, and I love Ms. Nice very much. Her past books fill one's pleasure and contentment. I recommend Creating Textures in Pen and Ink with Watercolor (by her) rather than this.

1 comments about Why Architects Draw.

1. I'm not an anthropologist/ethnographer or an architect, though I've been very interested in both fields (Latour, Le Corbusier, etc.). I found this book, mostly of interviews with architects about how they use drawing in their practice, very accessible for the non-architect, and also, I suspect, very interesting for the architect as well. The architects interviewed have different styles for how they use drawings and these differences are reflected in the structure and process of their practices (the intervews are exclusively with principals or very senior designers). The style of drawings (and models) they like to present in various situations (to junior designers, draftsmen, clients, engineers) forms an interesting picture of the social structure of architectural practice.