1 comments about Built upon Love: Architectural Longing after Ethics and Aesthetics.

1. This book cannot come at a better time in my life. I've been asking questions (to people who bother to listen as well as to my own self) which had seemed to be from far different worlds. But as I read this book, those questions suddently connect to one another, and if Perez-Gomez didn't provide the answer to some of the questions at least it is a relief that there are people out there who have been asking the same questions. Written in a way that one can feel the similarity of structure of this writing to other arts (a theatre play, a poem, an ode, etc), Built Upon Love might first give an impression to reader of such writings that use Greek myths and legends only to get away from the issues the writer actually knows very little about. But as one reads further, it turns out the writer of this book does know what he writes about, and it just suddenly dawns why he began the book the way it did.
   This book is heavenly gift for my research. Recommended for those who passionately love architecture, and the art of making.

5 comments about Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques.

1. This particular book is one of the least helpful books around. The reason for this is simple. The book seems more about how "Golden Fluid Acrylics" are better than anything else, and makes several other references about how brand-a is better than -b. While it is true that artist acrylics are better than "student" brands, I've achieved similar results with Liquitex, Grumbacher, and Holbein products. I think it was unneccesary to promote Golden as much as the auther did. I also think he had a lot of nice paintings in the book, but as far as how to achive those results I think you might be better off using one of several other acrylic books listed on this site.



2. I love love love Hugh Greer's paintings. I'm new to painting and to acrylics so am a rank beginner.
   
   He goes thru the materials that he uses and why, the supports he paints on, recommends a limited palette of colors and then demonstrates various techniques that he uses to create his paintings.
   
   There is a wealth of great information here and the photos are very helpful. My only complaint is that there are "gaps" in the steps that left this beginner shaking her head as to what to do next.
   
   However, Hugh Greer has 3 videos that I have purchased and watched and they, together with the book, are a great course in painting with his techniques. It really makes a difference to watch him actually painting on the videos.
   
   I will be reading, rereading and reading again. And watching the videos dozens of times.... It's well worth the effort !!!



3. Hugh Greer is a master of landscape and architectural painting. His innovative techniques are unique; the result of his former career as an architectural renderer. I can't recommend this book enough...



4. I like the book. I like the way Hugh Greer paints and I would like to go out and do likewise. The beginning starts out with full explanation - then he gives you ways to use what he wants to teach you - but he does it with very complicated examples and not much explanation. He skips a lot of steps. I am still trying some of his ideas and hope that I can learn them because I really like his results. This book is much, much more helpful if you get his DVDs, he has three -first is very basic, but the next two go a long way to explaining some of the steps he left out.



5. I appreciate the complexity of nature and the way this book relates to the observing and using your inner feelings to paint. Thank you for such a good book to paint from and use often.

No comments about 25 Apartments and Lofts Under 1000 Square Feet.

5 comments about From Concept to Form in Landscape Design.

1. Architects, landscape architects, and urban planners are graphic thinkers. A simple graphic can communicate more design intent than many, many words. "From Concept to Form in Landscape Design" can help design professionals to concretize their ideas and design concepts into visible graphics and forms. Once you put your ideas on paper as specific forms, you can improve and fine-tune them.
   
   "From Concept to Form in Landscape Design" covers philosophical concepts, functional concepts, geometric form development, naturalistic form development, principles of design (basic elements of design, organizing principles, integration of forms), unconventional and provocative design, and various case studies.
   
   "From Concept to Form in Landscape Design" has 192 pages and many line drawings and interior black-and-white photos. It is a good tool to assist design professionals to concretize their ideas and design concepts.



2. The cover is very misleading. It is being returned within 20 minutes of opening the package.



3. This book is going back a lot faster than it got here! Deals almost exclusively with very modern landscapes that you would see in the southern part of the country. The designs tended to be very geometric, rigid and unnatural. If you prefer a more classic, free flowing landscape design, then this book is not for you.



4. I found this book to be great for when you have designer's block. This book is filled to the rim with illustrated examples and makes a great quick reference. The best thing about it is it doesn't cost an arm and a leg like most design books.



5. Very impressed with how the author demonstrates how you can take an element, whether it is a sea shell or fern frond, and how you can actually integrate it in a landscape design. Being a student in Landscape Architecture, I find it very useful in design projects.

2 comments about Purcell & Elmslie.

1. Too little has been written about the members of the Prairie School other than Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Griffin, Marion Mahoney, John van Bergen and the subjects of this book, Purcell and Elmslie. This book remedies that by providing a history of their brief but productive joint practice. While, like most of the Prairie School, they were predominantly residential architects, this volume also deals with their commercial work, in particular the many small town banks that they designed. It does an admirable job of detailing the interplay between the two men, the sum of whose work together was so much greater than their solo work. In the ten or twelve years they worked together they produced some of the finest interiors of the Prairie School, and this book is an important contribution in keeping their work from being forgotten.
   
   The text is accompanied by many high quality photos. One minor quibble is that they are not more closely tied to the text. In a number of cases the text refers to details of a design that just begs for an illustration, but none is presented. Still, this is a minor flaw in a book that provides so much information.



2. Purcell & Elmslie Prarie: Progressive Architects is a superb collaboration by Patricia Gebhard compiling her deceased husband, David Gebhard's notes and information. The book gives a different slant on the Prarie style architecture that is generally associated with Frank Lloyd Wright. I personally feel that Purcell & Elmslie were much more aware than Wright that human beings had to live in and utilize their architecture. The book is profusely illustrated with many color and black and white photographs.

3 comments about Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces.

1. This book was recommended as a guide to developing sculpture gardens and outdoor living spaces. It is not. The photographs appear to be very dated as are the subject courtyards. It is a dull, unispired book.



2. Douglas Keister's Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces takes a rare look at the function, definition and purpose of a courtyard surveying courtyards around the world which grace both home and public establishment. Courtyards can be adapted to both large and small spaces, vary in greenery, stonework, and lighting, and are perfect additions for homeowners seeking to remodel with style. Turn a backyard into a courtyard setting or consider many options through the phone color exhibition of photographer Keister, paired with text which considers design options and successful examples.



3. The author has definitely done his homework. We are in the process of creating a courtyard in our back yard after having added a sunroom this past season. Our theme has been "New Orleans" for the sunroom ... even though we live in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we have visited New Orleans many times and consider it our "home away from home". There are courtyards from New Orleans featured in this book - but many from other places as well. Whatever you are looking for in courtyard ideas, you will find it here.

No comments about Emergence: Morphogenetic Design Strategies (Architectural Design).

No comments about Design Charrettes for Sustainable Communities.

2 comments about The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays.

1. Colin Rowe's essays are exceptionally insightful and truly enlightening. These essays were written decades ago but they're still enormously valuable and still very fresh. The first essay, from which the book takes its title and probably Rowe's most famous, is an analysis of the geometrical and proportional similarities between Le Corbusier's villa at Garches and Palladio's Villa Malcontenta. A brief but dense tour de force. Perhaps his next most famous essay is "Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal," written with Robert Slutzky. Also a real eye-opener. In other essays he discusses the curious relationship between the Chicago frame and modern architecture; neo-classicism and modern architecture; mannerism and modern architecture; La Tourette; 19th century thinking about architectural character and composition; and the architecture of utopia. These essays make you think, look at things differently, look at things you hadn't noticed, and they ultimately enlarge your understanding of architecture and your architectural field of vision. I'm grateful to Colin Rowe for that. After reading this book I bought his three-volume collection of essays, "As I Was Saying." I just had to have more. The essays in this book put your mind to work but Rowe's writing is also quite engaging. He's a genuinely independent thinker and a rigorous one too. These are wonderful essays and the book is highly recommended.



2. This collection of essays by Prof. Colin Rowe is considered to be among the most important analytical essays on architecture in this century. Prof. Rowe has won the Gold Medal in Architecture from Queen Elizabeth and was Professor of Architecture at Cornell for over 25 years.

5 comments about The White House Pop-Up Book.

1. It's not a real pop up book, But
   it was a informed book about the
   White house.



2. I was so looking forward to unwrapping this book, and couldn't believe how disappointing it was. I'm a huge fan of pop-up books, and this is the worst one I've ever seen. There are very few pop-ups! And some of them don't even work--are hopelessly stuck after only one use. There is material in little booklets which you open (they do not "pop"), and it's hard to imagine them being less interesting or visually appealing. They're stuck willy-nilly on the pages.
   
   I especially wanted to see the different rooms in the White House, but the way they're displayed in a very weird pull-out on the back page which wobbles as you try to open it, you can't really get a sense of them. I wanted to show this book to children in the family, but there's no way they could enjoy it.
   
   I can't believe someone decided to publish this book.



3. I bought this book for my daughter-in-law for Christmas, along with another pop-up-book. I was dissappointed because while there are slide-outs and lots of information, the only real pop-up is in the center of the book. The other pop-up book was wonderful, and maybe I'm only comparing the two, but like I said; a real dissappointment.



4. As far as Pop-Up books go;this has to rank right up there with the best.I will not bother to detail what is inside the book since that has already been done very well by the Editorial and Customer Reviews.
   I have already reviewed other Pop-Up books and believe a different approach needs to be taken depending on the subject of the book.For example;"America the Beautiful" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Robert Sabuda could be described as delightful and fanciful in the case of "Alice" and majestically in the case of "America" and so should they be in these cases. The "White House" needs to be done in a completely different way.It requires formality,seriousness and utmost respect in the way it is handled. This has been carried off extremely well by Fischer and results in an excellent book,presentation and given the respect the subject demands and deserves.
   I am surprised that no one has brought up the construction involved in this book in particular ,as well as the other two I mentioned.It takes great skill figure out how to make pop-ups work,and I am sure the printing of such intricate stuff must also be real challenging.The quality of the paper,printing and color rendering are likewise very important and well done. All that being said; these 3 books all suffer from one major weakness.One cannot, and should not, expect them to survive rough usage and they are definately not suitable for kids to handle roughly.However; a much better job and design is needed at the hinges where the spline connects to the front and back covers.I noticed there were several copies in the store where the hinges were already split.Even with care,it won't take much handling for others to split as well;it's just a matter of time and use. There is simply no way these books will stand up to use in schools or libraries ,or in fact even with normal use in the home.Applying "Scotch" brand Book Tape; along both edges of the spline will help on the outside,but that still leaves the inside hinges which are likewise too fragile and subject to cracking and spliting.
   It is a shame that such an otherwise excellently constructed,albeit a difficult project ; has such a weakness and is so prone to failure.



5. I have been fascinated by pop-ups since I was a kid and now collect them. I also have a love of history. This is the best pop-up I own. Fischer is a great artist,engineer and, as shown in this project, historian. This is a must have and a terrific gift.