2 comments about The Gothic Cathedral: The Architecture of the Great Church 1130-1530.

1. Christoper Wilson's "The Gothic Cathedral: The Architecture of the Great Church, 1130-1530" is a superb survey of cathedrals and large European churches constructed across four centuries, not only filled with an incisive text but also wonderfully illustrated with hundreds of diagrams and exquisite photographs. It is true that the photos are only black-and-white so the reader cannot wholly grasp the glory of stained glass windows, but the photographs nonetheless render the Gothic architectural features and details with great clarity. This combination of excellent text and superb illustrations makes Wilson's book ideal for either close, intensive study or simple joyful browsing. I cannot imagine that anyone who appreciates glorious Gothic architecture would not find Wilson's "The Gothic Cathedral" not only a valuable but also a necessary addition to his or her library.



2. How I ended up being the first to review this book is beyond me. I would've guessed that many a learned architectural scholar would've long since sung the praises of this wonderful book. I, however, am just a layman with a lifelong passion for Gothic cathedral architecture, which started in the Washington National Cathedral and became educated, at least partiallly, in this book.

   I consider Wilson's "The Gothic Cathedral", a 'must own' for anyone who has ever felt a yearning to know more about the soaring arches, brilliant glasswork, and impossibly high, vaulted ceilings of these magnificent medieval structures. This book, details the development of this unique form of architectural artistry; beginning with it's modest antecedents in Romanesque architecture and the groin-vaulted churches of Normandy and England and continuing through even the most elaborate and extravagant versions of late-Gothic throughout Europe. Mr. Wilson moves the reader, comfortably and comprehensibly through the chronological development of Gothic architecture, while neatly detailing the differences in coincidental development in several diverse geographic regions. Even I, with no formal architectural education, can now explain most of the finer points of Norman Romanesque, French High Gothic, and the Rayonnant styles of architecture, as well as explaining the odd metamorphisis of the English Decorated style into the very uniquely English, Perpendicular style.

   The text is brilliantly cross-referenced with the illustrations, diagrams and photographs, which are both descriptive and beautiful, despite being all black and white. Finally, the glossary, index, and bibliography are complete and very helpful. If you think you MIGHT like this book... you will. Buy it.

4 comments about Artisan Crafted Timber Frame Homes.

1. We've been thinking about building a post and beam house and this book was an amazing resource. Page after page of beautiful color photos and lots of floor plans. I never knew you could do so much with timber framing. If you're thinking of building a post and beam house or just want some great design ideas don't miss this one.



2. I have been planning on building a timber frame home for several years. I have gathered lots of information over the years and I found this book to be the perfect read for anyone planning to build a timber frame home. It contains photos of hundreds of timber frame homes, along with floor plans for many. The articles are well written and informative. Artisan Crafted Timber Frame Homes really gave me lots of very useful ideas on design, both interior and exterior. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who might be planning on building a timber frame home.



3. Artisan Crafted Timber Frame Homes has been a wonderful tool in helping me plan the ideal living space. Not only does it have a plethora of floor plans already drawn up, but it really helps me think about design in such a way that I can feel comfortable dreaming up my own personal floor plans. For an obsessive planner like myself, it's great to have a tool like this on my book shelf.
   
   Beyond the basic design of homes, the book has some amazing inspirational photographs which offer a lot of interior design ideas. Since a timber frame home is so unique it's very beneficial to see how others are decorating and lighting their timber frame treasures. A delight to read, even for myself, who is still a ways away from building her dream home. It never hurts to get inspired!



4. Over twenty timber frame homes are displayed, inside and out, in a photography guide which considers various options in timber frame construction and design. Examples aren't just your usual home rooms either: they include such but also pack in examples of pool houses, offices, barns, and how to incorporate the post/beam look of timber frame construction into an existing home. An outstanding idea guide results, perfect for architectural libraries and general-interest holdings alike.

1 comments about Ten Shades of Green: Architecture and the Natural World.

1. Peter Buchanan's TEN SHADES OF GREEN: ARCHITECTURE AND THE NATURAL WORLD centers on ten buildings which illustrate how environmental responsibility influences modern architectural pursuits. Peter Buchanan is a curator and critic: his choices reflect designs which blend environmental responsibility with design excellence, showing how such a focus provides architects with new, innovative ideas.

1 comments about Key Contemporary Buildings: Plans, Sections and Elevations (with CD-ROM).

1. Well worth adding to your Architectural library, a little more detail would be great
   though.
   Choice of buildings is really good too.

1 comments about American Art and Architecture (World of Art).

1. Professor Lewis has undertaken a very ambitious project and has accomplished his mission with an astonishingly clear, easy to read and engaging review.
   The study of American art and architecture is a hobby for me and I have read several texts on this subject prior to this one. I say this to frame my comments as coming not from a professional or scholarly point of view but not from a novice, either. I am not certain that this would be a good entry point for this subject if only because the author covers so much ground in the space alotted . For the reader who is familiar with well known works and the lives of the characters discussed here,the book provides a flowing narrative that connects the developments in both art and architecture to the historical events of the times. There is little attempt to dig into the psychological or political underpinnings in any great detail, a trait of some of the other reviews in the field that can often make the going a bit tough. (I find this to be a problem with some of the Oxford series books).
   The illustrations are not the high point of this book. They are adequate and serve to reinforce the text, which I think is the point here.
   The brief glossary and comprehensive index were helpful when trying to return to a point discussed in brief detail which returns later in the text.

5 comments about The Abrams Guide to American House Styles.

1. If you are just getting interested in the topic of house styles, this book is an excellent introduction. The color pictures are a great help versus black and white pictures or even sketches. If nothing else, this is a great starter book!



2. This book is a good guide to house identification as well as a pleasure to look it. The photographs are beautifully done, and in full color which I think is important for noticing details that help one identify a house. The text is helpful in explaining historical information, and there are quick reference charts for each house type that condense the major features of that type. Sometimes the distinction between early, middle, and late Georgian is hard determine, and I didn't find it very helpful there, but other than that it is a great guide and a nice coffee table book as well since the pics are so fabulous.



3. The color pictures are all new and the subjects very well chosen, and paging through this book is enjoyable. The concise text reviews the usual classifications in the usual ways, its academic tone partly redeemed by occasional wit.
   
   He renames Richardson Romanesque as Richardsonian, Federal as Late Georgian, and says Queen Anne originated from Arts and Crafts rather than medieval styles, although I think there's a little of each. Like most authors, he discusses the white flat-roofed Modern examples as though they were the next in line to follow the Tudors and Colonial Revivals, despite the fact that they never amounted to more than an insignificant fraction of houses built, then continues with the Post Modern and Deconstructivist styles, pure "magazine architecture", marking an era in which architects begin to serve a new and powerful patron of the arts, the media.
   
   But the countless postwar ranches and split-levels are never mentioned. Trying to keep it highbrow, I guess.
   
   He returns to ordinary houses at the very end, to jump on the mock-the-McMansions bandwagon, using as examples, ironically, some of the prettiest houses in the book.
   
   A few nits to pick:
   
   * Medieval homes had steep roofs because they used thatch, not due to the narrow London streets.
   
   * Le Corbusier's "machines for living" quote actually was intended to extoll creature comforts, not stark Modernism.
   
   * The Arts and Crafts post-and-beam masterpiece, the Gamble House, is ordinary stud construction where it doesn't show.
   
   * Beams are always horizontal, as are clapboards.
   
   * It was Louis Sullivan who said architecture was set back 50 years by a late 19th Century exhibition, not some academic.
   
   Still like the James C. Massey book, available used. But you may like this one for its pictures.



4. Despite the unfavorable comments in "A VERY POOR EFFORT," I decided to buy this book and try it for myself. I'm so glad I did. This reviewer seems to be confused about this book. Of all the books on the subject, this is the only one that's written by a Pulitzer-nominated architectural historian, comprised of all-color photos, inclusive of the late-20th and 21st cent styles, designed like an art book, and packaged in a compact/portable format for taking it on the road. These 5 features are completely NEW to this genre! The unhappy reviewer's other point of criticism (that there are too many trees on the property of some of the photographed houses) is simply absurd. How can a photographer remove trees and foliage from a house's property before photographing the house? These houses are important examples, not slouches. The book states clearly that each picture was taken from public property. Should the photographer have given each house a fresh coat of paint, too, before he photographed it? Such a criticism is illogical. For my dollar, this is the best book in the genre and thus should be given a fair evaluation. I'm glad I bought it. As a realtor, I need this kind of book, and this one's the easiest to use of all of them.



5. In the United States, there is a very rich history of producing field guides to American Domestic Architecture. So it was into this already crowded field that "The Abrams Guide to American House Styles" was published in 2004. In my opinion, if you are going to introduce a new book into an established field, you need to do something new.
   
   This Guide has two features that are unique. First, all of the photos are in color. This is the first Guide that I have seen that has done this. I really enjoyed seeing the photos of the earliest American homes. Second, unlike most field guides, this Guide continues to the current day. I thought that adding examples of McMansions was a very nice touch. Most other field guides stop somewhere around 1950.
   
   Field Guides can be divided into photo books and line drawing books. I prefer line drawing books because they help the reader concentrate on the architectural features that combine to make a style. I think photo books are less effective because they are too specific. Instead of concentrating on the stylistic details, the photos make the reader concentrate on a specific house. The other reason I do not like photo books is that photos are inherently distracting. Instead of concentrating on the architectural features, the eye is drawn to foilage, electrical poles, cars and people walking in front of the building.
   
   The Abrams' Guides does a good job of cutting out most of the distractions but where if fails miserably is in the trees around the house. A good 10-15% of the images are ruined by trees getting in the way of the photographer. Either they block the full image or their shadow obscure key details. I can accept a few trees around a house but to have so many photos ruined is unacceptable. It as though the editors did not have enough photos and they were forced to accept poor quality photos to fill out the book. If you want to see a field guide with beautiful color photographs of houses, see Robin Langley Sommer's "The American House".
   
   If your tastes run to photos, purchase "A Field Guide to American Houses" by Virginia McAlester. If you prefer line drawings like I do, check out, "The Visual Dictionary of American Architecture" or Lester Walker's "American Homes".
   
   Looking at old homes and determining their sytles is a great hobby. The Abram's Guide is a very poor introduction to this rewarding past time.

3 comments about Land Development Calculations: Interactive Tools and Techniques for Site Planning, Analysis and Design.

1. A bit dissapointed that there was very little targeted toward Retail, specifically lacking in the areas of shopping center and out parcel development... but the formulas were interesting, and the concepts that were explained... were done so in great detail.



2. "Land Development Calculations" provides an excellent and innovative strategy for working towards sustainable land use and development. The models for varying land development strategies can assist local government land use decision makers and planners as well as developers determine the carrying capacity of land within realistic thresholds. The accompanying spreadsheets for the development scenarios on the CD-ROM are extremely user friendly and do not place an undue burden on the user by requiring what may be hard to find or to collect data. All of the data required just is typical of what is necessary to make appropriate land development decisions. As a local government planner, I am working towards incorporating the information received from the models in to the zoning and development code as part of the approval process by using it to further assess suitability of the property for the purposes proposed (a zoning consideration required in accordance with the State of Georgia Zoning Procedures Act). I strongly encourage other land planners and developers to read "Land Development Calculations," because of its highly practical and very timely material.



3. This is a terrificaly valuable technical reference for practitioners who need an efficient method of performing land development calulations. The book and its companion set of spreadsheets enable users to answer two key questions: 1) how much can be built on a given piece of land; or 2) how much land is needed to accommodate a given use? The material is clearly written and well illustrated, especially a series of worksheets leading through the method. Another strength is its comprehensiveness and detail, including all major land-use and micro site conditions.

5 comments about Stables: Majestic Spaces for Horses.

1. If you want to know how beutiful horse stables can be this is a book for you. Makes my house look shabby. The pictures are wonderful.
   A beutiful addition to any horselovers library. Can make a wonderful gift.
   
   Enjoy!



2. The pictures are amazing, the stables exotic. This book is different in a sense that it offers horse lovers a chance to see not only beautiful pictures of horses but gorgeous images of breathtaking and pristine stables, many with exquisitte and unique architecture. Information is presented from a unique perspective to those who love the majestic. Good price too ... here at Amazon. I originally saw the book listed for 40 dollars in a catalog and was willing to pay that price, but did an Amazon search and got it for much less.



3. the book is gorgeous, just what was advertised. It was a gift for someone is the race horse business; she said the quality of photographs was magnificent adn the accompanying text well-written and informative.



4. A great coffee table book for the horse lover in the family. The pictures of these fairy tales stables around the world will make you want to go out an buy a lottery ticket.



5. I had seen a brief write-up in a magazine and searched for the book on Amazon. The photography is absolutely stunning. The different locations featured in the book make it interesting and the stables are all unique. Visitors to our own farm immediately pick-up the book. And, it was a great hit with our Pony Club kids. I would recommend this for anyone who loves horses or has an interest in architechure.

5 comments about Not Built in a Day: Exploring the Architecture of Rome.

1. Fabulous for those who have been to Rome. Mandates that you return to see it anew and deeper. Great job.



2. My wife and I recently returned from Rome, and one of our many fine moments in that glorious city was sitting on top of Michelangelo's Campodiglio, with Mr. Sullivan's book in hand and understanding for the first time exactly what Michelangelo did and why -- and thus helping us understand more deeply the greatness of his accomplishment. So it went with magnificent works such as Borromini's San Carlino or Bramante's Tempietto. Similarly, we came to understand the failures -- what the architect wanted to do and didn't quite get there. Mr. Sullivan's goal, was to help us move beyond admiration or puzzlement at what we are looking at, and understand what was done, and how well it did or did not work. Very well written, tough in its judgments, and infused throughout by a love for the city. Don't go to Rome without it.



3. A good read for those who love history, it is an excellent companion for travel to Rome



4. George Sullivan's "Not Built in a Day" is a unique and wonderful combination of scholarly knowledge, art, passion, and wit. The author recently gave a series of slide lectures at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. based upon the material in the book, which I attended. His lectures were exceptional -- insightful and enjoyable, a college-level crash course on the history of European architecture that was set entirely in Rome! He really made the buildings come alive through his enthusiasm and humor; I especially liked that he not only had definite opinions on buildings, but also explained clearly what architectural qualities those opinions were based on. This same in-depth but accessible approach can be found in the book, which is unlike any other guide to Rome that I have seen. I would enthusiastically recommend it if you are going to Rome, and if the lectures show up at a museum near you in the future, I would enthusiastically recommend them as well.



5. This remarkable book is a must read if you are planning your own itinerary in Rome. The author's love of Rome and its Architecture are apparent from the first page. He organizes the overwhelming amount of information into compact and readable units. Pick a time period or Architectural style of interest and follow the detailed path laid out by the author. The added information of the art to see inside each structure makes this the only "guide" book to Art & Architecture that you will need on your visit to Rome.

3 comments about Watercolor for the Fun of It: Painting Greeting Cards (Watercolor for the Fun of It).

1. One of the best things about this book, is that Ms. Black has a contagious sense of fun. She focuses on spontaneity rather than rigid outcome. She leads a reader through a series of techniques (sorry for the over-used word) that help discourage intellectual interference. Great book for doing, in addition to reading about, the craft. I go back to this book time and time again.



2. This book really gets me going. I'm a beginner in painting 'cause I use different art media. But this book made it really easy for me to start in painting. I like EJ Black's ideas and techniques. Really good for beginners and act like a pro. I highly recommend this book for children and beginning adults!



3. This book has been a truly wonderful find! I enjoy the creative process, but watercolor has never been my strong suit. I purchased this book just a few days ago, and have already created several pieces of art that amaze even me! My intention in buying this book was less to make cards (though that's something I've long done) but more to use Elizabeth Joan Black's techniques in hopes of finding a new creative outlet. I definitely got that and more. Her book gives wonderful details, with colorful pictures that would help anyone achieve results they would be pleased with. I highly recommend this book for the novice to the experienced. It really is inspiring!