3 comments about Chambers for a Memory Palace.

1. An interesting format for a discussion of design principles with beautiful pen and ink sketches. Imaginary letters written between two architects discussing well known and not so well known buildings that illustrate proportion, paths, angles and why they appeal to our eyes and hearts. Recommended by a designer whose course I took. A very pleasing book.



2. For the way this book is advertised, I did not feel like it accomplished what it sets out to do. Nevertheless if you are an amateur buff of architecture like me this is a good book to add to your home library collection.



3. Easily the best book on architecture, and mere observation, that I have ever read. Great even for those with little or no knowledge of the field.

4 comments about Tropical Living: Contemporary Dream Houses in the Philippines.

1. I just bought a copy of this book. The pictures are great. I have the following problems with the book 1) The title is sly and deceiving. The bolded letters say "Tropical Living", and the rest of the title are in smaller letters. I bought the book thinking the featured homes are architectural entities uniquely tropical. They were not. Instead, the book is a hodgepodge of pretty homes artificially grouped through some whimsy of the author. 2) The pictures are hard to follow when you read the text. My advice, save your money and get yourself a subscription to a home design magazine. You will be better off.



2. If you are into tropical architecture, this sure is the book for you! Not much text which makes it of "worth" + great photography! Before planning a house, this sure is a must-have! Houses featured here has its owne individuality and character! Dont miss it!...



3. This is a beautifully photographed and well-organized showcase of wonderful Philippine homes. The range of houses covered is amazing and you're sure to get inspiration from one of the many fine examples of East meets West design as well as the seamless blend of Spanish, Malay, and Western heritage that the Philippines has. The homes are fabulous and even if you aren't thinking of redecorating, you will be after you finish it. One of the things that I particularly like about this is that unlike many books on Asian homes which focus only on either architectural design OR the interiors, this one gives a good balance of both. I just wish that the book had more pages.



4. This was truly a feast for my senses. The Filipino elite is a highly sophisticated, well travelled, cosmopolitan, tropical, and casually elegant group who have developed a blended taste and style of their own. This book could be renamed "Tropical Dream Homes of the Philippines Rich and Famous". What is truly visible in this book is the rich diversity and fusion of the different cultures - Chinese, Spanish, Indonesian, Malaysian, and American - creating a Philippine cosmo-Asian blend. I highly recommend this book.

3 comments about The United States Capitol: Its Architecture and Decoration.

1. If your after a book on the Capitol Building, then go no further than this beautifully photographed and well layed out book. Full of rich detail and architectual illustrations.



2. This building is the perfect imbodiment of the American Democracy, it is an iconic symbol of America the world over. This book does this great building justice, the images are crisp and vivid and the text is almost scholarly. Everytime i enter this building i get a shiver and feel the tingle of goose bumps, and am reminded of what a spectacularly beautiful building it is, and how the building seems to hold the most awesome power. The history in its halls and the majesty of its presence makes the most incredible impression, if you are not moved by this building then frankly you need to check your pulse. If you have any interest in this iconic building or just appreciate beautiful books then i cant imagine you being disappointed in this book.



3. This is a wonderful book for a number of reasons: its beautiful illustrations, its wealth of detail delivered in a reverent and infectiously enthusiastic narrative, and (most of all) its unabashed defense of classical architecture and passionate call for a return to the style in our great buildings. One has merely to open this book to thank his lucky stars that most of monumental Washington, DC was built before the Marxist-inspired so-called "International Style" and its degenerate stylistic descendants inexplicably washed away centuries (nay, millenia) of Western art tradition. It's appalling to read the sort of vindictives that were hurled against the last exponents of the classical style, men like Bacon, Russel, and Gilbert, by so-called "modernists" when they designed stunning masterpieces like the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, and the Supreme Court Building. And it's galling to see what "modernists" offered the nation as an alternative to classical design: can anyone look at the Museum of American History on the National Mall and not shake his head in sadness? The place looks like an annex to a New Jersey shopping mall.
   
   Reed is a wonderfully able partisan of the classical style, and dismisses so-called "modern" architecture as the "Anorexic" style for its lack of decoration. That may be overly harsh; great architects can indeed produce great buildings even in non-classical styles - the Kennedy Center in Washington is a fine example of non-classical yet non-Anorexic design. But Reed has one undeniably true point: we as a civilization have allowed ourselves to be cheated our of our millenia old Western art tradition by so-called "artists" that have translated their lunatic fringe political views (the International Style was nothing but applied Marxism, designed to reflect the "means of production" to quote standard leftist gibberish) into drab design originally meant for "worker housing" and now applied (ironically) to US government and corporate structures. This "artistic" rabble still to a large degree indulges its proclivities towards lunatic fringe politics, and continues to so savagely attack the classical style (because they in fact hate Western culture and all it stands for) that it has become unthinkable to build a classical structure in the US today. Some are ignorant enough to claim that the classical style makes them "want to throw up," but the best they can come up with is the travesty of soulless design that is present day Houston or any number of Asian cities like Seoul.
   
   The closest we are allowed to claiming our Western heritage anymore is the so-called "Stripped Classical" applied to the new WW2 Memorial in Washington. I suppose we should thank our lucky stars that that we at least got "Stripped Classical" instead of some appalling metal and glass gimmick that - like most "modern" structures - would rapidly deteriorate into a shabby pile of rusty metal, stained concrete, and peeling paint. But like Reed points out, "A building without decoration is like the heavens without stars." Why is "stripped" all we are allowed to enjoy anymore? Because leftist "artists" that can't stand the West, can't stand America, and most of all can't stand the culture from which it sprang browbeat us into standing glumly in "modern" museums looking at unintelligible and ugly "art" (a melting toilet at the Whitney comes to mind) and won't allow us to erect magnificent Corinthian or Ionic columns anymore. Really, it is sad. This magnificent book, at least, shows us what we once had, and what might have been. Let's hope future generations of Western civilization have more courage than we do, and spend their days recovering their own cultural heritage. Perhaps they will once more build for the sake of beauty rather than that of Marxist anti-Western hatred.

No comments about USA: Modern Architectures in History (Reaktion Books - Modern Architectures in History).

3 comments about Construction Specifications Writing: Principles and Procedures.

1. I have found this text to be highly useful in explaining the purpose and content of specifications. The text provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of what should be in a specification. The only thing that might have been better was if the authors had spent more time on the technical specs and less on the EJCDC and other standard items that do not appreciably change. All in all though, this is an excellent text and well worth the price.



2. The previous reviewer obviously has not read the book that he rated so low. Harold J. Rosen is an Honorary member of The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), an honor given to few CSI members. This book, in its first edition, predates the CSI Manual of Practice, and it has been updated over several decades.
   
   Construction Specifications Writing: Principles and Practices has been the leading textbook for teaching construction specifications at colleges and universities.
   
   The 4th edition has been superseded by an expanded and updated 5th edition, co-authored by this reviewer, that is consistent with the CSI Manual of Practice and includes more examples and resources than CSI's MOP.



3. I want ask if the book contains this title:

   CSI = Construction Specification Institute

1 comments about Israeli Fortifications of the October War 1973 (Fortress).

1. Considering the relative obscurity of the topic, and the difficulty in researching it, this is a brave effort by both Osprey and Simon Dunstan. This groundbreaking work of original research makes a nice complement to Dunstan's two-part Osprey Campaign series on the 1973 War -- and also a bit of a contrast, because of its original research. However, it does share a few of the drawbacks of the two Campaign books: failure to use more of the widely-available photos of the Bar Lev line fortifications during and immediately after the war (instead of the several irrelevant photos of Israeli and Egyptian fighter aircraft), or the numerous books written from the Egyptian perspective. By far the best part of the book is the specific information on the fates of the individuals maozim and their status today. An invaluable reference book for anyone interested in the Arab-Israeli wars.

2 comments about Green Roofs in Sustainable Landscape Design.

1. As a green roof grower and consultant I eagerly anticipated the release of this book. I wish I had waited to borrow it from the library because it was already out-dated upon release from the publishers in 2008.
   
   It is a decent overview of the history and evolution of green roof technology but lacks recent advances in green roof technology, particularly in more advanced modular systems. The author makes no makes no mention of state-of-the-art, pre-vegetated, invisible modular systems which are rapidly becoming the gold standard for highly functioning and beautiful green roof installations. Until it is updated to include cutting edge improvements in the rapidly developing field of green roof design and installation I would save the purchase price and use this book simply as a historical reference to be borrowed from the library.



2. "The power to transform our cities from unhealthy, stressful, overheated environments to healthier, more sustainable communities is completely within our reach - and I believe this transformation can be achieved within a generation." ~ Steven Peck
   
   For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated by the idea of roof gardens. But how exactly do you go about building one from scratch? In "Green Roofs" Steven Cantor gives detailed instructions and also provides interesting projects for consideration. A few of the pictures are comical - like the one on page 65 with a tree growing out of the top of a Vancouver building.
   
   Some of the gardens are cozy and others are artistic. One of the rooftops looks like a forest. Another looks like a formal garden with lawn and pavement. No matter what you are looking for, this book has some great ideas. I especially loved the ideas with a water feature like the one at the Montreal Hilton in Montreal, Canada. I can recommend this book to landscapers or anyone who wants to have a little piece of paradise in a concrete jungle.
   
   ~The Rebecca Review

5 comments about Julia Morgan, Architect.

1. This is an outstanding book on Morgan's life and work. Well written text, detailed history, biographical information, and quality photos of the many buildings are just of few of the book's strong points. Morgan designed hundreds of buildings during her over 50-year career, and the author deserves credit for covering so many of them. Of course, she is most famous for the projects she did for Hearst, such as the "Castle" and Wyntoon, the Austrian/Bavarian style estate near Mt. Shasta in northern California, but she created many other important buildings also, which get discussed in detail in this fine volume. Also included are scans of the original plans. Out of all the books on Morgan, this one is by far the best, and well worth your time and money.
   
   A little side note here, I've done five different tours of the Hearst Castle over the years, so have had an opportunity personally to view one of her most important works. During one of the tours, the guide said that a few years ago they had a 6.4 magnitude earthquake there, but except for a few tiles that came off here and there, the castle sustained no damage. That's because despite the delicate looking surface ornamentation, underneath the building is steel reinforced concrete, with even thicker walls than necessary. As a result, the entire Hearst Castle sustained almost no damage during the quake, and no structural damage, and the only really dramatic thing that happened was the guide said that the quake shook things violently enough so that a lot of water sloshed out of the big Neptune pool. :-)
   
   One of the guides said some interesting things about Hearst's wealth. By the standards of the time, he was certainly very wealthy, earning $50,000 a day back in the early 30s. But compared to the most wealthy people of the day, such as Rockefeller, who made one million dollars a day, this was relatively modest. Hearst was the 42nd wealthiest man in the U.S. at the time, his father, George Hearst, being 32nd, if I remember right. He spent 9 million dollars on the Castle, approximately one half a year's earnings, so percentage-wise, it was not that much money for him. But compared to the super-wealthy of the day, such as the Morgans, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, etc, apparently it wasn't much. :-)
   
   Back in the financial panic of 1905, J.P. Morgan, one of the wealthiest men of his time, lent the U.S. government 20 million dollars of his own money, back when that was a lot more, so it could temporarily keep operating. When Morgan died, Rockefeller commented, "He accomplished a lot for a man who wasn't that wealthy."
   
   Anyway, just a few perhaps irrelevant comments on some of the history of the wealthiest individuals of the time. :-)



2. Comprehensive with great photographs, this is a good place to start learning about Morgan's career.



3. I have always been interested in Julia Morgan's work but I have never been able to find enough solid and valuable information about her and her work. I own all of the Julia Morgan books, that is every book written about Julia Morgan. This, by far, is the best composition of the true character of Julia Morgan. Not only do you get an entire biography with incredible detail but you also get insight from hundreds of pictures, scans of actual plans Julia Morgan drafted and entires from other important persons. This book is a must have if you are looking for "the" book covering everything in Julia Morgan's life. This book stands alone among all the other Julia Morgan reads. I suggest that if you are looking for a book about Ms. Morgan, this is the best book, brings the greatest attention to detail that you will ever find about Julia Morgan.



4. A wonderful survey of a truly great Architect. Great photos. Original drawings. A detailed career history & biography. Most of the better known masters haven't gotten this kind of treatment; Ms. Morgan deserves it. GREAT book.



5. Beautiful book! Author does a lovely, sensitive job profiling Morgan, and her career as the first licensed female architect in the US. I also really enjoyed the socio-cultural, and artistic context of the early 20th Century. The extensive photographs are a wonderful addition - imperative in a book dealing with a visual art. One of the very richest architectual books I've seen in a long time, and a great addition to anyone's collection.

No comments about Living Gaudi.

1 comments about Golf Architecture: A Worldwide Perspective.

1. Nice pictures, fair text. Missed reviews of great classic holes - classic architecture with more information albeit non-specific about newer courses. Too general. Was looking for more technical information. Ken Wehr