No comments about Design for Ecological Democracy.

1 comments about The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice, Student Edition (Architecture Student's Handbook of Professional Practice).

1. This was a required text for my daughter's architecture class at the University of California. Someone must think its GOOD!!

3 comments about Home and Garden Metalcrafts.

1. Most of the projects are very simple and easy to create, however, the projects rely heavily on the use of foils, mesh, and wire, and do not really introduce the reader to most of the materials, tools and methods of metalworking. It is more of a weekend crafter type book which is fine if that is what you are looking for, but from the title and the description I thought it would be geared more towards metalsmithing. Because of this I found it dissapointing and not very useful.



2. The book explains some basic crafts with good detail. It did not fill my needs for metal working, but my wife loved the projects amd sent them out as Christmas gifts. The book detailed some attractive projects with instructions for the beginner.



3. I saw this book and picked it up imediately. It has lots of craft ideas that aren't too terribly hard to do. Many of them can be done in just hours and some look incredible. My favorite idea from the book was a wire garland with lights. Incredible in gold and makes an awesome addition to any party. Other good ideas were candle holders, vase, and plant sticks(some whimsical. Lots of pictures shown in each step as well as the layout of certain wire twisting and paper folding.

No comments about Wonders of the World: Cubebook (Cube Books).

1 comments about Frank Lloyd Wrights House on Kentuck Knob.

1. Don Hoffman's book gives and accurate description of how this magnificent home came into being from its inception to completion. It discusses how the sketches evolved due to the environmental considerations of the landscape showing how Kentuck Knob was build to coordinate the house and the hill upon which it was built into one organic structure.

   It explains Wright's architectural philosophy as to why he makes the decisions he did when building this house.

   Visually the book itself is elegantly designed with excellent photographs giving a true feel for the nature of the house and providing some insignt to the wise, artistically minded people whom conceived of and lived in Kentuck Knob so happily and with such a great respect for the environment which the house occupies.

   As a child I spent a great deal of time in this house, being close family friends with the original owners, so I would know if there were any inconsistancies with the book and reality and find it most accurately written.

   This would be a great gift for anyone interested in architecture, environmnetalism or whom is a particular fan of Frank Llyod Wright's architecture. Also it is so beautifully done that it would just be a pretty coffee table book to keep for yourself or for in a guest room.

5 comments about Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings.

1. I was given a copy of this book for my birthday several years ago and spent hours pouring over its prose and its historical narratives. I never grow tired of this book.
   
   Credit for this work goes to its author who has accomplished the near to impossible - an engaging and personal history of Washington DC told through the destroyed architecture and the people behind the buildings and their creation. The illustrations are gorgeous, but its Goode's way with worlds that allows the reader to lose themselves in the history of the buildings profiled.
   
   I would imagine that this type of book in the wrong hands would become an academic tome, dry and technical. Goode brings the people of the District to life for the reader, and compels the reader to look for more.
   
   If the book fails, it is in the lack of a comprehensive map of the whole District of Columbia. If you are not familiar with the streets and layout of the city (itself genius) then the book can be confusing.
   
   Ideally, I would suggest this as a gift to anyone interested in history, city planning, government or historical architecture.



2. Lovely book with pictures that will stir memories in the hearts of all native Washingtonians and those who wish they were!



3. As you pour over all the wonderful black and white images and run you eyes over the artistry and talent it took to create most of these long gone structures you can help, but pause and take a deep breath. This book has scholarly, exhaustively researched text that enlighens and educates the reader. I agree with one articulate reviewer that stated that the author did not make allowances for market forces and changing times, but having said that, I do believe that most of these buildings could have been saved and used for other purposes, I mean the retrofited old buildings in NYC and Boston, why not Washington. The destruction of so many buildings is unconscionable, and when you see the buildings that replaced them all you do is stare. I was not around in the sixties so i didnt witness the worst of this senceless destruction, but i know that here in Houston, even today, great old buildings are never totally safe, it's no wonder Europeans don't get us, as an American i don't get us either. Highly recommended..the book and perservation.



4. Unique and engaging, "Capital Losses" is a scrapbook chronicle of Washington, DC-- not as the "nation's capital," but as a collection of neighborhoods, people, and activities.

   The book memorializes dozens of buildings lost to the wrecker's ball. Each edifice is featured in a one- to two-page chapter that includes splendid vintage photographs. The accompanying write-ups always discuss design elements, thanks to the authors' encyclopedic knowledge in this area. The story of each structure is then expanded into a discussion of the designers, builders, and notable inhabitants. "Capital Losses" is a survey of history, intrigue, gossip as well as architectural styles. That's what makes this book so fun.

   The authors' sympathy for historic preservation is to a fault. Narratives hardly attempt to recognize the social, economic, and technological forces that so often make demolition inexorable. For example, the advent of central air conditioning initiated the doom of many hotel and office structures that could not be economically retrofitted. In addition, the post-war demise of downtown commercial areas also accelerated the decay and eventual destruction of many classic structures.

   To be fair, an analysis of causal forces was not the intention of this volume. It pays homage to Washington's folksier history in an elegant manner. This is a wonderful coffee table book.




5. Now in an updated second edition, Capital Losses: A Cultural History Of Washington's Destroyed Buildings by Washington history expert James M. Goode is a carefully presented documentation and chronicle of the great architectural and cultural edifices of Washington, D.C., which have been lost to the endless grind of urban renewal in the years prior to 1978. That was the year in which crucial preservation legislation was passed. Packed from cover to cover with black-and-white photographs, enhancing a text which is extensive in detail, history, unique historical insights, Capital Losses is an exceptional architectural tour and a unique resource offering a kind of "window" into the architectural past of the nation's capital.

No comments about Luxury Houses Top of the World (Photography).

1 comments about Brazil's Modern Architecture.

1. I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE DELIVERY SERVICE BECAUSE AMAZON RESPONDED FAST AND IN AN ADEQUATE WAY TO MY PROBLEMS.
   THE BOOK IS GREAT, IT HAS A VERY CLEAR OVERVIEW OF BRAZIL'S MODERN ARCHITECTURE WITH BEAUTIFUL PICTURES!

2 comments about Artists Photo Reference: Songbirds & Other Favorite Birds (Artist's Photo Reference).

1. I loved this book!! It really gives me artistic inspiration. I always go back to it, and i use the photo's for many paintings. Bald Eagles, swans, pelicans, and you guessed it... songbirds!!
   Crisp photography, For a lot of birds they show both sexes, bright colors, I really can't say enough good stuff about this book!!!



2. Songbirds and Other Favorite Birds has paid for itself several times over in the realistic drawings I've done of various birds from it. The references are well organized and beautiful, the poses the birds are in vary so much that it's easy to combine a pose from one and the anatomy and markings of another, it never fails to catch my interest.
   
   I use my copy constantly and have since the day it first arrived. The Artist's Photo Reference series also teaches how to use magazine photos and other images that you don't have copyright to, in ways that do not violate copyright. For anyone who does realistic drawing it's a valuable resource, and the lessons on how to draw and paint are excellent too. Each lesson is in a different medium and explores as many different techniques as possible, so no matter your level of skill, there is probably something in this book you haven't tried.
   
   And hundreds of gorgeous references. Each bird gets a page or two of multiple photos labeled male or female where there are differences, often captured at a distance by zoom so they're in motion or in unusual poses. Not many are in flight but there are a few. My only problem with this book and this series is that North Light needs to publish more of them, there are now two Birds books, this one and Artist's Photo Reference: Birds, and you could easily go through several more without exhausting the variety of subject matter.
   
   There isn't much overlap between this and Birds -- it fills the gaps nicely and has mostly different species. Where they are the same, the photos are different so both of them have an honored place in my library where no doubt I'll wear them out with decades of use. Get it in hardcover, if you paint birds often you'll want a durable copy.

5 comments about Renzo Piano Building Workshop - Volume 3 (Renzo Piano Building Workshop).

1. As much as I like Renzo Piano's works, he can learn something from Norman Foster to properly produce his set of books. These 4 editions are nice size (not heavy like Foster's) so you can bring to your job site or office if you want to show some examples. However, each building is not well documented. the plans have no measurements or too small to read, no scale, and the details are not complete enough. Simply, there are no coherent base of each buildings. Furthermore, the different editions sometimes cover the same building (ex.edition 3 covers Kansai Airport (perhaps too much), but it is also covered in edition 2.
   
   Edition 2 seems to be a compilation of his works from the 80's but it is very difficult to figure out what exactly this book want to focus on. I recommend that Renzo Piano redo this whole editions of which he deserves.



2. As a set this is a great achievement. The books are wonderfully produced with glorious photography, lots of drawings and sketches (both of larger structures and details), stylish typography and a clear, rhythmic page layout. It's a genuine feast to the eye. However, I was slightly disappointed by the first volume's first section, in which Buchanan sets the scene for all that is to follow by providing us some conceptual and genealogical background on Piano's art. Buchanan's lead essay is repetitive, diffuse, conceptually thin and strays too far from the substance of Piano's architectural practice. The section on the 'spirit of the workshop' is really a missed opportunity: instead of a detailed picture of the collaborative dynamics in this complex environment, we get a rather glossy account of Piano's role of 'scout, actor and editor' in the design process. The pages on 'early influences' again are rather sketchy, with brief references to a series of mentors and to the role of the Genuese cityscape on Piano's mental map. From then on the book takes wing: I was grateful for the inclusion of the work in the early Studio Piano, the Piano & Rogers venture (Pompidou Centre) and particularly of the fancyful, but fascinating experiments in the Piano and Rice period. It gives us an idea of the rather exploratory journey Piano had behind him by the time the Building Workshop was established (he was 44 then). Volume I then goes on to document the early years of the workshop. Generally this represents an inconspicuous beginning: we see a lot of fine craftsmanship but there is relatively little that takes your breath away in terms of architectural vision. Compared to the later designs, we see a modesty that is approachable, refreshing and invites careful study. With its mix of full page photographs and thumbnail pictures, sketches and plans, colours and greytones the book never tires. And this applies to the whole series. A laudable example of serious and effective book design! As a whole I have no reservations in recommending this set to anyone remotely interested in contemporary architecture.



3. ...This book along with the previous volume are Fabulous!. Great photo's/details/extensive information about each and every project. Bravo Peter on a great series. Volume 3, is a bit iffy. Even though it continues with the tradition of the other Volumes, it devotes approx half the book towards the kansai airport (which im not particularly fond of). Volume 4 is on the list, those of you in OZ already know about Auora Apartments, an apartment building designed as only the Piano Workshop know how. I'm glad the Piano virus has made its way to Down Under.....Lets just hope its catching! - Check it out.



4. What else would you expect.....a book full of fabulous buildings/details and information bound to inspire ANY student or architect. If your not inspired don't mention your name along with architecture in the same sentence. Truely a GREAT MASTER of the 20th and 21st Centuries.



5. When we talk about prices we should have in consideration that this is a high quality book for a little price, i think is really cheap. Advice: if you like Renzo Piano recent work, just buy it!