1 comments about Language of Space.

1. I must admit I haven't read this book, but I recently attended a presentation by Bryan Lawson where he presented these ideas in some detail. He is a good, entertaining speaker and has shown very good writing skills in previous books.
   
   The topic, however, is mostly well-known stuff by designers and architects, who have been interested in how the built environment shapes our behaviour for millenia, literally. The classic studies by Jacobs ("Death and Life of Great American Cities") is a more recent (1960s) example of this concern.
   
   In all (topic + author), I'd recommend this book to readers who are interested in design and architecture topics and are not fully familiar with Jacobs and all the subsequent work in envirmomental behaviour. This is a good place to do some catching-up.
   
   It is also very much recommended to non-design people trying to understand that design is much more than 'styling' or superficial appearance.

No comments about Project Zagreb: Transition as Condition, Strategy, Practice.

1 comments about Modern Architecture: A Guidebook for His Students to This Field of Art (Texts & Documents).

1. Mallgrave and the Getty have done it again, bridging the gap between modernity and 18th century classic culture. This beautiful edition, supported on the vast culture of its editors, gives us the image of Wagner as a master, more than a simple architect.
   In this sense his observations on style, life, architecture, drafting, etc., all melt together, and become general, powerful ideas.

3 comments about Fundamentals of Engineering: FE Exam Preparation (Fundamentals of Engineering: Fe Exam Preparation).

1. Yes, the sample questions are more difficult than actual exam questions. However, this book takes you the very first beginning to make you understand all the topics. By the way, R.Lu named reviewer is absolutely wrong. Since it was corrected I am not gonna make additional comments about it. This book also is highly recommended by ASCE. Give your time, study smart, but hard. You'll be the happiest one after the exam. Good luck and the best.



2. I am not reviewing this book, I am correcting the previous review which is fundamentally wrong. The example used by R. Lu to demonstrate the typical errors in this text is correct - R. Lu is wrong.
   
   Force on a submerged surface is calculated using the centroid, or center of mass - indicated as hc. This is located at the midpoint of the surface (or h/2), in this particular case at a height of 0.75 meters.
   
   The location that the resultant force is applied on that surface is the center of pressure, which for a surface that is located in the free surface, may be calculated as h/3.
   
   The centroid (center of mass) and location of applied force (center of pressure) are not the same. R. Lu should review basic fluid mechanics before making foolish and incorrect statements.



3. This one of the few reviews I've written, but I feel an obligation to warn others to NOT BUY THIS BOOK. Aside from the more harmless typos that merely show poor proofreading and lack of professionalism that I've encountered throughout, there is even entirely false information provided. Here is the fluid mechanics problem that I just encountered that spurred me to write this review:
   
   Problem Statement:
   A cubical tank with 1.5 meter sides is filled with water. The force, in kilonewtons, developed on one of the vertical sides is nearest to (4 choices follow. The answer isn't important here. What's important is the completely incorrect solution provided a few pages later.)
   
   Solution:
   The average pressure (incorrect word choice, should be force)exterted on one side is the pressure that exists at the centroid of the side times the area of one side. (That much is true, if you include my correction). F=h_c *gamma*A, where h_c is the height of the centroid, gamma is the specfic weight, and A is the area of the side wall. )That much is also correct. The inexcusable mistake is what follows):
   
   Since the sides are square, h_c =1.5/2= .75
   
   Yes, the sides are square, but the pressure distribution along the side forms the shape of a right triangle, the centroid of which is located 1/3rd of the way up from the base!!! Had I not known this already and trusted this book, I would have been severely misinformed and likely to miss any problem on the test that requires knowing the location of a centroid of a triangle (this could very well come up in other sections besides fluid mechanics).
   
   In short, spend the extra money for the books that got better reviews. I can't imagine how the 17th edition of a book can contain such an inexcusable mistake, in addition to the more numerous typographical errors. Actually, I'm sure I can come up with a reasonable explanation. Repeatedly releasing new editions makes buyers think they should buy the newest one in order to be most prepared for the upcoming tests. Since the basics of engineering have remained the same for decades, with the exception of computers and numerical methods, these chapters should be solid and free of most errors considering how many editions there have been.
   
   This book reeks of the greed at Kaplan, where they are apparently so eager to turn a profit that they will attach their name to such a low-quality book. Phew! It feels good to get that off my chest.

No comments about Memory and Architecture.

No comments about Gaudi X Gaudi.

2 comments about Traditions in Architecture: Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania.

1. Although the book was written as a textbook for a course in non-western traditions in architectural history, it may be of considerable interest to anyone traveling to parts of Asia, Africa and Oceania. The authors' approach is largely descriptive, and the illustrations both plentiful and very good, so one may be a little impatient that the verbal descriptions rarely provide much information that is not apparent from the photos and drawings; but this is, after all, a textbook, and if you will grant that allowance, it is well-worth your time.
        The architectural traditions covered are contemporary as well as ancient, grand as well as domestic and, throughout, the authors treat the sacred and symbolic traditions of the culture, insofar as they are known or may be inferred, as they bear on the built environment. The book is organized thematically, rather than chronologically or geographically. Among the themes: moveable, stationary and underground dwellings; the impact of colonialism on native structures; the transfer of traditional architectural knowledge; and spatial organization, from courtyards to the axial alignments of cities. The focus is on three categories of structures: professionally designed and built monuments, houses erected by traditional building tradesmen, and structures that ordinary people build for their own use. The overarching theme is that architecture expresses cultural values as well as technology, and it illustrates that theme with an exceptionally wide range of examples.
        In the single area of the book where I have a fairly solid background, the Anasazi/Puebloan architecture of the Southwest, the scholarship is current and sound. Interesting and highly informative.



2. My familiarity with architectural studies stems from 3 years as a graduate student. Most architectural studies are "biased" to western history an organized in chronological order. Traditions in Architecture takes a fresh approach by focusing on a rich source of architectural precedence in the early America, Asia, Africa and the far east. The organization is thematic, rather than chronological covering such diverse topics as fixed versus mobile living spaces, vernacular materials, construction methods, sacred spaces, and so much more.

   The only reason that I did not give the work 5 stars is that many of the pictures (all black and white) lacked clarity. I do not know whether this was due to poor originals or poor reproduction; however, the details often are necessary to untderstand the full impact of the works.

   As UCLA professors, Crouch and Johnson give much credit to their students' work and input. This appears to be a work that has been a culmination of years of study with much independent input. I highly recommend it as a "first" to take this approach and to cover such a wide breadth of topics in one volume.

2 comments about Handbook of Construction Tolerances.

1. Toleracnaces in construction were available to those willing to wade through numerous sources. Here all of the construction tolerances are avaailable for quick review.



2. This book provides practical construction standards to evaluate construction of a home

No comments about Architecture Design Notebook, Second Edition.

2 comments about Lettering for Architects and Designers.

1. This book was excellent for an interior design or architectural student. I highly recommed it!



2. If you have ever wondered how architects and designers form such uniform letters, this is an essential reference. It is one of few books that focus on the beauty of written forms presented on blueprints.

   Outside, the book has a simple cover. Inside, every page is filled with the author's handwriting; the letters are incredibly consistent from page to page.

   Although the author presents a limited variety of alphabets, she offers many pointers on how to perfect them. This is clearly a case where quality received a greater emphasis than quantity.