1 comments about LARE Review, Section A Practice Problems: Project and Construction Administration, 2nd ed..

1. These books are pretty expensive, and unfortunately they are not very representative of the current (2008) test. They are really only helpful to give an indication of how the test questions are worded.

2 comments about Graphic Thinking for Architects and Designers.

1. As an Architecture Student, I really enjoyed this book. It was very helpful with sketching techniques and just general concepts related to architecture. It was a required text for a class, but it has been a helpful reasource since. I recommend this book to any person wishing to develop a good sketching technique. This book refrences very important works by Aalto and Wright. It also addresses important and helpful hints about abstraction of ideals and their graphic weight.



2. As an interior design student I have found this book to be very informative and helpful. The step by step analysis of the design process is terrific and I've practically worn out the copy at the library, so it's time to buy it for myself.

2 comments about The Sarasota School of Architecture, 1941-1966.

1. John Howey does an excellent job of connecting the place, the time, and the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius, to explain the development and evolution of a fine group of architects who practiced in Sarasota beginning in the 1940s, and a few of whom remain even today. While he ends his book on a down note, the book itself and the hard work and dedication of the Sarasota Architectural Foundation have resulted in a revived interest in the work of these architects. Hopefully, efforts to save and restore their surviving masterworks will succeed, despite the forces of McMansionization at work in Sarasota.



2. This is the story of a group of talented young architects who were in the right place at the right time. The time (1946-66) was when America was in a building boom, the public wanted fresh, clean designs. Sarasota was a growing town and Modern Architecture was going to change the world. The Father of it all was an architect named Ralph Twitchell. In 1940 Twitchell hired a young intern architect named Paul Rudolph. Rudolph would go onto Harvard GSD, serve in the Navy and return to Sarastoa in 1946, and then become Twitchell's partner in 1950. The two of them, with a group of other talented architects (most notably Victor Lundy) would go on to design some extraordinary custom homes, churches and schools. Their architecture stressed the tectonic (the use of new technologies). Although the Sarasota aesthetic was in similar vein to the California post- war architecture, it also was heavily derivative of a Florida vernacular architecture. Rudolph's early philosophy stressed five points: the Clarity of construction; Maximum economy of means; Simple overall volumes penetrating vertically and horizontally; Clear geometry floating above the Florida Landscape; Honesty in details and in structural connections. It is always a treat to see his pen and ink renderings. A must for the serious student of modernism.

1 comments about Education of An Architect: A Point of View: The Cooper Union School of Art and Architecture 1964-1971.

1. Cooper Union exhibits art showing cross up man's rectum:
   Catholic League president Bill Donohue offered his comments today: "Surely there is a difference between art, traditionally understood as conveying beauty, and junk. Admittedly there is so much junk that passes as art these days that the public can be forgiven if it is no longer capable of making critical distinctions. But we should expect more from the art faculty at a distinguished institution of higher education."That the works of this student should be deemed `major,' representing the `best' of the student contributions does not speak well for Cooper Union. On the other hand, I have the sneaking suspicion that these paintings made the cut precisely because they were an assault on Catholic sensibilities.

5 comments about Civil Engineering: FE Exam Preparation (Fe Exam Preparation).

1. Feels like a slapped together attempt to make some money. No survey review. Most of the reviews are very confusing. The hydrology review is just a couple questions with manning's and Hazen equations. The review questions don't have real explained solutions. Don't waste time with this book, find something else.



2. It discusses in detail obvious stuff, and then references you to textbooks for more advanced topics. So it is more of a basic reference for the things you practice everyday, than a way to help you remember the topics you did during your undergrad degree



3. This book is okay. It's not very in-depth. I would pay the extra money and get a more thorough study guide.



4. Talk about a big disappointment.I was expecting a book that would really help me prepare for the civil discipline specific portion of the EIT exam. Unfortunately this book only skims the top of major topics and does not go into any sort of detail whatsoever.It's not a complete book, i think it miss more than 50% of the course. My suggestion would be to leave this book alone and study from reference text books.



5. I got this book last week and I've only worked through the second chapter but I've already found 4 mistakes. Grammatical mistakes I can handle but what I've come across are technical mistakes, units - poorly photocopied diagrams, mislabeled examples, that I cannot handle. If you're the publisher or one of the contributors reading this review you should be ashamed of yourself. Save your money, stick to Michael R. Lindeburg.

No comments about Gaudi.

2 comments about Programming for Design: From Theory to Practice.

1. Edith Cherry provides a very comprehensive overview of a subject that tends to be overlooked or neglected by many individuals in the architectural field. This is a must read for every architectural office regardless of office size or scale of work. Understanding and implementing Programming is an essential component in the architectural process that can not be overlooked.



2. In July 2002, UIA agreed to promote their criteria on Architectural Education, worldwide. Among various criteria, we can clearly find necessity of teaching the architectural programming in school. With understanding this situation, I can recommend this as the BEST TEXT BOOK among others in this field,
   compulsory for students and educator.

1 comments about LARE Review Section B Practice Problems: Inventory, Analysis, and Program Development, 2nd ed..

1. I waited to review this book until after I wrote the exam. I felt that the format of the questions was helpful, but that it didn't adequately cover all the material being tested. There seemed to be some very specific questions on zoning, nothing on Quadrangles and townships as the book suggests.
   
   Overall, I would probably purchase it again, because it did have some useful information, but use it more as a starting point for your studying- see where you are weak and go to other sources for your information.

5 comments about Places of the Soul: Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art.

1. Are you looking for a book that recognizes the need for designing buildings to meet lofty sustainability goals, but that also places human needs on an equal or superior plane? Do you look at new mechanistic buildings of steel, titanium and low-e glass and wonder how it's possible to feel inspired, or even comfortable, when you're in them? If you answer yes to these questions, then perhaps you would benefit from reading the second edition of Christopher Day's book, Places of the Soul, Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art (Grammarians might suggest "as Healing Arts").

   Day wrote the book in 1988, long before the birth of LEEDS, to address his perception of a growing lack of concern about human needs for variety in the form of spaces, the connection of spaces to nature and natural processes, and craft in the production of habitation. From his concerns one would assume that he was a student of the work of Christopher Alexander, particularly "A Timeless Way of Building". However, he moves beyond Alexander in citing the results of empirical studies that support his theses.

   In the chapter Architecture: Does It Matter? Day discusses how good design adds value, increases productivity, reduces health care costs, and accelerates healing. He cites the work of Dr. Roger Ulrich that demonstrated faster healing of patients in ICU's with views of nature. Important to architects struggling with limited budgets is the cited research that demonstrates how a 6.5% increase in productivity can justify a building four times as expensive!

   This book takes a broad-brush look at regionalism, vernacular architecture, the art of architecture, human and planetary health, quality versus quantity, making spaces livable, and even design as a listening process. Responding to criticism from clients that listening is a problem with some architects, the National Architectural Accrediting Board has made a recent change in its student performance criteria that emphasizes listening as a required skill.

   From listening, Day moves to making buildings with soul, building as a health-giving process, silence and peace in architecture, and the creation of appropriate spaces for children. He concludes with an important chapter on the urban environment, the conflict between sustainable values and urban pressures, the needs of urban life, cities as places for people and for life, and whether eco-cities might be utopian or practicable.

   Places of the Soul is an excellent primer for students of architecture seeking a balance between design for sustainability and for human needs, between a mass-produced machine aesthetic and one that includes hand-craftsmanship, and between sterile mind-numbing sameness and invigorating variety. It is illustrated with photographs and drawings of buildings and places in Great Britain that, while relevant, could be supplemented with more recent global examples. This book raises challenging questions about the buildings and places we will design and build, and the affect they will have on us as people and as a society.




2. My God, I was forced to read this book for a construction management class at a four-year university in the United States and struggled through every minute. I don't know what was more frustrating, having to read this dull-minded and repetative junk or reading four words at a time because for whatever reason the prestigious author, Christopher Day, was forced to go against conventional thinking and put two columns on each page. This was hands down the worst book I have ever read throughout my life. The guy is hypocritical of everyone who lives in an ordinary house and works in an ordinary job in an ordinary office building. Sorry Mr. Day, but most of us don't have the time and monetary security to write a 200-page book regarding soulful places. We just trudge off to work everyday in our non-biologically inducing office buildings. A bunch of junk!



3. A bit wordy and repetitive, but some of his ideas are first rate. The pictures are really nice too.



4. This is a seminal piece of work, that I would recomend for anyone involved with homes and living spaces, (I think that means everyone!) There is much wisdom in this book, and it is as much a book about how we live as it is a life philosopy book.
   Best book I have read about our 'third Skin'



5. PLACES OF THE SOUL is a very satisfying, powerful look at how the architectural environment makes an impact health, thought, and especially spirit. Mr. Day's writing is beautiful, drawing the reader through ideas of space, light, structure, environment, location and intention. Reading it was both inspiring and informative. An elegant book about an important subject.

No comments about The Architecture of the Roman Empire: An Urban Appraisal (Yale Publications in the History of Art).