1 comments about Victorian Cottage Architecture: An American Catalog of Designs, 1891.

1. As a Victorian Architecture buff, I'm hard pressed to give a distinct verdict on this book. It has great illustrations, offers general plans with dimensions for all of the designs, and gives a down and dirty description of each, but it seems to raise more questions than answers. If you are looking to discover what this type of architecture looked like, both in overall appearance and in selected details, then this is the book for you. If you are looking to discover how these things were built, then you are going to be slightly disappointed.

No comments about Early Domestic Architecture of Pennsylvania.

1 comments about Two Carpenters: Architecture and Building in Early New England, 1799?1859.

1. Calvin Stearns, the father, George, one of his four sons, the father's brother, and Calvin's three other sons covered a lot of ground in early 1800's New England. They were master carpenters whose homes they built for their families and clients in Vermont and Massachusetts--mainly in Northfield and Boston--were looked to as models of the best of New England craftsmanship and design ideas. "Calvin Stearns designed and built dwellings that were visually and spatially complex...[that] articulated hierarchy." His brother and his sons never strayed far from these architectural principles, but often imaginatively applied them according to different social circumstances they were in, the wishes of their clients, and changes in architecture in the course of the careers. Garrison focuses on Calvin and George Stearns because it was they who left many documents which could be studied for the two carpenters' working habits, financial and social relationships with clients, and the materials, supplies, and equipment they used. Garrison does a meticulous study which credits mainly the two Stearns he focuses on with changing the architecture and building of rural New England homes and thus the main of New England rural society. "The book considers pattern, work, identity, power, and ambiguity because those metathemes help organize interpretation." For instance, "the Stearnses primarily acquired power through their ability to design and make things"--which ability others sought out and they demonstrated in building their own houses in different communities they moved into. To call these two Stearnses "carpenters"--instead of the architects they clearly were to a considerable degree if not strictly by occupation--may seem coy or seem an understatement. But the author means to show not only the consummate carpentry and design sense of Calvin Stearns and his son George, but also how their being woven into different communities had an effect on architecture throughout the region. Garrison is director of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture and history professor at the U. of Delaware.

No comments about Defect-Free Buildings (McGraw-Hill Construction Series) (McGraw-Hill Construction).

1 comments about On the Wings of Modernism: The United States Air Force Academy.

1. On The Wings Of Modernism: The United States Air Force Academy is the unique architectural study of the 50-year-old U.S. Air Force Academy, examining both its history and the forces both artistic and practical that permanently shaped this long standing edifice. Black-and-white photographs enhance this tasteful and commemorative discussion that reveals a modernistic institution with deep roots in bureaucratic and political processes.

5 comments about The Earth-Sheltered House: An Architect's Sketchbook (Real Goods Solar Living Book).

1. It seems that most of the reviewers have not read Malcolm's books other than this one. Mac never contends these to be guidwlines or tech-point renderings. But he is a master at formulating underground architecture. The reason that many homes didn't get built is that budget for this form of building DOES cost more,and more more efficient and earth friendly, whereas otherwise non-sustainable homes are not. This is a sketchbook, not a building manual, he does in fact sell architectural plans outside of this. These are to illuminate and vibrate the stagnant soul. It appears that some souls are more stagnant than others. Mac's books do read journal-wise and are more storylike. That's merely the way he writes. He is a warm, engaging and socially responsible human being that has found a better way to build. So, people, off the high horses.



2. This is a great book, if you take it for what it is - a collection of sketches and ideas working to tackle the problems of underground house design. Unlike Rob Roy or Mike Oheler, who have their set methods for how to build your underground house, and who aren't much interested in other methods, Wells is interested in exporing the full spectrum of possibilities for underground structures. Many of his ideas are for larger (commercial or institutional) buildings, but houses are included as well.
   
   The real strength of this book is in learning, along with Wells, why some of his ideas (sketches) wouldn't or didn't work. If you want a step-by-step how-to on building a home, this is not the book for you. If you're seriously considering building your own underground home (particularly if you are the builder) this book is a very important resource.



3. The cover looks good. PLEASE don't waste your money on this book. The information is useless. I'm not a designer but I believe I could draw (and even do a better job) some pictures of what I think an earth shelter would look like and do better than making a Fantasy hobbit home.



4. From an architects point of view, I found this book to be very intersting in that it proposes design concepts rarely considered in a world where everyone wants a stainless steel refrigerator and granite countertops. It certainly isn't meant as a "how to" book for the weekend warrior who wants to save a few bucks on his electricity bill. I found it to be a resource for opening minds, not just opening the ground.



5. As others have pointed out none of the plans shown in the book seem to have been built. Every single one looks to have been cancelled because of budget problems. Which makes you wonder, if people with enough money to go to a professional architect find an earth-sheltered house too expensive to build, what hope do the rest of us have of building one in our lifetimes? Lots of interesting ideas but not much practical application that I can see.

   However my biggest gripe is the font used in the book: a script font that is an attempt to make the book look like a hand written journal. I just found it very hard to read large amount of text with that font. They should have stuck with a normal typeface instead of trying to get cute.

   Hard to recommend unless you can handle the typeface and don't mind that the book has no real practical information. (Although lots of interesting IDEAS.)

No comments about The ABC Book of American Homes.

No comments about New Asian Home,The.

1 comments about Radical Office Design.

1. Having spent most of my working career in the computer business, I spent most of my working career in offices where the main concentration of effort was dull, dull, dull. One mindless cubicle after another.
   
   I picked up this book for the first time when it was lying upside down. The back cover shows an office structure in Los Angeles where the cubicles were truly cubicles - well, actually they were rectangulers. They were made of a stack of shipping containers, 8 foot square, by however long. These things are cheap, strong and available everywhere. I've often thought they should be used for buildings. And inside the book you'll find a description of the building that uses them, providing finished offices at a cost of about $40 a foot.
   
   While this building was in Los Angeles, the book features offices from around the world. This is good, because I've often felt that much of the rest of the world was ahead of us in design efforts.
   
   This is a splendid book that I'd recommend to anyone thinking about building new offices. It is a clear presentation of what can be done, and how advanced design does not have to be expensive.

No comments about Manual of First and Second Fixing Carpentry, Second Edition.