3 comments about Japan Country Living.

1. Spectacular photographs serve to illustrate a view of Japan that is far different from the bustling cities. This represents three things to me:
   
   First is the fact that until recently Japan was a rural rountry. People lived a farming, fishing existance.
   
   Second, the sense of using natural surfaces: wood, fabric, thatch and some rudamentory manufactured items: paper, pottery, cast iron makes for a room appearance that we could all strive to find.
   
   Third, as with any architecture book, the ideas of style, decoration, and utility in a small space give one ideas that may well be applicable in housing designs that we may be considering.
   
   These houses have a utility and a simplicity that is all their own. It is great to see what they have done with simple items and a rather small amount of money. These are not the million dollar homes often seen in architecture books, these are lived in.
   
   Beautiful book.



2. Sigh, disappointed: poorly composed, lousy photos inside the covers make this book visually un-stunning. Houses and vignettes looked dull, close, shabby, untidy, underexposed, overshadowed, and only very rarely triggered a moment of interest. I felt that I've seen better Japanese country design books and magazine layouts, and I was truly disappointed. Feh.



3. This is an amazing book, as are all by Amy Katoh. I was lucky enough to live in Tokyo two doors away from her store, and visited it at LEAST weekly.

   She specializes in simple but beautiful "country craftsmanship," as opposed to the opulent, such as dress kimino, and such.

   Her knowledge of Japanese culture and her sensitivity has even awakened the appeciation of Japanese citizens who had previously taken their material culture for granted.

2 comments about Classic Design Styles: Period Living for Today's Interiors.

1. Lady Spencer-Churchill has written some very good English decorating books. The photographs are beautiful and the text is always well written. I purchased this book as a gift to give to a friend. I rated it with four stars as I found the book seems to feature mostly yellow or gold colored rooms, which I found a bit repetitive.



2. What a pleasure! Lady Henrietta's books are always a wonderful combination of how-to and design history. Unlike many decorating books, this is a pleasure to read, even if you're not planning on specific changes. Also, while the photographs are all of splendorous homes of the wealthy, the author consistently gives tips for those of us with a significantly tighter budget. I recommend this to anyone interested in design history (beautiful photos!), and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who lives in a "classic" home, regardless of your level of know-how.

1 comments about The Architecture of McKim, Mead & White in Photographs, Plans and Elevations (Dover Books on Architecture).

1. Man-o-man, I used to love looking at old buildings and would be in awe of the amount of work that went into them. All of the art work, craftsmanship, and downright labor. Well, this book really brings to the forefront through numerous period photos and floor plans. The book actually contains very little wording, but then the photos and floor plans are enough to tell you many things about the structures. Most of the buildings are in New York City and I recently had the opportunity to visit. As I walked along the many streets, I came across buildings that had been built by the architects and it was just awesome to look, of course, only from the outside at the wonderful structure and compare it to the photos and floor plans that are now etched in my mind. I look at the book and discover new things about the works of art that I hadn't known before. Sorry if it sounds a little romantic but when I pass one of the new office buildings or structures, well, I'm just not moved by them. Dave Sanchez

2 comments about At Home on the Prairie: The Houses of Purcell & Elmslie.

1. This book helps to address the problem of a dearth of material on Prairie School architecture by anyone other than Frank Lloyd Wright. Not that Wright wasn't an important proponent of the school, but he was far from the only architect of this style. More needs to be done to document the works of the others such as Griffin, Mahoney, Tallmadge and Watson, and Purcell and Elmslie.
   
   This book does an admirable job of this in regards to the latter two architects and their brief but productive joint practice. The two produced a remarkable number of very liveable houses in the space of ten years, houses that are notable for the quality of detail often achieved on quite modest budgets.
   
   The book itself includes a brief history of the practice and then a description and pictures of a selection of many of the houses that they designed. The pictures are first rate. The descriptions, though necessarily brief, cover not only the construction and features of the house but some of their subsequent history as well.
   
   I found this book an important and welcome addition to my collection of books on the Prairie School.



2. The partnership between Purcell and Elmslie lasted only about a dozen years (1909-1921). But during that time their firm was second only to Frank Lloyd Wright 's in the number of houses they designed. In addition, the work of Purcell and Elmslie, to me anyway, seems to have generated more features seen intoday's architecture than the houses of any other architect of the period.
   
   To be sure the Purcell & Elmslie lack the dramatic styling features of say 'Falling Water.' But then so does everything else. The Purcell& Elmslie features that I see today include the internal fireplace (dramatically designed), the wide use of windows, built in cabinets, open designs that lead from room to room, and more.
   
   This book is a beautifully photographed and printed review of some two dozen Purcell & Elmslie homes. Most of the homes included are of the prarie home style extremely common in the midwest, but in reality seen from coast to coast and Canada to Louisiana. It is a beautiful book.
   
   I can only ask that Korab and Legler consider another book on Purcell's later work when he moved to Portland, Oregon and designed houses the fit into a more urban setting.

3 comments about Moisture Control Handbook: Principles and Practices for Residential and Small Commercial Buildings.

1. This book has a load of information in it and many helpful diagrams. I am pleased to have added this to my collection of moisture books.



2. This book is great for explaining to our clients the challeges they are having, the way to prevent and a great picture how it should have been done.
   
   It is in simple english for anyone to understand.



3. This is an excellent introductory overview of practical problems and solutions relating to moisture control in buildings. The diagrams are outstanding! The emphasis is on moisture problems and solutions in low-rise framed buildings. My only disappointment is that the underlying physics are not described and that predictive techniques are not presented. An excellent reference book for builders, and a must read for anyone involved with trouble shooting, inspecting, insuring, repairing, and restoring building envelopes

2 comments about The Face of Home: A New Way to Look at the Outside of Your House.

1. I bought this book online so I never had good look inside before I bought it . There are a few the thoughts fit with my idea of what a nice house is but then there where more ideas where I would be saying huh, what...that does not look so good.
   
   My advice is to get a good look inside the book before you buy it.



2. First, I should say that Jeremiah Eck is my favorite architect. If I ever build a house (which is hard, because I live in Boston where there are essentially no lots), I'll probably use him as an architect. So I should love this book, and I mostly do. Ideally, I'd like an architecture book to:
   
   1) have lots of great pictures and floor plans of wonderful houses
   2) have interesting ideas to convey
   3) have good prose to read
   
   I'd say this book scores very well on the first two points, and less so on the third. The photography is excellent, with lots of great houses. Mr. Eck is trying to convey some important ideas about the exterior of a house. Ideally, he things the exterior of a house should have a style that follows from other elements of the design, rather than being superficial decoration. So on the strength of those reasons alone, you should buy it. But for some reason I find his prose hard going. I can't quite put my finger on what bothers me, but it doesn't pull you forward. I found this to be true of his first book, "The Distinctive Home" as well. I'm very pleased I read it anyway.

1 comments about How to Build with Grid Beam: A Fast, Easy and Affordable System for Constructing Almost Anything.

1. The idea of modular building is not new, but it's one I've been interested in for years. I have several similar books, but this is by far the best.
   
   If you need practical, inexpensive, yet elegant solutions for any kind of storage units, basic furniture, and much more, this book will show you how to do it.
   
   Afraid of building things? Read this and see how easy it is. Anyone can do it with minimal cost, very few tools, and with a variety of materials.
   
   As the book says, it's basically an Erector Set for adults (or even smart kids with maybe a bit of supervision...)
   
   I needed bookcases -- next week I'll have them.
   
   Simple, elegant, and (here's the best part) if and when you no longer need what you've built, you can dismantle the project and re-use the pieces to build something else. Thorough, inspirational, and completely practical.
   
   No fear. Just do it!

No comments about Country Homes: 165 Plans with Rural Character (American Collection) (American Collection).

No comments about Finding Order in Nature: The Naturalist Tradition from Linnaeus to E. O. Wilson (Johns Hopkins Introductory Studies in the History of Science).

1 comments about Tuscan Escapes: Inspirational Homes in Tuscany and Umbria.

1. taste of that i WOULD LIKE TO HAVE AT MY HOME... If you love Italy you should have that one.