1 comments about Baillie Scott: The Artistic House.

1. Very Informative and wonderful photography. Ideal as a reference book on Arts & Crafts.

No comments about Della Trasportatione dell¿Obelisco Vaticano (On the Transportation of the Vatican Obelisk).

No comments about Housing and Dwelling: Perspectives on Modern Domestic Architecture.

2 comments about Florence: The City and Its Architecture.

1. While spending a week in Florence in April, visiting many museums that do not allow interior photographs, I noticed this book in a museum gift shop. I copied the ISBN and purchased from Amazon once I arrived home so I could avoid carting books home and getting a very good price from Amazon. The book is beautiful and provided insight into a city that has evolved over many centuries.



2. Florence: The City And Its Architecture by architect and architectural historian Richard Goy is an astounding, profusely illustrated coffee table book showcasing the architectural majesty of this proud Italian city. Filled from cover to cover with superb color photographs of some of Florence's most eye-catching, stately, and historical treasures of architectural excellence, the extensive and informative text takes the reader on a memorable tour through the city as well as its architectural history. Florence: The City And Its Architecture is an enthusiastically recommended addition to any academic Architectural History collection, and would make a superb choice as a Memorial Acquisition title for public library systems as well.

1 comments about Glass House.

1. Architecture without walls:
   The "Glass House" by Philip Johnson, Toshio Nakamura and Monacelli Press.
   
   Can you take along with you the Parthenon, the Pyramid of Giza, The Taz-Mahal, the Spanish Steps, the Meinji-Jingu Shrine , the Kimbell Art Museum following your visit to them ? Well, NO ! But you may carry with you memories, mostly fragments, sometimes highly poetic other times adverse. The nuisance of the camel owner trying to seduce you to a ride up-there, or of the striking ministry of culture personnel who would not issue you tickets up to the Holly precinct the day of your visit , may cover the negative end. The highly poetic and memories of the serene and eternal could be the sound of the gravel and the singing of the birds before the abrupt turn at the Meinji Jingu at the point you just see the shrine at the distance, similar and everlasting to the memories when visiting Kahn's great museum at Forth Worth...!
   But in the Architecture without walls , THE BOOK, you can have all of the above at your fingertips, in the highest of memory, feeling and the Poetic . There is no doubt in my mind that one of the best such books ever created on Architecture is the "Glass House" by Monacelli Press.
   This book represents for me "Architecture in its entirety", that is , an evaluative and interpretive presentation of the work of Architectural Act in time: the building in its context, as conceived , built and even criticized by its architect ; as evolved along with its meaning and the interpretations of its critics ; through its contribution to architecture by means of experimentation and materials of the era, and finally through the ever-evolving advancement of its architect to "inclusiveness" and "Permissiveness", as evidenced though his other works that spot the estate. A book of the meta-user shortcomings and the need for restoration and further up-keep, through the most sympathetic argument and persuasion. From the highest poetic and contemplative to the lowest but real trivial, the gavel flat roof that needs to be mended...Superceding all of the above is the books exquisite photography. Some shots taken from levels no lay viewer can hardly experience, while other shots are intimate and personal as only the owner and his close guests had the joy to enjoy. The textures of pictures , the included drawings and the text , both in visual as well in meaning and suggestion depth , are as poetic as any great poem or haiku could ever reach. In philosophical terms the book is an assembly of "Logos" and Cosmotheory : of the architect (Philip Johnson), of the men who visited and were affected by it (Toshio Nakamura), of the photographer (Michael Moran) , of the publisher who produced it, of the draftsmen who drew the architectural drawings, of the book designers (Michael Rock and Susan Sellers), of the reader who by reading or just going through its pages becomes part of the building's history , the closest to the building a lay person could ever be.
   In this sense, the BOOK , the "Glass House" , is , I believe , superior even to any museum that presents works of Art; because the commentary of the art work is usually missing from a museum's presentation, and the visitor can hardly be said to be able to take away with him the whole, unless perhaps a catalogue of the works presented. A "Library" of books on a particular Art work, may perhaps be close to what I suggest for anyone who has visited it , and perhaps more so, for those who have not visited the work. So, I view the book the "Glass house"as a total museum , a work of Architecture without walls, an Art-work that can be carried home, always ready to please the reader with a repeated visit to the artifact, a personal contemplation and enjoyment, even a further interpretation under new circumstances of life and events. An eternal holistic museum for as long as it is out on circulation or kept in libraries. I very strongly recommend it to any reader, a unique gift to oneself without hesitation.
   
   Anthony C. Antoniades

1 comments about Spectacular Homes of Tennessee.

1. This appears to be one of those books where interior designers buy from one to four pages to showcase their own work. It is not a bad promotional idea, but as there are few if any critical editorial retrictions, the resulting book is uneven at best. For example, one new house in Nashville features a dining room of classic proportions (the architect is uncredited) with what appears to be pairs of arched French doors of mirrored antique glass that slide into pockets -- very interesting but no explanation despite a volume of "blah, blah, blah" text. The same room has a beautiful huge table surrounded by large scale leather-covered chairs, all with arms; again, that is interesting, but there is no comment on that, apparently they were already in the owners' collection. A pair of chandeliers dominate the photo, leading one to suspect that they are the interior designer's main contribution -- a double commission at that. The styling of the photo is disorienting because the table is empty except for a row of oddly chosen candlesticks and a series of glass containers without their intended flowers. This is just one example from the book, and certainly some projects are much better, but some are even worse. If you are looking for a collection of truly spectacular homes in the state, keep looking. If you are looking for an interior designer in the state, this might serve as preliminary guide, including "who Not to hire".

No comments about In the Neoclassic Style: Empire, Biedermeier and the Contemporary Home.

3 comments about Master Built Pools and Patios: An Inspiring Portfolio of Design Ideas.

1. If I could have viewed some pages of this book it may have inspired me to purchase it. It is quite an expensive book foo the topic and without a chance to look first, I think you may lose some buyers.



2. I would think if you were going to provide a book and list the pool companies you would also list the material contractors and possibly the artisans.
   I installed the materials on one of the North Carolina pools. The pool contractor likely had no idea where the materials came from and initially provided substandard labor. Hardly qualifying for a master pool rating.
   The materials used were economical and high quality -the impression is that these are out of common reach installations. Hardly the case. Excellent pictoral representation of the projects however.



3. This really is a beautifully inspiring book. While many of the products in the book are out of reach for the individual with an average income, it offers some great ideas that you can incorporate into something that is a little more within your reach. The details are very nice and descriptive. It will also serve well as a nice coffee table book.

2 comments about Small Lofts.

1. 
   I picked this book up because loft spaces are very similar to the inside of my home and I'm always interested in decorating ideas and what other people do with their own personal spaces.
   I looked through this book over and over again, read all the text, etc.....
   
   If you are the type of person that goes into a shop just to look around, you'll like this book... I thought the photography of all the spaces was awesome. But then again, I'm not a photographer so I'm not too judgemental when it comes to things like that. There are a lot of different styles in the book, although "everything" obviously isn't represented.
   
   With design books and remodeling books being as expensive as a lot of them get this book has a good price and a lot of ideas in it.



2. I like to browse books such as this to find creative decorating ideas. I'm not a huge fan of minimalism but appreciate it when done well. There are key elements of Simplicity and Practicality in minimalist design that appeal to many. However, I often find minimalist design to be pretentious when it lacks these 2 elements. All that is left is starkness and coldness with no grace. Such empty minimalism often seems to be favored by people who think a shocking starkness is somehow intellectual. According to my too long social experience, these people often turn out to be boring pseudo-intellectuals desperately trying to make themselves appear interesting to others. Unfortunately, I found this whole book to be exactly that. I was looking forward to sitting down in a comfortable chair with a fresh cup of tea and enjoying at least some nice artistic photos. I was very disappointed to find no original creativity anywhere in this book. Some of the architectural ideas were nice but not especially attractive or original. At least, nothing jumped out at me, just your humble lover of beauty and creativity but not a trained architect. I keep a personal scrap/ memo book of creative design ideas and I got not even one out of here. I wish I could at least say the majority of the photos were enjoyable to view, but I can't. Many of the subjects were pretentious and vapid; some even crossed over into stupid. For example, there are a couple built-in baths featured that were designed by/for pretentious idiots IMHO. As a Californian who lived in Japan for years and is part Japanese, I have seen and bathed in more than my share of baths and hot tubs of all types, indoor and outdoor. I am sure Bajamon's owners ended up rarely using them. But my favorite subject in this book is a Brussels loft, the second set of photos in Bajamon's visually mundane book. It was the only high point in this book since it was the only loft that got any reaction from me at all, positive or negative. In it, I counted 3 modern art renderings of Mao, one big enough on which to have painted the Battle of Waterloo. The big Mao is in a vivid red. I guess this is to signify communism or possibly rivers of blood. I was intrigued and tried to delve into Mr. Bajamon's reasons for this choice and positioning near the beginning of the book. Was this a sophomoric attempt to make his book appear interesting and intellectual? Or was he trying to make a political statement to us readers by his choice of one of the most efficient mass murderers in history (tens of millions dead through starvation and execution seems efficient to me) as a fashionable interior decorating feature? Well it worked! However, I don't want to be an obvious plagiarist of this decorating device. In my head I reviewed other equivalent subjects from modern history such as Hitler and Stalin. I'm going with Hitler. I have some software that allows me to scan in photos and then alter them into artsy, Warhol-esque pictures a little like the Maoist ones in Bajamon's instructive photos. I think I will hang them in my dining room. Frame them in brown frames to signify the brown shirts. I hope my guests will appreciate the deep intellectual thought behind the choice. I'm sure the whole room's welcoming and fashionable milieu will be good for everyone's digestion. Wonder how many guests the owner of the Brussels loft will re-entertain if he changes his art from Mao to Hitler. Oh, that's right. It's illegal in buy Hitler art in Europe. You book authors, publishers and decorators out there better be sure to pick the right mass murderers for decorative purposes in the right countries at the right times in history. Frankly, it offends me that a publisher decided this book was worth the trees needed to print it. And that applies even if the Maoist fashion statement hadn't been included.

No comments about Design of reinforced masonry structures.