1 comments about Taoist Buildings (Ancient Chinese Architecture).

1. As an architecture student designing a taoist monestary, I found this book incredibly helpful. The images and descriptions helped me weigh what was important in the taoist way of building, and gave me a much more in depth understanding of the symbolism and layout of the different types of structures. I would have preferred to see some more drawings, specifically layouts and cross-sections, so that the buildings could have been more easily understood.

1 comments about A Passion for Collecting: Decorating with Art and Antiques.

1. The author takes us for a visit to collectors homes, and allows us to have a look at their private assembly of objects, paintings and sculptures they are passionate about. We can view the art in its context, we can see the juxtaposition of objects and furniture as these are being used by its owners, without pretending, revealing more than just the art. We get a glimps at the interior design and decor layered just as life puts them together. Only real collectors can possibly understand the mania they are infected with, not being able to resist amassing
   the fetishes of their desire.

3 comments about Twenty Houses By Twenty Architects (Electaarchitrcture).

1. Simply put, this is a very good book. A nice survey of 20 modern residential houses around the world. The book is organized by architects with their brief bios. The architects also introduced their designs personally, so the text is succinct and right to the point. The pictures are big and beautiful. My favorite part is the detailed floor plans. This book offers the most reader-friendly floor plans I have ever read. It is not hard at all to mentally construct the house and to link the pictures with the layout of the buildings.
   
   The book is organized under an overarching theme: diversity. Like what the editor said in the openning introduction: "We felt it was possible to pick out a sufficiently significant sample of houses designed by architects operating in different parts of the world and coming from a variety of backgrounds, displaying diffrent levels of maturity of expression and belonging to different generations."
   
   But I wish the editor could be bolder and have presented an even more diversified portfolio of projects by including some more innovative, throught-provoking designs. If a score 10 represents an extreme of diversification and a score of 1 indicates another extreme of homogeneity, this book stands at 7.



2. While I would say that this book focuses on what I call rationalist and in many cases, minimalist designs, it does show a good range of work within that group. It's not all white buildings, nor are they all relentlessly orthogonal, but they all share an interest in strong lighting and material ideas, clear diagrams and site/contextual identity. The drawings are refreshingly large and clear, with plenty of plans plus elevations and the occasional section. The photos are also large, high quality and to the point. There isn't much space wasted on text when the buildings can speak for themselves. The architects they choose to sample from aren't always the big names, but they are accomplished and well-known in certain circles and it's nice to see something other than Richard Meier's latest neo-Corbu fishbowl make the rounds. Their work here is certainly as good as anyone's in the world right now.
   
   Unlike a lot of thematic or survey books, this book strikes a nice balance between capturing a big enough range of work and giving enough depth to each work it presents.
   
   Oh, and I like the bright orange binding under the jacket.



3. If you are a minimalist, if you love modern residential architecture, and if you want to know who's who in this area, get this book. Excellent selection of 20 projects around the world.

No comments about Country Houses in Colombia.

1 comments about Turn-of-the-Century Houses, Cottages and Villas: Floor Plans and Line Illustrations for 118 Homes from Shoppell's Catalogs.

1. This is a great book if you are interested in footprints of old Victorian houses..Had a great time looking at the detailed pics.

4 comments about High Fit Home: Designing Your Home for Health and Fitness.

1. I got this book to get inspiration for designing a home that would promote a healthy athletic lifestyle. It didn't give me what i wanted.
   The book has some nice photos of some nice homes, but they are not in anyway inspirational to a fit lifestyle. Nothing new, nothing great.



2. I got got! LOL!! I thought that there would be some real concepts in this book to inspire me. Negatrino on that one! "High Fit Home" Really....



3. If you want great, stunning photographs of what can be done to design a home to assure the physical fitness of those living in it, this book is a must buy. The heart of the book is the beautifully illustrated examples of homes that have been designed to be fitness friendly. The introduction and chapter 1 discussing the history of fitness and need for people to be more fit in modern society are standard stuff. The book concludes with helpful hints about what to do if you want to make your own home fitness friendly.
   
   That said, the examples of fitness friendly homes are obviously those built for the upper income tier of upper income groups. Knowing such home design and re-modeling was possible and being done on a limited basis, I was hoping the author would at least speculate on whether the innovations to make the American home fitness friendly would percolate down to become standard in all upper income and eventually middle income housing and even suggest what would be needed to make this happen.
   
   As more and more people work from home and lifestyles become ever more sedentary, we need more ways to make exercise possible, so more on what could be done to enhance the average, or even slightly above average, home to make it fitness friendly would have earned the book a fifth star in my review.



4. This is the kind of coffee table book that you actually read! It's not only gorgeous and inspiring to see --the pictures are amazing, but the back story on each very interesting. Super creative concept to combine architecture and health/fitness It's smart, organized, current, futuristic and historical. A must read/see for health-minded and architectural enthusiasts.

No comments about Sky High Living: Contemporary High-rise Apartment (Tall Buildings).

1 comments about The World's Greatest Buildings.

1. This book discusses more than just buildings. It also covers bridges, tunnels and monuments. A better description would have been World's greatest structures. About 100 structures are discussed: ranging from prehistoric structures such as Stonehenge, to the Petrones Towers. The book is divided into seven chapters, each covering a different type of structure. These chapters cover:
   -- Places of Worship
   -- Castles, Palaces and Forts
   -- Centers of Power (government buildings)
   -- Designs for Living (houses)
   -- Learning and Leisure (libraries, museums and sports stadiums)
   -- Transport and Communication (bridges, train stations and communication towers)
   -- Monuments and Memorials
   
   Each chapter is introduced by two pages of text describing some of the general features of that type of structure. Then each structure is covered by a two-page section that consists of text (lavishly illustrated with color photographs) and drawings (some of which are cutaways that illustrate the relationship of interior to external features). There are brief inserts discussing the architects and builders of the structures, and some details about architectural features (such as different types of columns and arches). This is a handsome book, written for a general audience that is interested in an overview illustrated with many beautiful pictures and drawings. It is highly recommended for that audience. Serious students of architecture may find the text too brief and somewhat sketchy but they should still appreciate the high quality of the illustrations.

No comments about The Charged Void: Urbanism.

No comments about Cottages and Castles of Maumee (OH) (Then & Now).