1 comments about The Art of Placemaking: Interpreting Community Through Public Art and Urban Design.

1. THE ART OF PLACEMAKING: INTERPRETING COMMUNITY THROUGH PUBLIC ART AND URBAN DESIGN is a pick for any college-level art or urban issues library and for professionals interested in public art and urban affairs. It's an exploration of works within the public imagination and explores trends in public art, from 'mural towns' and street furniture to public areas arts, documenting two decades of public arts projects from around the country. Color photos throughout feature the projects while descriptions survey interactions with public agencies, officials, and decision-makers in the process of bringing art into the public eye and making design choices.

5 comments about Bungalow Nation.

1. Generously adorned throughout this book are beautiful photographs of classic Bungalow homes from across the nation. I flipped through this book at Borders, in the hopes of getting it at Amazon later, but fell in love with it too much to wait for the cheaper internet price. The cover, of course, is eye-catching, with all the rich fall colors, and that same craftsmanship is consistent throughout the book. Job well done!



2. The bungalow is uniquely suited to the homeowner of today: solidly built of good natural materials, unpretentious, yet capable of modification and expansion; usually set in a pleasant and roomy yard, and big enough for the "typical family of four" to inhabit without getting in one another's faces. For these reasons, many cities have seen a "bungalow boom" that has driven up the price of these cozy houses. If you're thinking about a bungalow but aren't sure you want to invest all that money, this book may help you decide. Chock full of all-color photographs, it shows the variations in style and modification possible to the type, the lovingly created details typically found in it, and the ways in which many bungalow owners have contrived to furnish their homes authentically. With a book or two about Craftsman or Stickley furniture, it should provide you with ideas galore about what's possible to a bungalow. And if you simply enjoy looking at pictures of small, simple, yet well-made American houses, it's a volume you're sure to enjoy. For restorationists, decorators, historians, and architecture buffs, it's a beautiful and indispensable volume.



3. When I bought a 1920's bungalow a year ago, I checked out every arts and crafts and bungalow book I could get my hands on. This one rose to the top. Perhaps I'm a little biased because a good portion of the homes featured in the book are located in the Twin Cities, where I live. But the thing I really like about Bungalow Nation, besides the lovely quality of the photograhps, is that it provides excellent inspiration for the interior decoration of arts and crafts style homes.
   
   If you have a bungalow, or just love the style, you will adore this book.



4. Bungalow Nation is a truly sumptuous and detailed look at American bungalows.With color pictures on every page, this book is a wonderful balance of text and graphics. The author's text and the photographs by Alexander Vertikoff together present a well-rounded introduction to bungalow style through brief looks at over 75 specific examples of bungalow architecture.
   
   In a chapter called "In The Land Of The Bungalow" the book starts with a brief history of the origins and growth of the architectural style and its place in American history. This chapter is followed by brief treatments of specific aspects of bungalow style: the outside, porches, the inside, fireplaces, built-ins, and furnishings.
   
   Then the author and photographer take us to five different cities to look at examples of bungalows in each. Sample bungalows in Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago and Washington DC are highlighted in two to four page spreads. Each house has a description and history of the house and some information on the current owners. This is followed by some photographs of specific features with captions describing each.
   
   The book ends with a bibliography and lists of organizations and architects in each of the five areas highlighted.
   
   This is a lovely book. The bugalows are beautifully photographed. The endpapers are sheet music for the song "In The Land Of the Bungalow" by George F. Devereaux. The cover has a color print of a crewel embroidery of dragonflies. It is a labor of love that is a delight to read and a treat to the eyes. If you love bungalows, this is the book for you.
   
   I got this book because I am planning to remodel the kitchen and bath of my 1930 bungalow and was looking for ways to do so while retaining the original integrity of the house. This book has given me the ideas I need to move forward with confidence.



5. I live in a California Craftsman bungalow and therefore gravitated immediately to this book when I saw it in Builders Booksource in Berkeley, CA. It's absolutely lovely: the story of 75 bungalows in LA, Seattle, Chicago, DC, and Minneapolis. I was surprised that Berkeley wasn't included, but the homes shows epitomize America's love affair with these cozy, well-built structures. Included are features on porches, fireplaces, numerous built-ins, furnishings, landscaping, and interior/exterior decoration. You'll love this book, as I do.

3 comments about Green Roof: A Case Study: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates' Design For the Headquarters of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

1. This book is perfect for readers who already know that green roofs are good for our planet, but are looking for technical information on how to build one. Product and plant guidelines and the construction process are marvelously detailed. It's also generous with photos and diagrams. This particular green roof demonstrates that they can be more than just sedum in planters on a flat roof--green roofs can be a building amenity and enhance the viewshed for nearby buildings as well. The book is very well written. It should be noted that the author is a German landscape architect and Germany leads the world in green roof design. An excellent resource for developers, real estate executives, building owners, and designers.



2. Exceptional text, supplemented with beautiful and informative graphics and diagrams. Very good book for anyone interested in Greenroofs.



3. This case study is primarily geared towards the client's requirements and satisfaction, rather than basic green roof benefits. For example, there is more emphasis put on employee/ human use of the roof over the traditional benefits that roof greening putatively confers. Although there are some interesting techniques employed, like the grating over the sedum plantings, it is quite clear that roof greening is still for the elite rather than us common folk. Considering this, the concept of roof greening still has a long way to go before it will become a truly 'sustainable' practice in North America. The ASLA intended this project to showcase their involvement in this arena, but we would all be better served if they would test/employ techniques that were affordable to the masses rather than the wealthy elite.

4 comments about Architectural Graphic Standards Student Edition: An Abridgement of the 9th Edition.

1. I am a fourth year architecture student and I use this book every semester. I keep it with me at all times. It is the perfect design handbook. If you don't have it, You need it!



2. The book was in great condition as expected. It was delivered during the expected time frame, but it was later rather than sooner. I purchase frequently from amazon and I recieve consistently good service from them.



3. Loaded with tons of reference data all good for Architects.
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4. This book is one of the best reference books an architect will ever use. It contains the necessary information for the beginning and advanced architect. Inside the 568 pages in this book one will find from the most basic to the highly complex architectural graphics. The book provides reference for the various arcchitectural plans such as the floor plan, elevation and perspective drawings. No other reference material can surpass the amount of information provided in this excellent book.

5 comments about Architects' Data (3rd Edition).

1. An on hand reference for all the immediate details required by Interior Designers and Architects. Quite often a lot of time is wasted searching in numerous texts for information. The Architect's Data has it all-between the covers. User friendly and well illustrated.



2. This has always been a staple reference book for architects since my student days. I haven't bought a copy for many years, so I was pleased to see that it has been revised and updated to include plenty of relevant new data. Unlike a US-published competitor this book is in metric, and is more expansive in its coverage of building types. A really useful reference tool for all building space planners, architects and interior designers.



3. With all the countless references and easy-to-read diagrams illustrating key dimensions for almost any type or category of use, this book is an architect's Bible. It's not only a useful reference, but this one is a joy to read at one's own leisurely time! Must buy!



4. It was in our varsity library where I opened "Neufert" for the first time back in late 70s (they had a two-volume Russian version). Amazingly, then as I studied Architecture I was rather impressed by a broad selection of examples of Western Architecture than by reference data themselves. Now I am more interested in the latter... And the newly edition I have surely provides that! You may blame it for slightly outdated materials or general incompleteness. But, remember, those features are generic for sources like this. Instead the book is useful specifically at preliminary design phases when an architect needs the most general guidelines. You can quickly navigate in a fat volume and can get desired information easily and in full. The only drawback, I think, is that the book is rather based on a continental (mostly German) and British content which can be somewhat inconvenient for, say, an American reader.



5. I have used the previous editions very frequently especially during my time working abroad. This is the only comprehensive source of metric and International standards for design data that I am aware of and is organized in very readable way. In fact, when I introduced the book to my co-workers abroad, everyone bought a copy. It is a great book for rules-of-thumb reference for designing buildings, spaces and layouts for national and especially International standards.

2 comments about Victorian Kitchens & Baths.

1. Plenty of eye candy to drool over and a nice variety of photos from over-the-top high-end rooms to simple log cabins, especially for those who are more interested in "period inspired" than "period accurate". (For that, get Jane Powell's book "Bungalow Bathrooms".) However, it suffers in the editing department. The book is a conglomeration of short articles by a bunch of different authors rather than a single author's work. Typos and misused homonyms disrupted the flow of reading. Some factual errors were particularly irritating: for instance, "It marks a period of 'balloon construction', which implies that moldings and other architectural elements would no longer be molded into place individually or carved one by one. Rather they would come in strips and be shipped from factories in bulk." I'd like some of what that contributor was smoking, because it was apparently pretty good stuff - balloon construction referred to a specific style of FRAMING a house, it has nothing to do with the moldings. If you want information on the history of household sanitation and on residential construction of the Victorian era, read something else, this one's primarily for the pictures.



2. This is a wonderful book for anyone dreaming of restoring a Victorian home. Lots of pictures but also well researched and interesting text. Helpful for those of us who do not want to model "mimic" our rooms after a specific photo spread in a book, but would like to understand, incorporate, and enjoy the historic details of our beautiful homes.

3 comments about The Backyard Playground: Recreational Landscapes & Play Structures.

1. This book has a good opening with the kinds of play a child wants and how to match play areas to them. The woodworking instructions are clearer than "Playhouses You Can Build: Indoor and Backyard Designs," (Stiles, David R) and the color pictures more inspiring but there are fewer projects. Black & Decker does a nice job of showing how to anchor play structures and provide a safe surface (mulch, pea gravel, shredded tires).
   
   You get some playhouses, a tree house, a swing set, porch swing, child-size picnic table, planters, a bird house that is the perfect beginner wood project, a sandbox, a balance beam (way fun!) and a portable putting green that will inspire you to make a mini-golf course.



2. The main problem with this book lies in the fact that there are a lot of pictures for things they do not have instructions for. Anyone who has children will see the problem in this right away...your children are inevitably going to want you to build the things there are no instructions for. If you are a first time builder, this will not be something you can do.

   Aside from that, the instructions they do have seem thorough and easy to follow.

   If you know what you are doing this will probably be a good book for ideas, but if you are a first timer like myself, keep the book away from your kids or you'll find yourself in a bad spot. haha.




3. In an unusual departure from books of this type the first thirteen pages discuss what children like to do, the type of play different ages are interested in, and how to match an appropriate play area to the child. With that foundation firmly laid, "The Backyard Playground: Recreational Landscapes & Play Structures" then proceeds Landscaping for Playgrounds, Large Play Projects, and Small Play Projects. For each project there are multiple illustrations, materials lists, tools lists, and detailed step-by-step instructions to walk you through the entire project. No steps are left out of the project. I have seen several books that detail how to build a swing set but never discuss the appropriate ground coverings or how to correctly anchor it into the ground so it is safe. "The Backyard Playground" makes no assumptions that you would already know things like this. This text assumes that you are starting with bare ground and covers all the steps to build your project from scratch. The illustrations are so well done that anyone can easily follow along and create a playground area rivaling the best commercial projects. "The Backyard Playground" is a highly recommended book for anyone wanting to build their own children's play area and the only one I have ever reviewed that I would feel comfortable recommending to the novice handyman.

No comments about Stone Designs for the Home.

3 comments about Stone House: A Guide to Self-Building With Slipforms.

1. The illustrations inside the book leaves much to be desired. The book is a "Self Guide" to construction; this makes it mandatory to have exceptional pictures, illustrations, and drawings! Sadly, to say notwithstanding, the book-cover the interior is disappointing.



2. Tomm Stanley has written an excellent book that is both instructional and entertaining. He has the experience and forethought to prove that he isn't some hippie with unproven thoughts/ideas, but he also writes in a very warm and personable way that keeps his book from being a dry, tasteless "how to" construction book. He is frank with his mistakes, offers proven and tested solutions openly, and explains things scientifically enough to satisfy this reviewer (I'm an engineer).
   
   My only slight complaint is that many of the photos are terrible quality and you must go to the book's website to view the higher quality versions. This isn't too bad, but I worry that someday the website will move/discontinue and I'll be left with a book poorly illustrated.



3. It's easy to build it yourself with slipforms - especially if you also have in hand Tomm Stanley's Stone House, covering slipforming methods, sources for materials, stonelaying techniques, and more. Tomm Stanley and his partner know their stuff: he built his own home from slipforms and his construction photos can even be seen on-line in color - most included with this book, in black and white.

2 comments about The Victorian Home in America: With Over 250 Illustrations.

1. 15 years before this book appeared, the author, born in Austria but converted to a love of Victorian architecture upon his arrival in the US, produced "The Gingerbread Age," the first popular volume that dared to express admiration for a period in building then considered the nadir of the art. In his Foreword to this work he talks of the "torrent of fan mail" that followed. It's not saying too much to maintain that his work was responsible for the eventual revival in Victorian architecture which began with the hippies creating Painted Ladies in '70's San Francisco and swept the nation in the mid-'80's. Having established the true quality of post-Greek-Revival, pre-World-War-I houses, he turns here to a deeper analysis and description of the different major styles--Gothic, Italianate, octagons, Mansards, Queen Anne, Richardson Romanesque. Lavishly illustrated with bw photographs, floor plans, and reproductions of period pictures, its text written in everyday language with little specialized jargon, and provided with a large appendix listing where to view existing Victorians and a sound list of books to go on to, the book concentrates chiefly on exteriors, though some views of notable rooms are included. If you're looking for good basic overviews of domestic building of the era, Maass's two books are indispensable to your collection. As a social historian, I consult them often.



2. Over two hundred black and white illustrations blends an architectural survey with a history of Victorian times from 1840-1900, examining the many styles of town and country homes of the times and describing both interiors and exteriors. The Victorian Home In America presents fascinating architectural coverage.