No comments about Living Outside Inside.

1 comments about Beyond the Bungalow.

1. I really enjoyed this book because it points out several historic house museums that I was not aware of and can now add to my must see list. This book covers those homes that are not technically bungalows but are still a part of the rich American Arts and Crafts movement.
   
   The text is a bit hard to work through but the author does have some wonderful ideas. There are roughly 50 different houses shown all from the exterior and about 25 have additional interior photos. Not all the homes are available to the public so it is a nice way to see inside some private homes.
   
   This is not a how to book but it covers its subject nicely.

5 comments about Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings, 9th Edition.

1. used as a textbook, but even if not would make an excellent companion to any elec mech class.



2. If you want to know more than most Architects and Engineers about how to design the guts of buildings this is the book to use. It's a fat guy though! Sometimes the text seems to weigh you down. Most architectural students consider it a sloug! But, once they graduate, they use it throughout their careers as design professionals. If you want to know how to develop a regional climatic response strategy for your building or development, calculate passive ventillation rates or heat gains and losses on unique configurations of wood, siding and insulation; size gutters or a rain water catchment system or plan for an elevator, this is the book for you.



3. This is the best reference for Architects and students studying mech. & elec. equipment



4. If you are an engineer engaged in the design of mechanical and electrical systems for commercial and institutional buildings, you may find this your most valuable reference for an overview of theory and best practices for the entire gamut of building systems.
   
   I did find a bit too much enthusiasm for environmentally friendly and energy-conserving new ideas. Many of these technologies are worth following but have economic results that will not serve your clients well.
   
   I am a professional engineer (leading my own firm) with 40 years of experience and have a huge library including the eighth and ninth editions of this book; it's one of my favorites.
   
   It's must reading for a new engineer because you will be able to understand the basics of areas that are new to you with an hour or two of study.



5. My part of this book (mechanical and plumbing) is designed to first show how to minimize the need for mechanical equipment by designing with the climate and site firmly in mind. First configure a building to optimize daylighting, solar heating, and various climate-appropriate passive cooling methods. Also, to store rainwater when appropriate. Then, proceed to choose and size the back-up equipment. In this way, designers conserve non-renewable energy, utilize natural (on-site) energy sources, and also help building occupants stay in touch with the outdoors. I believe that we'll tend to care more about a clean outdoor environment if we are kept aware of its condition.
   For a summary of this approach, read Chapter One. I hope you enjoy this book, even when it is your textbook! That was my object. Suggestions? I'm at jreyn@darkwing.uoregon.edu

No comments about More Bars & Restaurants (Architectural Interiors).

3 comments about Time-Saver Standards Site Construction Details Manual.

1. Hi,
   I am a landscape designer, and for some odd reason this book has many many design details, but never the one I need applicable to my project. I wouldn't recommend it, but I'm at a loss for finding another good resource on the topic.



2. This is a great book that I use all the time in my design work. It's organized really well making it very easy to use. Like Gang Chen mentioned in his review, you can't just copy and apply each detail as is, you have to adapt it to your specific climate and design program. That said, the details are a great starting point. I recommend this book to not only landscape architects working in large LA firms, but also to the residential designers who incorporate a lot of detailing in their plans.



3. Detailing is difficult for young design professionals. College education does not cover enough detail design, the only ways to learn how to develop details are: 1) learn through working experience in design offices; 2) teach yourself by reading good books.
   
   "Time-Saver Standards Site Construction Details Manual" can alleviate this problem. When they wrote this book, Nicholas T. Dines, FASLA was a professor and director for the graduate MLA program at the University of Massachusetts, and already had 32 years of professional experience. Kyle Brown was an assistant professor of Landscape Architecture at California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and held a Bachelor and a Master degree in Landscape Architecture and was a Ph. D candidate in regional planning.
   
   "Time-Saver Standards Site Construction Details Manual" covers athletic surfaces (natural and artificial turf, athletic paving), curbs (asphalt, brick, wood, stone and concrete curbs), drainage inlets (catch basins, area drains, trench drains), drainage swales (concrete, stone and vegetated swales), lighting (accent, pedestrian and vehicular lighting), paving (aggregate, asphalt, brick, concrete, stone, wood and synthetic paving, reinforce turf), paving dividers (brick, concrete and stone paving dividers), paving edges, paving joints, pedestrian ramps, planting, ponds, retaining structures, seatwalls, steps, and walls. There is also a useful detail index at the end.
   
   The details in this book are useful, but you still have to adapt them per your specific project condition. For example, some of the paving details call for "reinforcement as required." If you just copy and use these details, I guarantee you'll get change orders for your job. You should adapt these details per the soils report and tenant or developer criteria of your job and / or consult your structural engineer to actually specify what kind of reinforcement you are using for these details in your job.
   
   "Time-Saver Standards Site Construction Details Manual" has 416 pages and 350 common site details. It is a good Site Construction reference book for architects, landscape architects and engineers. Like any other books, it'll not cover every situation for your job. As a design professional, you should still review and adapt these details for your job.

1 comments about Design Details for Health: Making the Most of Interior Design's Healing Potential (Wiley Series in Healthcare and Senior Living Design).

1. I am a professional Health Care interior designer who is always looking for resources to enhance my knowledge base for creating healing enviornments in the health care market. A few years ago I attended, along with about 300 other designers, a presentation by a nationally known health care designer. At the end of the 1.5 hr. lecture, there were six of us left. The focus of the talk was entirely philosophical: there were no gems of knowledge or tools we could take back to our design practices to make our projects better. Ms. Leibrock certainly doesn't have to worry about anyone leaving her presentation. The book has been delegated to my reference shelf and I am sure will become dog-earred.

   The specific types of healing environments included in the book range from birthing centers to long-term care facilities and all that is in-between. The philosophical issues are presented and then followed by research findings and case studies which support those concepts. Then the GEMS! Lists and lists and lists of hands-on guidelines which are distilled from the vast experience and research of the author.

No comments about The Complete Guide to Gazebos & Arbors: Ideas, Techniques and Complete Plans for 15 Great Landscape Projects (Black & Decker Complete Guide).

2 comments about 100 Houses for 100 Architects (Special Edition).

1. This book is not as bad as the previous reviewer makes it out to be. It presents a wide selection of architects houses, from William Morris in the Nineteenth Century to Francine Houben at the end of the Twentieth. The documentation of every house is quite decent and gives a good understanding of the spaces, with a good textual explanation, and the photographs are of great quality. Some houses have probably rarely appeared in print, as for instance those of Fernando Tavora, Christian Norberg-Schulz, and Jose Antonio Coderch. Besides, the book gives a great idea about these architects' conception of the 'home', as for instance in Coderch's case, who conceived his house in a vernacular mode quite different from the architecture he is known for.



2. There's nothing terrible about the book. But it is so easily beat out by other architecture books (including others by Taschen publishing) that there's no reason to get this book or waste your time reading much about it.

1 comments about Architecture in China.

1. The overall view of the book is considered to be an excellence book.
   There are a few projects that need to have drawing documentation and in my preferences drawings could be bigger but they are readable.
   The photographs in this book are excellent representation of the essence of the projects under the study cases. Perhaps the narratives could include deeper conclusions of the architect's ideas-to explain the arrival of their conclusions.
   I would really appreciate if all drawings were black w/ grey scale.

5 comments about Complete Guide to Building Log Homes: Over 840 illustrations.

1. complete guide to build log house from cutting the trees to switch on the lights in living room.
   I missed coloured pictures but anyway thick enough to explain everything step by step.



2. This book is a bit out of date and geared toward the outback builders who want to build a cabin cheap. I'm one of those so I liked it but there's no color pictures etc. Has lots of information on how to get the job done without a lot of money and deals with the complete house including site selection all the way through move in. 400+ pages where most are only around 200. I'd get another book if I was just getting one, but makes a good addition to the newer ones.



3. Do not recommend buying, black and white old, old pictures, unless you feel like taking out a chain saw (or axe) and using antique tools to build one, forget this book.



4. ... I have been building regular frame construction houses and wanted to try something new by building some log homes in the mountains of Colorado where I live. I bought about every book that Amazon had to offer on log home construction. I was excited to get my copy of "Complete Guide to Building Log Homes" as it seemed to be the "bible" I was looking for. I was extremely disappointed. First off the book was printed in 1990 and the material used is 10-15 years out of date with today's construction methods. Even the pictures look like they are from the 1960's. There was even a picture where he tells you how to hand mortice an end joint and he is building a home with bark still on the logs !!!! That just isn't how things are done today. No mention of tongue and groove joints, prefinished and pre cut packages, D-cut logs, etc. He is out of date with todays construction. This book is a waste of money when there are books ... on building log homes that are written less than a year ago. Save your money. I sent mine back !!!!



5. This how-to guide covers the entire log home building process, from land planning through the time you enjoy the warmth of your new fireplace