2 comments about The Studio Book.

1. I like this book for its photographic essay anthology on artists and their workplaces - I'm glad I made the right choice of buying it because I needed a full-term book on the subject! Everyone should consider it for their libraries as well as I did!



2. Caveat emptor. A very interesting and well done book that gives an interesting perspective on numerous artists, their studios and the designers of the studios. However, if you have an interest in studios not located in California, you like I will be quite disappointed. Apparently the "sun and sea" reference in the publishers description is supposed to indicate that the studios are all in California and is not just a metaphor. This omission is personally significant enough that for the first time I am returning a book to Amazon as I would not have bought it had it been accurately described.

3 comments about Living in Morocco.

1. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in interior design or Morocco.
   Full of beautifull photos of guest houses and private homes in Morocco. The book is presented beautifully and would make a great present for someone special or even as a gift to yourself.



2. This is certainly what I did when I purchased this book. I expected a volume full of palaces, mosques, markets and average folk's homes (or at least native Moroccans!). What I found was a book of lavish hotels and rich foreigners' mansions. They are by and large interesting rich foreigners, but I was still disappointed in that what is portrayed in this book is not "living" in Morocco. It's "being wealthy" in Morocco. There is nothing penetrating about this book, but it is nice eye-candy.



3. Another one those wonderful coffee table book by Taschen publication. This book has a broader variety of homes like from the exclusive Aman hotel (Amanjena) to a humble farmer's house. It's not a book about how to live in Morocco nor about going remodeling or building a home in Morocco. It shows you what some foreigners and locals have done to their home.

   Book is cheaper than the previous Taschen book "Moroccan style".

No comments about Diners: American Retro.

3 comments about Neoclassicism in the North: Swedish Furniture and Interiors 1770-1850.

1. A rich variety of houses, some grander than the others, but all well-to-do peoples dwellings. Some of the manors featured aren't very well known even in Sweden, but they certainly deserve their place here. The few I do miss are featured in "The Swedish Room" e.i. Lay-out-wise it is by now perhaps a little dated, but the auther knows his subject very well and the accompaning photos are mostly marvellous. When a Swede writes on Swedish interiors the result is accurate as this book shows.



2. This book is a treasure of neoclassicism in Sweden. It is supported by sensible (not gushy interior design talk) text and is logically sequenced.

   The pictures and additional material is excellent; although the lighting in some of the photographs is less than perfect.

   This is an inspirational reference for the topic.




3. This is another great book for Swedish decorative detail .A great asset in the decorative artist`s Library.A good source for Bolander`s beautiful wall murals. Great photography with excellent detail shots .A beautiful and knowledgable book. I am a decorative artist specializing in custom painted furniture for decorators and designers and have found this book to be a great resource and very helpful in my work.

No comments about Building Type Basics for Healthcare Facilities (Building Type Basics).

1 comments about Design on the Edge: The Making of a High-Performance Building.

1. Who could dispute David Orr's central contention that we need to continue making buildings that can sustain themselves, so called "green architecture," and that there's no better place to start than at home. His is an impassioned voice that occasionally reaches the oratorical heights of a Thoreau or a Lewis Mumford, and his account of the events leading to the opening of Adam Joseph Lewis Center at Oberlin (Ohio) is worth reading from the viewpoint of agitprop alone: it is the green equivalent of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK.
   
   Alas, it lacks music altogether, and some of its purpler passages should have gotten the red pencil. And while they had the pencil out, they might also have marked up some of the endless and dull passages about persuading this one, selling the idea to that one, many Ohio and government worthies who seem to have stepped out of an early Sinclair Lewis novel. In most cases Orr doesn't mind giving himself the heroic role, but he's the man and we might as well acknowledge it. He's not only the hero, he's the Jeremiah of his own legend. His writing style is accessible: not for Orr the theoretical flourishes of his kinsmen. In fact he harbors a certain contempt for the jargonheads, even ones who share his preoccupation with the green. He has a telling anecdote in which a San Francisco cosmopolitan, invited to give a speech, turns place into an abstraction and bewilders a room full of hardworking Ozark peasant women who give her a grim glare of blankness. These were women who lived, as opposed to the San Francisco woman who could only speak. He quotes Lao Tzu with a certain wry approval: "One who knows does not say and one who says does not know."
   
   In that case he knows and says everything that needs to be said. With the Lewis Center slated to open shortly, we will see the first colleege built building capable to sustaining itself since the original Oneida Foundation in upstate New York during the Transcendental years commemorated by Hawthorne in his BLITHEDALE ROMANCE. Yes, the cost of making such a building is higher than your ordinary strip mall, but in the long run it's the strip mall that's going to cost us more, and as Orr points out, costs decline geometrically as more and more buildings go green and the technology is shared by many. Plus he prevailed upon numerous foundations who were swayed by his appeal and his honesty. His book ends up paraphrasing Wendell Berry to the effect that "to live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of Creeation. When we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament." I wouldn't put it that way myself, but at the heart of the matter, Orr's on the side of the Lord.

No comments about House With A View: Residential Mountain Architecture.

2 comments about Carpentry.

1. This book is an incredible source of information and "how to". It has 90 chapters divided into four sections; Tools & Materials; Rough Carpentry; Exterior Finish; Interior Finish.
   The scope of this book is incredible, and it is very informative and concise (it is a textbook). It covers the following areas
   Wood & Lumber;Engineered Panels;Engineered Lumber Product; Fasteners;Hand Tools;Portable Power Tools;Stationary Power Tools; Blueprints & Building Codes;Building Layout;Concrete & Concrete Forms;Floor Framing; Wall Framing; Interior Rough Work; Scaffolds, Ladders, & Horses; Roof Framing; Stair Framing; Insulation & Ventilation; Cornice Construction; Roofing; Windows; Exterior Doors; Siding; Porches,Decks, & Fences; Drywall Construction; Wall Paneling & Wall Tile; Ceiling Finish; Interior Doors and Door Frames; Interior Trim; Stair Finish; Finish Floors; Cabinets & Countertops; Cabinet Doors and Drawers
   Each of the aforementioned units is further divided into chapters giving the reader the ability to easily find and pinpoint the infomation that they need. The book has an 11 page glossary, many helpful pictures and photos and contains a total of 946 pages, with chapter tests and suggested essays which I find valuable for retaining info on procedures that I do not perform on a regular basis. A great, great book.



2. I recieved my book in perfect time - quick and fast! Thanks.

1 comments about Residential Windows: A Guide to New Techonologies and Energy Performance, Third Edition.

1. I used the first two editions of this book to educate myself about modern windows. This knowledge was used to design and build a passive solar house at 7300' in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, where the winters are often severe. The design was successful since the heat has been left off for more than three years, yet the house stayed comfortable year round.
   
   Residential Windows is written at a semi-technical level that is ideal for builders, architects, and home owners. I have given several copies away (including this third edition) and recommended it without reservation to many others. All the issues pertaining to windowing are explained lucidly and are well illustrated. Other than a Consumers Union style review of named makes and models (which it scrupulously avoids doing), you could hardly ask for more.

5 comments about Phantoms of the Hudson Valley: The Glorious Estates of a Lost Era.

1. I bought this book with much hope and many expectations--having visited soem of the sites personally, I was disappointed in the photographic coverage and the writing. If someone is going to be buy this book in hopes of using it as a reference volume, then pass it by. It serves more as a personal portfolio for Ms. Randall to pose in old costumes, and share some tales in reference to the places she mentions. I found the photos of Wyndcliffe quite compelling, but having photographed it many times now over the last 12 years, I realize what is missing more than anything else.
   
   Don't get me wrong, it's a fine book, for what it is--an amusement for someone not looking for a lot of depth or knowledge on a wonderful subject.



2. Monica Randall is a good writer covering a great subject. I don't need her standing in as a model/ghost in various pictures. The subject is fascinating enough unto itself. Stop with the extra whipped cream on my ecliar!



3. If ever there was truth in the saying that a book shouldn't be judged by its cover, it's here. The book cover and the sales info might lead you to expect atmospheric photographic impressions of ruined estates on the banks of the Hudson. Well, that is definitely NOT what you are getting. Wyndcliff, seen on the cover picture, is one of only a very few true "phantoms" represented in this book - most of the houses documented are, on the contrary, in excellent repair and often even open to the public. The "phantom" part seems mainly to refer to the ghosts featuring in the accompanying texts (and, indeed, in several of the photographs - transparant ladies in elaborate ballgowns floating down stairways, that kind of thing). The texts as such are illuminating and have a certain charm, but clearly this book wants to be a photobook first and foremost, and in that respect it is massively disappointing. Just type "Wyndcliff" or "Bannerman's Castle" in your browser and the web will turn up many more pictures of these places than are seen in this book, many that are way more atmospheric than those on offer here, and all for free. Haunting impressions do not depend on sepia tones, unsharpness, and fish-eye lenses (Randall's love of the latter is truly worrying...), let alone Photoshopped apparitions. In fact, what this book basically gives you are unclear, artificially "spooked up" images, of houses that are seen to much better advantage in several other books - mostly ones that are far less expensive, too, than this exorbitantly overpriced publication.



4. A very nostalgic and melancholy look at some incredible estates both standing and demolished. The author chose most of her subjects because of interesting "ghost" stories that accompany them. Photographs are eery and of sometimes unimportant things like statutes, but there are beautiful interior and exterior shots as well. This is an enjoyable book preserving some of these homes for posterity, but it's not really meant for anyone interested in architecture. There are no floor plans or detailed descriptions of the architectural elements. This book is just meant to be enjoyed.



5. This volume is dedicated to a subject that, to this day, continues to be underserved by photographers and writers. The reasons for that aren't close to clear. The compelling images and folklore are there. Anyway, I accept this book -a cynic might say charitably- in a spirit that factors in the scarcity of material on the topic.
   
   I was not convinced by some of the staged-looking "ghost" photos. I didn't think the subject required any such reaching. Without this spook show punching-up, the books images of stately homes, long abandoned and encroached upon by the elements (one completely engulfed, with the waters of the Hudson right up to its foundation) is legitimately the stuff of dreams --or nightmares. But a gaffe or two doesn't come close to destroying the experience. If you want to like the book, I think you will have no trouble doing so.
   
   If you have heard of these ruins, but never seen anything more than perhaps an extended magazine article on them, I feel sure you'll enjoy this book. In my opinion, the photography isn't nearly as bad as another reviewer suggests.