5 comments about Hudson Valley Ruins: Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape.

1. Those who value the Hudson Valley's unique history and beauty must use this book to fight for restoration, preservation and conservation of the human landscape of our precious River!



2. If you have a love of the Hudson River Valley and you wonder what happened to structures you've heard about, but can't find, then you'll enjoy this book. I was also fascinated to learn of buildings I never knew existed and what is being done to save some derelict buildings still standing that are near collapse. This is a very well researched book too. I'd call this a savory read if old structures or the Hudson River shoreline is of interest to you.



3. Ruins (mainly abandoned buildings): eyesores or "romantic embodiments of a historical past"? The authors, in this superbly written and magnificently illustrated book, argue passionately for the latter, and have chosen 85 sites found in the Hudson Valley between Albany and Yonkers to prove their point. Old mansions, mills, manufacturing plants, railroad stations, even Sing Sing prison are described in historical detail and lovingly photographed; scores of black and white photos and a center section of nearly 20 color prints accompany the text. And it's the text that really makes this a stand-out book in the field of local history: the historical sketches for most of the sites are thorough and elaborate in scope. In tracing these ruins of the Hudson Valley, which are many and varied, the authors also trace the history of "ruin appreciation" itself, from early artistic projections to modern debates over urban renewal vs. preservation. This is local history at its best.



4. This book is chock full of information about abandonded places(obviously within the Hudson Valley Region). I honestly wish there were some more detailed photographs of some of these places, but i imagine i might be able to find them on the internet somewhere.Dont get me wrtong There are alot of photographs of the locations and places, and a color plate section in the center but they are like brief narriations of places that could be shown in so much more detail. I can honestly recommend this book to anyone interested in urban decay, preservation of old places, or interested in those abandonded places from times past. Urban Explorers might also find this book of some use as well.



5. This book is well-researched and well-written. A must-have piece of work for anyone interested in or involved in preservation.

5 comments about When Not to Build: An Architect's Unconventional Wisdom for the Growing Church.

1. If you want conventional wisdom, don't look here. This is a very Biblical, fresh, look at the way we do church, from the foyer to the sanctuary. The authors' combined experiences, along with their desire to do things God's way, result in some eye-opening revelations.



2. This is a "must read" for any church that is beginning to plan for building any addition. It is helpful to answer the questions that the authors present to us before we assume that we know why we are building and what we can expect to accomplish through the building project.



3. In the 35 years I have been a lay leader in several different churches, this is absolutely the best and most practical book I have ever read! It is also an easy read. I gave it to a friend who read it in one afternoon. It should be mandatory reading for every church elder/leader board.
   
   Dale Ewald



4. I "had" to read this book because I am on the church board. I was pleasantly surprised by it. It is an easy-reading book that offers unique "think outside the box" ideas for solving a variety of church problems. Even if you are NOT thinking about building, many of the ideas in this book may be useful to your church!
   
   Most churches probably don't need to build because there are other very viable and realistic alternatives. (The book gives many examples!) A building may also put the church in financial bondage, and shift the churches focus from people/outreach to the building program. Because the focus changes, the church stops growing...and they end up in a big new building with hardly any people.
   
   Besides the actual physical ideas for creating more usable space in your existing building, the book also encourages you to think more about your churches priorities and principles. Maybe you don't even need more space. Is your church "over-programmed"?? Many churches start new programs without phasing out any of the old. Old and new programs may end up over-lapping with each other. More isn't necessarily better. It can lead to chaos, volunteers stretched thin, lower quality programs, and lack of space. Better to do less and do it well. Cutting out some programs may not only solve the space problems, but just be better for the church anyways! Short on sunday school classrooms? The "team teaching" method described in the book will not only free up space, but it often creates a higher quality of sunday school classes.
   
   I highly recommend this book - many creative ideas... I think all church leaders should read it.



5. i bought this book b/c the church where my husband is a minister built nearly 3 years ago and now the church is so in debt my husband and the other associate minister are about to lose their job so they can pay the mortgage. what a wealth of wisdom is in this book! and a quick read, too. if every church going through growing pains read this book, i believe the face of american churches would be completely different. what i especially love is the common sense advice for how to reorganize ministries to use space better, take the burden off the volunteers, etc.
   
   and you can't argue with the man. the Bible nowhere EVER advocates debt as a good thing, much less a whole body of believers going into debt for something material like a building. i love his chapter on turning church spending upside down, and imagining what a church could do in and for the community with the money they would have spent on an unnecessary building.
   
   a lot of practical, biblical, common sense advice. highly recommend it!

4 comments about Restoring a Home in Italy.

1. Since we live in the southwest, but don't particularly want to decorate SWestern ..I like this book because it uses the same materials found here but in a different way... Wood, stone, tile..flagstone for the patios..
   They use simple uncluttered lines in their decor inside and out..
   There is a type of tranquility built in. Something we look for in this complicated world.



2. What a great book! The author Elizabeth Minchilli has done has superb job in creating this wonderful book. Although she's not Italian, she now lives in Italy after marrying an Italian architect. Her love and passion for Italy is obvious and the wealth of information that she has gathered is priceless to anyone thinking or planning to buy and/or restore a home in Italy. Her informative writing is beautifully coupled with fantastic photos from the well known photographer Simon McBride. The setting of some of these homes is spectacular! There are many books out there on Italy, but this is truly a must for any fan of Italy or old rural architecture. I highly recommend this book even if you don't have any intention in restoring a home in Italy.



3. After our house burned in San Diego county, during the waiting time for the insurance company, the architect, the engineer, and the city approval, we purchansed MANY books on Tuscan design and architecture, as that is the style we want to emulate. Restoring a Home in Italy provided may examples that helped us though the selection process.



4. While this book may look more like a coffee table piece - and it could very well be - I read it cover to cover. The stories were very informative, telling of the beauty and the challenges of restoring one of these fine homes. After each of the functional sections there was a great write up on the details of the topic, such as; roofing, swimming pools, heating, etc. Naturally, you can tell I loved it and would recommend it to anyone interested in fine Italian home. I hope the author reads this and realized what a great job she did. ....

2 comments about Chinese Architecture: A Pictorial History (Dover Books on Architecture).

1. A large amount of scholarship, care and skill were put into writing this book. The detailed drawings reveal the structure of Chinese architecture (religious and monumental architecture, not commercial or domestic). The drawings are worth the price of the book, while the writing gets a bit boring. But, and this would entail changing the author's book drastically, it needs updating or overhauling--since the book was written 60-70 years ago (with a modern day foreward). It needs to go from Wade-Giles into the pinyin romanization of Chinese characters, and also needs a map or two highlighting where the structures are in China. A better book would be one that keeps his drawings, but uses his writing as source materials and then rewrites it to put things into a better context and flow.



2. Liang Sicheng is among one of the most outstanding Chinese scholars that I admire and respect deeply. As a young man,the beauty of Chinese architecture inspired him to be the first person who studied traditional Chinese architecture scientifically with western methods.After Liang graduated from U.Penn., he moved to Harvard and registered under Graduate School of Art& Science, where he chose the subject "Chinses Architecture". Because there had almost no references in the area, he promised his professor that he will back to China to collect first hand data, and than back to US to finish his study.
   The rest of his story is unbelievably dramatic.( You can find more details in <> by Wilma Fairbank)
   
   I am very glad for the reprint of this cheaper edition, this is the book that every historian of Chinese architecture should have.Highly recommended to Chinese historians as well as architecture lover.

2 comments about Building a Century of Progress: The Architecture of Chicago's 1933-34 World's Fair.

1. This book is that rare combination of first class photographs and illustrations surrounding a first rate work of historical scholarship.



2. This new book discusses in depth the building of the 1933-4 Chicago World's Fair. With astute attention to detail, the managers succeeded in making a profit while presenting both a science show and avant garde architectural display during the depths of the depression. From the breathing dome of the Travel and Transport Building to the all glass block Libbey Owens pavilion, all kinds of innovations in architecture were presented. Ms. Schrenk does an excellent job in describing the numerous innovations in addition to providing good illustrations. One is also informed of why Frank Lloyd Wright was not repesented and his campaign in response. From pre-fabrication to Fuller's dymaxion car (which could move sideways!), all the new construction and technical innovations of the time are here. In sum, a fascinating read for all those interested in Chicago history, architecture, and the "Can Do" spirit of America during the depression.

1 comments about Makers of Modern Architecture: From Frank Lloyd Wright to Frank Gehry (New York Review Books).

1. Martin Filler has been a contributor to The New York Review of Books for the last twenty years. During that time, he produced a series of remarkable essays on the "Giants" of Modern Architecture. "Makers of Modern Architecture" is a compilation of seventeen of those essays. Filler starts with the first Modernists (Sullivan, Wright, Mies, Corbusier) and then moves on to the second (Eames,Kahn, Johnson) and third generation (Gehry, Meier, Foster and Piano) of Modernist architects.
   
   Martin Filler is one of the nation's best architectural critics and this book finds him at the top of his form. With great style, he praises the noteworthy and pillories the cynical. There is an erudition and honesty to his writing that is at times, thrilling. His chapters on Phillip Johnson's opportunism and the political wrangling over the Twin Tower re-construction are especially good. "Makers of Modern Architecture" is criticism at its finest. Highly recommended.

3 comments about XS: Big Ideas, Small Buildings.

1. This book is about creativity and innovation; not just small-house-designing, but compact-space-creation. It contains not only residential projects, but also public facilities (e.g., bus stops) and objects (e.g., stunning tents), plus some "think-outside-the-box" structures for extream weather (e.g., north pole), remote locations, unusual situations (e.g., floating on a river) and pure entertainment (a pocket-size [before use] inflatable space). It also includes all the information about the architects and designers and the prices (generally very cheap, the inflatable space only costs about 5 franc!). However, I would like to have more informatin about those designs, maybe more pictures or text to get a more complete 3D feeling of those spaces.
   
   I discovered this book in a bookstore. After skimming through it, I immediately decided to order one copy. If you want to find some recent architecture and building cases, you'd better get some other books or buy some magazines. But if you want to know how far architecure and design can go and want to experience some intellectural stimulation, then get this book. You will be enlightened.



2. I found this book while doing a newsstand project for my studio class. I was interested in seeing how other designers had tackled the high level of detail that becomes necessary when creating a small structure (and get some inspriation for my own project along the way). I wasn't disappointed. Although I usually like to see more process sketches in architecture books (Xs is completely lacking in this regard), the variety, creativity and inventiveness of the projects exhibited won me over. The different uses of materials are especially diverse and inspiring. The photographs are thoughtful and do a good job of showing much of the detail that makes these structures interesting in the first place. The text is well-written (I consider any architecture writing not filled with euphemisim and jargon a godsend), and the quotes from the designers is insightful. I started showing Xs to other architects in my firm and it quickly became a hit. It is, above all else, an accessable, fun book.



3. This is a nice little book, well put together, of some unique projects you might not otherwise see because they are so small. It isn't very indepth on any of them, no more that 3-4 pics usually. Contains a lot of projects with novel use of materials, most are built pretty cheap too.
   It is good general book and worth... I think.

5 comments about Geodesic Math and How to Use It.

1. I don't like to spend money on information that I can get for free. I found plenty of free information about geodesics on the web, but not enough.
   
   I'm glad I spent the cash. This book filled in all the gaps.
   
   It is not for people with weak math skills.
   
   The book seems confusing at first, but if you keep reading and studying you will be rewarded with a deeper understanding of geodesics than you can imagine.
   
   This book is a "must have" for anyone who wants to build their own dome, or just learn more about geodesics.
   
   And yes, it's worth learning the math skills to understand this book.



2. To paraphrase Barbara Mandrell, geodesic domes were green when green wasn't cool. I read this book in college and was sorely tempted to steal it out of the university library because it had gone out of print and was just not available new or used anywhere else. I kicked myself later for not yielding to temptation when I went to check it out again and realized that someone else stole it before me! Seriously, give Kenner his rightful due, this is a classic in its field. What is my test for saying so? It has been thirty years since the book's first printing and has yet to see its equal. And there have been many many contenders. I could not recommend any one book higher for hobbyist or even professional reference to geodesic calculation and the practical design of geodesic domes. Though Hugh is no longer with us, five years gone as I am writing this, but the effects of his powerful intellect live on and continue to infect others with his inquisitive spirit by way of such seminal work.



3. Seemed over-technical at 1st, but after about a year has been my reference book on geodesics & making all kinds of geodesic domes... It lists chord factors (lengths of segments before applying radius of dome) on tables to 7 decimals for various domes @ the end of the book if you don't want do calculate w/formulas provided. If your familiar with trigonometry, it will let you jump around chapters that are of more interest.
   
   This book was originally copyrighted in 1976, but not edited for this 2nd paperback 2003 Edition (glossy color cover). The author, Hugh Kenner (1923-2003), has compiled a very thorough book. Very well written & explained in orderly fashion with excellent general layout & (especially for the time) detailed diagrams plus cross page-references. IMO there is very little that I would change except for replacing current diagrams with modern CAD generated illustrations, that's about it.
   
   Has 172 pages with several blank pages for notes (I note in the wide margins instead) & is 8.7 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches. Not a small book but not a big bulky one either. Makes for a lot of information handy to store just about anywhere...
   ____________________________________________________________________________________
   
   I found many formulas & shortcuts throughout the book. From Chapter 12 I plotted a 16 frequency (# of divisions making total # of triangles) icosahedron (the typical geodesic polyhedron shape) dome with 3880 chords or "struts". Even made them into arcs for a perfectly round sphere. Chapter 12 has "Using the Tables" with a simple symmetric triangle xyz-grid on a spreadsheet. Each chord calculated does not rely on another chord's result, so chance of error is greatly reduced. Chapter 14 "Truncations" has "Truncation by Rotation", which saves time on calculating the rest of the chords in dome, or moving chords by their symmetry.
   
   This "still nicely" bound book after a lot of use covers tension & tensegrities, subdivisions, great circles, symmetry & breakdowns, choosing a polyhedron, spherical coordinate system, ellipses & superellipses, truncations, space frames & many kinds of angles - plus charts & other resources @ the end.
   
   A free program on the web called Windome is useful to 8 decimals, but lacks input parameters like radius... So I use it to verify chord factors. From 2-16v involving about 12,240 chords plotting all verified (to 15 digits) on 1st try. Besides spreadsheets, formulas can be used in programming like "The R Project", formulas & programs are also written for old Hewlett-Packard HP-35, 21 & 45 series calculators & programs filed with the HP-65 library (circa mid-1970's). I guess it also goes to show Hewlett-Packard has a history in the PC & hardware programming business...
   
   One thing - spherical coordinate symbols for Theta & Phi are switched, though referenced in correct order (check Mathworld). Easy to correct, just read "Phi symbol" as Theta & "Theta symbol" as Phi - references & formulas will be in order. This book was written in mid-1970's, guess more? people then used this as convention.
   ____________________________________________________________________________________
   
   There are many good free sources on the web for geodesic domes & math plotting through Cartesian x,y,z and/or spherical Theta, Phi coordinates using basic trigonometry. This book cost me $13.57 shipped free brand new & is WELL worth it, even after searching the web...
   
   
   A final word of caution on building materials for domes in general: if you use wood make sure you take extra fireproofing precautions, unless it's a temporary frame. 2 domes here in town (on same lot) burnt down before fire department got to them - and they were right down the street! The intense heat from both fires left nothing except the slab & melted everything.
   
   So, when they start to burn there is very little time to exit the structure. As energy efficient as they are, the same design allows for a very efficient combustion, especially with wood stud frames & panels. Other problems arise as well with ventilating interior wood frames to help prevent condensation.
   
   There are many other materials that will not burn that could make up the panels (like from American Ingenuity, Inc.), or even a monolithic concrete pour over a temporary plastic covered geodesic wood frame. Another method that doesn't use geodesics is a "monolithic shotcreted airform dome" (from a company called Monolithic Dome Institute).



4. The subject very well presented and in a way that is easy to understand. Gives the underlying math to be able to use our modern computers setting on our desk tops to go far beyond what one person could do 25 years ago.



5. Well, the time has come for the pirates to take a hike. UC Press is reprinting this book. The information I have indicates both hard and softcover bindings...It will be available this year (2003).

   Geodesic Math and How To Use It is an extremely well written book, and with the NASA papers, forms the "canon of applied geodesic math." It is a great book, well written and useful.

1 comments about Micro: Very Small Buildings.

1. I bought this book after I spied it at a local bookseller, then hopped on to Amazon.com to order it. It basically covers all formats of different compact spaces for use privately, public, accommodation and interactive. It's a great little book and with a lot of conceptual and cleaver ideas for small spaces. Some of them are way out there and others are practical, but I would definitely recommend this book if you are in to architecture, design, art, landspacing etc as it highlights and looks at humans and their interactions with their environment. It's divided in to section with a one page introduction for each structure accompanied by full page photographs.

5 comments about Archigram.

1. that's a pitty not have portuguese language but it is an interesting book.Not only for architects, but to anyone who loves construcion



2. I recently asked Dennis Crompton, about the historical significance of archigram's advocacy of social change and technology/advantgarde design in Modern Architecture. The elitist corporate architecture of the final and high practioner of the late Modern Architecture Style, Sir Norman Foster's definitive work, is a direct evolution of the 'Modern Movement' and 'archigram' dialog and vocabulary.
   BTW thanks, for trying to make a difference.



3. The merit of the book is to provide an affordable compilation of Archigram's images and original text, mostly published on Architectural Design almost forty years ago. While it is disappointing not to have color pictures, the graphics are still compelling and provocative (all done without Photoshop!). It is a very good basic reference book if you are interested in Archigram.



4. Content-wise the book is great, but all the images are black and white, which in terms of the work of archigram, is a disappointment. I will certainly end up buying a second book to fill in the blanks that this one leaves.



5. A staggering achievement. After viewing the exhibition at the San Francisco MoMA, I became very interested in this subject. I've found it to be an amazing introduction into the world of Art/Architecture for those whose interest lies within the graphic arts. Thoroughly enjoyable, highly enlightening. Highest Recommendation