2 comments about Charles Rose, Architect.

1. His name was out when he was still married to Maryann Thompson from "Thompson and Rose Architects" days. Now, they are on their separate ways. Maryann Thompson was a visiting faculty at MIT and Harvard and that brought them the works, mostly residential, very regional.
   
   Now, on his separate way in 2000s, he puts together of his works in this book but I don't find much of the consistency compared to his old days with Thompson or any architect of his age. The design got younger and the project scale got bigger. But I still find the actual experience of his space only dwells in the book better than the real time. It is difficult to become a master designer in Architecture, indeed but I wonder if this book is any better than magazines that show residential works. Is it original or inspiring other young architects? I am afraid to say neither. Just another local designer. I suggest anyone pass over this book and look for real masters' works.
   
   BTW, he is not Peter Rose from Harvard GSD. Often people get confused with these two.



2. I'm not an architect but I love modern style houses... I also hate blah-blah-blah architecture books... so I loved this book. Beautiful pictures of interesting homes and public buildings. Text that is there is pithy and interesting to read.
   
   I am now going to buy a copy for my nephew who is thinking of becoming an architect. It's fun.

5 comments about Wallace Neff and the Grand Houses of the Golden State.

1. The book is well researched, but there are very few photos. For that reason I find it unsatisfying. In a book about an artist, a lack of visuals is a serious flaw.



2. I thought the information in this book was wonderful! The biographical details on Neff and those he designed for are captivating.
   If the book has a weakness, it would be that the photos are very few considering his body of work. Only one distant aerial shot of the Enchanted Hill estate of Frances Marion and Fred Thomson when so many commissions were generated from those who visited the home???
   I'm dreaming of a Wallace Neff book with hundreds of interior & exterior shots of his works, floorplans, and current status of the house.
   Having said all that, I'm still reading this every evening before bed, so it is fair to say I love it!



3. if you are looking for examples of the archictecture of wallace neff this is not the book to purchase. There are very few pictures of his architecture in this book, in fact the nicest picture in the book is the one on the front cover. The book is mostly about the man and what influenced his designs.



4. I really liked this book. I thought it was excellent. I enjoyed reading about the man Wallace Neff and reading about his architectural career and seeing photos of his works. Yes, there could have been more photos-but what was there was nice. And I must commend the publisher as these days I find so many typographical errors when reading books--and I did not find ONE typo!!! A very well done book.



5. The book is well researched and his life presented well but the monograph is so skimpy on photos that you're left feeling like you just ate your appetizer and now you are being denied your filet mignon. His work is so stunningly detailed in person that only giving the reader a few black and white photos devoid of detail is jsut mean spirited. Very disappointing.

No comments about Village Walks: Tuscany: 50 Adventures on Foot (City Walks).

1 comments about Moving Rooms: The Trade in Architectural Salvages (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art).

1. When we lived in England, we were constantly visiting old homes, stately mansions, and castles, and were always impressed by how deep the history went, especially in the oldest, darkest oak-paneled rooms. If those panels could talk, what a rich history going back perhaps six centuries they might tell, of what had happened in those rooms, what agreements signed, what assignations made, and so on. Some of those elaborate decorations were Jacobean, others were what might be called Jacobethan. I am only now learning that plenty were Jacobogus. John Harris is an architectural historian who let me in on this sordid secret (and the new word), in _Moving Rooms: The Trade in Architectural Salvages_ (Yale University Press), a documentation of a part of the antique and interior decorating worlds that does not otherwise get much attention. It's a story of centuries, money, and more than a little chicanery, and Harris has covered one room and one desecration after another. It is obvious that he has done copious research, and some of the text is mere listing of owners, rooms, and prices, as if he wanted to make sure that all the data got in. The patterns of the trade, and of deception within it, are fascinating, and the large-format, glossy book has hundreds of photographs well aligned with the text.
   
   Much of Harris's book concentrates on the movements of rooms and room parts over the later nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but the trade had gone on long before that. Paneling was easily removed, easily reinstalled, and easily shuffled to fit into rooms of various sizes. Interior wooden paneling over walls had the same job as tapestries, to help insulate the room and keep drafts out. There were fashions in carving paneling, with some of the oldest being carved to look as if it had folds of linen on it. Thereafter, more fanciful decoration took over in the Renaissance. The French versions, called _boiseries_, were flat, broad panels with raised floral or geometric decoration around the edges, often gilt. Fashions change, and when paneling was taken off, it might be used again for a servant's room or an attic, or it might be put in storage. It could then be pulled out decades or centuries later for the express purpose of giving a room an antiquarian look. Paneling and other wooden parts were often installed in American museums, and some such rooms are careful and get Harris's praise, but other museums seemed to go gaga over rooms without a sense of curatorial judgement. Some museums joined in a spending spree for entire rooms, thereupon finding them too entire to install in entirety, or install at all. Many of them stayed crated up, and some simply became lost (there are many rooms here that no one knows where they are).
   
   The presence who enters these pages more than any single individual is William Randolph Hearst. "So prolific was he as a magpie accumulator of salvages that it is difficult to evaluate his discrimination when the vast scale of his acquisition is considered. `Collecting' implies acquisition with a collection in mind, but so mind-blowing was the scale of his purchases, so diverse and unequal the quality, so grotesque the utter lack of self-discipline, that his motivation, beyond the lust of acquisition, is baffling." A compulsive buyer, he was lucky to have the services of his architect Julia Morgan, who incorporated much of it happily in San Simeon. Hearst gathered much more than he could ever use, or even ever unpack, and in 1941 it was catalogued for sale. Harris reproduces the nine pages having to do with "buildings and parts", and if you needed twelfth century Romanesque portals or a fifteenth century Venetian door knocker, you should have been at that sale. Harris's chapter on "The Great Accumulator" winds up this comprehensive tour of a specialized and peculiar topic. His lists of accumulations become entertaining as they are coupled with tales of lucre, deception, pride, and the folly of the rich.

No comments about Modern Baroque Interiors (Reference Bks.).

2 comments about Best Castles - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales: The Essential Guide for Visiting and Enjoying.

1. Gorgeous photos, nice descriptions, but too short & not detailed enough. It would also have helped to have had captions under the photos; I frequently couldn't tell what I was looking at. I also wished it were longer. Overall a worthwhile book if a little on the shallow side.



2. I am a big fan of ruined castles. I like ancient, crumbling old buildings from times long past. There are many such castles in the British Isles, but there are also many more "modern" castles, built hundreds of years after the medieval period, filled with sumptuous carpets and luxurious wall coverings and such. I can see the allure of these castles for some people, but they do not hold the same wonder for me, and when I am paying a lot of money to visit a foreign country, I want to optimize my experience as much as possible.
   
   This book is wonderful because it lets me do just that. Many guidebooks (I use the Let's Go and Rough Guides) do not differentiate between different kinds of castles, and offer a brief description of each one. It's hard to know what you're getting into before you actually arrive. With this book, you can get a preview of each castle, so you're never surprised. I mentioned my personal love of ruins, but this book is great for any taste, or just the curious.
   
   The information on each structure is sparse, and much attention is paid to the glorious full color photographs. I never got the impression this book was trying to be the authority on castle information however, and I think it succeeds admirably at its chosen task. It is a good supplemental guidebook if you're interested in the topic.

5 comments about Standard Handbook for Civil Engineers (Handbook).

1. The book came within a couple days and was fairly priced and new.



2. I've read several other of the reviews, and feel the need to add a little to the conversation.
   
   This book will not make you into an engineer if you don't have the foundation knowledge required. It is a desk reference, useful mainly for a quick review, of principles outside your primary area of engineering practice, when you need a quick refresher.
   
   I am a degreed and licensed Civil Engineer, but I am primarily a Construction Engineer. I use this book to get myself back upto speed on topics that I haven't dealt with in a while, and to do field checks on designs I'm trying to build before I call the Design Engineer. I've got several hundred text books, and years worth of journals, and technical reports available in my office. They don't fit in my breifcase and travel to the field well. The handbook does.
   
   I wouldn't rely on the knowledge contained in this book alone, to execute a design for any complex or critical project. I doubt that any competent professional would, or should.
   
   All said, it is worth every penny you spend on it.



3. I found it most complete reference for civil engineers ,I always carry this book in my travels ,I found it complete in this fields: safety and health concerns, and the most current codes changes including ACI, AISC, ASTM,
   and you find powerfull data in covers systems design, community and regional planning, the latest design methods for buildings, airports, highways, tunnels and bridges. It includes sections
   
   what do you want else ,buy it and carry all knowlege you can have.



4. The fifth edition update mainly reflects changes in code requirements for structural engineering. Other sections seem barely changed from the fourth edition. The water resources chapter has several misprinted tables. Use the corresponding tables out of the fourth edition.

   Generalle well-written and easy to follow. Useful as a supplemental study reference for the Civil PE Exam.

   Could use a good bibliography.




5. I'm a senior in CE this year and I have been using the 2nd edition of this book (1976) more or less daily as I work on my senior design projects. Not really in depth on any one subject, but its great if you just need to look up a formula or technique that you forgot from some class. I plan to ask for the new edition as a graduation present.

5 comments about St. Petersburg: Architecture of the Tsars.

1. The most gorgeous, comprehensive photographic panorama of the treasures of St. Petersburg. Even if your exposure to St. Petersburg is limited to the Winter Palace, (now the "Hermitage" museum), BUY this book AND buy the unreal, almost surreal DVD "Russian Ark". Both are BREATHTAKING!



2. This is a gorgeous book on a beautiful city. My father would have loved this book, he had an interest in all things Russian, he and my mother toured St. Petersburg and loved it. The images in this book are crisp and text highly informative. St. Petersburg has a wealth of beautiful Imperial Buildings and they are shown at their best in this wonderful book. From Peter the Great's Peterhof to the Hermitage, to Catherine the Great's Tsarkoe Selo, the best of Imperial Russian architecture is on display. If you have any interst in Imperial Russian architecture or just enjoy fine books, then i cannot imagine you being disappointed. Highly recommended.



3. This can be an expensive book if you're not buying it used, but it's absolutely worth it. The beautiful pictures are excellent at presenting St. Petersburg's amazing architectural wonders. The text is well-written, and even if you don't have a great deal of knowledge of Russian history, you'll still be able to follow along without any trouble.

   A gem - read and enjoy!




4. I ordered this book but was sent a book on grilling...I returned the grilling book but have not been credited for the st petersburg book..please refer this to the proper dept. thank you!



5. I ordered this book but was sent a book on grilling...I returned the grilling book but have not been credited for the st petersburg book..please refer this to the proper dept. thank you!

3 comments about Vitruvius: Ten Books on Architecture.

1. Th Ten Books are a must for every architecture student. I must confess I did not read it all at the time of my first year...But Vitruvius' masterpiece on architecture is definitely a must read.



2. First off, I should note that I find this version of Vitruvius far more useful than many others, especially in the clearly noted diagrams, explanations of measurement units, and so forth. The editor and translators have done a good job of this aspect of Vitruvius Pollio's work.

   However, the translators appear to have taken a few liberties with the text. First, since Vitruvius is a historical work as well as a canon of Classicism, an honest modern-day translation must relate not only to its period, but also to subsequent periods in order to be understood in terms of the nearer to present and Vitruvius' own time. The translators' choice of ridding the text of the translation "the Orders" for Vitruvius' original choice of "genus" is bad enough, but when you observe that this translation has been rendered as "type" instead, it has the potential of blending in with unintended references in the text to type as well as being confused with common modern/Modernist discursions into what type is. The translators should have indicated their theories about what they thought would be a correct interpretation of the Roman word "genus" at the beginning of their notes, not by making a deliberate decision to diverge from the customary content of the text.

   Second, this translation appears to fail to take into account some aspects of military culture which have influenced the text. Vitruvius was a military man and although he adopted the linguistic style of Cicero in some respects (who has been accused of using two words in the place of one or even none), sometimes a distinction he makes, albeit slight, is worth noting, especially in the context of his role in the Roman military and in the context of subtle gradations of meaning being just as notable as subtle gradations in style and form.

   Third, and most telling, the translators and editors have missed an opportunity to note something very useful in Vitruvius, and that is that although he understood the what of the Orders, he may not have understood the why of the Orders. In some cases, he goes to great lengths to wave hands over certain aspects of the Orders, even devolving into a Ciceronian overuse of words and dense prose, in order to pull a Wizard of Oz-like "pay no attention to the unknowns behind this concept". The translators note the fuzziness, but they don't begin to question the nature of it and as a result, they may inadvertently paint Vitruvius in a little bit better light than he may actually deserve.

   Otherwise, it is a well-rendered translation, although for serious readers and researchers it should be balanced with at least one other translation, such as Morgan's translation.




3. As a Penn State first year architecture student I have been studying Vitruvius line by line. It is the most inspirational, thought provoking, and interesting book I have ever read. I even hold my own Vitruvian study sessions to review the material and relate all of Vitruvius's topics to the outside world not even related to architecture. If you are at all interested in architecture, construction, philosophy, or if you just want a different type of book to read I urge you to give this a try. It is truly a remarkable book that has revolutioned and standardized many architectural details.

No comments about Exercises in Building Construction: Forty-Five Homework and Laboratory Assignments to Accompany Fundamentals of Building Construction: Materials and Methods.