2 comments about The American Builder's Companion.

1. This is one of the great pattern books of the nineteenth century. This, and others like it, were responsible for a greater proportion of excellent buildings not designed by architects than at any point since in the history of the USA.



2. This is an early pattern book that was in circulation during the mid and late 1800's. It is good only as a historic resource for those wishing to further their studies in American architecture. It is not a practical book for a practicing architect, builder, or restoration buff. The plates are beautiful and the descriptive geometry is fascinating.

1 comments about Fantastic Floorcloths You Can Paint in a Day.

1. I bought this book and another book because I wanted to paint a floor cloth rather than pay $1000 for one from a gallery.
   Instuctions were great...told me the correct materials to buy and I painted a beautiful floor cloth...that I designed
   I would have given it five stars but I don't think one can paint a quality floor cloth in a day and why would you want to.

2 comments about Plan of Chicago.

1. It's hard for me to argue with what was said above. As a student of architectural history, I am as smitten with Burnham's plan as the next person. I do have one caveat with this otherwise fine reproduction: Oftentimes I found the illustrations to be a bit washed out. This gave me great difficulty whilst trying to examine them for a research paper I was assembling. As a result I had to get my hands on an original copy, with the beautiful watercolors still wonderfully intact. As it stands, however, this is a fine volume and worthy of anyone's collection.



2. The most notable aspect of the 1909 Plan of Chicago was that the author's (Daniel Burnham) profession was not exclusively city planning. He was a business man. He viewed his plan for the City of Chicago as the best way to create an exceptional business and civic environment. It worked! Many elements of modern downtown Chicago that make it a truly great, world class city, are a direct result of Burnham's vision. For it is the grand vision that stirs the soul of mankind and allows a "planning document" -- normally a thick document, full of data, which sits on a shelf and collects dust -- to be embraced by an entire community. This is a must read for contemporary city planners, business men and government officials that want to "make it happen" in their communities. MAKE NO SMALL PLANS

4 comments about Landscape Planning: Environmental Applications.

1. Clearly explained wetland designations and issues. Good in preparation for the LARE exams part B.



2. This may be one of the best introductions to environmental planning for geography students interested in the application of physical geographic techniques. When inquiring minds ask how a Geography major like myself ended up doing septic plan review as a county Environmental Health Specialist I simply point to Marsh's chapter on waste disposal and describe the necessary physical parameters familiar to physical geographers (soil types and percolation rates, groundwater levels, slopes and topography, surface water, geohazards, mapping, etc). There is something for everybody in this book and you don't have to be a geography major to benefit. A very practical text.



3. I am a student in environmental planning and have found this book to be extremely useful. It address a variey of things such as watershed, storm discharge, streamflow, etc. It really gives the reader an idea of how to design with nature.



4. This book was a great tool for the beginning landscape architect. Many great tools for land planning including equations and tables and charts to determine various things like water runoff, erosion, sun exposure, and much more.

5 comments about Adding to a House: Planning, Design & Construction.

1. This is an awesome book full of real world experience, means and methods for additions. If you are an architect as I am, this is a must have for your library...and I have a big library. Highly Reccomended.



2. If you're thinking of adding on to your home, this is the best one-volume comprehensive text on both the design and construction process on the market. As a former builder (fifty custom homes, a 46-home subdivision, and commercial projects) who has worked with many architects, I found the principles of addition design laid out here to be thorough, practical and well-illustrated. Every house and every addition is unique, and so understanding the principles is the key to good design. This book also explains much about the construction process, including material take-offs, job planning and other essential topics for any owner or owner-builder.
   
   Taunton Press has an well-deserved reputation for quality construction books, and this is an excellent example of a comprehensive treatment of large, complex subject. As a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle Home section, I would recommend this book unreservedly to any homeowner considering an addition.



3. This is by far the best book on the subject. I have been digging through construction, design, and architecture books for several months until I finally came across this gem. Finding it earlier would have saved me lots of time and made it easier to work with my architect.



4. I think the book is great. As an architect, I am always on the lookout for books that explain in detail what I am trying to do. I keep this book around to show my residential clients to help them understand their addition.

   The illustrations are clear and simple enough for normal people (non architects) to understand. The text comes from the authors years of experience dealing with both sides of the contractor-designer coin. I appreciate his thorough approach and find the book a good addition to my library.




5. Altough there are some nice projects illustrated in this book, it is apprearent that the author, a contractor, has little respect for architects. The author is only in favor of a 'design-build' approach and exclaims that there is usually a "mistaken assumption that the construction documents adequately describe the work" and that in order for an architect to do an accurate set of drawings and specs "there would be hardly any money left to build with". Inaccurate and absurd.

2 comments about A Sense of Mission: Historic Churches of the Southwest.

1. This book features superb photography of the historic Catholic missions built in the southwest states and California. The beautiful photographs, many of them full-page, are of exterior and interior views of the missions, as well as closeups of architectural and artistic details. A short written history accompanies each featured mission, and although there are some mentions of the historical personages and events connected with the missions, most of the histories refer to the physical aspects of the missions such as their construction, remodeling, etc. This is a great coffee-table or armchair traveler book, but one will need to look elsewhere for a serious study about mission history.



2. I purchased this book after a recent visit to the Santuario de Chimayo near Taos, New Mexico, which is one of the churches it features. The photos are absolutely gorgeous and provide an excellent feel for the incredible beauty of these wonderful, historical buildings. The book covers everything from each church's unique architecture to the fascinating folk art that can be found within.

No comments about Formwork For Concrete Structures.

1 comments about Architecture in Detail: Materials (Architecture in Detail).

1. I bought this book simly looking for an addition to my architectural library, but I fell in love with it. I never imagined the flexability of materials before I picked up this book. I strongly recommend it.

5 comments about Interior Design (3rd Edition).

1. I was asked to buy this book for class and did not want to spend the money at first. Now that I bought it I am very happy. It has alot of important and useful info.



2. very nice book, a bit big and awkward for a textbook, but overall nice, quick delivery too. Great experience, recommend amazon for all my purchases! :)



3. This book is one of the prerequesite books required to the students for my Intro To Design class. Pile is very informative, but sometimes over my head in his descriptions. We use this book along with Ching and I find Ching to be in much simpler wording. The pictures are beautiful in Pile....inspiring. A big investment ($80.00) for the serious design student....and worth it, in my opinion.



4. This is one of several of Mr. Pile's books that are on my bookshelf. He is my interior design Guru. He has guided me through many an interior student minefield and brought me out unscathed and with a good grade. Again, good quality binding, paper, presentation, crystal clear text, great colour photography, and tons of information. Whatever I needed to find, it was right there. What more can I say?



5. It is really a marvelous creation. Pile has put together the most basics of interior design and put it into a exciting format for an introduction to interior design survey course. All the in the pictures in the book are beautifully put together and the book contains continuous harmony with each page you turn.

1 comments about Hegemann and Peets American Vitruvius (Reprint Series).

1. This is an incredible achievement. It absolutely must be in the library of every architect and architecture student in the world, because we have lost contact with the beauty and social glory of living urbanistically. The architecture we produce supports this suburbanized lifestyle, and the anti social results of this new pattern of living can be seen daily on the news in all manner of bizarre murders and cultist activity. Well then! Without advocating a style of architecture in particular, this book advocates a type of planning that, if we are intelligent enough to understand this book, could save this country, and save the world. I do not exaggerate. Buy the book. You'll be a different person for having purchased it.