5 comments about Inside Cuba.

1. If you are looking for a book on Cuban politics and history, Look somewhere else. If you are looking for a book full of exquisit imagery and information detailing Cuban life, especially in the realms of art and architecture, this book is a must have. I own a copy of virtually every book that I've ever found on Cuban art & architecture and this is among the top five that I've ever found. Typical books of this quality sell for far more than this and often contain far less useful information.
   As a graduate architecture student with a passion for Cuban architecture, I refer to this book in my research as well as for pleasure.



2. Great book, it has very nice pictures of the architectures of the old colonial and new Cuban buildings. Unfortunately, the writer is very much infatuated with the current communist regime, and spoils all the good qualities of the Cuban art with his left wing preferences. I understand he is the writer, and he has the right to publish what he wants in his book. I do agree with some of the other reviewers, Cuba was a beautiful place at one time. However, like all the communist countries in the world you can see the awful results with the dilapidating unpainted buildings and everything else that comes with it. If you happen to be expose to the current Cuba, and find it fascinating, just imagine what it was like, many years ago before it was doomed by the current backward government. It was the pear of the Antilles! I'm sorry if I sound so right wing. But, I can't help myself. Because, I love freedom, and the good life; something that the envious ignorant left wing liberals never seem understand. The book is not bad. However, it could be much better.



3. Excellent book. Could benefit from more text and specific location information (addresses) but great coverage and good photos. My wife and I used the information from the book on a recent visit.



4. The book Inside Cuba is very different from others. It gives you a little view inside a beautiful country. Buildings, rooms, furniture everything is if you're going back into time. The regime of Castro stopped the time and you find this definitely back in this book. Almost all the pictures are of very good quality. The only negative point is the lack of political and historical information. But overall it is a good book to get another view on Cuba.



5. Great book. No supercover, do not search, and that begins the style. I do not agree, that book displays the misery, serves regime, and that is something expected to be admired by 'leftists'.
   
   For, to me, not unpainted walls, natural (though, yes, not "rich" as it is often understood) people are disastrous. Omnipresent agression of commerce IS.
   
   There is no doubt, those people are more beautiful on inside, than those, who are rather on outside.
   
   And Cuba can be land of clean, magnificent dreams, architecture and interiors for people, by people, ideas, derived from ideals - let it be imperfect, I can understand that part, still book is about departure into the other world. And that journey is impressive. With that book in my mind, I tried to compare it against many others, that were on shelves. I returned home with this book today, definite highlight of Taschen.
   
   If in doubt, open it, and you will feel quickly if it is for you, or not. Hopefully, it is.

2 comments about Abbot Suger on the Abbey Church of St. Denis and Its Art Treasures.

1. "This was precisely...what St. Bernard had thundered against...
   No figure painting or sculpture...,gems, pearls, gold and silk were forbidden...
   Suger, however, was frankly in love with splendor and beauty in every
   conceivable form."
   [On the Abbey Church of St. Denis]
   One of the few early accounts on the gothic cathedral building. Introduction itself is worth the money. Mr. Panofsky is explaining political, social and personal influences that together with Suger's psychological traits led to the construction of what is supposed to be the first Gothic catedral - St. Denis. The keyword here is "influences" - do not expect to learn the construction process or anything of that kind. Account itself does not contains many construction details, but deserves your attention indeed. Kind regards, Mario.



2. This is an OPUS MAGNUS of profound erudition! An indispensable must have for any student of Gothic Art & Architecture. From sheathed shafts thrusting upwards penetrating groin vaults to the most scholarly look nto this seminal figure in the Middle Ages, this text has it all! While certainly not a light read, it is a and important and pivotal work in the scholarship of the beginning of the Gothic era. It should be more readily available.

2 comments about Open: New Designs for Public Space.

1. I haven't read this book, except for some excerpts. However, I've read a number of pieces on how marvelous Roppongi Hills is. The people who write these pieces don't have much first-hand experience. I live beside Roppongi Hills. They've built a massive outdoor speaker system right across the street from some existing housing. That's turned a whole neighborhood into a noise pollution hellhole.

   Take these puff pieces with a grain of salt.




2. OPEN: new designs for public space proves that public space has a rich and exciting future. With inspiring projects from six continents, this attractive volume casts a wide net that includes both traditional forms of public spaces (plazas and squares) and exciting hybrids, such as temporary installations that can transform unused spaces into inviting community resources. The essays and interviews also present architects and designers acting as facilitators as much as form makers. In addition to architects, landscape architects and planners, the volume is enriched by contributions from artists, graphic and industrial designers as well as critics and thinkers.

No comments about Contemporary Seaside Houses (Evergreen Series).

1 comments about Rosemary Beach.

1. This book offers an attractive photographic portrait of Rosemary Beach Florida, a Duany Plater-Zybeck (DPZ) designed community. This beautifully executed tome shows the charm and character that can be achieved in a new community when the principles of good urban design are followed.
   
   For anyone who decries the fact that they are no new porches being created on streets where kids can walk to neighborhood schools, this book is proof positive that you just aren't buying property from developers who have a proper view of the potential of new construction and good planning.

No comments about Herzog & de Meuron 1997-2001: The Complete Works, Volume 4.

1 comments about From a Cause to a Style: Modernist Architecture's Encounter with the American City.

1. Nathan Glazer's book, "From A Cause To A Style" is a must read if you want to know where modern architecture has gone, especially in the residential field. In very clear terms and with excellent examples, the reader learns to some degree just how dumbed down we have become regarding architecture and the arts. The Star architects now do museums and entertainment palaces. They do not do housing like they used to primarily because the public has rejected what they did. Glazer sets this all down with both clarity and precision and if you would understand why the developer demolished the perfectly adequate house next door and built a house capable of becoming a fancy servants quarters for the Queen of England, this is whare you find that out. Every architect should own and read this book.

No comments about Design of the 20th Century (TASCHEN Icons Series).

5 comments about Small Barn Plans for Owner-Builders.

1. It was a good book to prepare for a small barn building project.



2. Only basic info on planning a project and included plans are just a teaser to get you to purchase complete plans. There are much better general barn/shed books.



3. It's marginally useful with hand drawn, black & white diagrams. You do get a sense of what building a horse barn or shed is all about. There are other reference books out there that deal with the subject in a more polished way though.



4. I found this book to be an excellent source of information. It has greatly helped me do the planning for the construction of my barn.



5. The cover bills it as 'complete' plans for 12 different barns- actually, to get complete plans that would be needed to get building permit do construction or buy materials, you have to order a set form the authors website. The book has nice practical ideas about working with subcontactors, and the designs and sources are quite useful.

1 comments about An Architecture of the Ozarks: The Works of Marlon Blackwell.

1. It is with releif that we look at the work of this small town architect living and working in rural Arkansas. It is proof that the creative design of striking small homes is not dead. The buildings illustrated here are not the expensive luxury homes of the rich, nor are they the cookie cutter homes of the modern American sub-division. Instead, they are striking buildings that are well within the range of the average house buyer.
   
   Mr. Blackwell clearly works well with the client and the location of the proposed dwelling. That part of the country, for instance, is prone to frequent flooding. As a result, a number of the houses shown here are built up above ground. These houses, though, are far from the traditional set of poles with a conventional house positioned on top. The results look like insects, or maybe space ships. Yet the designs are so simple that the costs would not be extremely high.
   
   This book is a refreshing look at brilliant design in an unexpected corner.