1 comments about Mini House Now.

1. Made me feel like a glutton after buying an 1200 sq. foot condo... what a waste of space! An excellent book showing you don't need an 8,000 square foot mansion to live comfortably. The book is also great for anyone interested in minimalism interior design as many of the homes don't allow for much clutter or adornment.

3 comments about Bungalow Basics: Bathrooms.

1. The tiny size of the photos is really unfair to the content of the book, since it strictly limits its usefulness as design inspiration. Ditto the poor organization of textual referents to page numbers later in the book. I can much more warmly recommend Jane Powell's Bungalow Kitchens and Peter LaBau's New Bungalow Kitchen, which are vastly richer in both content (former) and visual imagery (latter).



2. I was a bit surprised when I received this book and found that it is a very small book. This should be noted in the description. The bathroom photos are the same as in other books I have on the Craftsman Bungalow that do not specialize in just the bathroom. I had hoped there would be something different.



3. A nice book with examples of bungalow kitchens new and old, but some of the images are too small due to the tiny size of the book, about 6" x 6". Some of these images have been used before in an earlier bungalow CD. Book offers little more than pretty pictures; a minimal list of suppliers, no details, no how-to's. If you have technical questions, such as how to integrate a 1915 cast iron kitchen sink into a new counter top, you won't find the answers here.

5 comments about Kregel Pictorial Guide to the Temple (Kregel Pictorial Guides) (Kregel Pictorial Guide Series, The).

1. I have found this book to be useful to help my son get a better understanding of the old testament. Temples, priest, and sacrifices. When you have a better understanding of this, than you have a better understanding of how this was a shadow to what was to come......Jesus



2. I was excited to get this guide because I thought it was going to tell me, or at least show me all about "The Temple".

   I was wrong.

   This book was authored by an Episcopalian Minister, and I doubt that many scholarly types, will find it particularly enlightening. The few pages contain several anecdotes about Jesus and the money changers, but overall it is not very scholarly. It simply affixes a few quotations from the Tanakh and the New Testament beside pictures of an impressive scaled down reproduction of Herod's Temple. I would have appreciated a discussion of the significance of The (several) Temple(s) to pre-Christian Judaism.

   The illustrations seem to me to depict Jewish Priests as practioners of a bizarre cult. One picture of an archealogical find, an oil lamp full of silver shekels, has a caption that reads something like "a hoard of silver shekels, hidden by Jews during the unsuccessful revolt against Rome."

   A hoard?

   In another part I found that the author's description of Rome's massacre expressed something of a "the Jews deserved it" sentiment, though a reasonable person may disagree.

   -MW




3. In my comment below, I must have been sleeping when I said that the Hippodrome (the oblong stadium that Herod used for chariot racing) was thought to be located just southeast of the Temple Mount. That would place it in the Kidron Valley! I meant to say just southwest of the Temple Mount. In any case it is a rather trivial matter, but one that jumped out at me. The book is chock full of useful information and awesome pictures of Alec Garrard's model of the 2nd Temple. You will have a very good understanding of the history of the Temple after reading this book. Get it, it's worth it.



4. There is a wealth of information packed into this little guide to the Temple in Jerusalem. The extremely concise writing gives you the essential background information on the Tabernacle, Solomon 's Temple, and Herod's Temple. A survey of the history of the Temple and the festivals associated with it are also included. The book then takes you to the future, up to the absence of a temple in the New Jerusalem. But by far, the greatest assets of this little guide are the outstanding pictures of Alec Garrard's authentic model of Herod's Temple. They not only convey a sense grandeur and immense size, but they really allow the viewers to immerse themselves mentally into the temple culture of those times. There is even a drawing of how the city of Jerusalem looked in 30 A.D. (although the Hippodrome is placed in the northeast corner of the city, whereas it is normally thought to have been located just southeast of the temple mount.) Readers will possess a basic knowledge of the Temple and festivals simply by studying this short book. You get a lot for your money here. I recommmend it for expert and novice alike.



5. This is a well illustrated guide to the temple that was in Jerusalem. The history, rituals, feasts, festivals, and furnishings are all covered. The significance of the temple today is also examined. Anybody who needs an introduction to the subject of the temple should read this book. However, the reader will have to do his own research to learn about lesser known facts, such as the detailed appearance of cherubim, or the meaning of the tabernacle pattern. But overall, it is a good starting place to learn about the temple referred to in the pages of the Bible.

1 comments about New Most-Popular 1-Story Home Plans (Lowe's) (Home Plans).

1. Terrific book full of 97% modern ranch plans. Great use of space with move of the designer/architect plans. House plans are not in order by square footage - which would be a little nicer. I know that it is easy to search through internet house plans - but it is so nice to have a color book with this quality of printed paper.
   
   Cheap price for the quality. Easy to compare the plans you like.

1 comments about The Shingle Style and the Stick Style: Architectural Theory and Design from Downing to the Origins of Wright; Revised Edition (Yale Publications in the History of Art).

1. An historical treasure, this book, The Shingle and the Stick Style: form Richardson to the Orgins of Wright, by Vincent Scully is a chest of Architectual masterpieces. Detailed descriptions, interior and exterior photos, and floor plans make this book a wealth of knowledge for anyone interested in Architecture. The book is laid out as most contempory Architecture books. It describes the perticular building, then has the number that corralates to the photo. There are so many historical photographs in this book, and it is all well explained. It takes you step though step from the beginning of the stick stlye to the evoloution to the shingle to the metamorphis of Wright. Ths book is so detailed it even has the architectual sketches of many houses build in Manchester-by-the-Sea at Cape Ann, Mass. For the price this book is a definate buy!

4 comments about George Washington Smith.

1. Our church is changing our open garden to a cloister-type space enclosed by a wall. The church was designed in Spanish Revival architecture so we wanted something in the California Mission style. This book has proven to be an invaluable resource for us.



2. An interesting book from a historical and academic perspective. It is well written and illustrative photos are included. Good as a reference book for architectural style but not a book for those interested in interior decoration.



3. When one thinks of southern california architecture, spanish colonial revival style always comes to the forefront and George Washington Smith was at the apex of the style. This is a well researched and chronicled book on this singular architect. The images are crisp and well thought out. This style of architecture suits the mediteranian climate of southern califoria perfectly, it really is the perfect blend of style and setting. When someone asks me, where would you live if you could choose anywhere and i always answer, Santa Barbara, where spanish colonial revival florishs unabated and the sun shines year round. If you have any interest in great residental architecture or just appreciate wonderful books, then i cant imagine you being disappointed in this purchase. Highly recommended.



4. Patricia Gebhard has done a superb job in carrying on the tradition of David Gebhard, her deceased husband, who was masterful at the collection of information on architecture and able to portray it to the reader in a very logical way. It is the most completely detailed book written yet on George Washington Smith, one of the most forward and original developers of the the Spanish Revival style that swept America in the 1920's and has enjoyed a rebirth in recent years. The illustrations are excellent throughout the book, both old and new ones. Anyone interested in this style of architecture, whether an architect, designer or any person interested in this style that has left such an important mark in American architecture, should buy and enjoy this book.

2 comments about Financial Management for Design Professionals: The Path to Profitability.

1. Baker's Pro-Guide Lip Balm SPF-15 (Cherry) 3-PACK
   
   This is a great book for both the finance savy and those struggling to get a grip on your company finances. I would highly recommend it for any architect, engineer or graphic design firm; but know that the principles are easily applied to any business. Like a good foundation the authors starts at the beginning and builds to your end goal with each chapter. The most valuable aspect of this book is that the material was presented in a way that is easy to understand, even while watching TV. What would make the book better? I would suggest a section on applying the strategies with QuickBooks. Since the majority of small to medium design firms use QuickBooks for their accounting it would have been really helpful if the book had presented example companies with charts of accounts, budgets, P&L, profit plan, etc using QuickBooks software. Even if your firm is profitable I would recommend reading this book to help you find those subtl;e areas in your business where you can make improvements.



2. As a busy Architect who did not double major in business, this book not only helped me understand how to really know how my company was (or wasn't) doing financially, it helped me communicate what my Accountant needed to know (he did not double major in Architecture.) I highly recommend this book to all Sole Proprietor Architects who want to know how much money they need to keep the ship floating! Good luck!

5 comments about 25 Houses Under 1500 Square Feet.

1. Overall well done... Just a couple of houses featured that I asked myself "why? They did not fit the pacing of the book" Others I'd like to have seen more pictures of. Overall well done though.



2. There are a million residential architecture/design books out there, but in terms of quality of pictures and examples, James Grayson Trulove is the best. Makes a great coffee table book for any designer. Its mostly valuable as a visual resource (not alot of text). I love Trulove's message of quality over quanity - its better to have a small beautifully designed house than a mcmansion monstrosity.



3. I'm an architect and was very much looking forward to this book as I am a fervent believer that bigger is not better. I am always searching for good examples of how to do things as efficiently as possible, which produces a better design and ultimately costs less. People do not need 3000 square feet houses.
   
   I got this book for christmas and am very disappointed.
   First, the editing is terrible. There are literally pages that are marked "lower floor plan" & "upper floor plan" which are blank.
   
   Secondly, the majority of these houses are architectural follies. They are not "houses" in the meaning that most of us mean when we say house. They are playhouses - art lofts, guest houses, vacation houses, etc. How we live in a structure for a few hours of pleasurable work each day and how we live in our actual house varies greatly. How many of us recreate our same lives while we are on vacation? That is the whole problem with this book. It should rightly be called "Expensive architectural follies under 1500 square feet."
   
   In reviewing this book there is nothing that will inform you how to live in a smaller space. There is nothing that will redefine the idea of house.
   
   That being said there are some very nice pavillions.



4. I'm glad that the book exists - if James Grayson Truelove hadn't bothered to slap together this flawed survey, you'd not get to see these houses in any detail. But I enjoyed "Gwathmey Siegel: Houses" more, and even preferred other JGT archi-photo books to this one. Only 4 houses (of 25) had enough drawings and varied enough photos to see and make sense of the whole. Plan drawings are present for most of the houses, which is a step up from photos-only glossy books. Alas, they're small & unlabeled. In addition to the swap mentioned by other reviewers, p.30 is missing all its plans (typo/print-o), and p.128 has the 2nd/3rd floor plans upside-down from the first floor. "How," you might ask, "could this idiot reviewer possibly complain about so simple a transform, which he obviously ought to be able to figure out?" Therein lies the problem with this book: In fact, it *wasn't* obvious how the house was arranged, because the accompanying photos were not comprehensive, nor documentary! Such is the case for most of the structures in this book: either multiple photos show the same angle, or they only really document one room in an entire design. To be fair, perhaps I should have realized this from the product description: 25 houses in 181pp. means only 7 pp. each. But with such a low page count, "white-spacey" layout, and largish photos, duplication is inexcusable. (N.B. Of 25 houses, 21 are modern-style. Just in case you were looking for -- or trying to avoid -- contemporary.)



5. This book has some interesting small houses, and does include floor plans, sections, elevations, and lots of photos (of varying quality). But the book is full of typos that anyone giving the book a last once-over should have caught: "and and", using "compliments" instead of "complements", and in one case (The Methow Cabin) the floor plan of one building was listed for both itself AND another, totally different structure (The Cavehill Residence). If you're looking for ideas, this isn't a bad book, but its size is unwieldy, its photographs in many cases just clearly enlarged from photos provided by the builders or architects, and there are more than a few errors throughout the book. I'd check this one out from the library rather than buying it.

5 comments about Drawing Shortcuts: Developing Quick Drawing Skills Using Today's Technology.

1. Every once in awhile, a life changing book comes along. I've been creating Architectural Illustrations for over 40 years using airbrush, water color and pen and ink. I've never felt comfortable doing quick sketches. Jim's book clearly delineates the tools and techniques needed to produce drawings fast and on-site. Living in New Orleans, I'm involved in a lot of post Katrina planning and development. These new skills are an invaluable asset for my continued survival.
   
   Richard L. Gardner, New Orleans, LA



2. There are lots of good tips in this book. It is one I recommend to my architectural drawing students. It is very good on how to make quick presentations and it shows several midias and how to use them. As most of the students use 3d software for final presentations right now, I think this book is a very good motivation for using traditional midia techniques during process work. Making good and quick drawings for explaining ideas is a very useful skill and this book helps.



3. I got this book after participating in a Web Seminar with Mr. Leggitt. I think this is a very good source for anyone that would like to hone their quick drawing skills or look for different approaches for doing presentation drawings from all levels of detail. It might even give you a few ideas about using technology to your advantage to produce quick drawings. I would definately recommend this book to a beginner or students in architecture school. I know that students are always looking for ways to product great looking drawings in a minimal amount of time.



4. Very dissapointed in this book...especially since he is an advocate of Sketchup (which is why I anxiously wanted this book). I think some of his shortcuts are ok, but I found the book very, very repetitive (almost painfully) and the authors rendering style is just simply BRUTAL! I mean, it seems as if every one of his renderings include happy,smiley 1980's rocky mountain-type scale figures and all of the scale children hold teddy bears! His library of projects lack any pizzazz and there's just no sophistication to his rendering style. The most tedious read of the year for me.



5. I was left with the feeling from the other reviews that this book would be great for architects, which it is not. It is more for an art student. If you want a better book on architecture drawing get "Color Drawing: Design Drawing Skills and Techniques for Architects, Landscape Architects, and Interior Designers, 2nd Edition" by Michael E. Doyle

5 comments about Architecture Exam Review, Vol. II: Nonstructural Topics, 6th Edition.

1. This is an excellent book and may be sufficient to pass a couple of exams although additional reading is recommended. This book gives you an introduction to the exam contents. You will know what to expect in each exam. After reading this book you will be able to tell what additional reading is required. I know no better starting point. For some reason the price is going up. It was about $70 a couple weeks ago, I bought is for about $100 in February and now (March 1, 2008) it's $120.



2. I'm just starting to study for the M&M portion of the exam and in just fifteen pages, I found three errors. They were relatively minor, and pretty obvious, but it makes me worry that i'm memorizing more major misprints or mistakes. If you do find a mistake, you can post it (please)on their website (the web address is on the inside cover of the book). It also helps to check the site to see what other mistakes were reported. You will need to consult other books for your studying, but this one is very manageable and good to start with.



3. you definitely need this book to study for mep portion because ALS doesn't cover some materials in a deeper context. this book covers most of the important matters and much less intimidating than MEEB (big blue book). I give it 4 stars due to lack of diagrams so you need to look at MEEB and AGS for it.



4. I am currently studying for the exam and I've been using this book as a basis. The individual chapters are fairly short and each one has a short quiz at the end to test your newly gained knowledge. This is helpful because it makes asborbing the information much more manageable - much better than trying to read Architectural Graphic Standards from cover to cover.

   Beware: some sections are somewhat spotty so count on having to use other resources as well.




5. I found this guide to be extremely valuable. It covers a broad range of topics in the appropriate detail. Of course, it doesn't have all the answers to the ARE, but those tests are meant to have many "unanswerable" questions. But this guide will give you a strong base from which to work. It also has valuable information and rules of thumb that apply to practicing architects. I leaned most heavily on this resouce in order to take my exams.