No comments about Wood Houses.

5 comments about Architecture in the Garden.

1. Landscape architect Van Sweden's description of his signature process and approach for harmonious gardens immerses us in a new dimension of garden design. This book is a valuable tool for virtually any garden lover or garden designer -- whether transforming a blank slate or just reviving a tired garden. Van Sweden shows us the importance of understanding the underlying architecture of our gardens.



2. I am a landscape designer and I use this book constantly, not only for inspiration, but also for the illustrations provided on how to construct many of the architectural features shown.
   This book has a permanant place on my drafting table and has so many paper clips marking pages--it is by far the most useful book about landscape architecture I have come across.



3. This is a great book to get you thinking about the underlying structure of your garden or outdoor space. Van Sweden's style is low-key yet elegant, and his ideas inspirational.



4. James van Sweden has been designing gardens for over 30 years and he is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. In this book he shares with the reader the essential role that architecture plays in organizing the garden landscape. With carefully chosen examples he shows how man-made features of the garden - paths, walls, gates etc. - create the framework for a garden that is both beautiful and easy to live with.
   This book is readable and anecdotal in style, yet it covers the fundamental principles of design and shows how they can be put into practice to enhance many different types of garden. It is extensively illustrated, mostly with the author's own photographs, and these support the text in clearly delineating the applications of design principles to town gardens, seaside gardens, country gardens and so on.

   Despite the author's relaxed approach this is a very thorough book and it will be invaluable to anyone planning a garden. My only quibble is that many of the gardens might be called estates, measured in acres, and to some extent this limits the book's practical value to the gardener with a standard city lot, or less.

   But good "bone structure" is important in all gardens and this book will help any gardener pull together the significant man-made pieces of the garden into a graceful and beautiful whole.




5. James van Sweden has been designing gardens for over 30 years and he is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. In this book he shares with the reader the essential role that architecture plays in organizing the garden landscape. With carefully chosen examples he shows how man-made features of the garden - paths, walls, gates etc. - create the framework for a garden that is both beautiful and easy to live with.

   This book is readable and anecdotal in style, yet it covers the fundamental principles of design and shows how they can be put into practice to enhance many different types of garden. It is extensively illustrated, mostly with the author's own photographs, and these support the text in clearly delineating the applications of design principles to town gardens, seaside gardens, country gardens and so on.

   Despite the author's relaxed approach this is a very thorough book and it will be invaluable to anyone planning a garden. My only quibble is that many of the gardens might be called estates, measured in acres, and to some extent this limits the book's practical value to the gardener with a standard city lot, or less.

   But good "bone structure" is important in all gardens and this book will help any gardener pull together the significant man-made pieces of the garden into a graceful and beautiful whole.

1 comments about Architectural Details and Measured Drawings of Houses of the Twenties (Dover Pictorial Archives).

1. This book is a replica of ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS FOR EVERY TYPE OF BUILDING: A PRACTICAL DRAFTING ROOM GUIDE FOR CONTRACTORS, BUILDERS, LUMBER DEALERS, MILLMEN, DRAFTSMEN, AND ARCHITECTS published in 1921. The original title is an appropriate one, as it was not intended for the general public looking for house plans or ideas for details but more for the building professional. Today, however, it provides a great reference resource for those interested in restoring or improving an early twentieth century building. For houses, there are some complete working drawing sets in addition to various details for stairs, fireplaces, bookcases, and even fences, among many others. Also included are drawings for an Ice House, a Modern Photo Play House (movie theater), and various Barns. It is highly recommended for those who enjoy technical information.

3 comments about The English Manor House: From the Archives of Country Life.

1. You have to hand it to the Brits, they really know how to build a house. These archieval photos from Country Life are wonderful, they are crisp and the houses profiled vary from style to style. It's a fantastic book to have you are looking for ideas in home design, either exterior of interior, these are some of the best archieval images I have seen on this subject. If you have any interest in Country homes in the English tradition, then I believe you will be pleased with this purchase.



2. A beautiful coffee table book with lots of photographs of manor houses and their interiors. A bit dissapointing that all the photographs were in black & white and of the interiors most were just of the entrance hall. Note that the book in on English Manor Houses and not Stately Homes.



3. "From the archives of Country Life" almost says it all. Jeremy Musson does a wonderful job of applying fresh commentary to these outstanding photographs of some of England's most beautiful manor architecture. This book and others "from the archives..." are required reading and study for anyone wanting to understand the development of the romantic picturesque archtiectural essays of late 19th and early 20th centuries in the UK and US.

2 comments about Gardens, Landscape, and Vision in the Palaces of Islamic Spain.

1. I haven't read this,but the author's contention,contained in the editorial review,that the concept of paradise is a latter thought,is diammetrically opposed to the generally accepted idea that the islamic garden is a a descendant from the perisan chah-bagh,the four way divided,enclosed pleasure garden.
   Ancient Persia was to the arabic world what greece might have meant to the romans,a paradigm to be emulated.
   The word paradise,per se,comes from the persian paradeisos,meaning the royal enclosed hunting grounds.



2. I own the hardcover version of this book. This is a fascinating topic. The writing in this book is beautiful: rich, concise, informed.
   
   This book is serious scholarship, but much of it is accessible to the interested layperson. I highly recommend this book.

No comments about Ribbon.

2 comments about Good City Form.

1. As one who straddles the two worlds of practice and scholarship with great ease and comfort, I am struck by that rare work of craft which is at once profoundly thoughtful as well as clearly directed. Most serious scholars bend over backwards to embrace the myth of "objectivity", while most practitioners salivate over superficial "best practices". Kevin Lynch's masterpiece, Good City Form, avoids both traps while offering a template for judging the effectiveness of different types of urban form and providing a guide for successful urban design projects. His starting points, a masterful overview of models of urban form throughout history and a sensitive ode to humanist values, help establish a foundation for performance dimensions to measure "good city form": Vitality, Sense, Fit, Access, Control, Efficiency and Justice. I would highly recommend this book to reflective practitioners, scholars interested in the practice of urban design, and others simply interested in shaping the future of our cities. In addition, the book works well with two others as an excellent advanced introduction to the field of urban design: "The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History" by Spiro Kostof, and "Urban Design Downtown: Poetics and Politics of Form" by Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Tridib Banerjee.



2. In the world of urban design, obsessed with spectacular novelty and superficial aesthetics, this ambitious and profound work of Kevin Lynch is refreshing, yet enduring. He suggests a theory of urban design based on fundamental human values and examines how such values lead to the notion of a "good city form". His performance dimensions (e.g. access, fit, vitality) are broad enough to be interpreted and re-interpreted for specific contexts and sites. And the appendix, which briefly summarizes other theories of city form, is a tour-de-force by itself. A masterpiece which deserves greater attention and consideration, especially by those under the illusion that urban design is more or less architecture writ large!

2 comments about Built-Ins and Storage (For Pros by Pros).

1. This has a lot of great material - both ideas for how to use space and how to build the things they describe. I've found this one of the better For Pros by Pros books in terms of completeness of the "how to" part and useful new ideas.



2. A lot of the examples given in this book don't apply or do not easily apply but it does give some very good ideas. It sparks a lot of "What if" situations. This book was very good for getting ideas and sparking new ideas.

2 comments about Nature Calls: The History, Lore, and Charm of Outhouses.

1. I bought this for my dad for Christmas. It is cute and the pictures are well presented. Lots of interesting history and tales.



2. I picked up Nature Calls for my father. Let's just say he spends a lot of time in the privy. On the first pass through, the pictures were appealing - funny, curious and down right bizarre! Reading through the second time, I found the facts, stories and poetry to be truly inspiring. Who knew there was so much to learn about the outhouse! The necessary, the backhouse, the privy. The author has done a great job of recording this important part of our American history. I'll never look at a port-a-john in the same way again! I'll be picking up this book for all the men in my life.

5 comments about Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright's Romance With Nature.

1. Lynda S. Waggoner presents an alluring collection of photographs and commentary that will interest the architect or anyone who's had an eye for the artistical-architectural renderings of the legendary work of Frank Lloyd Wright. As curator and administrator, Waggoner's first hand accounts of Fallingwater provides the reader with an up-close narrative behind and inside the home with the basic origins of the construction and inspiration that led to the inception of Wright's American masterpiece; he blended both nineteenth century natural observations that derived from Walt Whitman to Henry David Thoreau with landscape.
   
   FALLING WATER provides insight to Frank Lloyd's inspiration of constructing Fallingwater. In essence, he wanted to reconnect with nature and the nineteenth century romanticism of the wilderness, but with the natural expressions that were innate and organic; one may suggest he possessed an inkling of eastern inspiration. The several quotes throughout the book from Whitman, Thoreau, Emerson, Rushkin, and as well Wright and Edward Kaufmann, Jr. will provide a perfect poetic composition that complements the beautiful photographs of the house and the outlining natural landscape. Wright says it best: "In the realm of organic architecture human imagination must render the harsh language of structure into becomingly humane expressions of form instead of devising inanimate facades or rattling bones of construction. Poetry of form is as necessary to great architecture as foliage is to the tree, blossoms to the plant or flesh to the body" (23).
   
   So, if you are looking for a coffee table book that does not leave a lot of clutter, FALLING WATER: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S ROMANCE WITH NATURE will definitely provide the balance. It is a little book packed with much content. And most likely, it will leave you wanting to share it with others.



2. My objectives in reading and collecting books about domestic architecture generally focus on gathering information about how I might approach the design of the internal and external details for use in my own (dream) home.

   Frank Lloyd Wright is a constant source of inspiration in my endeavours as he designed and built many wonderful houses... and one of his most famous works is the subject of this book.

   My initial impressions of this book were good, although I was probably taken-in by the wonderful photo on the cover of the book more than anything else. Upon having a quick flip through the book, I found there were some lovely photos of the house and it's surrounds and there was some mention made of how the house was created to suit its environment and how it was an example of Frank Lloyd Wright's "Organic Architecture".

   However, upon a detailed reading of the book, although I found a few more interesting photos and some thought-provoking philosophical quotations, the detail was practically non-existent and the book was ultimately unsatisfying. No mention was made of what sort of thinking went behind the design of the house and why things were done the way they were... and there weren't even any significant diagrams or floor plans of the house included, except for a simple site layout on the last page of the book, which looked like it was added more as an afterthought than as something that would be informative to the reader.

   In short, although the book gives me about a dozen new photos of Fallingwater, it doesn't really add to my knowledge of Frank Lloyd Wright's design philosophies and, given the price of this book, I would suggest this book belongs on the corner of a coffee table, rather than in an amateur architect's reference bookshelf.




3. My family went to see fallingwater, and all of my dad's film was ruined! I bought this book for him, and it serves as the perfect reminder of our trip. It includes gorgeous photographs, fitting quotes, a plan of fallingwater, and a bit of the history. If you're looking for tons of information, this is definitely NOT the book for you. But if you're looking for beautiful pictures and a precious keepsake, this is a wonderful book. ENJOY!



4. Fallingwater is considered by many to be Frank Lloyd Wright's greatest home design, and by many others to be one of the very finest American homes ever built. Perched atop a waterfall in southwestern Pennsylvania in the Allegheny mountains, the site is visually stunning . . . and the home's organic connection to the site will astonish you.

   Fallingwater was designed for the Edgar Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh to be a weekend retreat away from the bustle of city life. One of Frank Lloyd Wright's comments about homes is that they must be "integral to site; integral to environment; integral to the life of the inhabitants." Judged by that standard, you will agree, if you are like me, that Fallingwater is his best work. The Kaufmanns wanted to have a romantic experience in the house, and he certainly provided them with one. The siting allows a Southern exposure for almost all of the rooms, a view of the waterfall and/or woods, and the constant sound of the waterfall. The final design captures nicely his sense of Nature's dual character, "unrestrained . . . power in contrast to its subtler, ordered beauty." The material and colors are drawn from the area as much as possible, and in some views, the home seems like simply part of the rocks it is perched on.

   The quotes are usually attached to specific photographs that catch the various views you see of Fallingwater from any ground position or perspective and the views from Fallingwater. They capture ideas from Wright and nonarchitectural thinkers as diverse as Thoreau and Ruskin.

   The photographs are the best part of this book. Since you will probably not be one of the 160,000 visitors who come in most years, these images are the way you can know the home. Almost all are in color, and are nicely distributed throughout the four seasons. My only complaint is that the book's page size should have been larger to permit a stronger connection between the viewer and these remarkable scenes. If you are like me, you will hear the water as you commune with the images.

   Through the essay and quotes, Fallingwater curator and administrator Lynda S. Waggoner does a marvelous job of using Fallingwater to also demonstrate the essential concepts of all Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture and interior design.

   After you read and enjoy this book, think a little about where you live. How have you made nature more accessible? What else could you do to make your living there to be more relaxed and natural, and to balance the rest of your life?

   Feel connected to all the life and natural objects around you . . . and be refreshed!




5. I have found that developing an interest in architecture is principly one of exposure to excellence. This book does that with a minimum of text(although very concise and informative) and a beautiful arrangement of photographs in a manageable size. The brief history of the family and Wright's involvement is excellent! Thank you, Lynda S. Waggoner.