5 comments about Mosaic Art and Style: Designs for Living Environments.

1. This is a great book not only as an admirer of the arts but also it gives you ideas for your own projects. I have been doing mosaics for the past 2 years, visited Gaudi's houses in Barcelona and the book shows different kind of projects which resemble those from Barcelona, Spain



2. I bought this book as an afterthought while buying another mosaic book - one of those Amazon "twofers" deals - and found it to be more impressive than my original choice. It highlights individual artists over several pages so that you can get a feel for the work of the creme de la creme of mosaic artists. Great photos and informative but brief bios and brief descriptions of the pieces - all at a great price - make this a book worthy of study and a source of inspiration. I'd love to see future books in this same format covering additional artists.



3. The beautiful images in this book show the full potential that mosaic works can be. As a beginner to mosaic art I found the pieces in this book to be a bit intimidating, but I also got some great ideas to use in my own work. This book did a great job at showing how mosaic work can be used to spice up any area in everyday spaces.



4. Every page was full of beautiful examples of great mosaic variations. Great for countless home decor ideas for every room, outdoor and even commercial too. The pages are high quality print and vibrant color. I marked so many pages with inspirational project ideas. I've been cracking, gluing and grouting like mad. It's surely motivational. A Great find!



5. A view of a wide range of mosaic art both public and private. To enjoy for the art itself and an inspiration for your own craft ...

3 comments about Building Blocks, The John Hancock Center.

1. The introduction by the engineer's daughter gives some great inside info on the building. The pictures of Stollers give a great perspective of the building and show it during construction as well as just after completion and opening in the seventies. At the back there are great scaled floor plans that really give a sense of the building layout and design. i would definetly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in architecture in general or specifically the John Hancock Center.



2. The introduction by the engineer's daughter gives some great inside info on the building. The pictures of Stollers give a great perspective of the building and show it during construction as well as just after completion and opening in the seventies. At the back there are great scaled floor plans that really give a sense of the building layout and design. i would definetly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in architecture in general or specifically the John Hancock Center.



3. The introduction by the engineer's daughter gives some great inside info on the building. The pictures of Stollers give a great perspective of the building and show it during construction as well as just after completion and opening in the seventies. At the back there are great scaled floor plans that really give a sense of the building layout and design. i would definetly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in architecture in general or specifically the John Hancock Center.

5 comments about Construction Waterproofing Handbook.

1. I bought this thinking since it was a 2008 edition it would be up-to-date on the latest materials and techniques. Not. This is essentially the year 2000 edition and does not address the composite bentonite-hdpe systems that are common today. I was also looking for some technical details on how a bentonite system should work but only a few overview-type comments were in the text.
   
   Most of the drawings are clear and useful, but the black and white photos are small and sometimes hard to discern what is being depicted.
   
   All in all, this book is a useful resource but not worth the high price being charged.
   
   EDIT: On Page 2.58, author states: "Clay swells 10-15 percent of its dry volume under maximum wetting." This is incorrect, should be 10-15 TIMES, not percent. At 10-15 percent, bentonite would not work.



2. This book does not contain much information on wood-framed buildings. It focuses primarily on concrete and masonry structures, with some information on EIFS systems. As an architect, I bought the book as a resource for drawing construction details. I found that the index was hard to use (sparse) and it was difficult to find specific information on certain building transitions (window flashings, for example). I'm sure the book would be helpful to someone looking for information on large-scale commercial waterproofing solutions, or in-depth discussions regarding sealants. I needed a book that was a bit broader in scope.



3. This book could make a waterproofing expert out of anyone! It offers complete and detailed information on every imaginable topic about waterproofing, restoration and even testing for leaks. The best part about the book's structure is that it provides answers and information for the simplest to the most difficult of waterproofing situations. The author has made great use of details from manufacturer's detail drawings and job site photographs to explain how to properly install and inspect waterproofing systems. I got to this page through his web site that even lets you ask questions if the book hasn't answered them - what a GREAT IDEA!



4. While too many other books present only a portion of information on the topic, in this book it is obvious that the author has extensive experience in the field and leaves no topic regarding waterproofing untouched. What makes this book a great resource is ability of the author to associate the text with sufficient detail drawings or photographs for each of the waterproofing areas presented. Waterproofing is not a topic that can be described in words only and this book is the only one that makes sure a reader at any level of knowledge in the waterproofing field can understand the necessary concepts involved. This book has been a great resource for the maintenance work of building management whenever we have a waterproofing related issue arrise. I imagine that if architects or engineers would make better use of such a book in the design phases of a project, buiding owners wouldn't have so many related problems while operating the facility. The chapters on leak repair have saved us many headaches and dollars!



5. This is the first book that offers a complete guide to any waterproofing related subject. Even better it offers a great chapter on finding and resolving leaks when they occcur. THIS CHAPTER IS WORTH THE PRICE OF THE BOOK ITSELF! Anybody in the design, engineering or construciton fields needs this book on their bookshelf. Finally somebody has got this subject right!

3 comments about Early Medieval Architecture (Oxford History of Art).

1. The text arrived in good shape, and was just as described. What kept this from being a 5-star review was the sluggishness of the delivery, some 3 1/2 weeks after being ordered.



2. Mr. Stalley has written an excellent piece of work by combining the architecture in the early middle ages with its historical context. The content is entertaining and informative. It starts by describing the origin of the basilicas, their evolution along time and the influence that the medieval society (either royal, secular, or religious) had on both, design and construction, of these outstanding long lasting works.



3. Published last year, this is one of the initial volumes to appear in the extremely good, new "Oxford History of Art" series, which almost outdoes even the recent "Everyman Art Library", which it resembles. Both series are an attempt to make available up-to-the-moment overviews of selected areas of the history of building, sculpture, painting, and photography. Whereas the Everyman series seems to be open-ended, Oxford have divided their survey of world art into categories by area and/or subject, although only a handful of titles have appeared to date.

   Both series are superbly well printed and illustrated; each includes maps, charts, timelines, and bibliographies. What Thames and Hudson's "World of Art" series did well for several decades, these two series are now achieving in a more strictly periodizing form, with greater emphasis on method and, in the case of Oxford, on Theory.

   In both the Oxford and Everyman series, the most fascinating volumes are those which treat subjects broken down or combined in unusual ways. Thus, Alison Cole's "Art of the Italian Renaissance Courts" (l995) seeks to compare Naples, Urbino, Milan, Ferrara, and Mantua--- bringing relative clarity to a topic that most surveys tend to gloss over. Similarly, Loren Partridge's Everyman "The Renaissance in Rome" (1996) treats the Quattrocento and Cinquecento in the Eternal City, chapter by chapter, in terms of urban planning, churches, palaces, altarpieces, chapel decorations, and halls of state--- all in a single volume.

   Before Stalley, the two Oxford volumes I had read were Jas Elsner's "Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph" and Craig Clunas's "Art in China". Both are by younger scholars and are massively imbued with new (politically correct) art history. Yet both books are filled with challenging and brilliant examples and new information. In fact, the China volume is written (like all of Clunas's work) from a perspective that is truly revolutionary in Chinese studies. At the end of the day, both Elsa and Clunas are so skilled, both as writers and historians, that even the jargon of the new art history is eclipsed by the sheer quality of the two works.

   Roger Stalley, Professor of the History of Art, at Trinity College, Dublin, writes clearly, penetratingly, and without jargon. "Early Medieval Architecture" is deftly constructed, and the author claims that his chapters may be read "in almost any order". This may indeed be the case (I read straight through and could scarcely put the book aside). It comes, of course, as no small recommendation that Stalley was a student of Peter Kidson's.

   What makes "Early Medieval Architecture" unique is the editorial decision to relegate the entire topic of "late" medieval building to a separate volume by Nicola Coldstream. Therefore, hardly a mention is made of "Gothic--- the question that Stalley addresses being: "What is Romanesque?" Like its subject the book is suitably austere, yet it is not without personality. The endnotes are unobtrusive, and there is a state- of-the-art Bibliographic Essay. All this is supplemented by some 150 varied and informative photographs and redrawn plans and building sections. There is virtually no attention to sculpture, as befits a scholar whose interests and sympathies are Cistercian; however, there is a sensitive underlying concern with the "language of architecture" itself, such that the book would give pleasure to any working architect.

   Stalley has given us ten chapters starting with "The Christian Basilica", where his subject overlaps slightly with that of the Elsner's book. Appropriately, the argument returns again and again to Rome. The next chapter is an exercise in setting forth the architecture of the Carolingian Renaissance, where light is shed in an area of architectural history that for the novice is more typically hedged with exceptions and speculation. A third chapter pursues the "iconography of architecture" in Rome, Milan, Ravenna, and Jerusalem, as well as lesser-known places.

   Chapter 4 is devoted to secular architecture and is somewhat revisionist in tone. The very fact that such an exercise is provided bodes well for the clarity of Stalley's enterprise, and there are numerous photographs throughout the book that succeed in demonstrating a relationship between ecclesiastical buildings and the architecture of feudalism.

   Chapters 5 and 6 treat, respectively, the patron-as-builder and the builder-as-engineer. In this, the architectural expertise of certain early patrons is stressed, while the engineering argument is soft peddled, in the sense that techniques of vaulting are not allowed to dominate a more all-embracing explanation of the general integrity of the building fabric. As the author reminds us, the story of vaulting has too often been permitted to get out of hand, leading the discussion of early medieval structure well beyond what is warranted by evidence and probably away from what must have been the original aims and concerns of early medieval builders themselves, whether "engineers" or not.

   Chapters 7 and 8 deal with the influences of pilgrimage and monasticism on early medieval building. Here a number of relevant statistics and medieval texts are cited that raise the discussion well above what is ordinarily expected to suffice the undergraduate reader. For example, the names of the seven major services or "offices" of Benedictine communal worship are set out and, where needed, explanation is offered. The discussion of the famous St. Gall plan is commendable in its detail, while the full-page photographic detail of the plan is printed in color to show the use of red ink on parchment. Included here is mention and illustration of the recently restored Cistercian abbey church at Fontenay, which as a caption points out, may reflect the destroyed mother house at Clairvaux.

   The final two chapters are a magisterial recapitulation of the "Language of Architecture", starting off "During the course of the eleventh century a new architectural language emerged in western Europe...", and of its subsequent diversity throughout Europe. In summary, this is an exciting book that matches some of the recent strides forward in early medieval social and political history and provides a superlative discussion of a topic that has rarely been so coherently presented and illustrated in a single volume.

   David B. Stewart, Tokyo Institute of Technology

No comments about Rem Koolhaas & Hans-Ulrich Obrist: The Conversation Series: Volume 4 (Conversation Series).

2 comments about Mixed-Use Development Handbook (Development Handbook series).

1. Excellent overview. If you're involved with Mixed-Use Development in any way, buy this book as a great reference! Shawn C, CCIM



2. 1. The book gives useful knowledge for beginners but if you have more than 2 years of industry experience you can forget it.
   
   2. Cases are limited to serveral and lack of Asian perspective.
   
   3. A great text book for new comers to real estate development.

No comments about Trails for the Twenty-First Century: Planning, Design, and Management Manual for Multi-Use Trails.

3 comments about Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest.

1. This is my 4th or 5th purchase of this wonderful book. I have given all my copies away and need another for myself. It has great resources on the plants birds, insects and animals use for food, cover, etc. We made our voilet green swallow nest boxes from the plans in the book. We've watched new swallows peek out and take their first flight every year since we put them up.
   
   We live in the foothills of Mt. Hood and it took me a few months after moving here to realize I shouldn't bring the invasive plants I used in town to the mountains. And I realized I could have turned my city home into a wildlife haven. The book is a great resources for all city, suburb or rural locales in the PNW.
   
   It's just a wonderful book!



2. We live in Southern California so I was a bit dubious how useful this book would be. Happily, it still has much to offer for anyone wishing to wildscape. There's plenty of general advice re. food/water/nesting sites etc. and good plans for bird houses and bat houses. There's a nice chapter on attracting hummingbirds and butterflies, and plenty about creating and maintaining water features (a huge attraction for wildlife in hot areas like ours).

   You will need to cross reference the plant lists against what's native for your area, and find your own local native plant nurseries, but there's still lots of great advice here for wildlife gardeners that can be adapted to almost any region.

   Trish




3. Link, Russell, Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1999, 320p.

   Soft cover, perfect binding, acid free paper, 8.5 X 11.

   The book is divided into 5 parts 1) Wildlife Habitat Design and Maintenance 2) Pacific Northwest Wildlife in the Landscape 3) Special Features for Wildlife Landscapes 4) Coexisting with Wildlife 5) Appendices

   Volume has good index , bibliographic references and is clearly printed.

   Over one third of the book is in the Appendices, they are excellent, perhaps its best `part'.

   A) Pacific Northwest Habitats B) Wildlife Plants Lists, Tables, and Maps C) Landscape and Wildlife Information for Specific Plants D) Construction Plans for Nest Boxes and Bird Feeders E) Resources (in my opinion, very important)

   Content:

   Well written, educationally enhanced by wonderful illustrations, good examples and step-by-step procedures. Quality, abet small, section of color photos of wildlife identification and descriptions. Includes description of habitat construction from apartment balcony to acreage. Also discusses ponds, dust paths, nest boxes and nest structures, feeders with detailed tables, brush piles, snags, hedgerows, bird watching, problems with wildlife and responsible pet ownership.

   Book can be read as text or used as a reference resource. The publication is a must for any land steward or wildlife enthusiast. An excellent purchase as a gift for yourself or fellow enthusiast. Available in bookstores or if you order from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife you receive a copy autographed by Russell.

No comments about Construction Materials Manual (Construction Manuals (englisch)).

5 comments about Renzo Piano Building Workshop - Volume 1 (Renzo Piano Building Workshop).

1. As much as I like Renzo Piano's works, he can learn something from Norman Foster to properly produce his set of books. These 4 editions are nice size (not heavy like Foster's) so you can bring to your job site or office if you want to show some examples. However, each building is not well documented. the plans have no measurements or too small to read, no scale, and the details are not complete enough. Simply, there are no coherent base of each buildings. Furthermore, the different editions sometimes cover the same building (ex.edition 3 covers Kansai Airport (perhaps too much), but it is also covered in edition 2.
   
   Edition 2 seems to be a compilation of his works from the 80's but it is very difficult to figure out what exactly this book want to focus on. I recommend that Renzo Piano redo this whole editions of which he deserves.



2. As a set this is a great achievement. The books are wonderfully produced with glorious photography, lots of drawings and sketches (both of larger structures and details), stylish typography and a clear, rhythmic page layout. It's a genuine feast to the eye. However, I was slightly disappointed by the first volume's first section, in which Buchanan sets the scene for all that is to follow by providing us some conceptual and genealogical background on Piano's art. Buchanan's lead essay is repetitive, diffuse, conceptually thin and strays too far from the substance of Piano's architectural practice. The section on the 'spirit of the workshop' is really a missed opportunity: instead of a detailed picture of the collaborative dynamics in this complex environment, we get a rather glossy account of Piano's role of 'scout, actor and editor' in the design process. The pages on 'early influences' again are rather sketchy, with brief references to a series of mentors and to the role of the Genuese cityscape on Piano's mental map. From then on the book takes wing: I was grateful for the inclusion of the work in the early Studio Piano, the Piano & Rogers venture (Pompidou Centre) and particularly of the fancyful, but fascinating experiments in the Piano and Rice period. It gives us an idea of the rather exploratory journey Piano had behind him by the time the Building Workshop was established (he was 44 then). Volume I then goes on to document the early years of the workshop. Generally this represents an inconspicuous beginning: we see a lot of fine craftsmanship but there is relatively little that takes your breath away in terms of architectural vision. Compared to the later designs, we see a modesty that is approachable, refreshing and invites careful study. With its mix of full page photographs and thumbnail pictures, sketches and plans, colours and greytones the book never tires. And this applies to the whole series. A laudable example of serious and effective book design! As a whole I have no reservations in recommending this set to anyone remotely interested in contemporary architecture.



3. ...This book along with the previous volume are Fabulous!. Great photo's/details/extensive information about each and every project. Bravo Peter on a great series. Volume 3, is a bit iffy. Even though it continues with the tradition of the other Volumes, it devotes approx half the book towards the kansai airport (which im not particularly fond of). Volume 4 is on the list, those of you in OZ already know about Auora Apartments, an apartment building designed as only the Piano Workshop know how. I'm glad the Piano virus has made its way to Down Under.....Lets just hope its catching! - Check it out.



4. What else would you expect.....a book full of fabulous buildings/details and information bound to inspire ANY student or architect. If your not inspired don't mention your name along with architecture in the same sentence. Truely a GREAT MASTER of the 20th and 21st Centuries.



5. When we talk about prices we should have in consideration that this is a high quality book for a little price, i think is really cheap. Advice: if you like Renzo Piano recent work, just buy it!