No comments about Eco Skyscrapers.

No comments about 25 Apartments and Lofts Under 2500 Square Feet.

3 comments about New Orleans 1867.

1. The photos are quite beautiful and it's great to see images that haven't been seen as one single collection for so long, but the photos could have been printed in a larger format, and I found the text could have been better researched and presented more cohesively. The text reads like a long exhibition catalog.



2. This book is truly Amazing. reading it makes me feel as if I am in New Orleans during reconstruction.



3. Guy A. Van Zante is presently Curator of Architecture and Design at MIT. For eight years up until 2002, he was curator of Southeastern Architecture at Tulane University in New Orleans. He's working on two book projects of historic New Orleans architecture. Van Zante's background, including regional roots and high-level, visible academic positions, makes him the ideal author for this work. He describes his project, "This book is about a city ad its aspirations, and a photographer and his ambitions, and how they cam together to create a powerful image of city building to a world audience." The photographer Lilienthal was German born. Though prominent in his day, he is largely unknown today. When he died in 1894 with no successors, his most significant photographic work--namely the 150 or so New Orleans photographs recorded here--became lost to the public. They turned up--of all places--in 1906 among the family heirlooms of Napoleon III in Arenenberg, Switzerland, where the Emperor lived as a boy. The collection eventually came to be exhibited in New Orleans in 2000. It is virtually priceless since there are no known negatives and only one duplicate print.
   
   Though the first book covering this major historical find, Van Zante's book is definitive in that cannot be surpassed in expertise nor in scope and thoroughness. Unfailingly through the book's architectonic structure and its labyrinth of pertinent and frequently colorful details, Van Zante remains an authoritative director. With curatorial respect for the importance and uniqueness of the material and confidence in its power to speak for itself (no doubt from his authoritativeness), Van Zante only minimally engages in other than assuring that the book's structure best serves the photographs and respective commentary and controlling the flow of myriad detail into the structure. Most of the detail provides background for individual photos culled from "stories of travelers, journalists, and diarists." Each one of Lilienthal's photographs is shown with adjacent relevant period writings. Well-chosen passages from these varied source documents are skillfully and knowledgeably woven together to note specifics of the respective photograph and give it context. So ones learns not only about particular locations at the time, but also much about New Orleans social history, especially commerce, civic groups, and public buildings.
   
   Van Zante begins a Postscript dated August 2007 to the prepared Preface, "New Orleans has been shaped by disaster perhaps more than any other major American city." Disasters followed by extensive reconstruction of areas of the city include not only the destruction from the Civil War prompting Lilienthal's historic photographs, but also floods, hurricanes, fires, and epidemics. The latest flood caused by the hurricane Katrina was a disaster of epic proportion rivaling and perhaps surpassing the damage from the Civil War. Van Zante compares the questions and challenges of reconstruction, revitalization, and continuity facing New Orleans today with those facing the city in the wake of the Civil War; thus deepening attachment to the photographs by suggesting that after Katrina they are not only unique, irreplaceable historical artifacts, but also sources of guidance and encouragement on how New Orleans has overcome previous disasters. Van Zante uses part of the August 2007 postscript also to note which parts of the city seen in the photographs were affected by Katrina and which parts were not touched.

2 comments about Linda Applewhite's Architectural Interiors.

1. This is my favorite decorating book - it's absolutely loaded with gorgeous pictures, that encompass the breath of range of Ms. Applewhite's signature style. Her style is entirely unique, unlike any other decorator I've seen, it's somewhat derivative of Napa or Tuscan styles but veers off with delightful color schemes, usually in the pear to old gold range, and eclectic and imaginative accessories and inspired art. The text is delightful and talks about the challenges some of the featured homes she decorated. The paint finishes she uses on doors and furniture are inspired.
   
   Buying decorating books online is problematic; it's the one type of book that depends greatly on the buyers individual tastes and that really needs to be previewed. Unfortunately, most publishers of decorating books don't realize that fact - or maybe they're afraid they'll lose sales if we could see what's inside too clearly. Architectural Interiors is one book that doesn't disappoint. Every picture inside the book is as beautiful as the cover picture. The writing style is engaging and friendly. I can't recommend this book highly enough.



2. I gave three stars to this book since I am a fan of the author through her previous appearances on the cancelled HGTV show, "Sensible Chic." I was expecting more from her book however and was surprised at some of the odd image qualities of the photographs. In an attempt to emphasize the "glowy" quality of her design style the photos were overly bright and un-natural and looked overexposed and just odd at times. Applewhite's style can best be described as a very unique, bright, and ecclectic version of California Wine Country style which takes inspiration from a wide variety of sources such as Spanish Colonial, French Country, Tuscan and Asian as well as others. And...make no mistake about it - Applewhite's style is great...very unique, inspired and things seems to just glow. This book does not even come close to doing her talents justice and actually makes her style look outright garish in certain photographs. I looked through my book wanting to feel more but in the end I returned it. I hope the author's future books will be a better reflection of her talents.

No comments about Surveying (10th Edition).

2 comments about Complete Lighting Design: A Practical Design Guide for Perfect Lighting (Quarry Book).

1. While this book is less How-To and more Inspiration, it is a great book for both the home owner and the home planner. It focuses on basic lighting principles (which are useful for anyone trying to properly light their home) illustrated through advanced lighting applications (architectural elements and features incorporated during the planning, building, or renovating of a home).
   
   It illustrates lighting techniques for each room in the home with emphasis on different areas of the room that require different kinds of lighting. Lighting for both day and night, and a special section on exteriors, are explored.
   
   The examples and illustrations in this book are from homes where lighting design was considered in the initial construction, and money and resources were apparently not an object. While unattainable, they are inspirational.
   For those of us who don't own our home, or cannot remodel (due to financial, zoning or other restrictions) this book provides some basic lighting principles that are still useful and applicable when lighting a home. In general, there are three levels of lighting to complete any room:
   1. Ambient lighting-an indirect light that provides overall illumination
   2. Task Lighting-focused light for work spaces (ie-kitchen counters, desk-tops, bedsides, reading chairs, etc.)
   3. Accent lighting-any light used to draw attention to a featured object (art, sculpture, architectural elements)
   Thought the examples are not really anything you could achieve in your own home, it gives you ideas on how to incorporate these types of lighting for both day and night, and interior and exterior.



2. With this book, there is truth in advertising. I'm an architect and I do a lot of resdential design. I've found this book to be quite useful and would recommend it to archtects and contractors that build on spec.

1 comments about Architecture in the United Kingdom (Architecture (Taschen)).

1. The overall view of the book is considered to be an excellence book.
   There are a few projects that need to have drawing documentation and in my preferences drawings could be bigger but they are readable.
   The photographs in this book are excellent representation of the essence of the projects under the study cases. Perhaps the narratives could include deeper conclusions of the architect's ideas-to explain the arrival of their conclusions.

1 comments about Camouflage.

1. I was recently at the Tate Modern in London, and came across a remarkable room of images by Francesca Woodman ... which reminded me that I had intended to write a review of Neil Leach's book 'Camouflage'. This elegant tome is illustrated wholly with images of Woodman's - photographs of herself, of her Self, perhaps, to contemplate the negotiation that is happening between self and space. The room of images at the Tate Modern resonated strongly with Leach's skillful analysis of the various tropes of camouflage, most poignantly with the love hate relationship with one's space. I had long been fascinated with the notion of camouflage, most potently evoked in the essay by Roger Caillois ("Mimicry and Legendary Psycasthenia") which plumbs the depths of the phenomenological of space relationships. Leach eloquently excavates this material, and presents a kind of psychoanalysis of architectural space which is left unresolved, problematised, dangling ... deliciously so. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in architectural theory, and particularly anyone who relishes the excitement that occurs when discourses 'infect' one another, as here in the domains of natural history, psychoanalysis, and architecture - a splendid counter to the anti-intellectual stance that hangs around like a black cloud in design theory.

No comments about Expressive Form: A Conceptual Approach to Computational Design.

5 comments about Preserving the World's Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis.

1. It is a great survey book of some amazing cities. I tend to agree with what has been written. But just a word of caution, Tung's writing style will start to grate as every chapter ends with somewhat of a flourish. I think it detracts from his obvious love of cities and preservation.



2. In March of 1995 author Anthony M. Tung journeyed to 22 of the world's greatest cities in order to study how architectural preservation had failed and succeeded in some of the most artistically and historically significant urban areas around the globe. Having served for many years as a member of New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission, Tung sought to understand how the complex issue of urban conservation was handled around the world and to gather in one book a body of very basic information about this practice.
   
   Until the 20th century, each new stage of architecture and construction referred substantially to previous stages; in Western culture, there was a "direct aesthetic line" connecting the architecture of classical Greece, imperial Rome, the Romanesque period, the Renaissance, the Baroque, the Rocco, and all forms of classical revival that followed, with even divergent traditions like French Gothic or English Tudor making use of common architectonic elements. Cities tended to be harmonious, each new generation of buildings blending with older buildings to a great degree.
   
   In the 20th century however, many age-old aesthetic traditions were abruptly discarded by a modern, new, jarring architecture, built often at vastly different scales than older buildings, of completely different materials, built with new methods, buildings that were consciously designed to have a complete lack of relationship with the previous continuum of form. In Cairo for instance skylines once dominated by domes and minarets of mosques are now ruled by looming massive hotels. Massive gray residential slabs now dominate the remaining parts of historic Moscow. In some cases, as in New York, new buildings were built over and around preserved historic buildings, making them appear toy-like and ridiculous. Further, these buildings of alien scale and design often hopelessly fractured any urban architectural harmony, often forever, as what was destroyed can either never be replaced or only replaced at great financial, legal, political, and economic cost.
   
   Older cities of handcrafted buildings, made of natural materials from the immediate environment of the city, reflecting the historical values and physical characteristics of unique urban cultures Tung wrote now constitute a "finite resource from a closed period of human cultural evolution." Much of the unique architecture of the world's great cities - ancient Roman ruins, the cross-cultural traditions of Singaporean pernanakan architecture, buildings that show a great "specialness of place" - is still in danger in many places of being replaced by a global monoculture, of older unique buildings being replaced by comparatively poorly constructed structures that are generic in design and that differ little in response to local environmental and social surroundings.
   
   Why were older buildings replaced? War certainly plays a factor as might be expected, though by and large Tung feels that city residents themselves are responsible for building replacement. Sometimes older handcrafted buildings are replaced for what were laudable reasons, such as slum clearance, attempts to give the poor a better quality of life, though often irreplaceable but fixable buildings were demolished rather than rehabilitated. Some cities, such as Vienna, Charleston, and Amsterdam (which are detailed at length), bucked this trend, either saving old buildings or constructing new public housing with a conscious effort to maintain local architectural traditions. More often than not though making money was the goal; speculative real estate and construction in the name of progress fractured urban landscapes, as out of scale skyscrapers thrust into the London skyline and ugly hotels of poor artistry were erected in Cairo.
   
   Sometimes destruction or replacement of older handcrafted buildings seemed nearly unavoidable; Kyoto for instance, largely spared bombing in World War II, for centuries a city with buildings comprised of shoji (sliding walls of light wood frames covered by translucent paper) and tatami (rectilinear straw mats of standardized dimensions that covered the floors), were rapidly being replaced post-war by modern Western buildings that could more easily accommodate such innovations as modern plumbing and electricity. Tung related how this "culture of destruction" is being reversed, efforts in this regard aided by uniquely Asian views of preservation (often times ancient buildings are wood and are partially or wholly rebuilt periodically, the emphasis often in China and Japan on preserving the original form not as in Europe or America the original material) and permanence (Japanese buildings were traditionally built to withstand natural disasters and wars by being flexible and if destroyed by being easily rebuilt).
   
   Sometimes architectural preservation - or destruction - was dictated not by war or by progress but by ideology. The Third Reich demolished the landmarks of Warsaw as a punitive action against the Poles, Nazi architects purposely identifying key Warsaw buildings and purposefully destroying them (additionally many were destroyed in actual combat). As an act of defiance, Polish architects risked their lives (and quite a few perished for their efforts) to document this heritage before it was destroyed, hiding plans and documents during the Nazi occupation and then completely rebuilding the city as an act of remembrance.
   
   Tung recounted many successes in his book as well as failures. What are the common denominators in successful preservation? Clearly economic underdevelopment causes decay and destruction of historic assets. In a detailed chapter on Cairo, Tung discussed how the city's massive problems posed by skyrocketing population growth, extensive poverty, and an endemic culture of illegal settlement and corrupt, byzantine bureaucracy have caused residents to perceive conservation as a lesser priority and have created unique environmental challenges to the city's priceless Muslim architecture thanks to air pollution and a rising water table. Citizens of cities have to have in addition to the means of preserving the city a will to do so; while many of the historic districts of New York were listed and are protected thanks to the efforts of the residents of those areas, Venice, despite widespread international support, is decaying as fewer and fewer Venetians actually live in the historic city, not only affecting city politics and budgets as residents of the historic city lose clout to those outside the historic city but by simply not being present to provide such upkeep.



3. this book is a wonderful read. it should be a mandatory read for all city planners/architects. there is so much we can learn from the successes and failure of other cities' efforts in preserving their heritage.

   for most people, it's still a great treat coz' the stories of how these great evolves are just mesmerizing. the tale of the reconstruction of warsaw is a moving moment of human history. and the decaying of ancient cairo is tragic and upsetting. the author manages to tell these stories in a context relevant to all of us, as a city dweller or a visitor in a globalized world. he also makes us aware of the complex underlying forces behind the metamorphosis of these urban fabrics.

   i am looking forward to visiting or revisiting these great cities after reading this book. and i am eagerly waiting for a sequel that uncovers the stories of other great cities like prague, kathmandu, bangkok, shanghai, new delhi, sydney, buenos aires, havana, istanbul, barcelona...




4. For close to three decades, I've tried to understand why some cities preserve their historic and architectural fabric, while others destroy theirs. I now have a much better understanding about the political, social, and economic dynamics underlying preservation, or the lack thereof. Moreover, the author articulated some basics that no previous book ever did. Like, what is holding up all those building in Venice? And why did Warsaw, almost alone among cities ravaged in WWII, rebuild its historic fabric? The author not only answered my Warsaw question, but moved me to near tears in the process. (Why isn't this heroic story being made into a movie?) In short, buy this fascinating, informative book!



5. What makes a city great? How do you preserve a great city? Why do you preserve a great city? Who can preserve a great city? As you finish this well crafted review by Anthony Tung of the evolving fate of 20 famous cities from around the earth, you feel the answers to these questions are within your grasp. A great city is a living manifestation of the society that built it over the centuries. It can be preserved by the dedicated and enlightened effort of those who live in it. Only they can develop it in a way that recognizes the changes of time without giving up their cultural heritage. Great cities are the architectural fabric of civilization, showing how it evolved in various parts of the world as societies developed within a particular regional environment. Its residents, if they can maintain their culture and heritage in the face of change can preserve it, supported by benevolent assistance from others when needed.

   This book makes clear that there are also common threats of destruction each of these amazing cities must face. Beyond the ravages of time, which can clearly be overcome in a stable situation, three become apparent in reading the stories of these great cities. They are destruction from war or by conquering invaders; deterioration as the original builders move out and are replaced by those who are poorer, less educated and ironically often subjugated by the original builders; and destruction to make way for more modern and impersonal buildings and infrastructure based on the influence of modern global society.

   I wish to thank the author for the journey he shared with me. When he was writing about those cities I have visited, such as Paris, London, New York or Mexico City, he captured the essence of their heritage in a way that rang true to my experience. When discussing the state of those I would like to see; Beijing, Kyoto, Cairo or Athens for example, his descriptions were again lucid and highly credible. They made me want to visit the city and try to comprehend its past and its fate for myself. Written in a style that makes you feel you are in these great cities vicariously, this book not only makes you want to visit them, but also to do your part to help preserve the heritage of the city that you call home.