No comments about Hip Hotels USA.

1 comments about Hideaways: Cabins, Huts, and Treehouse Escapes.

1. This book shows a lot of fine images of what a "hideaways" hut looks like. But I did't find any further drawings that can give me more helps...

1 comments about Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism.

1. Already recognized since 1949 as "a masterpiece in scholarship" in its field by several eminent architects, the 173 page tome: ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES IN THE AGE OF HUMANISM, 4th ed. (1971) by Rudolf Wittkower; had, incidentally, also provided an in-depth explanation on proportion and ratio as they differed in usage between architectural procedure and Boethian mathematics.
   Of special importance is part four 'The Problem of Harmonic Proportion in Architecture' (p. 101) where the author made the salient point that "Although the Pythagoreo-Platonic concept of the numerical ratios of the musical scale never disappeared from mediaeval [sic], theological, philosophical, and aesthetic thought, there was no over-riding need to apply them to art and architecture" (p. 159).

   Rudolf Wittkower unknowingly provided in part four the distinction between an elite Quadrivium education containing Boethian "mathematical arts" while "the 'liberal arts' of painting, sculpture, and architecture were regarded as manual occupations" (p. 117). The author explained "That the high Renaissance architects shunned theory" and "that they were practitioners rather than thinkers" (p. 30). And further "Italian architects strove for an easily perceptible ratio between length, height, and depth" (p. 74). So then according to this author, all of the Renaissance architects conception of architecture was based on a "commensurability of ratios" (p. 108).

   Rudolf Wittkower indicated "that the [Renaissance] architect is by no means free to apply to a building a system of ratios of his own choosing, that the ratios have to comply with conceptions of a higher order and that a building should mirror the proportions of the human body" (p. 101). In developing the centrally planned church, Renaissance architects faced the dilemma of the pragmatics of church construction combined with the belief in divinity and the acceptance of Roman Catholic dogma.

   The Church was to provide the "easily perceptible ratio" with the simple logic that "As man is the image of God and the proportions of his body are produced by divine will, so the proportions in architecture have to embrace and express the cosmic order" (p. 101). That cosmic order and harmony are contained in certain numbers Plato explained in his TIMAEUS.

   Assigned to the architects, a Quadrivium trained Roman Catholic friar and musical theorist, Franchino Gaffurio (1451-1522) "in a truly Platonic spirit he regarded this principle of harmony as the basis of macrocosm and microcosm, body and soul, painting, architecture, and medicine" (p. 124). It was under this famous Renaissance musical theorist in 1525 that "the old belief in the mysterious efficacy of certain numbers and ratios was given new impetus" (p. 102). "It was Pythagoras who discovered that tones can be measured in space. What he found was that musical consonances were determined by the ratios of small whole numbers. If two strings are made to vibrate under the same conditions, one being half the length of the other, the pitch of the shorter string will be one octave (diapason) above that of the larger one" (p. 102). "Thus the consonances, on which the Greek musical system was based - octave, fifth, and fourth - can be expressed by the progression 1:2:3:4. One can understand that this staggering discovery made people believe that they had seized upon the mysterious harmony which pervades the universe" (p. 103).

   "The musical consonances are determined by the mean proportionals; for that the three means constitute all the intervals of the musical scale had been shown in the TIMAEUS. Classical writers on musical theory discussed this point at great length. An exhaustive exposition is to be found in Boethius' DE MUSICA, first printed in Venice in 1491-92, and of very great importance for the doctrine of numbers throughout the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance" (p. 111).

   Yet Boethius's DE MUSICA was de-emphasized by Renaissance architects in recognition that the "harmony of the universe which Plato had described in the TIMAEUS on the basis of Pythagora's discovery of the ratios of musical consonances" prompted the "application of Pythagoreo-Platonic system of harmonic ratios directly to architecture" (p. 125). As it turned out (not surprisingly) "Gafurio [sic] was regarded by his contemporaries as a critic in architectural matters" (p. 125).

   The author of ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES IN THE AGE OF HUMANISM provided the evidence that although the Quadrivium of the mathematical arts of music, astronomy, geometry, and Boethian proportion and ratio, was known to the Renaissance high architects, they preferred the 'harmonic proportion'; 'proportion of excess'; and the 'proportio proportionum'; derived directly from Plato's TIMAEUS and Pythagoras's three means (arithmetic, geometric, and the harmonic) over Boethius's DE MUSICA, though it was a substantial part of friar Gaffurio's ecclesiastical education. This resulted in "proportionally integrated 'spatial mathematics', which we have recognized as a distinguishing feature of humanist Renaissance architecture" (p. 26).

   In comparison, for the practical application of Boethian proportion and ratios, please read: THE PHILOSOPHER'S GAME (2001) by Dr. Ann E. Moyer, where the rules of Boethian proportion found in rithmomachia, had been clearly defined, though inadvertently, by Rudolf Wittkower.

1 comments about Vienna 1900: Art and Culture.

1. There is much to admire in Vienna 1900, but the author should have given credit to Carl Schorske's Fin de Siecle Vienna as the inspiration for this book. This seems to be a trend in publishing. A writer finds a subject that has already been covered in another book published some time ago,and then, writes his own book, giving it a very similar but not identical title, and then proceeds to cover the same material without mentioning the original. Then, to field any criticism that he failed to mention the original, he puts the author's name in either the middle of his bibliography, where no one will notice it, or mentions him in a footnote. I find this practice to be reprehensible. Publishers should take more responsibility than they do in this regard. A failure to do so will undermine their credibility entirely. Christian Brandstatter should have known better, even if he is from Vienna and Schorske is not. That doesn't give him license to ignore a superior work.

1 comments about 100 Small Houses of the Thirties.

1. Based in the St. Paul/Minnesota area, Brown-Blodgett Company started as a home-construction service and eventually expanded into house plans, and the result is this 101-page book. First, the good news: The pictures and text in this book are nice and clear and even the wee tiny numbers showing individual room dimensions are legible.
   
   The downside is, there are only two pages of front matter (titled, "The First Home You Build" [p. 1] and "Good Plans Will Save You Money" [p. 2]) and there is only one page of back matter ("How Much To Pay For a Home"). I always love reading these extra pages, because you can learn so much about the day-to-day business of building a home of your own in the early years of the 1900s.
   
   The curious thing is, the title, "Small Houses of the 1930s". These are not what I'd categorize as "small homes." Of the nearly 200 homes pictured in this book, the great majority are spacious two-story English Tudors, Dutch Colonials, Colonial Revivals, Cape Cods and even an International Style home. While there are some small bungalows shown here, I'd say the great majority of spacious homes, typical of what you'd find in the upper-income executive neighborhoods of the 1920s and 1930s. On average, most of the homes in this book are 1600 - 2000 square feet. By 1930s standards, that's not a small home.
   
   Like so many of these reprinted 1920s/30s architectural catalogs, this one is a lot of fun to just sit and browse. And the price is right.

No comments about Fieldwork: Landscape Architecture Europe.

2 comments about Architecture of the Islamic World: Its History and Social Meaning.

1. A Person who just starts to learn something about Islamic culture should read it. For people who knows a lot the catalogue at the second part of the book would be helpful but it is also not complete.



2. I love this book. It gives you a very good insight to muslim architecture and is at the same time easy to read and entertaining. As an orientalist in a postgrad study program I got to read books on the subject that are much more confusing or that are written in a slightly boring style. This book is a thorough introduction that never just stays on the surface of the matter. It does not give you a chronological account of architecture history, but answers a lot of questions like "Why it was built like it was built?" In the back part of the book you find plans and short descriptions of the most important buildings, in the first part you find a lot of good photographs and even better articles on single subjects like materials or building techniques. But the most important thing: It's NEVER boring.

3 comments about Gardens of Revelation: Environments by Visionary Artists (How Artists See).

1. This is one of those books that I did not enjoy reading but I still feel the book is important. It is not that I agree with the subject - It is just that this book if very very "wordy." Lots of big words - like the kind you put into a college book report. I did read it twice but it is not for me. However at the same time there is some decent info - hidden between the big words - for the person that likes the subject.



2. a crusader of public art and the outsider's view and place within the landscape, beardsley once again publishes a magnificent chronicle of uniquely driven individuals and their art. highly recommended - excellent for anyone interested in art, landscape, theory, pop culture, sociology...incredibly well done!



3. This is a fabulous book. It is a comprehensive and respectful treatment of outsider artists from the US and abroad. The photos are exquisite and the text is well-written and informative. If you are at all interested in outsider art, this book will be a cherished addition to your library.

No comments about The Gods of Greece.

1 comments about Long Island Country Houses and Their Architects, 1860-1940.

1. I have to first say thank you to the author for giving us this exhaustively researched book. I expecially appreicated that the house was most always pictured with the description. The historical B&W photos are great. The book also lets you know if the house is still in extant, that is KEY in a book of this kind. I was amazed at how many survived and saddened at those that didn't. Your heart will pound as you look down to read if the beautiful house you are looking at survived. I think it is sad that so many know about the great houses of Newport and the Hudson River Valley, but forget about the greatest collection of all: The Gold Coast of Long Island. I hope if this book does nothing else,it makes developers think for a second before tearing down history. We will never see houses in America like this again. Job well done, indeed.