1 comments about Design for Human Ecosystems: Landscape, Land Use, and Natural Resources.

1. John Lyle continues his seminal work presented in "Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development". Any one interested in designing deep structures of urban spaces into sustainable environments would benefit greatly from reading this book. This book also covers rural development as well. Propagation of water flows for maximum beneficial inter-relationships is one particula r topic of interest for me.

   I highly recommend this book!

2 comments about Mehrdad Yazdani.

1. Mehrdad Yazdani is a superbly organized and presented visually descriptive documentation of the architectural designs of the master architect Mehrdad Yazdani. Providing readers with a wealth of full-color photographs of Yazdani's impressive architectural accomplishments showcased on page after page of his uniquely designed buildings from the 1980s to the present, Mehrdad Yazdani also features brief and succinct texts on Yazdani's grand designs. A core addition to professional and academic library Architectural Studies reference collections, Mehrdad Yazdani is very strongly recommended for its introduction to the gifted work of determined and progressively contemporary architect.



2. Artist Mehrdad Yazdani has practiced his work in one place for most of his life, earning the respect of fellow architects and critics for his imaginative designs of public buildings: this represents the first gathering of his work under one cover: some 23 projects both large and small, built and un-built. Blueprints and design patterns accompany full-page color photos of constructed buildings to capture the extent of Yazdani's vision in a wonderful, compelling presentation highly recommended for college-level art libraries specializing in architectural displays - especially modern architects.

No comments about The Sourcebook of Contemporary Architecture.

4 comments about The Look of Architecture.

1. This book consists of three lectures given by Professor Rybczynski at the New York Public Library (lectures he admits to revising for publication based on the need to respond to challenging questions from his audience). While not as innovative in topic and scope of inquiry as his books "Home" and "Waiting for the Weekend," there is much here that Rybczynski's loyal readers will recognize and appreciate--the author's love of his subject, his deep and broad knowledge of the history of architecture, his high regard for the minutia others tend to dismiss, and his confidence in his own opinion. The three essays--"Dressing Up," "In and Out of Fashion," and "Style"--are an investigation, among other things, of archtects' reluctance to speak of their work in terms of style. "Architects don't like to talk about style," Rybczynski says in his introduction. "Ask an architect what style he works in and you are likely to be met with a pained expression, or with silence." (p. xi). The lectures explore the differences between arcitecture and other art forms (including interior design, cooking, and the rag trade). Of the distinction between style and fashion, he says, "If style is the language of architecture, fashion represents the wide--and swirling--cultural currents that shape and direct that language." (p. 51) In the end, Rybczynski observes, "A suspicion of style is a heritage of the Modern Movement, which preached against the arbitrary dictates of style and fashion, while maintaining an unspoken but rigid stylistic consistency." (p. 109) He also attributes the reluctance to speak in terms of style to archtects' fears (but I'll let you ferret out the provocative supporting quotations for yourself). The lectures are well-seasoned with aphorisms, and I found myself often lowering the book to my lap and pondering individual statements for minutes at a time as if in conversation with the author. I will leave you with just one more of these statements, "The role of details is not to complement architecture; details ARE archticture." (p. 94) All in all, I found "The Look of Architecture" to be a very enjoyable read.



2. While I finished the reading, the only thought in my mind is to read more references related to the writer's vivid-narrated lectures, as well as more books signed a name as "Witold Rybczynski".



3. Any book by Rybczynski is a delight to read and contains a wealth of information and fresh ideas. "The Look of Architecture" is no exception, and while it is not as groundbreaking as "Home," it is a carefully written analysis of Architecture that is chock-full of examples to illustrate what he's getting at (a few more pictures would be nice, though).



4. I was amazed by how involved I got in this book. For a book about buildings, I was grossly interested. Rybczynski knows his stuff when it comes to books.

2 comments about Courtyard Houses: A Housing Typology.

1. I've reviewed this book and strongly disagree with negative assessments.
   It's a typology book, a study of the courthouse type, and some excellent built examples are provided (such as the often admired courtyard house by Alberto Campo Baeza), as well as some great research done by professors and their students at the University of Darmstadt, showing new courtyard house ideas. As a book on building types, it is deliberately restrained in its graphics, which are scrupulously clear and the designs are modestly innovative, dealing with real issues like use neutral and multi-use subdivision strategies. Far from the ego, gloss, and starchitecture of typical publications this is exactly the sort of productive work architects can offer to society. Please take another look! The rowhouse volume is equally excellent, and both will prove out to be essential for planners working on these building types. Highly, highly recommended.



2. Dont let the nice cover fool you. This book is really very plain inside. Analysis of courtyard typology was not in depth and the graphics were very simple. Not very informative. My mistake was not seeing the contents before I purchased.

No comments about Josep Lluis Sert: The Architect of Urban Design, 1953-1969 (Harvard University Graduate School of Design).

4 comments about Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago.

1. If you are Catholic, from Chicago and dislike the hexagons that are being passed off as Catholic churches in the last 50 years, you will love this book!
   
   Many inner city and suburban parishes are treated, grouped by geographic location.
   
   Agreed it is a little pricey, but it beats driving all over the city and climbing into the choir lofts to take your own pictures.
   
   A great gift idea for parents, grandparents from Chicago!



2. Mary Pat and I went to Chicago expecting to see something fabulous. I don't get it. We didn't see any of the churches, but we got a great room at the Fairmont. We had full body massages by a Japanese man.
   
   We got lost trying to find John's mansion in Lake Forest or Kenilworth. Anyway, Mary Pat enjoyed the church pictures. After Ernest Thorp's war book, it's my favorite Wapella literary feat.



3. If you don't believe that Chicago has some of the best looking Catholic churches in America, you should take a look at this book. Sixty-eight of the almost 400 churches in the Chicago archdiocese are featured, some in much more detail than others.
   
   The author seems to have a thing for older, more traditional churches over newer ones, which is just fine by me. Most of my favorites are here - Holy Name Cathedral is present, of course, as is St. Michael's in Wicker Park, which was burned in the Chicago Fire, and Holy Family, which wasn't, although it was almost torn down a decade ago. St. Ita and St. Jerome on the North Side are featured, as is Our Lady of Lourdes, which was once moved across the street, spun 90 degrees, and then split in half to double its size. The South Side has its masterpieces as well - St. Rita of Cascia, St. Philip Neri, the darkly lit Queen of Peace, with its incredibly ornate flat ceiling, and the fantastically bright and beautiful St. Columbanus. The great Polish churches are well represented: St. Mary of the Angels, modeled on St. Peter's in Rome, closed and almost torn down once; the St. Michael on the Southeast Side; the sad and tragic St. Hedwig; St. Hyacinth - now a basilica, and an enormous one at that, the largest and arguably most beautiful Catholic church in the city; St. John Cantius, another nearly destroyed masterpiece, now completely renovated and with its own order of Latin-speaking priests. I could go on and on.
   
   Two churches are not even active Catholic churches anymore: St Boniface was closed 15 years ago, and the fantastic old St. Martin's just off the Dan Ryan Expressway is now Protestant. And there is the wild story of St. Gelasius, just south of Hyde Park, vandalized, nearly burned down, closed, and now being rebuilt as the Institute of Christ the King.
   
   I think a few really great ones are missed. Namely, St. Ben's on the North Side, whose bell tower dominates Irving Park for literally miles, and St. Martin de Porres (formerly St. Thomas Aquinas) on the West Side. Perhaps St. Sabina's on the Southwest Side belongs, although the interior is all screwed up -I don't think any other Catholic church has a big neon "Jesus" hanging over the altar. St. Mary of Perpetual Help, in Bridgeport, is an outstanding church and certainly belongs in the book, as does the beautiful and unique Lithuanian Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Marquette Park.
   
   On the other hand Loyola's Madonna Della Strada is an oversized white barn, and St. Gabriel in Canaryville, despite being designed by the famous Burnham & Root team, is too small and too low. And St. Peter, downtown, while a fine church, is not really in the "great" category, either. The chapel of St. Mary of the Lake at Mundelein Seminary is a great example of Congregationalist church, being all white and almost featureless, but a lousy example of a Catholic church.
   
   But this is quibbling. All the photos, by James Morris, are in stunning full color, and the text is mercifully short, yet well footnoted. Perhaps a bit overpriced at $60 for about 160 large pages. Robert Cameron's Above Chicago, for example, has the same number of much larger pages but costs half as much. All in all, a beautiful book, very suitable either as a gift or a bit of self-indulgence.
   
   Here is a list of all the churches, copied from the publisher's website:
   
   Downtown Chicago
   
   Holy Name Cathedral (Near North Side/Gold Coast)
   Assumption (Near North Side/Gold Coast)
   St. James Chapel at Quigley Preparatory Seminary (Near North Side/Gold Coast)
   St. Peter (Loop)
   Old St. Patrick's (Near West Side/West Loop)
   
   
   North Chicago
   
   Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Lakeview)
   St. Ignatius (East Rogers Park)
   St. Alphonsus (Lakeview)
   St. Vincent de Paul (Lincoln Park)
   St. Josaphat (Lincoln Park)
   St. Clement (Lincoln Park)
   St. Jerome (East Rogers Park)
   Our Lady of Lourdes (Uptown)
   Madonna della Strada Chapel (Loyola University/East Rogers Park)
   St. Michael (Old Town)
   St. Ita (Edgewater)
   Queen of All Saints Basilica (Sauganash)
   
   
   Northwest Chicago
   
   St. Hyacinth Basilica (Avondale)
   St. John Berchmans (Logan Square/Bucktown)
   St. John Cantius (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
   Holy Trinity (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
   St. Stanislaus Kostka (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
   St. Viator (Irving Park)
   St. Mary of the Angels (Bucktown)
   St. Boniface (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
   St. Hedwig (Logan Square/Bucktown)
   Holy Innocents (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
   
   
   South Chicago
   
   St. Michael (South Shore/South Chicago)
   St. Martin (Englewood)
   Nativity of Our Lord (Bridgeport)
   Holy Cross-Immaculate Heart of Mary (Back of the Yards/Canaryville)
   Institute of Christ the King (formerly St. Clara⁄St. Gelasius) (Woodlawn)
   St. Anthony (Pullman)
   St. Gabriel (Back of the Yards/Canaryville)
   St. Basil/Visitation (New City/Back of the Yards)
   St. John of God (Sherman Park)
   St. Thomas the Apostle (Hyde Park)
   St. Ambrose (Kenwood)
   Holy Cross Monastery (formerly Immaculate Conception) (Bridgeport)
   St. Rita of Cascia (West Englewood)
   Corpus Christi (Oakland/Grand Boulevard)
   St. Anselm (Washington Park)
   St. Columbanus (Greater Grand Crossing)
   Our Lady of Guadalupe, Shrine of St. Jude (South Chicago)
   St. Philip Neri (South Shore)
   Our Lady of Peace (South Shore)
   
   
   West Chicago
   
   Holy Family (Near West Side/University Village)
   St. Pius V (Pilsen)
   Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica (Near West Side)
   Holy Rosary (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
   Notre Dame de Chicago (Near West Side)
   St. Adalbert (Pilsen)
   St. Paul (Pilsen)
   St. Nicholas Cathedral, Ukrainian Catholic Church (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
   
   
   Chicago Suburbs
   
   St. Thomas Aquinas Priory Chapel, Dominican University (River Forest)
   Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary (Mundelein)
   St. Athanasius (Evanston)
   Chapel at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Barat College (Lake Forest)
   Marytown, Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe (Libertyville)*
   St. Peter (Skokie)
   St. Edmund (Oak Park)
   Ascension (Oak Park)
   St. Giles (Oak Park)
   Immaculate Conception (Waukegan)
   Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Divine Word Monastery (Techny)
   St. Francis Xavier (Wilmette)
   St. Joseph (Wilmette)
   Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity (Winnetka)



4. I bought this as a gift for a friend. It's a great reminder of the church where she got married. It also has the church where her parents and grandparents were married as well, so she was thrilled!

No comments about Arts of the City Victorious: Islamic Art and Architecture in Fatimid North Africa and Egypt.

2 comments about Plan of Chicago.

1. It's hard for me to argue with what was said above. As a student of architectural history, I am as smitten with Burnham's plan as the next person. I do have one caveat with this otherwise fine reproduction: Oftentimes I found the illustrations to be a bit washed out. This gave me great difficulty whilst trying to examine them for a research paper I was assembling. As a result I had to get my hands on an original copy, with the beautiful watercolors still wonderfully intact. As it stands, however, this is a fine volume and worthy of anyone's collection.



2. The most notable aspect of the 1909 Plan of Chicago was that the author's (Daniel Burnham) profession was not exclusively city planning. He was a business man. He viewed his plan for the City of Chicago as the best way to create an exceptional business and civic environment. It worked! Many elements of modern downtown Chicago that make it a truly great, world class city, are a direct result of Burnham's vision. For it is the grand vision that stirs the soul of mankind and allows a "planning document" -- normally a thick document, full of data, which sits on a shelf and collects dust -- to be embraced by an entire community. This is a must read for contemporary city planners, business men and government officials that want to "make it happen" in their communities. MAKE NO SMALL PLANS

1 comments about The Victorian Celebration of Death.

1. This is a great book! It has more information than you will ever want, but it has wonderful gems of information that make it a great read. I photograph cemeteries and love the history of cemeteries, so it was fun and useful for my purposes.