5 comments about Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream.

1. There are only two things to say about this book on Gruen the Mall Maker: 1) The writing must be overlooked, and 2) the substance of the book is crucial to understanding American cities and American culture as we know it today. It made me want to read more about architecture, city planning and economic trends as market forces redesigning neighborhoods, towns, cities and, ultimately, our country. It made me want to go back to school and get a degree in Urban Planning. It made me want to petition the school board to include the study of commerical design and the rise of malls in every high school American history class. It made me want to recommend it to all of my friends who live in cities, love cities, love their malls, live near malls and who shop at malls. The subject matter fascinated me; the writing - not so much so.



2. This is an excellent book about a single, fascinating individual and about American culture in the twentieth century. There is an irony here: Gruen was very idealistic about the mall's potential to improve society, but he didn't realize that, ultimately, his creation would cause the "malling of America." And he DID build the first mall...the first ENCLOSED mall (rather than an outdoor arcade), which was copied all over the country and is now the dominate type.



3. Mr. Gruen developed and expanded the concept, but no, he did not originate it - he and the automobile made it more successful and widespread, enriching us all.
   
   1956 the first mall? Er, no, not really: not by a century. Google "Arcade+Providence"

   The Arcade Building building by J.C. Bucklin & Russell Warren, 1827-1829
   
   The shopping arcade started here. While not called "shopping mall" the arcades were the start of having multiple shops under a single roof. The shopping mall is the same, with addition of parking and not usually urban but sub-urban or even rural.




4. My first true mall shopping was done in a Gruen mall, although I was quite unaware at the time of the fascinating story behind this complex man and his vision for America's public spaces.

   Thanks to this engaging work by Hardwick, I feel now feel enlightened as I prowl the mall that Gruen built. You don't need to be an architect or a social scientist to enjoy this book because the author makes the subject approachable for the inner shopper in everyone.




5. A great read and remarkable that no one has written about Gruen before now. if American retail and architecture is your thing, this is a must have. Hardwick captures Gruen in an objective light, in his time, for the reader to judge. can't wait for the next Hardwick bio.

1 comments about Impressionist Cats.

1. Feel like having a bit of whimsy? I bought "Impressionistic Cats" a number of years ago and have thoroughly enjoyed the art, the cats, and the cats in art. Definite whimsy! Might I add, the art is good enough to frame and hang.
   
   (If no image displays for the cover, just click on the product and go to the product page. It will be there.)
   
   This book is an amusing adaptation of Impressionistic art by making all the characters in each painting cats that resemble the characters. However, Susan Herbert has another explanation. She says that Professor Harvey Fishbone, a devout cat lover, collected these paintings and kept them undisclosed, allowing only cats to view them. Now his descendants are releasing these fine paintings for the world to see.
   
   Oh, how I wish you could see the print opposite the title page. It is called "after Edgar Degas Absinthe 1876" and had me belly laughing. If you have seen the painting/print, maybe you remember the abysmal look on the poor woman's face. She has been drinking absinthe, the bane of drink at that time. The artist Susan Herbert, who has several other books with cats in the paintings, is quite talented. Not only does she capture the essence and detail--well, impression, ok, the look of the original painting, she knows her cats. You should see this look of the absinthe-drinking cat! Woe and begone! Come any closer and my claws will have your eyes. Something in that line.
   
   "After Mary Cassatt The Loge c. 1882" is quite the opposite. Instead of stark and dreary, this is all sweetness and light. Two lovely young kitty women sit in the lower balcony, awaiting the opera. Ah, "after Paul Gauguin Tahitian Women 1891." Lovely, lovely cats, solid, earth-bound maidens of Tahiti. Here's "after Vincent Van Gogh, Self-Portrait, 1889," the one with the swirly turquoise background and Vincent's red hair and beard, only this "Vincent" is a marmalade tabby.
   
   One of my favorites: "after Claude Monet The Promenade (Madame Monet and her Son) 1875" showing Mrs. Manet swirling around with her umbrella. Monet/Susan has captured the moment with swirling skirts and puffs of wind made by the twisting umbrella. Ah, the magic of the impression. Lovely Mrs. Cat Monet. Another favorite: "after Berthe Morisot the Cradle 1872" showing a reflective moment of a mother cat after putting down the kitty baby, who has her little paw against her little fur cheek. The sweetness!
   
   And a last print: "after Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec In the Salon at the Rue des Moulins 1894" is a study of night cats waiting for toms, sitting in garish colors and velvets of the waiting area. The moment is everything. I do believe that will do.

No comments about Black & Decker Complete Guide to Patios: Plan, Build and Maintain (Black & Decker Complete Guide).

No comments about The Art of French Country Living (Travel & Style).

No comments about The History of Development of Building Construction in Chicago.

No comments about The Natural Paint Decorator: Recipes, Finishes, Techniques.

3 comments about The Mosque: History, Architectural Development & Regional Diversity.

1. THIS BOOK HAS REALLY NICE PHOTOS OF DIFFERENT MOSQUES IN THE WORLD OF ISLAM. MOST OF WHICH ARE VERY BEAUTIFUL. ONE CAN SORT OF EXPERIENCE THE PASSION THAT THE PEOPLE MUST HAVE FOR THEIR RELIGION AND LIFESTYLE BY VIEWING THE ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTY OF THESE MOSQUES.



2. The title is right and the books gives you a lot of not very deep information. But good as kind of catalogue. Authors missed a lot of regions. They took only well known to westeners. Somw great monuments are missed as well. But in general I would recommend to buy it for people who are interested in architecture and/or Islamic culture. Good photos.



3. On opening "The Mosque", most readers are likely to wonder that such a book has not been attempted earlier, for the topic is so obviously suitable for comparative study. The editors and their fourteen collaborators explain the mosque as an expression of Islam, analyse the characteristic styles of nine regions ranging from West Africa to China, and then report on the contemporary scene.

   The last topic may be the most original and important, for Westerners are far more familiar with the celebrated mosques of the pre-modern period than with those of the twentieth century. Oleg Grabar and Mohammed Arkoun provide typically brilliant insights while Khan surveys the architectural variances ranging from the pseudo-classicism of the Islamic Center Mosque in Washington, D.C. to the astonishing modernism of the Sherefuddin Mosque in Bosnia.

   Too often, in a specialized field such as Middle Eastern studies, a reviewer finds himself lamenting the excessive prices of books. How refreshing, then, to be able to compliment Thames and Hudson for including 378 illustrations, 170 of them in color, and yet charging very little more than the average scholarly book. This pricing decision brings The Mosque within the means of individual purchasers-and even pressures them to buy the book to prove that moderate prices do in fact lead to larger sales.

   Middle East Quarterly, March 1995

No comments about Airport Interiors: Design for Business.

No comments about Gothic Ornament and Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series).

3 comments about Master Built Pools and Patios: An Inspiring Portfolio of Design Ideas.

1. If I could have viewed some pages of this book it may have inspired me to purchase it. It is quite an expensive book foo the topic and without a chance to look first, I think you may lose some buyers.



2. I would think if you were going to provide a book and list the pool companies you would also list the material contractors and possibly the artisans.
   I installed the materials on one of the North Carolina pools. The pool contractor likely had no idea where the materials came from and initially provided substandard labor. Hardly qualifying for a master pool rating.
   The materials used were economical and high quality -the impression is that these are out of common reach installations. Hardly the case. Excellent pictoral representation of the projects however.



3. This really is a beautifully inspiring book. While many of the products in the book are out of reach for the individual with an average income, it offers some great ideas that you can incorporate into something that is a little more within your reach. The details are very nice and descriptive. It will also serve well as a nice coffee table book.