No comments about The Unknown Gertrude Jekyll.

5 comments about The Interior Designer's Launch Pad.

1. I am sickened by this book, not only is the intended audience to be that of a less educated person due to the child like writing and storytelling, but also the depiction of the "Interior Designer" in the way she is portrayed. This book is nasty, inappropriate, and false. I would not consider this book as part of my collection, nor well written.



2. Just in case anyone may be mislead: This is NOT interior Design, this is NOT how the profession is, or how designers professionally function, or even think.... I am embarrassed and outraged by the sexism and ethnocentrism in this book. Zero stars.



3. Not only does this book portray women is a derogatory way, but it doesn't accurately educate about the interior design profession either. The illustrations are poor and have nothing to do with designing. It's like an adult-rated comic book. (It shows a lady taking her clothes off!!!) Just looking at the cover makes me uninterested in the content within the book. As a graduating senior in Interior Design, I guarantee there are more accurate books to obtain schematic dimensioning. I would be EMBARRASSED to pull out this book in front of a client as a credible resource.
   
   ***This deserves a `0-star' rating***



4. I think the information in this book is portayed in a negatively provocative and sexist manner and should recieve a 0 star review. I would not recommend that anyone waste their money on this purchase.



5. I am highly offended by this book. I am graduating this May with a degree in Interior Design, minoring in Architecture and I feel as though this book is truly an embarassement to the field. Not only is it completely sexist, but the drawings are very inaccurate and poorly executed. I am absolutely horrified that this book is suggested reading material for intro to Interior Design. It is no wonder that some people don't take us seriously when things like this are being published. (This truly should recieve no stars)

No comments about Details.

No comments about Journey to Xibalba: A Life in Archaeology.

No comments about Making Spaces: Contemporary German Landscape Architecture.

1 comments about The French Touch.

1. The book is a great resource for someone interested in building or renovating to create an authentic "french look". French architectural elements are categorized and many pictures of authentic elements are provided in the book. By using the book as a guide, one can choose authentic looking or actual reclaimed elements widely available as opposed to the garish alternatives on the market that are advertised as "the french look". Kudos to the author !!!

4 comments about The New American House 3.

1. As with everything else from this author, it is just a collection of pretty pictures, with absolutely no detail on materials and construction techniques. There is a reason his books are so cheap.



2. Make no mistake, TNAH3 is beautiful. I loved the photos, especially of the interiors of the homes. However the floor plans are very difficult to read:

   - numbers corresponding to a legend, and not words or obvious icons (like say a table and 4 chairs to indicate a dining room) are used for each room

   - it is hard to tell with some of the larger designs what is interior or exterior, what's a wall versus a fence

   - dimensions are not provided for either the rooms or the overall structure




3. "The New American House 3: Innovations in Residential Design and Construction" is truly a monumental resource for those interested in home architecture. Editors James Grayson Trulove and Il Kim have assembled 30 case studies of homes built between 1996 and 2000. The homes range from a 2,200 square foot residence to mansions of 10,000 and 12,800 square feet. The houses come from locations all over the United States: Lovell, Maine; Duluth, Minnesota; Fayettevile, Arkansas; Seattle, Washington; Tucson, Arizona and many other places.

   Each case study includes detailed, eye-friendly floor plans, as well as many full-color photographs (both exterior and interior). Other features found in many of the case studies include cross sections, detailed elevations, axonometric drawings, site plans, and other visual supplements. Also included are descriptions of materials used in construction.

   Although the houses represent a range of design approaches, the overall flavor strikes me as modern. Some of the many highlights include the daring cantilevered elements of the Nomentana Residence; the "Y" House (shaped, unsurprisingly, like the letter "Y"); the Emerson Residence, which beautifully blends traditional-looking shingled gables with some innovative elements; the Townsend Residence, a fantastic, flowing series of interconnected circles and curves; and Ledge House, with its striking blend of rough-looking logs and stone. These are just a few of the amazing sights in this book. I recommend "NAH3" with great enthusiasm.




4. This book contains some really good work. The previous books had a few projects here and there, but this one is pretty consistent on the quality of design. I especially like the number of projects from Arizona. (Dessert architecture out there is up and coming.)

   As said before, I love these books because of the inclusion of key building details and the neccessary drawings to "see" the work past just the flashy photographs. Once again, I recommend the books in this series for someone interested in contemporary residential design, and for the designer who might need some ideas to get "un-stuck." I like to use them as visual aids to clients, also.

1 comments about New Apartement Design.

1. This book is full of photos of the works by various designers. There are no text content of any sort other than the projects' title/author/year. I am not a professional in the interior design field myself. When I first saw the book in the store, I fell in love with all the wonderful pictures of the art works. It may be an exemplary book for interior design students, or an idea book for someone like me who enjoy looking at modern design and products.

5 comments about House As a Mirror of Self: Exploring the Deeper Meaning of Home.

1. Have you every just fallen in love with a house, knowing that you were meant to live there? Have you ever had an apartment that seemed to suck the energy right from your body after a long hard day at work? Are there certain places in your home that are "yours" or "your spouse's"?
   
   Unconsciously we are all seeking to become our genuine selves. In this quest, we tend to surround ourselves with ideals, examples of what we feel matches our deepest parts of ourselves. These examples come primarily from past experience. For instance, we may have had a special place in a childhood home where we felt safe, loved, and free. Alternately, we may subconsciously associate a large dining room with sadness after the loss of a parent or unvoiced hostility in a dysfunctional family setting.
   
   House As A Mirror of Self brought to light many of the things that I had forgotten in my childhood and many of the situations that I hadn't really thought about. It is truly interesting what you gravitate towards because of your previous experiences and how those decisions get combined and complicated with that of your spouse. I even figured out why I was feeling that there was something not quite right about my home office.



2. I loved this book for its ordinariness with a subject that can be extraordinary and difficult to grasp at times. The writings of Clare Cooper Marcus helped define and hone many inner qualities in a very immediate manner. This book is like having a compassionate friend sitting with me.



3. This reads more like a textbook for an interior design course. It has little to do with the psychology of your own choice of home/setting. Like another reviewer said, the idea seemed fascinating, but the book disappoints right away, if not for the setup alone; the author overuses the same phrases and form to setup her next example. It is as though this were her thesis for design school. It could also pass for a really good new age book, that's how problem-centered it is. If you have watched "Designing for the Sexes" on HGTV, you have read this book. This book is only interesting and appropriate for interior designers, not for anyone seeking insight into our needs and choices when it comes to home.



4. I found this book when I was undergoing my own deep personal transformation ten years ago. It helped me understand my own relationship to the homes I had created for clients and my self. As an interior designer and a contractor it is important to understand the calling of the client's psyche and meet those needs. There is so much focus now on the spiritual aspects of one's home, and feng shui does offer up its own insights, but using this book as a primer for understanding what is calling to you will lead you to a different more integrated understanding. A carpenter builds a house, the family makes it a home. Clare gives the reader a path to understanding this complex yet simple process. The book is easy to read and offers many good exercises to dialog with the inner self. I highly recommend it to designers and psychologist alike.



5. I have an advanced degree in psychology and I have renovated several houses. The concept behind this book seemed fascinating to me. However, I have been very disappointed. The focus is on psychology written by an architect. She is an amateur psychologist--it would have been better if she had focused on her own area of expertise. It was a waste of money.

4 comments about Transparenz.

1. This book is not out of print and is available from the publisher. It has been published in Germnan and in English so if you want an English version make sure you order the correct edition.



2. Rowe's obtuse, convoluted writing style buries his ideas in a morass of verbal sludge, rendering them totally inaccessible to the layman and barely comprehensible to the typical architecture student. After encountering this book several times in the course of various classes, I was surprised to realize how comparatively simple the ideas it contains are. In the typical fashion of upper-level humanities academia, however, Rowe hides his point behind impossibly twisted sentences and an onslaught of outside references that seems designed more to impress the reader with Rowe's own wide-ranging knowledge than to enlighten. The ideas of this book could be condensed to a short essay, and the only thing lost would be the page count.



3. I'm a student, Transperency: the book gives you a new way to think about architecture, outlining a basic characteristic in architecture that transcends major movements. Crucial to the understanding of buildings. best of all. .. Colin Rowe is really easy to read.



4. This article defined visual analysis of two dimensional architectural and urban design compostion.