2 comments about Suburban Transformations.

1. A step-by-step procedure, beautifully visualized and mapped, for remaking suburban built environments. Augumented by case studies. A rare combination of creativity and precision focused on a critical problem. Bravo!



2. I like this book because it suggests ways that we can make our suburbs better places to live. I really like books that tell us about how we can improve the status quo, and/or about better alternatives to the status quo, and/or about solutions to problems. I would really like all of North America's suburbs to become pedestrian-friendly, like small towns surrounding each big city.

5 comments about Bali Houses: New Wave Asian Architecture and Design.

1. A beautiful book well balanced in terms of text and pictures. The quality of the pictures is second to none. Compared to other books about Balinese style mostly focused on interiors, this one captures not only the essence of the interiors but also open spaces and gardens.



2. Great photography and awesome scenarios. It really brings the feeling of being in Bali. And the decorations show the artistic side of the new interiors of the open living. It inspires my clients when they come inside my furniture store. Of the books I have from Bali, this is certainly the one with the best pictures!



3. Being a Decorator, this comes in handy for clients who like the look of the Tropics. It's a complete book of ideas, design strategies, and an overall look into another world of comfortable, colorful, Paradise influence to bring a little joy to the reader.



4. This is a genuinely fine book. The photographs are spectacular, with fine color and resolution.
   The text isn't too in-depth about houses in Bali, but the pictures speak for themselves.
   I wholeheartedly recommend it, got me?



5. Good overall but not as informative as Bali Modern another book by same author. PHotography excellent.

No comments about Patterns 2: Design, Art and Architecture.

4 comments about Provencal Escapes: Inspirational Homes In Provence And The Cote D'azur.

1. This book has given me many ideas for my own provencal escape in the country and takes me to a place in my mind that makes me feel calm.
   This is a special book.



2. A nice inspiration source for charming, rustic country french design. I wanted more out of the book though - perhaps photos of full rooms rather than vignettes of tables and kitchen counters. It makes it hard to get a sense of design style without a full room effect in my opinion. The book does ooze charm and if you have other books on this style and just want a little extra something this would be ok. If however you really need a good book to learn all about french country style I would not suggest this one.



3. This book oozes with charm! The homes featured in this book are very old and beautifully brought back to life by its owners while respecting the history and integrity of these buildings. The title "Provencal Escapes" is appropriate since this book lets you escape into a dreamy and ancient world of Provence. The photos are gorgeous and you feel that you are actually walking through some of these homes. This book is a must for any fan of Provence or just of beautiful escapes. I highly recommend it!



4. This magnificant book consists of photographic studies of some 22 homes in the Provence and Cote d'Azur regions of France. These homes are primarily older (as much as 300 years) that have been seriously redecorated to make them into jewels of plesant styling.
   
   For the most part, the redecoration of the homes has been to retain (or return to) the styling of the time they were built. Magnificant old beams show off well with modern appliances and decorations. The traditional outside of the houses hides the modern interiors. The original builders could not have imagined things we take for granted such as electricity that now has been fitted into their houses.
   
   Redoing an old house is easily as expensive as modern construction, so these houses have not been done for cost savings but for other reasons like living in a part of history.
   
   While this book concentrates on this region of France, many of the techniques used in these houses could well be applied to houses in the United States where old houses be they farm or city center can be made into something unique and wonderful.

2 comments about Leisurama Now: The Beach House for Everyone 1964-.

1. I lived on eastern Long Island 50 years and never heard of Leisurama Homes till I saw a PBS tv special two years ago. I took a ride to Montauk and found this development very interesting. The book is nicely done with tons of color photos and alot of history which i like along with then and now photos. You can tell the author did the utmost in research for this book. Highly recommended.



2. This book can be appreciated for both its design aesthetics and its telling of Montauk history. Leisurama tells how people lived and continue to live in their environments, which are these pre-packaged homes. The fun part is the book's layout which jumps timelines and stories, comparing what was then and how it has transformed now. We need more than old radios or televisions or wood paneling to express the 60's and the generation of idealism. Which makes Leisurama a fun and strange book. There are too many things in this world that we will never know of because we lose interest and move on. Here we have an opportunity to obsess over the author's obsession and be part of a history that is still very much alive.

5 comments about Stained Glass Window Designs of Frank Lloyd Wright (Dover Coloring Book).

1. I used this coloring book in conjunction with an art/ art history lesson on Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture and stained glass windows. The final colored pages look great no matter the skill level of the child because the black lines "hide" where some may color "outside the lines." I used the book with first graders.



2. If you're a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and art, or if you like stained glass art, this coloring book can inspire your own designs. A few hours with a copy machine and some colored pencils can produce personally customized drawings for use in your own home. I recommend this book to the designers, and budding graphic artists in the crowd.



3. I personally have spoken several times with Mr. Casey over the telephone. I've made some of the designs which are easy to work from in his books and he is very upfront about the glass availabilities,where to get the caming - - which the smallest triangular caming is no longer available as he's aware also from source in Chicago. Their machine die's are worn and no longer make accurate runs of it. I had to use next largest size. The results are very nice and worth it.
   
   I'm glad someone with the abilitiy to do 'architecturally' accurate drawings took the time to do so and with the accuracy of ZEUS....Dennis is wonderful. We hope only to someday find any one of the over 150+ panels and over 80 sets of french doors done in artglass from the Midway Gardens project torn down after the prohibition years. The colors were clear, red, white, black however the exact orientation of the colors is left up to some interpretation. I've tried to get closer by comparing known photos of the multiple sets of panel types & sizes used along with the actual designs as drawn by Mr. Wright which vary in detail some from the completed glasswork done in Chicago. The Glass maker is still unknown but assumed as one of the larger in town and the drawings from their firms no longer exist to anyones knowledge so far in researching this now for several years. Should anyone out there actually possess one of these panels or door panels please contact one of the larger collections in the country for exhibiting it. None have ever been found or known about in the art world so far.
   
   PLEASE add this book and Dennis' other books to your collection if you are a serious ARTGLASS and Frank Lloyd Wright buff. I highly recommend them. bravo ---encore please Dennis!



4. I love this design book! While I was student teaching I used it to explain the layout that Wright used for his stained glass windows. Students could copy the designs to regular sheets of paper and then color them they way they wanted to. This book contains designs on vellum paper..not regular pulp paper, thus creating the "window" look. This is an excellent resource for teachers and students!



5. I just took my first stained glass class, and I was looking for a pattern book of designs that I actually LIKED, as opposed to the schmaltzy stuff that is so easy to come by. I own a bungalow, and I love Frank Lloyd Wright, so this was perfect for me. It's also fairly easy for beginners, because most of the patterns have only straight lines - no curves.

   There are only a few colored examples, but if you're familiar with Wright's work, or if you're creative enough to come up with your own colors, this is a great resource! I was just so happy to find this! I really didn't want to spend hours creating unicorns & rainbows!

1 comments about Schaum's Outline of Structural Steel Design.

1. Schaum's is the greatest educational series, ever. Exactly what I expected from Schaum's regarding structural calculations.

2 comments about Victorian Architectural Details: Designs for Over 700 Stairs, Mantels, Doors, Windows, Cornices, Porches, and Other Decorative Elements.

1. We've been working on rehabilitating a Transitional Victorian circa 1909 and have had this book for a year or so. Much of this ornamentation is grander than what is appropriate for our house, but this is a teriffic reference book for us and for me as a professional remodeler/restorer. True, there is no text, but I find the illustrations full of information when pored over carefully. One particularly helpful detail is that each profile within an illustration is provided with a cross-section to help gauge its massing and proportions. Oh, if only we had the lumber available to feasibly replicate all these great details! If you're considering this book, trust me, it'll be the best ten bucks you'll ever spend for your reference library.



2. The photo on the cover is a good sample of what is in this 1873 catalog reprint - many drawings of stairways, cornices, fireplaces, windows. It even has storefronts, 2 barns, and gazebos. It has a few house layouts and exterior elevations, and plaster cornices and ceiling designs. We are building a Victorian house, and the ceiling designs are ones I think I can replicate with Millwork and paint. Lots of neat ideas to ponder and show our carpenter. There is no text - just the index and the plates themselves.

5 comments about Shigeru Ban.

1. The fact that this book comes with real explanation and plans of the proyects is why it was chosen above all others... arquitects don't read pictures, they read plans...



2. the work of this interessant japanese architect, it's a demonstration of a continuated and progressive developmente of an architecture beautifull and deep.



3. Excellent book,interesting, useful not only for architectors but for anybody. good print quality.



4. Shigeru Ban is famous for his innovative use of building materials, structural rigor and pureness. This book captures all these quintessential attributes of this ingenious architect.
   
   The editor did a great job of organizing Ban's projects according to the building materials (i.e., paper, wood, bamboo, prefab, and skin). Multiple projects in each chapter form a coherent and articulated presentation of how Ban took advantage of the uniquessness of certain material and incorporated it into his architectural philosophy and aesthetics.
   
   The text is technical oriented which often includes the characteristics of the materials and the issues concerning structural engineering. At the end of most chapters, you can find detailed technical information and test statistics of the building materials used in the featured projects. Moreover, at the beginning of the book, Ban also contributed an article on the whole building process of building his classic work: Japanese Pavillion, which is very informative and instructive.
   
   Another noteworthy strength of this book is that it reveals the connectness of Ban's different projects and shows how the architect developed and built his own architectural style programmatically (e.g., How he developed, refined, and matured the paper architecture, the furniture house idea, the ivy structure, and the universal floor plan through several dozens of projects).
   
   Put together, this is a well-organized, thoughtful, and informative book about Ban's contribution to the international architectural community. Bravo!



5. The book itself is almost the perfect monograph. Each project is described concisely, and it has all the drawings and photos to orient the reader to the site, the program and the idea. The drawings and photos range from the finest detail to the biggest gestures, and doesn't isolate the projects like they're pristine objects. The photos often emphasize the construction or assembly of the work, though the finished photos and model shots are expressive and informative too. The pages with experimental and test calculations are well-organized and relate back to specific projects and details, using graphs, tables and pictures or drawings of the elements or details in question. For a non-engineer, it's all rather clear and convincing. I've never seen ideas and processes presented so rationally and convincingly. Nothing here seems superfluous and Ban reveals his process and interests completely to the reader.
   
   Of course, the projects themselves are fantastic. John Hedjuk's influence is all over the work, and I dare say that Ban's actualized projects are now richer, have reached greater depth and are more expressive and informative than his mentor's. On one level, you could imagine that Ban's preoccupation with wood products, "green" construction and sustainable design started as a bad pun that served as the basis of his student thesis. ("Paper Architecture." Ha-ha.) But the rigor and depth that he brings to each project break through any temptation to show self-conscious irony or superficiality. At the end of the day, he's an architect's architect who controls proportion and light, defines space and considers human scale in all his work. He makes Calatrava look like "just" an engineer. And his works aren't just formal exercises with nine square grids and such. His ideas and works begin to touch on politics without seeming pretentious or partisan with his refugeee shelters and other more recent work (although those private houses do present a counterpoint to the socially-oriented work in more ways than one).
   
   Anyway, great book, great work. I'm totally convinced of Ban's skills and talent.

4 comments about Greene & Greene.

1. The book has a great selection of Greene & Greene houses and design elements. Unfortunately, the image quality is poor. The lighting is often poor to begin with, and the attempt to correct for it in post production was not done properly in many cases, the result of which is a posterized effect and a loss of overall depth, contrast, and sharpness. The color balance is off leaving most of the rich, reddish mahogany and other woods looking green and flat. It's possible that all of this is the fault of the book's Printer, in which case I feel sorry for the photographer. Been there......



2. I own several other books about the Greene brothers but this one is my favorite. I am a woodworker that makes a lot of furniture. And this book provides lots of photos regarding the furniture. In fact, at the end, there is a section of close-up photos dedicated to the details. These are photos of the chairs, sconces, stained glass and lights.
   
   There is very little discussion of the Greene brothers' career--this book is almost all photos. And almost all of the photos are from unique perspectives. Very few of the perspectives are repeated in my other books on the Greene brothers.



3. Marvin Rand is an accomplished photographer with a special affinity for capturing the essence of architectural details. His eye is keen, his technical skill in manipulating the camera is obvious, and his ability to go beyond the surface makes this portfolio a very fine exploration of the mysteries and profound accomplishments of the brothers Greene!
   
   Having the luxury of visiting many of the homes photographed here offers the opportunity to evaluate more acutely. After a fine introduction by Daniel Gregory who, like Rand, prefers to concentrate on interesting details rather than over-chewed history, the remainder of the book is a collection of lavishly colored plates of the houses created by Greene and Greene, showing the importance of the California climate in the way the houses were laid out architecturally, the concept of the bungalow style, and the craftsmanship which lent its name to a movement. But the real treasures are Rand's scrupulously lighted and composed images of details of the Greene and Greene genius. These include doors, and windows, lamps and furniture, intricate and simple designs from the blossoms of Art Nouveau, and the endlessly fascinating influence of the Orient in finding the quiet and tranquility of the through-designed/composed dwellings.
   
   This is more a book of photographs than the books written by the Greene and Greene scholars and as such serves as an adjunct to the literature rather than just another volume about California's favorite architects. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, December 05



4. This is a gorgeous book on a most worthy subject. Greene and Greene's architecture is so unique and beautiful and it has never been photographed so well, the pictures just jump off the page, they are so vivid and they make the subject really pop. I have not always been an admiror of Greene and Greene's work, I realize that it is not everyones taste, but when captured this way I just can't see how anyone could not admire it. The seeming symplicity of the architecture belies an incredible amount of craftmanship and talent that it took to create these homes. I enjoyed the pictures of the grandest of the homes Greene and Greene produced, but it was really the small bugalows that I most enjoyed viewing, the attention to detail is amazing. If you have any interest in architecture and most certainly if you are someone who likes this particular style of architecture then I highly recommend this book, there are several books on Greene and Greene but this is the best in my opinion, but don't take my word for it look at the other books and chose for yourself, several are quite good, but as I have stated this one, in my opinion is the best...for what it's worth.