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

1. Paul Sahre has done it again. This book is a visual tour de force and important contribution to the legacy of the Leisurama era. It is gorgeously designed, rigorously researched and a truly wonderful read.



2. 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.



3. 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.

3 comments about Stone House: A Guide to Self-Building With Slipforms.

1. The illustrations inside the book leaves much to be desired. The book is a "Self Guide" to construction; this makes it mandatory to have exceptional pictures, illustrations, and drawings! Sadly, to say notwithstanding, the book-cover the interior is disappointing.



2. Tomm Stanley has written an excellent book that is both instructional and entertaining. He has the experience and forethought to prove that he isn't some hippie with unproven thoughts/ideas, but he also writes in a very warm and personable way that keeps his book from being a dry, tasteless "how to" construction book. He is frank with his mistakes, offers proven and tested solutions openly, and explains things scientifically enough to satisfy this reviewer (I'm an engineer).
   
   My only slight complaint is that many of the photos are terrible quality and you must go to the book's website to view the higher quality versions. This isn't too bad, but I worry that someday the website will move/discontinue and I'll be left with a book poorly illustrated.



3. It's easy to build it yourself with slipforms - especially if you also have in hand Tomm Stanley's Stone House, covering slipforming methods, sources for materials, stonelaying techniques, and more. Tomm Stanley and his partner know their stuff: he built his own home from slipforms and his construction photos can even be seen on-line in color - most included with this book, in black and white.

5 comments about Design with Nature (Wiley Series in Sustainable Design).

1. My husband is a landscape designer and architect. So, he loves this stuff! I bought it for him as one of his birthday gifts. He has been wanting something of high quality and loves McHarg. I would recommend this book. We keep it on the coffee table because the pictures are wonderful and the design shows through. My husband and I love it!



2. As a former colleague of McHarg's at the University of Pennsylvania during the 1960's, and currently working in a planned community he designed (The Woodlands, TX), I decided to buy this book to try to understand the strange idiosyncracies of The Woodlands, TX.
   
   The book is very wordy, but it is well illustrated. McHarg successfully blended community design with natural boundary conditions (watershed management, geology, forestry, slope properties, etc) with the case histories he presented (some of which I remember when serving on an invited basis on jury's in McHarg's academic program). The book's strength is his advocacy of melding human planning needs with nature's boundary conditions.
   
   BUT, does it really work? Only at the expense of the time of people working and living in such a planned community. The inconvenient practices that go with such a planned community require a lot of adjustment that asks a bit much of people who work in such places but don't live there.
   
   But it works fine for the affluent and the unhurried who can afford it.



3. No has estudiado arquitectura si este libro no ha caido en tus manos. Sin Ian Mcharg la arquitectura sostenible no seria posible. Por lo menos la arquitectura sostenible pensada a escala regional."



4. this highly recommended book started out as a compelling read, but became something i had to force myself to finish. it seems to be a series of lectures strung together, which may have been interesting as lectures, but is not cohesive enough to be a book. the good information is lost amidst the rambling style.



5. Anyone studying environmental planning or LA should read this book.

5 comments about Everyday Fashions of the Forties as Pictured in Sears Catalogs.

1. Not only is it great to see the everyday fashions of this era, you can really enjoy reading the descriptions and especially be amazed by the prices of the items!
   
   Keep it in pristine condition as a collector's item, or use it as part of a scrapbooking project with photos of the family from way-back-when!
   
   Any way you use it, Everyday Fashions of the Forties as Pictured in Sears Catalogs is a lot of entertainment for a little price -- just not quite the sort of prices you'll see inside the book!
   
   There's lots of fun here. Highly recommended!



2. As I have more in this series of books, I was fascinated by the year-by-year styles in the 1940's. And as with others, I was disappointed that they were not in colour. A minor problem, I think, because the descriptions provided as well as the names of colours also tells me about the time period. What exactly is the shade 'Cadet Blue'? But it does give good all around display of everything from children's clothes...not to mention miniature uniforms for little boys, to men's wear and funny looking men's underwear, to shoes, hats and purses, evening and wedding gowns and the rather uncomfortable looking women's underwear. Along with the others, they are a treasure and a time capsule.



3. Whenever I take this book out, people fight over a peek into its glossy pages. It covers everything in fashion from the forties, though mostly focusing on women. The pictures depict fashions, from dresses to shoes, hats and gloves to maternity wear; the women's hairstyles, makeup, undergarments, and overall looks give the reader the most authentic possible view of fashion and the aesthetic ideals of the time. The catalogue also shows the prices and features descriptions that include fabric and color. Seeing such low prices is pretty crazy! Obviously, it was relative to wages and the overall cost of living then, but the immersive effect of the book is still strange and fascinating. There are some pictures of man's and children's fashions. This book is thorough and unbelievably beautiful.



4. I was looking for ideas for a 1940's costume for a dance competition. This catalog helped me tremendously.



5. I love the book. I use it to give me inspiration for my designs. It's a good reference book.

5 comments about Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister, The.

1. If you love the architecture of post-war America, then this is the book for you. I am a huge fan of Wayne McAllister's work and this book gives you the lens with which to view the progression of his buildings which began early on and literally exploded in the 1950's.
   
   We all remember restaurants and hotels and some homes with this man's 'signature' all over them: rock exteriors, large sheets of glass, inset lighting, and brick planters. Some decry this look as cheap and tasteless. But in reality it wed form and function with a certain aesthetic quality that will never be duplicated.
   
   Today, everything from buildings to cars all look alike. That 'certain something' is missing. Still, it is great to look back to a time when restaurants, hotels, motels, and cars looked cool. This book is a walk down memory lane and I return to it often. Well done, Chris Nichols!



2. This book was a delight to read. The illustrations are beautifull and informative. The research that has been put into this book is of great value. This book is of great lasting value for Baja California history as well as California and Nevada.



3. If you are into architecture books, books about Vegas, 1950s car culture, or anything retro, this book will be one you enjoy. I really like it as a coffee table book, because it has great pictures, but it is also a great read and seems well researched.



4. Nichols presents an interesting look at many of the historic landmarks of Los Angeles and Las Vegas, painting the picture of times since forgotten. Being in my 20s, many of the landmarks I knew in name only, although I have seen and been to some, but in both cases, Nichols' book manages to evoke feelings of nostalgia and longing. The book is obviously painstakingly researched, and the sheer number of rare and hard-to-find photographs are enough to make any architecture or food history buff go ga-ga.



5. Nichols gives a nostalgic retrospective on the long live and prodigious output of Wayne McAllister. In no small part, the book walks the reader back through the last 60 years of urban commercial architecture in the southern California region. McAllister lived a very long time, and he was responsible for designing iconic landmarks that at least in the hazy afterglow of memory, epitomise a classic time.
   
   The book is replete with many photos and illustrations, the cover being an example of the latter. The most common image, if not exactly the most enduring, is Bob's Big Boy. I remember in the early 80s, when I arrived in Los Angeles, how these fast food restaurants and their mascots were everywhere. Even getting a cameo role in Terminator. Alas, as the years wore on, the Bob's Big Boys got steadily deprecated. Not many left.
   
   Another type of McAllister's work has also fallen into the tar pits of history. He designed many of the drive-ins that dotted Los Angeles. And which were an indelible part of many teenagers' experiences. Sadly, most are long gone, brought down by the VCR and its successors. At least in the book, you can see several as they once were, at the peak of their glory. Actually, no matter how pretty the architecture, the sound was often bad, the food dreadful, the movies second rate and the nearby cars often had loudmouths.
   
   Great book. But for some readers old enough, there is a certain bittersweet tinge to all this.

5 comments about Commercial Metal Stud Framing.

1. I am a practicing structural engineer. I have designed many light gage frames and seen them built in countless time. I have used custom structural details or typical details from SSMA. This book is a good reference book which summarizes what really happens out in the field. I remember when I came out of school as a green engineer, I sometime received comments like "your detail does not work", "it's always different in reality than what you draw in office". I wished there is a book out there to show me what the installer was thinking and how the frames were put together in reality. I finally found this book after several years. It shows, in step by step, how to install load bearing/non-load bearing stud walls, soffit, headers, interior partition walls w/ defl. tracks, etc. A lot of pictures to illustrate the installation procedures and contractor terms, such as 'dog ear', 'shoe cut', etc.
   
   I have to admit that there are some structural terms in the book that were incorrect, such as it refers precast-prestressed double T system as "truss system" as page 16; but overall, the book was well written in simple and clear format. Certainly, this book is not intended to teach you how to design light gage framing. So, if you are looking for a book to show you the formulas or engineering mechanics of light gage design, this is not the book for you.
   
   I recommend this book to all practicing structural engineers who desires to know every detail of how light gage framing get built in reality, especially those that you draw in your drawings, and typical details that you have seen for thousands of time.



2. This is a great beginner book for anyone wishing to get into metal framing. It covers all your basic cuts as well as the basic methods for leveling, plumbing and squaring. This book tells you how to build various walls, soffits, chases as well as introduce one to various headers and layout techniques. I used this book to educate myself on metal framing but discovered quickly, that when you do it in the field, it is not always as easy as it may seem in the book. Having said that, if you understand plumb, level and square then you can probably adapt to just about anything in the field with the techniques shown in the book.



3. I was looking for a book to help me complete an architectural drawing for office partition wall framing with metal studs. I found this book is not written for readers who want to find details in architectural drafting and design of metal stud framing in order to comply with commercial building codes.



4. The author admits he wrote this book to assist with classroom teaching. As an additional explanation to a teacher explaining it, the book would be great. The problem is his explanations are hard to follow and the picture angles and lighting make it hard to see many of the details he refers to. I ended up skimming the book for good basic ideas. He obviously is very knowledgable in the field.



5. I am a general contractor that needed good and reliable information on metal framing. This book is well worth the money and has allowed me teach in house crews how to properly work with metal framing components. This book shows a variety of procedures and a lot of "tricks" of the trade. I can honestly say that this book will take you from zero knowledge to actually being able to frame a decent size job starting with proper layout and moving onto framing around obstacles and a variety of different things like headering doors and windows, framing soffits, framing for suspended drywall ceilings, furred walls, interior and exterior walls, etc.
   
   This book has saved me hours of time right after I read it and started applying the information. My crews can cost me over $100/hr when they stand around trying to figure out something or have to redo work. Having them read this book before a job has saved hundreds of dollars and has produced a much better end product than we have had in the past.
   
   If you are new to metal stud framing, you need this book.

5 comments about Hearst Castle: The Biography of a Country House.

1. I enjoyed this book, and the details of his life relating to the building of this wonderful American treasure. I wish there had been more photos showing the details of the fine art and antiques collected from Europe early in this past century. Also it would have been worthwhile to show much more and better photos of the architectural elements of stone moulding, stucco detail, doors, tiles, ceilings, floor designs and iron work.



2. I actually bought this for a gift for my neighbor,she had been looking for it for a while and she was very excited and said the pictures inside were fantastic.



3. Hearst castle is just an amazing tribute to one man's enormous ego. I am glad that it is preserved as a set piece for Hearst, for that is what he intended all along. This book captures the signifigance of the estate, the images are well concieved, though not as crisp as expected, and the text is informative. This certainly is not the definitive book on Hearst Castle, but it is well worth the purchace none the less. If you have any interest in Hearst Castle, or gilded age extravagance in general, then i cant imagine you being disappointed in this book.



4. Fantastic book exceptional pictures and loaded with written details. Usually in a book like this you get one or the other here you get both! A must read and viewed book,a bit spendy but worth every cent!



5. A first rate account of the building of "La Cuesta Encantada" with new information I have not found in other Hearst Castle books or by taking the castle tours many, many times since I was a little girl. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't wait to visit the castle again with this new knowledge.

1 comments about The Concrete House: Building Solid, Safe & Efficient with Insulating Concrete Forms.

1. ICFs provide cost-effective ease of construction, energy efficiency, quiet, and long-term sustainability for any location (mountain, coast, valley, flood plain, frequent tornadoes, cold and hot, arid and humid). The use of steel studs on interior walls provides strong structure and reduces thermal breaks. ICFs work for basements and multistory structures. They are insect-proof.
   
   Anything you can design and build with typical "boards and sticks" construction you can do much better with ICFs. ICFs can be used for floors, ceilings, walls and roofs or SIPs (structural insulated panels) can be used. ICFs are suitable for the tropics or high elevation snowy mountains. Want a house that will still be there after a severe tornado? Look into ICFs.
   
   How do you introduce a contractor to ICFs who has been building the same way for 25 years with the motto, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" (resistant to changing methods of construction) - give your contractor a copy of this book. Spend one 24 hour in an ICF house - feel the ambient temperature, listen to the sound, look at the natural and artificial lights, then demand high quality, sustainable ICF construction for yourself, your business, schools and church.
   
   Houses are expensive and costly to operate, regardless of climate. ICFs require good thorough thinking in advance (you're not going to move a window or door easily later on). Want sustainable cost-effective construction in and above ground? Build ICFs.

No comments about Paul F. Aubin's Mastering Revit Architecture 2009.

5 comments about The New Southwest Home: Innovative Ideas for Every Room.

1. There are a lot of photos and ideas that are easy to duplicate. Enjoyed the book.



2. I have enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to others who are interested in the SW style.



3. The photo's are wonderful especially if you're looking for ideas to decorate your house in southwestern style. That's what I am doing and I actually got some great inspiration from many of the photo's. I'll be honest, I bought it for the great photos and decorating ideas and I haven't actually read any of the text!



4. Moving from Florida to New Mexico is a learning experience. Styles of homes and furnishings are very different as one might expect in leaving the tropics for the desert.
   This book gave me beautiful pictures to help in the transition and build a home with style. I highly recommend it for beautiful concepts in decorating and design and those who desire pictures to get creative juices flowing!



5. I love other people's homes because I get decorating tips, art suggestions, perhaps color ideas and room layout pointers for furniture. I also like other people's homes because I'm curious and I want to see where they live.
   
   Shortly after our departure from Minnesota for the long, cold winter and our arrival in Arizona for the balmy sunshine, The New Southwest Home by Suzanne Picket Martinson arrived for review. It couldn't have been a more fortuitous arrival since, after five years in our current home, we are considering a move.
   
   The New Southwest Home is a simply scrumptious book packed with room-by-room tours of stunning and uniquely innovative contemporary and traditional homes that marry style with environment. Whether you're looking for larger windows, unencumbered by coverings, to view the mountains, monastery front doors that signify strength and durability, or a traditional beehive fireplace for cozy warmth, there is something for everyone.
   
   And since the Southwest conjures up visions of warm, neutral earth and desert colors there are many ideas, using that color palette, for the reader to experiment with. From the entryway where guests are invited in, to the heart of the home, the kitchen, and all rooms in between, there is beauty, ideas galore and a sense that Southwest living is a collaboration of beauty and function. The photographs are exceptional and add to the flavor and enjoyment of paging through the book, just for fun or for ideas for your own home.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: The southwest style can be transported anywhere. It's not just for the southwest. Isn't that a fun thought?