4 comments about Architectural Programming: Information Management for Design.

1. A very poor example of out an out of date way of architectural planning. The process goes in and out of favor like hemlines and should not be used as textbook as it is full of generalizations and broad unsubstantiated opinions by author. An appalling mix of the relevant with the irrelevant



2. As far as I know, this is the Omnibus of Programming reference books. As was said before, it is not something you just sit down and read, but it is a great reference and should get your head straightened out on how to handle producing a good programming document. I'd suggest marking pages 24-25, (the Issues and Facts checklists. These come in handy) as well as page 73, Concept Diagrams. If you are still a student, page 73 will go a long way toward getting to the version of "simple and clear" your particular prof expects. Just grit your teeth and pay the price for this one, because you'll need it!



3. Transaction was ok, but Amazon waited 8 days to ship my book, and I had already been in class for 5 days by the time it arrived. A little disappointing...



4. This book provides several ways of gathering and organizing information during the programming phase of design. This is not a book to sit down and read in an afternoon, but worthwhile of having in a reference library.

4 comments about The Chinese Garden: History, Art and Architecture, Third Edition.

1. I've been a garden designer in Portland Oregon for twenty years and have spent over a year in China visiting gardens . This book is a very good place to begin if you want to understand , on a basic level, Chinese gardens . It is however, not the place to stop if you really seek to understand them . To do that you have to try to understand the culture and times which produced them. Fruitful Sites by Craig Clunas is the best work which I have found so far as it analyzes the gardens at Suzhou over the course of several dynasties. Chinese Classical Gardens of Suzhou (Hardcover)
   by Tun-Chen Liu, Joseph C. Wang is also a very good book . It is a critique of most of the principal gardens in Suzhou and it punctures the illusion that every Chinese garden is equally great and every feature wonderful. And if you are actually going to travel to China to see gardens you really should read both of Peter Valder's books . They will help you understand Chinese plants and to find gardens in many Chinese cities. I don't always agree with Valder's assessments . He is quite restrained at times . And if you are planning to travel to Suzhou consider visiting Tongli as well. I also consider the gardens of The Slender West Lake in Yangzhou and other gardens there to be equal to many of the gardens in Suzhou. And if you are going to go to China I recommend you start reading The Orientalist online and purchase Beijing by Peter Neville Hadley so that you will not be shocked when you travel China . It is by no means an easy process if you want to travel beyond some air-con rip-off tour.



2. While the attitudes and examples of Japanese gardens abound in books and in cities around the world, very little has been written or photographs of the unique concepts found in the Chinese gardens. Maggie Keswick repairs that paucity of information with this very beautifully designed, photographed and written monograph on the spirit of the subtle beauties that abound in the Chinese garden.
   
   Keswick offers an in depth analysis of the history of gardens in China and even if the reader is not an avid horticulturist, just the amount of information about China alone is reason to read this book carefully. But in addition to the history and the architectural elements of these gardens here considered, there are many graceful photographs and accompanying illustrations that keep pace with the narrative while providing an encouragement to return to the book purely for the art of it.
   
   Keswick has found the middle ground in creating a volume about the elements of the Chinese garden and a volume that stands strongly as simply an art book. Highly recommended for repeated readings. Grady Harp, April 05



3. How great Chinese garden are!From north to south ,east to west,royal to normal,fancy to simple,you could see all of the best gardens in China.Especially two cities that must visit:Beijing,my hometown,and Suzhou,a wonderful small town built beside the river.The spirits of Chinese gardens were focused on how to combine nature and humanity together.The gardens in Suzhou absolutely rendered an ideal level without artificial fixing,you might called it "Eastern Venice".On the oher hand,Beijing seems much more luxurious since it used to be the capital of China for 5 dynasties.The best known garden named Summer Palace ,which settled in Western part of Beijing,belong to the royal family. A fire desaster ruined most valuable garden named Yuan Ming Yuan,if it still being there,Yuan Ming YUan might be the most gorgeous garden in the world.However we pitifully left a waste garden,morely a Country's shame.You luckily better read this book before you visit China.<>is a helpful tourguide take you a preview.



4. A superb study that is as engrossing as it is elegantly written and lavishly illustrated, and a sensitive inquiry into the aesthetics, the history and the philosophy that underpin an ancient and majestic civilization's view of mankinds's place within the cosmos. Both unique and profound. An essential work.

3 comments about El Segundo.

1. This book shows a continuation of the outstanding mechanistic illustration style of previous Wes Jones projects. Not much new ground covered, and the organization of the text was unusual to say the least.



2. Wes Jones is the kind of architect I want to be when I grow up.
   
   Or maybe the kind of architect I want to be when I can move away from the constraints of the norm, the expected, the benign world of "grownups". This dilemma that I find myself in as I read El Segundo.
   
   The mastery of the architectural drawing, the seducing of the viewer has always been a trademark of JP:A, but this publication takes that to the next level. It then body-slams, chokes it into submission, and posts it on "YouTube" with the kind of "in your face" presentation that makes this book really stand out among current architectural publications.
   
   The book itself, as an object, is nothing short of beautiful. The aforementioned drawings and images are simply amazing. Jones had always straddled the fence between the representation of the architectural artifact and the actual condition itself. The amount of detail that is immersed in the drawings and explicit digital renderings is amplified within the images from actual constructed situations. My favorite find is the custom, "built-in", boss-infused lounge chairs on the pool deck in the MOMO/Redondo dwelling ... of course in a dwelling that slides into multiple configurations, that detail might be lost on some, but it speaks of the level of control that Jones masters on each project.
   
   The attention to material connectivity [I can't really call these "details" because they extend beyond that simple construction label] is remarkable. The same care and obsessive passion taken in the representation resonates within the meticulous craft of how the parts come together. For any fans of machine architecture, surgically tight drawings, highly seductive models, and what I find to be some of the most "detailed" building components this book is a must for your collection. It is a wonderful documentation of the versatility and talent of JP:A.
   
   The clever method of the book assembly itself is a welcome relief from the typical norm of picture/image/picture/image. Jones constructs the book object much in the way that he tackles the hardcore architecture found within- numerous sections/categories of information barrage the reader in a visual symphony- but with enough restraint to provide a pleasant, non-invasive read or study. Texts found on any page include project philosophy, program analysis, a VERY descriptive project legend, and the generous sampling of the JP:A take on the architectural "generic" condition [through their hyper-tuned, dunnage-bearing, tricked out welder's goggles].
   
   My only regret is that I waited until now to locate this book in my personal library. It is truly one of the best architectural published EVENTS that I have ever seen.



3. I really admire Jones Partner's work and I was hanging out for this book for a very long time. (I don't have much of a life outside architecture)
   
   If you like their work you'll love this book. Since the last book 'instrumental form' they've built a lot more (its great to see more photos). However the work is as consistent as ever and there is still plenty of unbuilt work which really pushes the boundaries. Its great that the unbuilt stuff, whilst sometimes obviously conceptual, has been refined to the extent it has - often working drawings. It really makes you believe.
   
   Awesome book and i'd recommend it to anyone - people who know the work will be stoked, whilst people who don't will be blown away.

5 comments about Peter Zumthor Therme Vals.

1. A phenomenal representation of a single building monograph. It has client/architect history, site and design process, early sketches, development drawings, construction drawings and details. It has it all.
   They wont let you take pictures or sketch at the building, so get the book - no qualms there.



2. This is an amazing book with lots of Zumthor's sketches and commentary. The photographs are beautifully shot and printed, however there tend to focus on interesting details rather than capture the overall structure. The text, photographs and sketches are excellently integrated and the book really capture the unique experience of this building.



3. This is a beautiful book which deftly combines four threads; the images of Helene Binet, the thoughts of Peter Zumthor, drawings and sketches of the baths and a dictionary of terms and themes by Sigrid Hauser. Few contemporary works deserve to be as completely documented. Unlike most contemporary projects there was no rush to make a publication, the building has aged gracefully and become embedded in architectural culture, this book documents the making of a place for human experience embedded in the history and tradition of bathing. Vals has become a place of pilgrimage to the senses.
   
   This book will make room for itself on even the fullest bookshelf.



4. Another great book from a great architect. Therme Vals are a masterpiece of architecture. Anything related must be good.



5. this book covers in depth of his famous Therme Vals bath house. beautifully photographed, detail drawings, and insightful text of Zumthor's thinking. this is the kind of architecture you will never learn through CAD, but only through life experience of visitng numerous architectural spaces. I highly recommend to anyone who still cherish the poetics of physical space.

4 comments about Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture.

1. A complete and utter waste; the excerpts in this volume are so short - averaging a page and a half each - that they are completely useless. Please do not waste your money like I did. You can learn more about the authors and theories on Comedy Central than you can by reading the thirty second sound-bites in this waste of paper and ink



2. good collection of essays and ideas about the meaning of Architecture through different authors along the 20th century. It's not a dictionary nor gives the whole understanding of the overlaping of styles, but shows condensed points of view about various topics.



3. This little green book is like an encylopedia of contemporary famous architects' writings and is a good source for students or layman with not much architectural theory background.



4. This collection of texts by Mr. Jencks and Mr. Kropf is a post-modern piece of work: joining different ideas as they were equivalent. At the same time it looks like a way to inform about the theories and manifestoes, in fact, it is a reductive and destructive thing because the pieces of writing don't show the real ideas of the architects. The book gives the same importance to entire complex books, short comments about buildings, magazine interviews, etc. They are not equivalent, people should be more respectful with the work of the other ones, mainly when their work is to teach and to help understanding.

5 comments about Arcadian Architecture: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson-12 Houses.

1. The content of this book is wonderful and BCJ are to be commended for their work.
   
   The actual book, however, is VERY poorly put together. The binding on every volume I've purchased has started to disintegrate from the moment I've opened the cover. I've purchased and returned several copies because of this (ultimately having to return the book entirely).
   
   For this reason, I can barely give it a single star in terms of rating. Had it been bound like every other book I own, it would earn a 5-star rating.



2. It is a very nice book and one that my son wants very much to add to his liabrary as he is studying architecture. The book seems to be coming apart, only strings are holding it togehter. It looks like the glue has pulled apart where we have started looking at the book.



3. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson have a long illustrious history stemming from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Seattle, Washington. As such, this beautiful collection of twelve "arcadian" homes represent the tip of the iceberg of their collective work. In these immaculate residences you will find their signature details, many of them by James Cutler, who worked with Peter Bohlin on the Gates Residence and other projects. You will marvel at the romanticism of the Adirondack Retreat on Lake George, New York, with its granite boulder fireplace and natural cedar and fir interiors. Then there is the Endless Mountain House, located in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with its projected balconies atop crumbling fieldstone walls with a towering chimney anchoring one end of this evocative residence. The house appears as though it were built over ancient ruins. Nestled within these idyllic residential projects is the Pacific Rim Estate, co-authored by Bohlin and Cutler for Bill Gates on Lake Washington, near Seattle. It is a stunning work, not so much in its assemblage as in its marvelous kit of parts, from a barrel-vaulted garage buried into the wooded landscape to the beautiful timber connections in the main body of the residential complex. Here we see brute concrete and heavy timber blended naturally into the landscape, making for a surprisingly unassuming compound that incorporated many sustainable design features, including recycled heavy timber posts and beams.



4. This is one of the most well crafted books on a single architect. The scale and quality of the photographs, the packaging, it is the best gift you can offer to someone who has a passion for materials and detail.



5. an absolute treasure. this quite weighty volume covers the top-notch residential work of BCJ in great detail - beautiful drawings and photography all work together to illustrate these wonderful buildings... highly recommended!

5 comments about The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals: A Study of Medieval Vault Erection.

1. The only book written on how to build a cathedral. Very informative and helpful to a novice.



2. Good introduction to medieval building techniques. Being a devoted admirer of Gothic cathedrals, this was one of the first books I red about the subject and it served well. If you wish to know why was pointed arch so important, or procedures used to erect butresses or types of scaffoldings used at that times... you will find the answers here. There is one drawback - it seems to me that author was repeating some ideas from the first half of the book in the second one, but still, it deserves 5 stars. Kind regards, Mario.



3. If you want to know about the details of building a Gothic Cathedral this is IT! I only wish the type front was a little bigger and some of the drawings were enlarged. Some of the construction details are pretty much what we are still doing today.



4. The builders of Gothic vaults left few clues (written or pictorial) about their actual construction methods. John Fitchen employs induction as well as the skills of a detective to figure out how the vaults were designed and built. Nevertheless, he fails the inquisitive reader at one critical point.

   Fitchen states that the stone ribs supporting the Gothic vaults conform to a curve called, in mathematics, a catenary. The mathematics of catenary curves was first described by Robert Hooke in the late 1600s. This was no less than 150 years *after* the Gothic builders completed their last work.

   In the absence of a knowledge of the mathematics of catenaries, how did the Gothic builders discover the *only* rib curvature that was self-supporting?

   (It's not good enough to say the Gothic builders arrived at the correct catenary curve empirically, that is, by trial and error. There was simply no room for error. All would have come tumbling down.)

   How did they do it?




5. In this book, originally published in 1961, John Fitchen describes and explains the falsework (i.e. scaffolding) that was used to build Gothic Cathedrals. The main focus is on the construction and use of the centering (which is the formwork used to build arcs and vaults). The chapters: 1. Sources of information - 2. Constructional means - 3. Medieval types of vaulting - 4. Gothic formwork - 5. Gothic centering - 6. Erection of rib vaulting without formwork. The text is clearly written and accompanied by excellent drawings, a very good glossary and an extensive bibliography. For everyone interested in medieval building techniques this book is a must.

No comments about The New Architectural Pragmatism: A Harvard Design Magazine Reader (Harvard Design Magazine).

5 comments about 10 X 10 _ 2 100 Architects 10 Critics.

1. The publishers did a fine job on the quality of this book. Although 10x10 was not at all what I was looking for others may find it useful. I found that it had extremely contemporary design throughout, current and old. Its focus was more on the very soul and defenition of contemporary that is shown in form. I am not a designer or architecht, but am sure that type of person would get more from the book than I did. Basically I was looking for a collection of ideas that could some how be implemented into other forms, but I was not successful. All I could see was page after page of a revolving theme that I now know does not appeal to me in its purest form..



2. Im an architecture student at the University of Florida and this book, including 10x10 are a must have. Simple as that. Full of pictures and small captions describing projects. Great for a student in design courses.



3. As a web designer, going through this book of beauifully designed homes and buildings give me layout and design ideas. Full color with large pictures and descriptions, I would reccomend this book for starting architects.



4. I am currently a design student - and this is an indispensible resource for recent and fairly obscure architecture. Has full rich photos and a wealth of information inside. Great selection of buildings as well. The photos can be used for ideas on detailing to spacial organization. I highly recommend this to anyone who needs to get a fresh breath of air and clean out the cobwebs. Everytime I close it I am ready to design.



5. I was thrilled when I received this book. Being an architect myself, I appreciated the excellent photos and disussion of the featured persons in my profession. A wonderful book that will be a worthwhile read for anyone with an admiration or even mild curiosity in the subject. Highly recommend.

No comments about Home Tree Home: Principles of Treehouse Construction and Other Tall Tales.