3 comments about Toilets of the World.

1. This books is worth it for the pictures alone. It will bring back memories for anyone who has every encounterd a toilet that they just weren't sure how to use.



2. for anyone interested in architecture this gives a great overview of a much overlooked subject--the toilet. educational as well as humorous.



3. Although the title (Toilets of the World) may not grab you, it is one of the more interesting little travel books I've seen in some time. The photos are terrific and the information is invaluable. If you are planning an overseas trip and want to experience the true local flavors, you should consult this book so as to avoid what could be some unpleasant culture shock before you get there. Remember the 'Seinfeld' episode where Geroge would not use a bathroom during the trip to India? This book will help you understand why he had a problem with that. This book also contains some terrific snapshots of worldwide culture that my high school students find fascinating - an impetus for them to take a closer look at the different areas of the world.

5 comments about Surfaces : Visual Research for Artists, Architects, and Designers (MacIntosh compatible).

1. This is an excellent book for artists fo all kinds. Our company has a library we make available to Production Designers - this is a great addition.



2. A luscious collection of photographs of beautiful colors and textures to inspire any artist/designer and be used as reference again and again.



3. There are nice collection of the samples.You can enjoy to look through them.



4. This book is one of the best references for any designer and painter in the industry. Color Photos are amazing and complete. I have been wanting to purchase it for years now and am very glad to add it to my collection. All of her books are worth having in any artists library.



5. I think I was a little hard on Judy Juracek with reference to the included CD. What Ms. Juracek has done in the way of cataloguing is nothing short of miraculous and one should not expect that every image on the CD would be photographed dead on and shadow-perfect. I was just really irked by the image quality of a CD I had such high hopes for. I purchased this book when it first came out for a Hundred Dollars retail but the price I now see listed online seems almost a steal for the treasure trove contained within.

   In any case, A recent search reveals that even more books in the series have been written by the author and I'm excited to purchase these as well--let's hope the image quality has improved on the included CDs for the new millenium we're in. I guess you could still expect "middlin'" quality for an image CD produced back in the "stoneage" of the 90's. The book is GREAT!

5 comments about Entourage.

1. A must-have book for anyone practicing or learning the art of hand drafting and rendering for architecture or interior design. Included are line drawings of many different types of people in many different positions, scales and perspectives that can be copied and inserted into one's own drawings. The pages are perforated and can be torn out for copying, reducing, and enlarging.



2. Entourage is an excellent resource for students and professionals in any design field. The tracing files are organized for quick and easy use. Some of the images are a little dated, but overall it is a must have!



3. As others have stated here, this book is a great resource for entourage, but most of the imagery is from the 1970s and early 1980s.



4. This book has pretty much been the standard in its genre since the 1970s, but that doesn't mean designers want to use people, vehicles, and other objects that still belong in that decade. The vast majority of images in this book are utterly useless because they are so terribly out of date.



5. I am a 1st year landscape design student and this book has been a great help in my studies.I found this book on amazon for 30 dollars less on amazon than I would of had to pay at the bookstore.

5 comments about Central Park, An American Masterpiece: A Comprehensive History of the Nation's First Urban Park.

1. Did you know that the elm lined mall leading to the Bethesda fountain and the view of the ramble are actually based on the layout of a church? Or that all of the lakes in Central Park are manmade. This and many other very interesting facts are interspersed with lovingly taken photographs of the park which were taken by the author of the book as well. Miller starts decribing how the park came to be and the leading ideas and ideals that lead to its creation by Olmsted and Vaux. She proceeds to describe systematically the various sections of the park providing historical information as well. She delves into the some of the controversies and compromises that Olmsted and Vaux encountered in the creation of one of the finest examples of 19th Century art but it is not a comprehensive history of the park. There is a 2 page map of the park at the of the book with a legend identifying each of the features discussed in the book. If you are first time visitor to the city wishing to explore the park in detail or a life long New Yorker this book will delight and surprise you.



2. As an avid fan of Central Park who has been exploring it and studying the books on it for decades, I was amazed at what there was still to learn about it from Miller's book. For example, other historians allude to a connection between Central Park's design and the Hudson River School of landscape art: Miller provides actual sources of the designer's inspiration and shows the results explicitly in the photos. And all in a way that is not at all "bookish" but instead makes you want to go right in and see for yourself the scenes she shows so well in the book's illustrations. The beautiful photos and fascinating stories and the well chosen historical prints all work together in such a compelling and entertaining way that one might never realize one is being educated by a superb textbook in the field of art.
   With her emphasis on the past of the park, and its present restored beauty, it is understandable that the author does not use very much of the book's valuable space on the remaining present-day problems, but she might at least have alluded to the incongruity of the city's insistence on using this artistic matepiece as a through route for motor traffic during the majority of daylight weekday hours. In effect, the city's Dept. of Traffic is providing a refuge from the chaos of the surrounding streets during rush hours - but for the cars, not for the people. If you want to appreciate the park shown in this book, go during the times when the traffic noise does not drown out the wind in the trees, the birdsong, and the happy voices of children!



3. Central Park is breath taking and this book does a fine job of giving the reader a feel for what makes this 850 acre masterpiece so special. The book is quite thorough and does an commendable job of disecting various sections of the park. The color photos are vivid and well thought out and the text is highly informative. The author has a real love for the park and it comes out in her writing. If you have never visited Central Park or have visited and fell in love with it like so many others, you will love this book. This oasis really is the heart of New York City and to understand New York you have to understand the parks history and its vast importantance to the city. Central Parks importance to New York and New Yorkers cannot be overstated, I can't imagine the city without it.



4. Commemorating the 150th anniversary of Central Park, photographer and historian Sara Cedar Miller celebrates the aesthetic, cultural and historic significance of America's first public park with the book "Central Park, An American Masterpiece." This is the park's definitive illustrated history, and offers some of the most gorgeous photographs I have seen on the subject - a difficult task given the number of pictures that have been drawn, painted and photographed of the Manhattan landmark. The book includes over 200 color illustrations, original plans and drawings alongside modern photos, giving the viewer/reader an historical perspective.

   Accompanying Ms. Miller's work, portraying the park throughout the seasons, is a well written text which highlights the conception and creation of the park and its art and architecture. This is a big, beautiful picture book that would make a wonderful addition to any home or library. It's a wonderful gift idea. I know as I have given it numerous times.

   Ms. Miller is the parks official historian and photographer and has been since the mid-1980s.
   JANA




5. Sara Miller has put together an outstanding book: a book as vast and detailed as the Great Park itself. For those not familiar with the park and its history, this is an invaluable introduction to the political, demographical, economic and, especially, aesthetic thinking that went into the creation of 800 acres of gorgeous park space in the middle of Manhattan. For those seasoned veterans of NYC history, this is a welcome reminder of the enormous vision and efforts of Calvert Vaux and Fredrick Law Olmsted, as they conceived the park.

   Nota Bene: A lot of books have gorgeous photos but the print job is miserable ... Others have high-qualtity prints but the photos aren't that interesting ... This book has glorious prints and an expert print job. Pick up this book.

   Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points and The Five Points Concluded

No comments about Architecture or Techno-Utopia: Politics after Modernism.

2 comments about The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll.

1. I now the gertrude jekill in my trip on London, in this moment visit you page and the best price for this , buy this .
   she is the best gardening in europe, this books it is one I like to much other .
   this is real beauty and magnifics.
   thanks for your help me in this eleccions .
   sorry for my inglish



2. As a serious midwestern home gardener who owns many gardening books, I was extremely pleased with this book. There is much valuable information in the way of photographs and writings. Gertrude Jekyll was doing 100 yrs ago, what modern landscapers claim they invented--that is, low maintenance, informal looks. The combination of her informal plantings applied to formal settings makes a wonderfully interesting contrast. Add to that her artistic genius, and these gardens are truly awe-inspiring.

4 comments about Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural Treasures of Unwanted Houses.

1. This is a good resource for ideas. It reminded me more of one of the books you would find on the rack of a home center instead of a text book like it was marketed.



2. We live in an age of recycling. It's not only environmentally sound, but economically profitable. This applies just as much to reusable and salvageable building materials from structures scheduled for demolishing, as it does to ordinary newspapers and soda cans. Now U.S. Forest Products Laboratory research engineer Bob Falk has teamed up with Brad Guy (Director of Operations at The Hammer Center at the Penn State School of Architecture) to publish "Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural Treasures Of Unwanted Houses" an instruction guide to salvaging materials that can be reused and recycled from homes and other buildings by literally and carefully dismantling the original structures piece by piece. These materials can include ornate hardware, period lighting fixtures, windows, doors, mantels, hardwood flooring, and anything else that continues to have esthetic and commercial value. Often these are 'yesteryear' items that cannot be matched by anything available to day and have great financial worth in and of themselves. The authors draw upon their many years of expertise and experience in advising about new tools, deconstruction processes, and alternatives to conventional demolition tactics. "Unbuilding" is strongly recommended to the considered attention of building contractors, demolition experts, and environmentally conscious salvagers, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in recycling building materials for their value, utility and esthetics.



3. I've always liked the idea of salvaging architectural details from building being torn down. Now here's a book that goes way beyond merely saving a fireplace mantel or some columns. Here's what it covers:
   
   Chapter 1 Unbuilding Opportunities
   Redevelopment
   Rural Property
   Military Bases
   Urban Renewal
   Remodeling and Renovation
   Building Auctions
   Habitat for Humanity ReStores
   What to Unbuild
   
   Chapter 2 Deciding on Unbuilding and Salvage
   Your Level of Involvement
   Making Sure the Building Is Sound
   Permits and Code Requirements
   Making a Visual Survey
   Case Study: Survey of a Deconstruction Candidate
   
   Chapter 3 The Materials You Find
   Develop a Plan for the Material You Remove
   Assessing What's Reusable
   Selling Your Stuff
   
   Chapter 4 Getting Started
   Organizing the Site
   Tools for Unbuilding
   
   Chapter 5 Safety and Environmental Health
   Make Safety a Priority
   Safety Equipment: The Last Line of Defense
   Working at Height
   First Aid and Medical Services
   Fire Prevention and Protection
   Lead-Based Paint Hazards
   Asbestos Hazards
   
   Chapter 6 Site Preparation and Soft-Stripping
   House and Site Characteristics
   Preparing the Site
   Soft-Stripping
   Loading Items from Soft-Stripping
   Cleaning Up
   
   Chapter 7 Whole-House Deconstruction
   Maintaining the Building's Integrity
   Roof Tearoff
   Removing Interior Wall Finishes
   Removing Electrical, Plumbing, and Ductwork
   Removing Roof Sheathing
   Removing Rafters
   Getting the Material to the Ground
   Taking down Trusses
   Removing a Dormer
   Removing Ceiling Joists
   Removing Siding
   Removing Walls
   Removing Subfloors
   Denailing
   Stacking and Loading
   Project Closeout



4. The Taunton Press with their great sense of style and photography combined with knowledgeable authors, who have taken the time to document the deconstruction and salvage process, make this book a must in the bookcases of contractors, architects, designers and any building owner considering salvaging or using salvaged building materials.

5 comments about Architecture Without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture.

1. Architecture Without Architects by Bernard Rudofsky demonstrates
   that anonymous builders achieved great form based on function.
   
   Confess right now -- designers, planners, architects!! You don't have
   this book? You don't even know about this book or its author, Bernard
   Rudofsky? Verdict: You are culturally deprived, which means possibly
   professionally challenged. Certainly missing chances for inspiration on the job.
   
   This classic contains a sweeping revelation of universal traditions of
   "vernacular" architecture -- structures and spaces built by untutored hands in
   "primitive" cultures, many now destroyed. Their images remain as amazing
   testaments to ingenious answers to survival issues and creature comforts
   in remote locales which, we see, have considerable sophistication.
   
   Today's higher education for the design professions, focused on formal issues
   of a few recent centuries, may have turned you away from study of remote cultures
   in distant times, viewing vernacular as "inapplicable" in a high-tech world.
   On the contrary, these places and structural events (including whole mountainsides)
   demonstrate the significant human act of building with nature-given materials,
   for human needs and use, with sensitivity to innately purposeful form,
   without a thought about the disruptive gloss of fashion cycles.
   
   Bernard Rudofsky was a brilliant iconoclast and innovator. As a restless architecture
   student in Vienna in 1923, he cut loose to undertake a wanderjahr exploring distant
   places and forgotten world cultures. Backpacking across Europe, Middle East, Asia,
   and Africa, he photographed what he discovered -- indigenous building
   forms and construction methods that created real architecture, unburdened by
   pretensions and formal imitations. He documented solutions that were
   simple and direct, and elegantly ingenious in the interest maklng things work.
   
   Today more than ever, "primitive" construction can amaze and instruct, and inspire
   by addressing ever-present habitation needs -- climate conditioning by controlled air flow,
   light control with roof and wall materials, floor heating, even lifts and elevators,
   all achieved by design strategies unacquainted with modern mechanics
   -- i.e."energy" powered by ingenuity.
   
   In the early 1960's, after his exhibition "Are Clothes Modern?" for New York's MoMA,
   Rudofsky prepared an exhibition on anonymous architecture, broadening his own photo
   documentation with collectors' images from other distant realms, enriching the
   theme of enduring historic form and purpose.
   
   His exhibition "Architecture Without Architects" (1964-65) brought avant-garde insight
   to the expanding horizon of modernist values, demonstrating that vernacular form and
   purpose are indivisible, and usually immutable -- as they are serving their purpose
   to perfection.
   
   In this recapitulation of the exhibition, there are shelters, streets, and functional
   enclosures crafted for the lasting use of whole communities. There are the "found"
   habitations of rocky hillsides, underground villages safely recessed from climate and
   predators; habitable hilltop fortresses, medieval streets lined with shady pedestrian
   arcades; a city of roofs built as "windscoops" to direct breezes into each room; huts
   made of decorative woven matting, some with vegetal roofs; decorative pidgeoncotes
   to facilitate fertilizer production; aerated vermin-proof granaries; streets shaded by
   mats and vines, high structures built of grass.
   
   The know-how of the anonymous builder shown here presents the a major untapped
   source of architectural inspiration for industrial man. The wisdom derived goes beyond
   economic and esthetic solutions that press on our wasteful modern mechanical
   solutions. In the author's words, It touches on the "increasingly troublesome problem of
   how to live and let live, how to keep peace with one's neighbors" while dealing with
   the diminishing natural resources we all must share.
   
   Here is Green Design before it was invented -- again. Here is Civic Design
   and indeed Urban Design when few except Rudofsky recognized it.
   This book of arresting images and informed ideas may stir you to speculate:
   What might simple ingenuity forge for us in our low-energy future?
   
   Jane Thompson
   Thompson Design Group Inc.
   Boston, MA 02210



2. this is a great classic book - a little sad it's all in black and white, sometimes grainy images, but a wonderful view on what existed in 1960s. i'm sure a lot of it has now disappeared.



3. Great book with great pictures and well organized, but all images are only in black and white, and the paperback itself feels flimsy. Thought it was a great present for a friend of mine, but the B/W is quite a let-down.



4. As the author shows, you don't need a degree to build practical beautiful buildings. Just the need and some perseverance can do wonders as shown inside.



5. Originally published in 1964, concurrent with the exhibition Architecture Without Architects shown at MOMA, this slim volume of text and photographs radiates heat and light when reviewed almost forty years later. In fact, Rudofsky's introductory essay is so fresh today it is almost inconceivable it was written the better part of four decades ago! Offering a scathing attack on modern approaches to the landscape and to problems of living more generally in a time of rampant population growth, Rudofsky shrewdly pointed to the fact that "part of our troubles results from the tendency to ascribe to architects-or, for that matter, to all specialists-excessive insight into problems of living when, in truth, most of them are concerned with problems of business and prestige." But what transpires when the focus can be maintained on functionality, efficiency, ease of use, and a design aesthetic that remains humbly in tune with and loyal to the mood and visual imperative of the land under development? To answer these crucial questions Rudofsky takes us back a few thousands of years to the origins of architectural strivings (even preceding man's earliest efforts) and the material results thereof.

   The essential point Rudofsky cares to make in these pages is that "vernacular architecture does not go through fashion cycles. It is nearly immutable, indeed, unimprovable, since it serves its purpose to perfection." Rooted in a practical, harmonious relationship with its setting, 'primitive' architecture exemplifies the art of living well through its consistent use of frugality in construction, cleanliness in line and detail, and a general respect for "creation." Further, its impetus is aligned with a human dimension fundamentally as opposed to an excessively hubristic predisposition to conquer nature at whatever cost. Finally, from Rudofsky's vantage, these principles are usefully to be understood as timeless guidelines for the future as well as descriptions of the past.

   According to Rudofsky, sophisticated people seek rugged country where what is intrinsic holds sway. His search for the origins of a humanistic architecture was always in rugged terrain where people's lives must necessarily challenge the difficulties of topography and the vicissitudes of climate. His primary heuristic interest was in elucidating the solutions creatively and spontaneously generated by these people in order to make such rugged locales inhabitable AND livable. Architecture Without Architects demonstrates the way in which basic solutions to complex problems were developed historically and why those solutions are so important to remain cognisant of today.

3 comments about AIA Guide to Chicago.

1. Limited to the Chicago city limits and Oak Park, the selection of buildings is good, but certainly not exhaustive (Evanston would have been a nice addition). Since commercial architecture is so important to Chicago history, there is a palpable emphasis on these structures. The book is in standard AIA format, with short essays for each entry, some including a small photograph. In fact, the major flaw with this book, in my opinion, is the lack of effective photography. There's a photograph for, perhaps, one out of every ten building entries, and the entries that do include photos are often not that interesting. One tries to come away from this book with a mental image of Chicago, derived from the text, but with little assistance from photography. There are also more than a few entries that include no text, simply the building name, address, date and architect. Keep your favorite internet map program handy.
   
   There are so many magnificent things to see in Chicago, it's a shame this guide doesn't much help us to see them. That (critical) matter aside, it's a solid and important addition to the AIA-sponsored series.



2. Only one other city is so steaped in architecture history than Chicago and this guide does a commendable job of highlighting the most important Chicago buildings, the synopsis on each building is susinct, the only qualm I have is that there are not more pictures, I also wish the authors had ventured more into the suburbs and commented on some of the great houses in Lake Forest and Highland Park, but that omission does not mar the overall enjoyment of this scholarly guide. If you are interested in architecture at all, I recommend you pick up this book, Chicago is so steaped in architecture history and this is a good guide to the best examples.



3. Chicago is generally known as one of the centers of modernist architecture, and this visual guidebook, complete with maps, photographs and authoritative little essays on most of the important buildings, is a must-buy if you plan to tour this richly textured urban center. It's also one of the best small resources for anyone interested in architecture from 1850 to the present. Inexpensive, designed to slip in your pocket, it holds up well-- I depend upon mine to help me with the walking tours of the city I give on a regular basis, and it's still in one piece after three or more years of hard use.

3 comments about Prefab Prototypes: Site-Specific Design for Offsite Construction.

1. The craft of this book is as enhancing as many other that have won awards over the past decades. I personally have been trained to view things at the tectonic level and the technical pages coordinate wonderfully with the graphic pages. The Andersons have a very nice way of depicting there key elements within each project.
   
   If you're looking for some precedents of Pre-Fabrication projects that literally are site specific, modular, green and even custom this is a perfect book and you will be very happy with your investment. From the choice of colors to how they label the diagrams makes understanding the project very nice.
   
   Good job and thanks



2. This book goes above and beyond the typical prefab picture book. The images are not only compelling but are informative in a way that brings clarity to someone who wants to have a better understanding of how prefabrication actually works. The Andreson's passion for design, experimentation, and progress is truly inspiring. As a young professional it is good to see a smaller firm doing interesting work. The book is very detailed, and provides clear diagrams of connections and materials. You can see very easily how it all comes together. The one thing I would have liked to know more about is (on a project by project basis) how exactly the prefabrication process takes place. It is not clear how the architect and prefabricators interact as far as collaborating on a set of documents that gets the building or project built. Perhaps that is thier proprietary secret, or perhaps it is too boring for a handsome architecture book. You can only put so much information in one book, and this one is filled to the brim.



3. This book is gorgeous. Excellently written with amazing axonometric drawings of provocative projects. In a word, the drawings are luscious. It's no wonder these guys are winning competitions left and right.