No comments about La Pietra: Florence, a Family and a Villa.

5 comments about Pierre Koenig.

1. This book presents a wonderful view of the work of Koenig. Its images are of the quality that they are in use as a series of plates within the Pierre Koenig memorial library at the APX andronicus house at the university of southern california. as a source for understanding of koenig and and the case study movement, this is an invaluable tool.



2. This book presents Pierre Koenigs work very well. James Steele has written many great architecture books and this one is as good as his others. In the book is the most complete and extensive representation of Pierre Koenings work I have ever seen printed. The pictures are large, and very nice. It is a very good book with his work well documented and insightful articles written by James Steele and others.



3. Excellent book, I wanted to see more.



4. This book shares with the reader the highlights of Koenig's career with breathtaking shots of the case study houses, blue prints, and narration accompanying each. Truly, one of the most spectacular collections dedicated to this incredibly gifted, ground breaking architect.



5. Some books are so good you can't put them down. Some, of course, are so bad you can't wait till they end, and the going is slow. The going is slow for James Steele and David Jenkins' book Pierre Koenig... for the opposite reason. After a quick glance at the magnificent pictures and some of the text, I wanted to take my time. I dreaded the moment I'd have to close the back cover and say goodbye to this book. Koenig designed mostly in steel... but throw away your notions of an "industrial" look.. for Koenig, steel was a means of building, and a way to express a contemporary style. As someone who was born and raised in and amongst Eichlers, I was very gratified to discover how wide spread the "California style" was for a period. The style seems to have lasted -and evolved- in public buildings, but residential builders lost their nerve and returned to something more conventional. Since many of my architectural heroes have passed away, or changed styles, it's nice to know Koenig is still around, still designing, and still promoting the use of steel as the palette for expression of this Zen-like style. As for completing the book? Well, I understand now why we have "coffee table" books... so you can re-live the first time you read a book like this, through the eyes of someone else.

1 comments about The Sceptical Chymist.

1. Robert Boyle (1627-1691) was truly a great scientist. He is guilty for verifying and discovering the proportional relationship of Pressure and Volume for gases and also found the inverse relationship of Temperature to both the Pressure and Volume of a gas.. He verified one side of the Ideal Gas Law (PV = nRT). This work is the work he is remembered best for. Here he discusses a necessity for uniform language for alchemists, since at the time many procedures had been done, but with some natural philosophers having no clue as to what the compounds and mixtures were because of the poetical nature of alchemical language.
   
   Please note that The "Sceptical Chymist" is NOT the work where Gas Laws are discussed. His other work with the works of E. H. Amagat The Laws Of Gases: Memoirs By Robert Boyle And E. H. Amagat (1899) would be the book to get.
   
   Alchemy is notorious for using poetic recipes and a nasty habit of trying to create the Philosopher's Stone. He followed Francis Bacon's method of science in the Sceptical Chymist he constantly appeals to empirical evidence and systematic procedures to validate claims on natural phenomenon. A big portion is in the procedures and results of many chemical experiments and the he coined the process of identification of compounds as "analysis" and is given credit for the first to use the word "analysis" in any work of science. There is also talk of the Bible and its influence on Boyle's views of nature. He also asserted strongly that experiments denied the limiting of chemical elements to only the classic four: earth, fire, air, and water. Truly a awesome short historical work of the man himself and the progression of science. His legacy is still felt today in process design and gaseous chemistry and any material "analysis".
   
   The language is not that bad, and you get used to certain spelling of words since this is simply a copy of an old copy of the Sceptical Chymist. Over all, this is any important work for any Chemist or Chemical Engineer who is interested in the early application of the core Scientific Method on alchemy and how Chemistry rose from the Father of Chemistry - Robert Boyle. No one should go without reading the works of the this scientific giant.

2 comments about High Steel: The Daring Men Who Built the World's Greatest Skyline, 1881 to the Present.

1. A good book for reading about the history and stories of the Local 40 Structural Ironworkers of NYC.



2. Rasenberger brings awareness to the little known and aknowledged trade of Iron Workers. This is an excellent book for those who are in the trade and those who want a close to real life view of who Ironworkers are and what their life was and is like. The book gives a pretty accurate history of the trade going back to the early Bridgeman to the current International Associates of Bridge, Structrual, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers. Being a 3rd generation Iron Worker I found this a very pleasureable read and recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about what it is that we do as we build America on Beam at a time.

No comments about New London Interiors.

No comments about Developing the Architecture of the Workplace: Gensler 1967-1997.

No comments about The Mark J. Millard Architectural Collection: Northern European Books : Sixteenth to Early Nineteenth Centuries (Mark J Millard Architectural Collection).

1 comments about The Architecture of Fumihiko Maki.

1. Very detailed, explores the concepts and reasoning behind Fumihiko's works. Covers as much of his career as anybody needs to know. In comparison with other books by/about Fumihiko, this one takes less of a look at the details within a building, and more at the themes common across his works (as a whole, and within segments of his career). Makes clear how he has evolved since the beginning of his career to his present work. Only complaint is the lack of color pictures; his buildings aren't black and white, and they shouldn't be presented as such.

No comments about Young Architects: Second Nature (Young Architects).

2 comments about 30 St Mary Axe: A Tower for London.

1. This book was super helpful and informative for a project we were doing for this building!



2. Since its completion in 2004, 30 St. Mary Axe, known to Londoners as 'The Gherkin', has become a landmark, sporting a curved form in the heart of London's financial center. But it's so much more: renowned designers built it in just thirty-three months, and incorporated design innovations still being remarked upon today. Author Kenneth Powell is a leading architecture critic and well versed on 30 St. Mary Axe: chapters cover nearly every stage in the design and building process. While this book will most likely reach art school holdings and collections strong in architectural analysis, it also will hold interest for any collection strong on London history and culture.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch