No comments about Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning (Dover Books on Architecture).

No comments about Barnsdall House (Architecture in Detail).

1 comments about Architecture, Mysticism and Myth.

1. Wonderfully informative, engrossing, overall a worthwhile read. There's a reason all other books on the subject trace back to it.

No comments about The Roman Amphitheatre: From its Origins to the Colosseum.

2 comments about Antiques in Italian Interiors Volume 1.

1. Absolutely stunning photographs. A gorgeous compilation of flawless homes.



2. This has to be one of the most beautiful collection of photographs compiled under one binding.
   Absolutly worth adding to any serious library. Get lost within its lush images.

No comments about Old Louisiana Plantation Homes And Family Trees.

3 comments about Plates and Dishes: The Food and Faces of the Roadside Diner.

1. Schacher's road trip is interesting. The photos show the food on one side and the server on the other. It's interesting to see some of the food (greasy and burned), and how it changes from region to region. A great concept.



2. The blue plate special, meatloaf, mashed spuds and more are all specialties of the house for most roadside diners, which are celebrated in Plates & Dishes: The Food And Faces Of The Roadside Diner. Artist/photographer/author Stephan Sacher toured the country in search of picturesque roadside diners and their fare: Plates And Dishes isn't a recipe collection, as one might expect, but a visual, artistic food celebration which juxtaposes photos diner dish specialties with their cooks on facing pages. A warm, inviting visual treat, sans recipes.



3. Diners, yet again have seduced another photographer, who wanted to capture an authentic slice of Americana. Stephen Schacher went the extra mile and only ate in them too while travelling to take his photos. This should have been a neat looking book, all the ingredients are there but it turns out to look extremely boring.
   
   Each left-hand page has a food photo and every right-hand page has a shot of the waitress who served Schacher. You can see what I mean by clicking on the images under the book cover at the top of this Amazon page. The images shown are in fact better looking than the ones in the book though, all the food images suffer from a yellow cast, frequently the plates break out of the image area (that would have easily been solved by running the photos of the page) various other elements of the meal, drinks or side orders are only vaguely included. For an alternative look at diner grub try 'Roadside Food' (ISBN 0941434680)
   
   The waitresses on each right-hand page are also slightly yellow looking but perhaps more serious is that the pages all look so similar. Far better I would have thought to vary the poses and show much more of each diner, they are after all bursting with visual excitement as Gerd Kittel found out in his Diners: People and Places. The only visual break in Schacher's book are the occasional graphic spreads that display a map and made-up receipts with details of the meals plus where and when they were eaten.
   
   'Plates+Dishes' is a great idea that just isn't cookin', unfortunately.
   
   Oh yes, Bonnie from Fenders Diner, Cornelia, Georgia can serve me a meal anytime, what a dish!
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

4 comments about New Orleans Architecture: The University Section : Joseph Street to Lowerline Street, Mississippi River to Walmsley Avenue (New Orleans Architecture).

1. These are wonderful books and very thorough. This book is full of beautiful old New Orleans mansions, the pictures are small, but every discription of a home has a requisite photo. The text is highly informative and the book is well researched. New Orleans is blessed with so many beautiful mansions and many reside in this section of the city. Reading this book, reminds me how special and unique this city is, as well as how beautiful the city can be. Highly recommended.



2. I have read several volumes in this set and this one (vol. VIII - 1997) is the best.
   
   This is more than merely a coffee table ornament. It is meant to be a poweful tool for equipping people to actively work for the preservation of the South's most architecturally rich and complicated city.
   
   It is difficult to imagine a finer work of this size and scope.
   
   First, the publisher (Pelican of the suburb of Gretna, LA) has spared no expense. Cover to cover, all 215pp. are packed with the highest quality photographs, maps and illustrations. The paper is glossy, sturdy, 8.5 x 11.
   
   Second, the writing is uniformly precise and compelling, and moves at a good pace. rarely dry.
   
   Third, the scope is manageable and makes good sense. The University Section, as conceived here, consists of the area around Tulane and Loyola, and extending south to the river. Thus Audubon Park, Hurstville, Bloomingdale, Burtheville, Marlyville, Greeneville, Friburg, etc. are all included. This includes from Lowerline and several streets west of the Park to Joseph and Arabella in the east, and from the river up to Clairbourne.
   
   Fourth, the archtecture history is woven into the general history of the neighborhood and of New Orleans. Someone with no interest at all in the architecture would still glean much about the lager developments of the city, and of Uptown in particular. Politics, environment and social history are included.
   
   Fifth, the maps and photos (hundreds of them) are used well to illustrate and make sense of complicated trends in the neighborhood. They are arranged in a very helpful and easily understood manner.
   
   Hundreds of the homes are displayed, from the humble to the opulent, arranged by street address. Further, a chart is provided with the dates, architects, etc. of dozens of these homes and buildings.
   
   An index is accurate and fairly thorough.
   
   I have to really strain to identify any criticisms.
   1. Wish there was a simpel modern map at the beginning showing the precise boundaries of this University Section, and all other sections in this series.
   2. P. 16 shows a detail of a map from an Atlas of the City of New Orleans, leaving teh reader to wonder about the date of that work.
   
   I would recommend, as a companion and supplement, Lloyd Vogt, New Orleans Houses (1985). Vogt gives even more exacting architectural detail, but does not provide nearly as much on the broader historical context.



3. Growing up in this section of New Orleans, I was pleasantly surprised to see several homes of my childhood friends. No other city in the U.S. has such distinct and diverse neighborhood architecture. Another great volume in a GREAT series.



4. This volume in the N.O. Architecture series by the Friends of the Cabildo is, in my opinion, the best of the entire series. Perhaps it is because this is the section of the city in which I spend most of my time, a place to which I've become rather attached. Anyone who enjoys architecture will probably like this book, not just New Orleanians.

2 comments about Architecture in Cincinnati: An Illustrated History of Designing and Building an American City.

1. Was very disappointed in this book. A lot of the photographs were out of focus or poorly composed. Several shots of trees with buildings hiding behind them. Also, book doesn't include houses even though its supposed to be about Cincy architecture in general. Not written from an architect's perspective.



2. I'm sure this book's appeal will mostly be that of a tome of local curiosity, but as a boastful display of one American city's architectural evolution, it should hold some attraction to lovers of design and history everywhere. It might also stand as an example to other cities on how to create a book that to best effect showcases a region's defining structures.
   
   Architecture In Cincinnati is divided into chapters with such titles as (to name only a few):
   
   Frontier City to Regional Capital, 1788-1829
   
   Queen City of the West, 1830-1860
   
   The Depression Era, 1933-1944
   
   Dynamic Mix of New and Old, 1989-2006
   
   The stories here, told by a number of leading figures in the fields of history, design and building, including Dan Hurley (hey, Dan!) Jayne Merkel, and of course Sue Ann Painter, are interesting enough in themselves, but the illustrations of this city past and present are what absolutely elevate this book to greatness. The tale, affectionately told, describes how Cincinnatians have always taken note of the natural beauty of the city's physical setting, nestled as it is on a riverfront and like Rome surrounded (supposedly...) by seven hills, and incorporated the manmade additions with a mind to ecological preservation, long before this was much of a concern elsewhere. Indeed, Cincinnati was the first American city to, in 1925, devise a master plan for land use and progressive administration, in the then-present and in decades to come.
   
   When one has finished Architecture In Cincinnati, the reader emerges with renewed appreciation of all of which this area has to offer. To skim the surface...Cincinnati boasts the world's first concrete skyscraper; an office building which was in part an inspiration for the Empire State Building; a suspension bridge that was the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge; too many lovely places of worship to cover here; Music Hall; the Tyler-Davidson Fountain; an array of parks, riverfront developments, planned and (now-) historical neighborhoods; the first Reform Jewish theological seminary in the world; a nineteenth-century astronomical observatory so fine it is still in use today; and a city hall so grandly "Teutonic-Victorian" that it inspired Hollywood.
   
   This is a great book cover to cover!

3 comments about Bali Style.

1. This book is very usefull to all people who live in countries with sunny all year around climate,with a temperature never below 22·Celcius.Of course wind is out of question!!:
   Is a very pleasent way of decorating in a different way your summer house,in a summer place..



2. Excellent photos of the best houses, building materials, gardens, fabric, crafts, and architectural details in Bali. Very beautiful as a coffee table book, quite useful as a style reference book.

   The text is very nicely written, without repetition or fluff; it serves mainly to illuminate the huge variety of photographs. In other words, the reader will learn a little about Balinese geography, sensibility and culture from Walker, but not in intricate detail or with scholarly authority. I read it cover to cover in a couple of days, and felt it was a decent grounding in Bali style.

   Author, editor and photographer should be praised for finding examples of all kinds of Bali style: garish, sublime, fancy, plain, funky, sophisticated, folksy, casual, formal, sacred.

   A solid overview, useful to decorators, architects, mere Bali fans.




3. I never read this book, so I'm very happy to discover all the informations about architecture of the Pacific area, and I'd like to be more lucky and get that book in my shelves.

   When I read the editorial reviews and the hardcover, I already fall in love (déja amoureux). my mind is risen when I get the opportunity to meet very nice things, when I read very nice descriptions, and mainly when I watch very nice pictures about very nicest, cutest houses.

   I really look forward to get an exemplary of this book to enhance the richness of my mind!

   may day, may day, may day! Help me to get it!