4 comments about Lone Star Living: Texas Homes and Ranches.

1. I used this book for reference for building a cabin out in the Texas Hill Country. Great source for inspiration.



2. One of the best books from Texas. Beautiful pictures!



3. Disappointed in photos. I am from Texas and expected so much more. There are so many options here to use and missed the mark. I returned my copy. Something that I rarely bother to do.



4. Without exaggeration, this is the best book to date documenting rustic western interiors. The extraordinary Cowboy and Indian memorabilia collections featured in these homes will make you green with envy. Large, beautiful photographs of exceptional Texas homes, no sterile contemporary interiors here. I've always admired Beard and Parsons work, this is the best to date. No disappointments here!

2 comments about The Sea Ranch.

1. Go north of San Francisco along the coast for a hundred miles or so. Buy 4,000 acres of timber and grazing land. You'll find that you have quite a setting for a housing development. Add rules that say how the house must fit into the land and the scenery and you have quite a housing development in quite a setting. Beginning in 1963 this is just what happened. And over the resulting 40 years quite a stunning set of houses has been built there.
   
   This book is a photographic and descriptive journey though several of these houses, each of which were designed to fit into that exact landscape. It's also the story of the building of this "super development." The story is told with 200 color illustrations, 170 black and white spread over some 304 pages.
   
   Each of the houses described suit their place. This is not to say that they are alike, but that they all just seem to fit. It would be a spectacular place to live.



2. Essays by Donald Canty and Lawrence Halprin accompany beautiful black and white and color shots of California's architectural wonders of the coast which comprise the exclusive Sea Ranch community of homes. Ecologically inspired planning and innovative architectural dreams and designs went into the formation of the California's Sea Ranch community, which sprawls across several thousand acres of land. This could easily have been a picture presentation alone, but the fine house-by-house considerations of design, plan, and history makes it much more, and The Sea Ranch will be revered by architectural reference collections in art libraries.

5 comments about 10 X 10.

1. I paged through this book literally twice after removing it from its packaging before the binding entirely separated from the pages. The cover of mine is now completely off the book, the "glue" that Phaidon used having completely failed to keep it together. This isn't an isolated incident either; several of my friends in possession of the same book have had the exact same problems. Even the copy on special reserve in my school's architecture library is experiancing problems of this sort. Above and beyond the binding issues, the actual design of the pages is very poorly thought out. As a previous reviewer mentioned, the captions of the pictures are oriented vertically within pages so chock-full of pictures it is hard to discern what one is looking at or for. The book's final offense is the essays in the back, which are printed on orange paper with black lettering, making them almost impossible to read. This book, while the content may be ok, is so poorly thought out that it warrants a second thought before purchase.



2. Im an architecture student at the University of Florida and this book, including 10x10_2 are a must have. They help to see many different types/styles of Architecture and also help in learning Arch. photography and how to capture that perfect shot, along with how to compose images/drawings of projects for presentation purposes. The book definetly puts you in the mood to design, even after many sleepless nights in studio, working on projects. Its also a good convo. starter if sitting on a coffee table.



3. This is an interesting book with plenty of visual information. However, as soon as you start paging through it, the binding will fall apart. The book is too thick to be held together with that crappy glue. Get a hardback edition if possible.



4. The book itself is great; full of inspiration for an architecture student like myself. Great glossy photos, short bits of writing for each architect, basically just what I was looking for. However. And this is a big However. The binding will literally become completely detached after looking at half a dozen pages. I just took the binding right off, cut off the front and back pages, and glued them to the adjacent pages, and its somewhat been working by being held together with the binding string. Seriously, come up with a better binding for this great book.



5. This book is an awesome tool for any architecture student, it provides an insight into what is possible if we push the boundaries of design.
   It has been a great resource for me and many of my peers during my architectural studies.
   Can't wait to pick up the new book 10x10-2
   I only hope it provides me with as much reading pleasure as the first.
   If you have a family member or friend about to start studying architecture or who has a keen interest in architecture, buying this book as a gift will most certainly whet their appetite for the field.

5 comments about The Provencal House: Architecture and Interiors.

1. Wow, what a gorgeous book. We look at it again and again for indoor and outdoor inspiration. You will be completely delighted by this book which captures golden light!



2. Pure and simple, for most of us PROVENÇAL HOUSE is a coffee table book filled with exquisite detail found in several dozen homes in the south of France. Author, Joanna Thornycroft, has classified the structures Andreas Von Einsiedel photographed into `Town', `Manor' or `Country' houses. Short on text and long on photos, the premise of this publication seems to be a picure is worth a thousand words. Beginning with houses in the French Rivera and ending with Le Murier in hameau das Auvis, the author takes you on a trip through the land painted by Van Gogh and Pagnol.
   
   Some of the homes are "simple" cottages, others the more ornate domains of the landed gentry or super-rich movie star. My favorite shots were taken in gardens, and show flowers, pots and rustic gates across cobblestone walkways that lead to the lane or another room of the garden. Small details such as a decorative window latch covered with several centuries of paint, delft-like kitchen tiles, and a rooster weather vane, remind me of the land of the Cathars-those God-fearing people who lived in this land that once harbored them as heretics who may or may not have been far from God but who must have understood how blessed life can be when the sun shines.
   
   Architects may get some ideas from the recessed windows, the red tiled roofs, the stucco blue walls, and the marble bathroom fixtures, but the fabric-lined antique china cabinets, and nifty little accent touches in the various rooms depicted so lovingly make this book a must for interior designers and others seeking the "look" of Provence.



3. I can be critical of design and house books after seeing so many, so it's a relief to finally be able to give a book five stars. The photographs are authentic and detail everything from interior to exterior, including gardens. The essence of French provincal style is captured and distilled here. The writing is clever and concise, although you'll hardly notice it because the pictures are so brilliant. This is an essential book if you're trying to capture the French provencal look in house design or interior design. This book gives you an authentic source reference.



4. I'm an architect with the task of designing a "French" style home. This is one of several books I ordered to use as references. The appeal of this book for me is that it includes exterior architecture, interior design/decor, & gardens/landscapes. It is extensively illustrated with color photos & captions (my kind of book...). I can't critique the text because I have not yet had time to read it. But I can't get enough of the pictures!



5. I picked this book up from the table of new releases at a local bookstore, sat in a chair, and didn't move except to turn the pages for the next 90 minutes. In more than 200 color photographs, The Provencal House explores the beauty of 16 Provencal homes - interior and exterior details, uses of color playing off the landscape, curves and arches and doorways. It's a beautiful celebration of an architectural way of life rooted in the land and its traditions.

2 comments about Buckingham Palace: The Official Illustrated History.

1. I found the book to be very informative, good selection of pictures. It was interesting to compare the different rooms as they were changed from Queen Victoria through Queen Elizabeth. It lacks pictures and descriptions of the rooms in the new wing of the palace, the one facing the Victoria Monument. I do recommend this book, though, I wish it had more pictures of other rooms.



2. A nice book on one of the most recognizable if not prettiest palace in the world. The text is highly informative and the images are well presented. Buckingham Palace's exterior style is not exactly aweinspiring, it looks like a government building, like the treasury or department of state, it's really the interiors that make this place special. It's a high Georgian tour de force, the interiors are quite simply spectacular; they are elegant and have elan. If you have any interest in the Windsor's or love Georgian style then i highly recommend this book, if you have never seen the interior of this building, you will be pleasantly surprised.

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!

No comments about USA: Modern Architectures in History (Reaktion Books - Modern Architectures in History).

3 comments about Classical Swedish Architecture and Interiors: 1650-1830.

1. Any college-level holding specializing in world architectural history should have Classical Swedish Architecture & Interiors as part of its collection: art historian John Cederlund covers the foundations of Swedish architecture and interiors and covers the major sites and representations of Swedish style, from stoves to architecture for the monarchy. An excellent acquisition any library serious about world architectural styles will want.



2. This is an excellent survey of Swedish architecture and interiors of the most influential historical period and the photographs are splendid.



3. I have bought several books on Swedish architecture and design. This book truly is an important addition to any fan of neoclassical design, although the segments on the baroque, rococco and empire periods are also outstanding.
   
   The sketches, floorplans, photographs and engravings are of an extremely high quality, and the sheer breadth of buildings covered is astounding.
   
   Highly, highly, highly recommended. A beautiful book that is a necessity for anyone with an interest in architecture or interior design.

1 comments about Venice, CA: Art and Architecture in a Maverick Community.

1. I love strolling around Venice Beach. This delightful book allowed me to take a glimpse inside some wonderful homes and understand a little more about the quirky, creative people who have made Venice Beach special. If you can't live there, buying this book is the next best thing.

No comments about Architecture: A World History.