No comments about Kyu Sung Woo: Stone Cloud (Single House).

No comments about Residential Architecture in Southern California..

4 comments about Northwest Style.

1. I liked the book and it was excellent in the areas covered, but it missed the largest part of the US PNW geographic area - the high deserts and dry land conifer forests East of the Cascades in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. As one born and raised in the Northwest, I would really like someone to write a book that acknowledged and showed the styles of architecture and interior design found in places like Pendleton and White Swan.

   Most of the PNW is not wet and cloudy, but drier with a harsh and stark beauty that can clearly be seen on the old highway between Ellensburg and Yakima, or cruising between Bend and Madras. Or in the forested places near La Grande and in Northern Idaho. There is the Horse Heaven and Pend Orielle country as well, which have their own forms of architecture that pay tribute to a beautiful and fascinating, and not always kind country.

   I wish for a book on PNW style that covers more than the narrow coastal strips and Willamette Valley.




2. It is obvious Ann Wall Frank loves homes. Her beautifully written text is like poetry, and the photography is stunning. It is a must have for anyone who cherishes making a house a home. The humor, warmth, and intelligence of Ann Frank's writing style sets this book apart from others of its kind. We in the northwest are proud of our style, and Northwest Style captures who we are perfectly. Encore!



3. Who knew the Pacific Northwest had such an eclectic range of home styles, from Japanese influenced designs to rustic log cabins, to stunning urban lofts. This book is written in an accessible (versus snobby) style, warmed by humor and with an irreverent eye to the iconoclastic bent of the nation's current power center. Beautiful photographs and "real" homeowners--not royalty or billionaires.



4. This book presents a variety of Northwest homes that defines the lifestyle and architecture of this unique region. Each home is beautifully photographed highlighting the unique architecture and decor. How each home relates to the natural beauty of the region is explored. Ms. Frank narrative personalizes the homes. This a good read. Don't just look at the pictures.

1 comments about Arthur Brown Jr.: Progressive Classicist (Classical America Series in Art and Architecture).

1. I have alway's thought the San Francisco City Hall was spectacular, as impressive inside as out. It is great to have a book on the architect of that building and many more, his buildings in the Federal Triangle are wonderful, classic, yet functional. This book has fantastic images and the text is fascinating. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in spectacular architecture in the classical style.

No comments about Seaside: Making a Town in America.

No comments about Houses of snow, skin and bones (Native Dwellings).

No comments about Italian Architecture from Michelangelo to Borromini: From Michelangelo to Borromini (World of Art).

5 comments about French America.

1. This book was exactly what i needed to work with on an interior design project. It was easy to read and not so detailed that would make it dull.



2. "French America" is a dazzling, oversized coffee table book which opens an entirely new world all around the reader. I had expected a treasure of great pictures and was not disappointed. What I had not expected is the narration, not only descriptions of the pictures, but of the history of the French role in the development of the United States.
   
   This book is a tour through many buildings associated with French settlement and development in the United States. Beginning with the early Huguenot settlements in New York and South Carolina, the reader is taken on to the heart of French America along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi. Despite living among the greatest collection of French Colonial architecture in the country, I learned of near by structures of which I was totally unaware. The journey continues down the river to Louisiana with its living French culture amid the houses and buildings surviving from a way of life that is Gone With The Wind. The tour winds through sites in the Eastern states associated with French participation in the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars and concludes with Civic buildings in the Washington-Virginia area inspired by French architecture.
   
   This book broadened my understanding of the French heritage around us and sharpened my appetite to visit some of these areas. It can do the same for you.



3. As a loving and dutiful son of both cultures, having been reared in France under the Nazi terror and having commanded American Infantry during the Korean War, I feel qualified to greet this treasure of a book with enthusiastic acclaim for being such a moving and exquisite celebration of the Entente Cordiale that holds these two great republics in a bond that no amount of maligning can destroy.The evocative text together with the extensive collection of superb photographs are the guides for a cultural, architectural and historical visit to the enriching French heritage that graces all the regions of the United States.No effort has been spared in designing and in producing this large and most elegant volume which is in itself a work of art.



4. French America is one of those rare coffee table books that is both beautiful to look at and features a well-written and highly interesting text. The photos display incredible luminosity and skill. Both interior and exterior shots are infused with light that reaches out and grabs the viewer. The book itself is a true find - a vast historical and architectural frescoe of the French sites and buildings in America, spanning from New England, the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico.
   
   I was fascinated to learn the history of French architecture from constructions along the Mississippi Valley, like Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, built by Normans using the same bousillage and colombage techniques found in local French villages. The more sophisticated architecture of the Creole plantations in Louisiana and the urban and civic buildings of Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C., created from the plan by Pierre-Charles L'Enfant remid us of the once prevading French influence in this country. Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia estate, was inspired by the Hôtel de Salm in Paris and his admiration of French architecture. The Maison Carrée in Nîmes was the prototype of another of Jefferson's architectural projects, the Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, designed along with the French architect Clérisseau.
   
   The special features on history and French culture in the US are a delight, including the Huguenots and their descendants. George Washington himself had Protestant ancestors from the l'Ile de Ré off the Brittany coast. Other sections deal with the Creole influences and the cultural importance of the Cajuns in Louisiana. As the book points out, before the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, when Napoleon sold the territory for 15 million dollars,(the greatest real estate deal ever) the settlers of French origin made important contributions in the realms of architecture, education and trade. The Jesuits educated and converted Indian tribes, the coureurs de bois established fur trading posts, talented artisans constructed houses and monuments largely inspired by French architecture from France, Canada and the French West Indies while blending them in such as way as to create a unique new style : American architecture. A great discovery !



5. Very nice photographs with informative text. A great gift for any American of French ancestry or someone with an appreciation of the French contribution to our culture.

2 comments about Modern House Three.

1. Raul A. Barreneche continues the survey of contemporary dwellings with this fascinating examination of what is on the cutting edge of architects' designs for homes. The book covers homes designed and built around the world with special emphasis on the particular environment in which each home is designed.
   
   Here are examples of famous architects such as Richard Meier and Tadao Ando side by side with lesser known but equally inspiring new visionaries. Some thirty odd houses in fifteen countries are shown both by photograph and by drawing, documenting the newest thoughts in the use of materials and techniques of craftsmanship.
   
   Divided into three sections the homes displayed are approached by examining the integration of architecture with landscape, the innovative materials now available for the architects to incorporate into these dwellings - manners in which environmentalism is addressed, and, of the most interest, the way architects and designers incorporate the life styles of their clients into the choice of design elements used in the new home.
   
   This is an interesting book for those who are contemplating having a artistically unique home enter the design phase, but for those who simply like to continue the ongoing 'dream house voyage'. Grady Harp, April 06



2. Interesting choices, but inadequate, often unreadable plans make any serious understanding of the prjects impossible.

No comments about GSW Headquarters Berlin: Sauerbruch Hutton Architects.