1 comments about Pamphlet Architecture 20: Seven Partly Underground Rooms and Buildings for Water, Ice, and Midgets (Pamphlet Architecture).

1. I love midgets, and reading aboot buildings designed for midgets is the greatest thing.

4 comments about American Country Churches.

1. I usually don't buy large coffee table books, but I made an exception for this one and I'm glad I did. I love the beautiful photos of the old, historic churches. I think churches are sacred spaces where you truly feel the presence of God and this book reflects that. I like the story and history that goes along with the photos. This is a lovely book and I enjoy looking/reading through it. The church on the cover is actually in Alabama, which I enjoyed because that is where I am originally from. The Southern churches and New England churches are my very favorite.



2. I have ordered several similar books and this is the best of the lot. Great pictures. Great price. Enjoyable. I keep going back for reference.



3. this book was a present for my step-mother,residing in an assisted living facility in brunswick,maine. she is a wonderfully religious woman and really enjoyed this book. congratulations to the authors.and thanks to amazon for making it available.



4. This is a beautiful book. Mr. Morgan made great choices of which churches to photograph. The table of contents uses thumbnail images so you can quickly find the churches that interest you. The photography is superb. Altogether a book that is a joy to possess.

2 comments about Signature Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area.

1. Written in a style that's friendly, accessible, witty, and imaginative, Dave Weinstein really brings the personality and history of Bay Area architecture and architects to life in his book. Great photography too!



2. Every city has a wide variety of buildings. But San Francisco, because of its small size puts a wide variety of architectural styles in close proximity. San Francisco is unique (with the possible exception of Boston) in that the down town residential areas have been kept up, have kept their value, and are considered to be desirable places to live.
   
   As the book says, I'm not sure that there is a Bay Area traditional architecture. Instead it seems that a Victorian house can be adjacent to an ultra modern with no jarring conflict in the mind.
   
   This well written, beautifully illustrated book, perhaps untentionally seems to tell why this is so. Mr. Weinstein describes the work of fifteen of the Bay Areas most famous architects. Their styles vary, and perhaps because of this these fifteen architects just may be the reason that San Francisco architecture is so diverse. Other architects or prospective house builders have taken ideas from this fifteen.
   
   Besides being a history of San Francisco architecture, this book also qualifies as an idea book for anyone thinking of building a house.

No comments about San Francisco: Architecture & Design (And Guides).

4 comments about Discoveries: Forbidden City (Discoveries (Abrams)).

1. This book is cleverly laid out, well edited, and the best of the three books I bought on the world's largest palace--the 2000-acre Forbidden City. For a pocket guide it is outstanding--full of everything from photos of rooms in the palace, art objects, paintings, sculpture, emperors, empresses, eunuchs, and poems. It even includes interviews with Bertolucci (maker of the film The Last Emperor), the words of the last emperor himself, and commentaries that give insight into court life.
   
   My only criticism is that there is no large or comprehensive map. The maps included are so small for such a large palace, that at least half of the areas are unmarked. Since the Chinese names for the buildings are etheral, they also make you guess as to the building's function such as "Hall of Concentrated Beauty" or "Gate of Heavenly Purity". More running commentary on buildings would be appreciated.
   
   Luckily, in the palace, there are a few english plaques explaining the purpose of halls, especially the outer or formal section. As I understand it, most of the palace is open for visiting, although the private sections are in need of repair. Check out their website under "Palace Museum" which is the official title of the Forbidden City. I had a hard time with it but it is surprising to me that they are even on the web. I tried to download a map from the web, but it failed and the information provided on the website is incomprehensive.
   
   I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in China's history. It's a lot of book for $10.



2. I think this slim guide, that slips easily into a pocket, is the perfect beginner's guide to the Forbidden City. It does have great photos, historical drawings and the maps (arial and drawn) of this World Culture Site, but in addition, it has an entire section at the back on documents pertaining to the Forbidden City, including historical eyewitness accounts, Ming and Qing chronologies, and a short biblography for going more into depth.

   I have not been to Mainland China (yet), but i used this little book to prepare for a visit to the fabulous temporary exhibit on Emperor Qianlong and the Golden Age of the Forbidden City now on loan from Beijing to Chicago's Field Museum . It made the experience very rich indeed.

   Béguin and Morel's book is their second version, the first one having a slightly different title. "The Forbidden City, Heart of Imperial China. Kean Chhay Chang wrote a very good review of that edition, which you can see under the aforementioned title here on the Amazon site. From what she wrote, I don't think they've changed much (thank goodness!) but in this edition the maps are not straddling two pages, as mentioned in a review of the previous edition.

   My only regret is that it doesn't cover much of the private compounds within the Forbidden City, but then none of the guidebooks I saw at the exhibit did either.




3. I was disappointed at the size of the book for the price. I've seen as the same, and as good historic photographs, on a bigger and better scale. Being in the printing business, I don't believe you take a maginificant picture and put it on the fold. Stupid for so so-called authors Beguin and Morel. Shame, shame, shame. Good subject, very bad presentation.



4. I have been fascinated with the Forbidden City ever since I saw the movie, The Last Emperor. This little book is just jam packed full of information. Lots of pictures (old and new), maps of the grounds, so that you can easily understand the relationship of the buildings to one another, plus old paintings & drawings. Lots of text on the emperors, concubines, artwork, temples and gardens. It is a mini history lesson. I liked this book so much I have ordered others in the discoveries series, I hope they are as interesting as this one.

1 comments about 99 Historic Homes of Indiana: A Look Inside.

1. This book fits its purpose well. Interesting vignettes into the quirks of old homes ad their owners. Rich photography of homes actually lived in by families. If you don't expect too much you won't be disappointed.

No comments about Louis Sullivan's Merchants National Bank.

1 comments about Homes in the Heartland: Balloon Frame Farmhouses of the Upper Midwest (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage).

1. Art history teacher Fred W. Peterson presents Homes in the Heartland: Balloon Frame Farmhouses of the Upper Midwest, the true story of the architectural phenomenon of balloon frame house construction that pervaded Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin from 1850 to 1920, which allowed settlers to establish affordable permanent frontier homes. Homes in the Heartland examines the social, economic, and aesthetic aspects of these homes, including their impact both on architectural history and on the lives of the people who lived in them. Enhanced with more than 150 black-and-white illustrations such as vintage photographs and house plans, as well as brand new preface for its paperback edition, Homes in the Heartland is a welcome addition to college library and American architectural history shelves.

2 comments about New Orleans Architecture Vol III: The Cemeteries.

1. I am a history buff and my ancestors arrived in New Orleans as early as 1831. This book helped me to make sense of the social-religious stratification of New Orleans. Jews,protestants, Slaves, freemen, firemen, police etc all buried in separate areas if not separate cemetaries. I hope the city keeps up these important parts of their history for future generations. Ny dad was at one time the chauffeur for William Helis who had his tomb made like the acropolis and imported soil from Greece to rest on. Very well done and informaive book.



2. An excellent, detailed documentation of this very important part of New Orleans, past and present.

2 comments about AIA Guide to the Architecture of Atlanta.

1. Because this book was written before the 1996 Olympics and organized around the major architects (and firms) practicing in Atlanta, there are conspicuous omissions. Unless the structure you wish to research has a brand name architect (you know, John Portman, John Burgee, Philip Johnson, etc...), it won't be in here. And if it's a church outside the city center, even if it had a brand name architect, it won't be in here either. There's a heavy modernist slant to the book, and an inexplicable lack of coverage of Atlanta's important ecclesiastical and neoclassical structures, particularly outside the city center. Architectural historians and classicists will be disappointed, which is surprising considering that Elizabeth Dowling, classicist extraordinaire, was the senior consultant for the book. Perhaps a new edition can improve on these problems.



2. First let me say that I really enjoy these AIA guides and this one is good. Atlanta has grown tremedously in the last twenty years and its skyline reflects that fact. This guide does not compare with the best AIA guides like the guide to Chicago, New York, Detroit, or Houston, but it hits on most of the major buildings and I liked the fact it is sectioned into different areas. I would have liked to have seen more on the Buckhead area and Druid Hills. I would have also liked to have seen every building have been accompanied by an image, that is a must in books of this kind. If you are someone from Atlanta or are interested in the architecture of Atlanta I recommend this book, but if you are just looking for AIA guides then I suggest getting the afore mentioned guides before this one.