No comments about Olympic Sculpture Park for the Seattle Art Museum: The Ninth Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design (Graduate School of Design Green Prize).

No comments about The Complete Guide to North American Gardens: The Northeast.

1 comments about Belt Collins (The Master Landscape Architect Series).

1. Being a connoisseur of good landscape design, I was excited to get my hands on the first edition of The Images Publishing Group's newest series of books, which focuses on world-renowned landscape architecture firms. Nevertheless, I was immediately impressed with the design of the book, which is far more interesting and colorful compared to the publisher's Master Architect Series.

   I was also impressed with the wide range of completed projects and geographic reach that Belt Collins has been able to achieve after 50 years in business. Congratulations, Belt Collins, and Images Publishing!

3 comments about EDSA Asian Classical Landscape Line Drawing.

1. 1) Technically, Mr. Smith drawing produced while he was an emplyee of the comany and get salary paid, belogs to the company ( if it is any good)
   2)Some design and graphic are very good reference.The book colected typical projects done in China, while David Chen was in Charge of the EDSA's Beijing Joint Venture Office from 2000-2006. Most of the people who's work collected in the book have left the company since 2006 Chen's leaving.They are now with Ecoland in Beijing.



2. This book, "EDSA's Classic Asian Line etc", is a total rip off. I know this because no less than 9 of my illustrations have been published without my permission. The so-called author David Chen stole these drawings from a staff of largely Chinese designers then had the book printed in Hong Kong without the permission of the mother company EDSA (located in Olando Florida). He has featured his own drawings by prominately displaying his own signature, most of which were done in the last century and erasing almost all of the others, (save two of mine 'b. smith'). He then makes comment using landscape jargon on a few pieces in order to sound academic when in reality it is a huge info-mercial for one man. Fortunately the many spelling errors reveal the fact that he has hastily put this together revealing his own stupidity. I am amazed that such a company as Amazon would not research the authenticity of an item before promoting and selling it. For shame Amazon!
   regards,
   Broc Smith



3. This is a bad book. It is, however, a good representation of what is happening to the global market economy, in the fact that a) the Chinese are knocking off everything, and b) US firms a who take advantage of the financial windfalls they recieve from working in Asia occasionally get burned. To EDSA's credit the graphics in the book are good, but there is too little content regarding process, the projects, or anything of interest to make this purchase worth $35. The text is "hirarious".
   
   Interesting fact: this book was published by an ex-EDSA employee in CHina without permission of the US firm based in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Amazon must have a warehouse full of these things, because I got this book less than 36 hours after I purchased it with standard shipping.

1 comments about The Baroque Landscape.

1. For those who love Le Notre's gardens, this is a beautiful book. It has the best and most complete set of photographs of Vaux le Vicomte of any book I've seen. The analysis is very thorough and there are nice comparisons with Versailles and other gardens of his (in fact I'd like to see the a book of photographs like this on of the rest of his gardens). For those who really like this type of landscape, I'd suggest getting Vincent Scully's "Architecture" since his poetic and experiential descriptions and critiques of Le Notre's work are, to me, unsurpassed. The only quibble I have is with the title, since the only truly "baroque" elements that I would consider such are some of the patterns in the parterres or some of the sculpture. Maybe that is my mistake from considering Baroque exemplified more by overwrought decoration on architecture and interiors. To me, Le Notre's work is more cosmic, more similar to grand pre-colombian ruins than any other European creations.

No comments about Landscaping the American Dream: The Gardens and Film Sets of Florence Yoch : 1890-1972.

No comments about Wayfinding: People, Signs, and Architecture.

1 comments about Decorating Your Garden: Creative Ideas for Transforming Your Outdoor Living Space.

1. I happened upon this title while looking for some inexpensive-yet-beautiful ideas to implement in my first garden. After just 30 minutes of browsing through this book, I had a list of projects for my patio that I couldn't wait to try. Anyone can have a beautiful garden if you have tons of money to spend. Decorating Your Garden helps you figure out how to create your own little slice of Eden even if you are on a limited budget. The photographs are lush and beautiful and they are accompanied by directions which are easy to follow. Evelegh encourages the use of materials which are readily available. I'm a big fan of the many styles of painted pots she demonstrates. It's finally time to wake up my plain old terra cotta planters! There are also unusual ideas for decorating the often-overlooked garden walls beyond just covering them up with ivy. Until now, my apartment's patio has been mostly a place to store things I didn't want to keep inside. Thanks to this book, I'll be spending a lot more time in my beautifully-decorated "outdoor living room."

No comments about Evictions: Art and Spatial Politics (The Graham Foundation / MIT.

3 comments about Ten Landscapes: Topher Delaney (Ten Landscapes).

1. very interesting the way Topher Delaney passes her work off as spiritual. in what feels like a sell-out to the new-age craze, the designs feel contrived. the drawings and text suggest some sublime meaning in the works, look closer and the message is a one liner. the designs seem too similar to be real narratives. unless, all of the clients were one and the same.



2. This book gave me a true taste of the original vision of Topher Delaney. I found the photographs and narrative fascinating and inspirational for the budding landscape architect, and probably of interest to any student of the creative process. However, I also was truly offended by the foreword written by Maggie Peng (whoever she might be) which sounded like a parody of all the pomposity and bombast associated with art criticism. Also, though the book has been designed in a clear and easy on the eyes format, it suffers from the annoying characteristic many of its tabletop/art book ilk share: a preoccupation with showing only 'details' and skewed points of view that make each photograph an evocative masterpiece but prevent the reader from getting a complete visualization of how each garden example was actually setup. A single pedestrian long view shot or just a simple blueprint would have sufficed to give me the big picture concept unfiltered by the book photographer's sensibility. Otherwise, Topher Delaney and her multiple visions do come through on the page and I enjoyed the book.



3. Having seen Topher Delaney's work first hand on the West Coast and having heard her speak, I was anxious to read her book, Ten Landscapes. Delaney is an artist, architect, landscape designer, gardener and contractor rolled into one very passionate, humorous, spiritual being. She is a unique designer whose work is considered " cutting edge," This book will challenge your perceptions of what a garden can be. Ten Landscapes is a wonderful narrative with fabulous photographs. A must read for those who are into landscape architecture or who just enjoy beautiful gardens.