No comments about Theory in Landscape Architecture: A Reader (Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture).

4 comments about Simplified Irrigation Design, 2nd Edition (Landscape Architecture).

1. I have some basic knowledge of irrigation and right off the bat I was irritated with the way the chapters where laid out. He starts right in with sprinkler head performance and layout before going into the explanation of irrigation, and the basic principles of hydraulics that I believe should be the foundation what you learn first before anything else. The other thing that was that for the money I don't believe it was worth it maybe more like $20-25. Most of the information you can find on the internet searches. But, all in all it was a very easy reading book that did help me fill some holes in my irrigation knowledge.



2. This resource is excellent. Extreme detail, great illustrations, and information that is not provided by other typical irrigation books you'll find at Home Depot. I'm a landscape designer and highly recommend this resource.



3. I read this book to get ready to take my Texas Irrigation License exam. It explained how to properly install a professional quality sprinkler system in an easy to read and understand format. This book goes into detail about how to layout the sprinkler heads, how to pipe it all together, and how all the parts work together. I have read many irrigation books...This was the best book to get a good understanding of sprinkler systems without becoming an expert in the field of irrigation. Perfect for the do it yourself homeowner or individual wanting to get into the irrigation industry. I now have my license and highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn to install a good sprinkler system without having to read an irrigation reference manual.



4. I was very disappointed with this book. The author places emphasis on the use of one brand of irrigation equipment, seldom mentioning other options that may better fit the application. I also found several errors in the enclosed calculations... not simply a typo, but in the methodology of the formulas. I would not recommend this book...

3 comments about Infinite Spaces: The Art and Wisdom of the Japanese Garden.

1. If your one of those people that can learn from basic truths and visual stimulous that book is great. Its a simple book with translations from the "bible" of Japanese gardening. And photos to show you examples.



2. This is a better than average coffee-table book about Japanese Gardens. The photos are for the most part excellent (a few are too dark). Many of the gardens shown are located outside of the Kyoto area and have seldom if ever been shown in other such (English language) books on this subject; this is a nice touch because it means that there is little overlap between this book and others. I had high hopes that the book would include a substantial (if not complete) translation of the Sakuteiki but despite the introduction which implies that this might be the case, it is not true. I would guess that less than 25% of the text of Sakuteiki is included, and the authors have rearranged the material into thematic sections to fit their own taste. This is a terrible pity becuase the 11th century gardening manual known by the name "Sakuteiki" is a very important point of reference in understanding the historical developement of Japanese gardens - sections from it are quoted by almost every book written on the subject, yet there is no generally available English translation of it. The 1976 translation by Shigemaru Shimoyama (publ. by Town & City Planners,Inc. Tokyo) was printed in a tiny edition of only 300 copies so the only way to read it is by borrowing a copy thru the academic inter-library loan program at your local public library. The way the authors of this book have rearranged the text into disjointed quotations (with widely varying typographic style & presentation) really does not do justice to the orginal material and is in considerable danger of reinforcing the old western stereotype of "pearls of wisdom from the inscrutable orient". I would suggest that you buy this book for the pictures alone and not pay too much attention to the text as currently presented. If the book is popular enough to merit a 2nd edition I hope the authors will reconsider the current format.



3. The photos are so luscious--I can't think of a more appropriate term--that it's as if you're in these gardens. I believe all of the photos are of the ancient gardens in Kyoto, and if not, they're definately all from Japan. This book is truly one that was inspired by the Sakuteki, not an illustrated edition of the Sakuteki. You'll want it for dreamy page turning, not as an instruction book for your own gardens.

5 comments about The Urban Design Handbook: Techniques and Working Methods.

1. this a firm way of working
   just one way of doing things



2. This book is a rare but insightful look into the practice of one of the New Urbanist legends. UDA began the pattern book revival a decade ago (and also has a book out describing the process of writing one.) They also are one of the pioneers of the New Urbanist revolution, which, by discarding the fictions of Modernist planning, have rediscovered existing methods and have discovered new methods of creating compact, mixed-use and walkable neighborhoods that were always the basic cellular structure of cities from the dawn of time until just before World War II. We have understood the basic principles again for some time. What this book shows are some of the mechanics of how to do it again.



3. The architects at Urban Design Associates use war stories and bold illustrations to provide detailed instructions on how to transform a blighted urban area into an aesthetically pleasing community. This Pittsburg-based firm created the architectural plans for city redevelopment in communities from Cincinnati, Ohio to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Riverside County, California. The book shares UDA's time-tested, 10-part "charrette process."

   The charrette brings together local residents, government officials, real estate developers and other stakeholders to guide the design process. Using the existing community's "best addresses" as an ideal, UDA produces a unique pattern book that describes preferred neighborhood building arrangements and architectural styles. The plans emphasize the area's natural features by making parks and public space an integral part of each project.

   UDA has one cardinal rule that guides these working sessions: "No matter how many encounters you may have with participants, the first time you meet people, you are asking questions, not giving answers." Judging from the work presented in this full-color manual, they are asking the right questions. Their designs are scaled for pedestrians and they incorporate building sites that can accommodate single-family homes, multi-family residences, civic buildings and commercial space.

   The book is stuffed with specifics--everything from consensus building tips to digital filing guidelines. Architects, engineers, planners and developers are the obvious target audience for this trade book. But, new urbanists and city enthusiasts everywhere will also enjoy it as an entertaining and instructive reference.




4. The Pittsburgh-based firm Urban Design Associates has been in practice for nearly 40 years, over the decades accumulating quite a lot of experience in urban design. This is UDA's in-house training manual, polished and augmented for public use. If you are starting out in the urban design field, or are just curious about the methods of a successful firm, this is a good place to begin your investigations.

   The first section introduces some basic principles and organizing concepts. Ideas like the "Urban X-Ray" and "Urban Assembly Kit" are easy to understand but at the same time provide a powerful means of evaluating locations and organizing the design process.

   The second section, taking up one-third of the book, is a case study of the design process from beginning to site plan. It's really the heart of the manual. This section takes you through information collection, analysis, charrettes, preliminary design, negotiation, and final presentation. UDA can be justifiably proud of their work here, as the site (a housing project in Winston-Salem) was extremely challenging, yet the final plan was quite good from a number of perspectives. You get some idea of the politics, persuasion and patience necessary when working with established residents, officials, engineers and developers.

   The following two sections cover pattern books and architecture. These sections are mostly about basic concepts and the firm's standardized methods, which can be dry reading. The information is sound, but presented in a rather generic way, and so is less engrossing than the earlier section. It will be of interest to students wanting to understand how one firm tackles contextual residential design.

   In the extensive appendices, the roots of the manual become more apparent. These cover everything from filing system notation to line weight (how to draw a block of houses). Mainly of interest to those wanting to compare office administration procedures, students, and new UDA employees.

   The Urban Design Manual delivers the goods in a concise format, focusing on UDA's methods rather than trying to encompass a variety of possible approaches. The illustrations are a treat to look at, and convey at least as much information as the text. The writing is clear and professional, yet also conversational and even a bit lighthearted. Mini "war story" vignettes in the margins bespeak the writers' understated humor. It is the first step-by-step manual of urban design (hopefully the first of many by various authors), and is valuable resource for students and practitioners.




5. Gindros and Company at UDA distilled the stuff they do every day (-designing buildings, neighborhoods and towns), into a manual for their own new hires. Then they expanded this information into a handbook for publication. The book presents an excellent framework for design work at several scales, from the individual building through the building blocks of great neighborhoods, the street, the block, the public spaces.

3 comments about The Landscape Lighting Book.

1. The Landscape Lighting book, by Janet Moyer, provides both an academic and practical level of landscaping lighting knowledge. Another good book, if you can find it, is the Ortho's book of How to Design and Install Outdoor Lighting.
   
   In comparison, the Ortho book has more colorful pictures and offers a very colorful education - I'd say, more or less at a good high school level. If you want more of college level introduction to landscape lighting - perhaps, to start a business or to broaden your knowledge, The Landscape Lighting book is the book for you.



2. The second edition of Janet Lennox Moyer's THE LANDSCAPE LIGHTING BOOK is an absolute necessity for everybody who works in landscape lighting or who is seriously interested in creating their own garden lighting. Ms Moyer has greatly revised and expanded the color plates and Chapter 4, "The Design Process - Documenting and Installing Landscape Lighting" as well as writing an entirely new Chapter 5 "Follow-up Work - Record Documents and Project Maintenance." These changes and additions and the many other updates make the new edition well worth the purchase price.
   
   First published in 1992, THE LANDSCAPE LIGHTING BOOK has served as the single and indispensable reference for the landscape lighting industry. It has offered all new landscape lighting practitioners guidance and provided an emerging industry the foundation necessary on which to build solid practice. While there is a wealth of other books that offer how-to help and publish pretty pictures, none of them even attempt to define and explain professional practice for the landscape lighting industry with Ms Moyer's authority and confidence.
   
   THE LANDSCAPE LIGHTING BOOK is not an easy book to read but it is well worth the effort. Once you understand the theory behind the short cuts and rules-of-thumb that other how to books offer, you are free to create your own. With the freedom you gain when you understand and can apply those fundamental principals and concepts to your landscape lighting, you become like the cook who ignores the printed recipe and creates a masterpiece of culinary art.



3. Still the best book for the professional. Invaluable resource for architects, landscape architects and landscape lighting designers. Broad and deep with plenty of technical information. I purchased this book in 1992 and I bought it again today (an electrician friend "lost" my original copy). A second edition (if planned) should include better information about transformer regulation (the ability of a low voltage lighting transformer to maintain 12v under load) and voltage drop (the dreaded decrease in voltage through the main supply cable) which are presented as formulae rather than actual measurements. Great photographs mostly of large scale projects. This book should be in every outdoor lighting designer's library.
   
   There is a second edition (Wiley 2005) of the book revised and updated by the author to reflect changes and improvements in techniques and equipment. The second edition is easily recognized by the illustrated four color cover; the original had an illustrated dust cover (missing from the last run of the first edition) by the cover itself was plain black.
   
   I have both editions and consider them a bargain in terms of concentrated relevant information.

5 comments about Architecture in the Garden.

1. Landscape architect Van Sweden's description of his signature process and approach for harmonious gardens immerses us in a new dimension of garden design. This book is a valuable tool for virtually any garden lover or garden designer -- whether transforming a blank slate or just reviving a tired garden. Van Sweden shows us the importance of understanding the underlying architecture of our gardens.



2. I am a landscape designer and I use this book constantly, not only for inspiration, but also for the illustrations provided on how to construct many of the architectural features shown.
   This book has a permanant place on my drafting table and has so many paper clips marking pages--it is by far the most useful book about landscape architecture I have come across.



3. This is a great book to get you thinking about the underlying structure of your garden or outdoor space. Van Sweden's style is low-key yet elegant, and his ideas inspirational.



4. James van Sweden has been designing gardens for over 30 years and he is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. In this book he shares with the reader the essential role that architecture plays in organizing the garden landscape. With carefully chosen examples he shows how man-made features of the garden - paths, walls, gates etc. - create the framework for a garden that is both beautiful and easy to live with.
   This book is readable and anecdotal in style, yet it covers the fundamental principles of design and shows how they can be put into practice to enhance many different types of garden. It is extensively illustrated, mostly with the author's own photographs, and these support the text in clearly delineating the applications of design principles to town gardens, seaside gardens, country gardens and so on.

   Despite the author's relaxed approach this is a very thorough book and it will be invaluable to anyone planning a garden. My only quibble is that many of the gardens might be called estates, measured in acres, and to some extent this limits the book's practical value to the gardener with a standard city lot, or less.

   But good "bone structure" is important in all gardens and this book will help any gardener pull together the significant man-made pieces of the garden into a graceful and beautiful whole.




5. James van Sweden has been designing gardens for over 30 years and he is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. In this book he shares with the reader the essential role that architecture plays in organizing the garden landscape. With carefully chosen examples he shows how man-made features of the garden - paths, walls, gates etc. - create the framework for a garden that is both beautiful and easy to live with.

   This book is readable and anecdotal in style, yet it covers the fundamental principles of design and shows how they can be put into practice to enhance many different types of garden. It is extensively illustrated, mostly with the author's own photographs, and these support the text in clearly delineating the applications of design principles to town gardens, seaside gardens, country gardens and so on.

   Despite the author's relaxed approach this is a very thorough book and it will be invaluable to anyone planning a garden. My only quibble is that many of the gardens might be called estates, measured in acres, and to some extent this limits the book's practical value to the gardener with a standard city lot, or less.

   But good "bone structure" is important in all gardens and this book will help any gardener pull together the significant man-made pieces of the garden into a graceful and beautiful whole.

5 comments about Designing with Plants.

1. Piet Oudolf is one of today's garden design geniuses. He gives us a book that is both inspiration and implementation. He inspires readers to design gardens that are carefully crafted but appear utterly natural. Then he gives us new, creative tools to make these garden designs. Oudolf focuses on plant structures and gives us easy categories for the forms of herbaceous garden plants. He emphasizes mood, light, movement, and rhythm in garden design. Always thinking outside the box, he even champions spent perennials at season's end. Gorgeous color photos illustrate all points. A must-have for both dreamers and gardeners with dirty hands.



2. The gardens in this book are amazing. As a landscape design student, the designs in this book give me something to aspire to.

   The authors do a good job of providing most of the plants names for what you see in the pictures. The individual information about the plants is beneficial to determining their use.

   I just love looking through this book and just enjoying the beauty of these perennials.




3. This is not a reference book for active, summer gardening. This is an inspiring book for winter gardening by the fireside, a book from which to dream, plan and design and to gain a liberating aspect of gardening.

   This book presents a peerless horticultural perspective on natural habitats and how these might be brought to gardens, delivering unique ways of planting and seeing by shape, form, color, size, texture and, singularly, by light. In this the author awes the reader with the beauty of plants affected by the seasons and their elements: light, fog, dew; rain, frost and snow. As a practical tool to aid the shaping of these gardens, he includes an unconventional index that lists the characteristics, cultural requirements and companions for selected plants.

   The photography is stunning, enlightening and informative in its content--and valuable. Through their exemplary quality, serious gardeners and professionals will discover a freer and more natural mode of horticultural expression. This is one of the few gardening books that both stimulates and satisfies the spiritual and aesthetic quests of many gardeners.




4. Even if the book has designs that seem more than you can handle now, the book is so breathtakingly beautiful that its inspirational value alone make it one of the best I've ever read. In the process of stretching your imagination in just one or two areas, a great deal of result may be seen in your garden, and you will have pulled the target for your creativity up several notches.



5. A good resource for the personal landscape and a even better one for the professional. The two authors did a wonderful job laying out the many ways in which plants can be used to create the outdoor room and place. Their bold approach is reinforced beautifully in the full color photographs that are abundtly found on the pages of the book. Not a lot of additional information, but there are numerous lists and tables to help guide in ones plant selection. More slanted towards the professional, yet for the true gardener, a wonderful addition to your library.

No comments about Crop Circles: Art in the Landscape.

5 comments about Japanese Garden Design.

1. I bought a number of books on Japanese Gardens, because I like visiting them and wanted to make one of my own. I found this book to be more of a textbook than the rest; it is heavy on history and theory but is somewhat dull. If you want to be inspired, you probably don't want a book that uses endnotes. There is nothing wrong with it, but I found the Art of Japanese Gardens to be more balanced in terms of photos/inspiration and text. This is more thorough in terms of history and theory and less so with beautiful and varied photographs. In designing my own garden, I ultimately could have done without this book, though if you are fascinated by theory and history, it is probably the most comprehensive. If you're buying one book only to help inspire and educate, I'd go with the Art of Japanese Gardens.



2. Of all the monographs on Japanese garden design, this book provides the best overview of the underlying cultural context that has been the basis for its development.
   
   While this book does not desribe individual gardens in detail, it adresses both the historical context and the many other influences that have shaped the aesthetic of the Japanese garden. More so than in any previous monograph, Marc Peter Keane points out the influences of Japan's prehistoric period, Shintoism and Buddhism as it relates to the veneration of landscape and nature.
   
   He also describes the effect that geomancy, poetry and ink brush painting had on the evolution of garden prototypes and subject matter. Beyond that he pays special attention to the physical setting, architectural context, aesthetics, social and economical environment in which each of the garden prototypes evolved into todays classifications.
   
   The book is beautifully ilustrated with a large number of color photographs and drawings by the author, that support and visualize the points made in the well-written text. I believe this is currently the best monograph, in that it gives an excellent introduction to the Japanes garden and its cultural heritage to international audiences, without getting lost in the description of details of individual gardens or the symbolic meanings attributed to specific design elements.



3. Marc Keane, the other author of this exellent book, is a professor at Kyoto University, and educates students in Japanese garden design. Other good background material on Japanese gardens includes: "Sakuteiki: Visions of the Japanese Garden" (a trans. of an 11th cent. Japanese scroll), also written by Marc Keane, with Jiro Takei; and "Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardening" ( another ancient scroll trans.), by David Slawson.

   A very useful "how-to" book is: "Creating Japanese Gardens", by Phillip Cave. "A Japanese Touch for your Garden," by Seike, Kudo and Engel, also supplies the meat-and-potatoes.

   You can pick up many helpful details in pictures found in the "coffee-table" books available. Haruzo Ohashi, who did the photography for "Japanese Garden Design," has done outstanding photographic work for several other books in this category.

   If you are a "back-yard-gardener" like me, all of these books will just be the starting point. You will learn that there are several distinct styles of Japanese gardens. However, there are no hard rules. Elements of the basic styles can be incorporated into your garden.

   The finished product: "your interpretation of the Japanese Garden" (what works for you), will be well worth the effort. It was for me. Just remember that in the Japanese garden "less is often more." Every open space does not have to be filled with a rock, a plant or an ornament. Step back and look at each element that you incorporate. Make sure that each item compliments your whole design. This is the essence of the project.

   Good Luck and Have Fun!




4. There are many nice picutes in this book, however, there is not much instruction on the actual design of a Japanese garden. It talks about the history and philosophy, but does not mention much about the principles of design such as rock placement, plant species, structures, etc. It is enjoyable to browse through often, but is a better "coffee table" book than textbook.



5. This is one of the best non-fiction selections I've ever encountered. It does justice to its esteemed topic, both in its superb photographic selections and its rich and highly informative text. Far more than a mere coffee table book, Mr. Keane's solid understanding and sensitive insight have created a work which I refer to often in my own gardening ventures. I cannot recommend this book more highly.

3 comments about Japan Modern: New Ideas for Contemporary Living.

1. I've long been interested in the Japanese approach to design of all sorts, but especially architecture. Coming from a much different tradition, the solutions to problems and needs for shelter are often very different than those arrived at by architects with Euro-American tastes and training. Some of the examples depicted so beautifully and discussed so shrewdly in this volume are rooted strongly in Japan's history, such as an old farmhouse relocated to Tokyo and fitted into an urban neighborhood. Others are playful, like the house with a lawn on the peaked roof, watered by a sprinkler system on the ridgepole, and with the courtyard floored in clay roof tiles. There's a two-story "miniature" house with a footprint not much larger than two parking spaces, but which still manages to be a very comfortable environment for actually living in. And, naturally, there are structures *so* experimental, you might not realize they were houses if you weren't told. There are homes in this collection I would love to live in, and others that would probably give me nightmares, but all of them are fascinating.



2. This book provides total eye candy for design enthusiasts. Not your typical formulaic shoji screen stuff. Very original solutions to design problems from a Japanese perspective. I find it very inspiring and look at it all the time.



3. This book is filled with page after page of stunning rooms and living spaces in Japan. A must for anyone who believes all Japanese live in cramped, dark, unattractive homes. An excellent conversation starter and coffee table book.