1 comments about Building with Straw: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture.

1. There are many books now available on straw bale construction, but this is the best I've seen so far, as it shows how well straw bales can be adapted to modern designs and be used in virtually any setting. Like all Birkhauser books, Building with Straw is impeccably detailed and rich in illustrations, so you will get a very good idea how this form of construction works. Examples range from the Real Goods Solar Living Center in Hopland, California, to a farm and residential building in Franconia, Germany. So, you see that this type of construction can be adapted to almost any climactic condition, even in rainy Lithuania where small straw bale projects have been undertaken.

4 comments about Straw Bale Details: A Manual for Designers and Builders (Natural Building Series).

1. I have quite a few strawbale books, and I think this one I probably could have done without. Don't plan on using this book alone to do any projects.



2. I was very excited about receiving this book but I was very disappointed when I did. Not much info and the black and white drawings have a Notes section that is not numbered to correspond with the drawings or the one page text for each section. Overall, I feel this book was not a help at all.



3. If you're interested in strawbale building this is a nice little book on many of the details involved.
   The first 20 or so pages tell about various facets of the concept, they're followed by several short chapters (each with a written detail section)on things like walls, windows, foundations, electrical wiring and so on. Each of these sections consists primarily of architectural detail drawings of the chapter subject.
   There's a lot of detail here but I don't think it's enough for the total novice to go out and build from. You(if you're a novice)will need a lot more information on construction than is provided here. I guess that Amazon probably has all of the books you'll need, I think they do have all of the strawbale books listed in the short bibliography, those are worth a look.



4. This is a great book for people who have looked at the picture books and decided to build in strawbale. It is excellent whether you are an owner builder planning to prepare your own plans, or simply want to pass the detail on to your architect or draftsperson. I like the spiral bound layout which allows you to leave the book open without breaking the spine. The authors have considered most types of strawbale construction (e.g. with and without cellar, timber floored, concrete slab,etc) but a big negative for me was that it deals only with single storey details. I want to build two storey and would have appreciated information on how to incorporate the middle floor into the strawbale walls, both for load-bearing and post-and-beam buildings. If you've read architectural plans before, you'll be able to decode how to build a strawbale house... if you can't, you won't have a use for this book. All in all - a winner for the serious strawbale builder (cheaper than a strawbale workshop and you get a resource you can keep!)

2 comments about Immaterial/Ultramaterial: Architecture, Design, and Materials (Millennium Matters).

1. Toshiko Mori has sadly fallen into the trap of confusing the practice of architecture with merely writing about it. This once-talented architect has now become a parody of herself, a self-important academic smugly satisfied with the sound of her own rhetoric. As for the book, it documents new materials and systems. But the presentation is dry, more in the form of an industrial catalog, and lacks any substantive commentary on architecture itself. And I can't help wondering how many trees might have been saved if Mori and her clique edited out the repetitive and cliched use of words like "challenging", "distorting", "alienating" etc. Architectura and materials evolve; the first use of them, however experimental, is not always good. Like Mori's work, it is stylish, but not classic. Faddish, but not timeless. Pass this one up before it becomes embarrassing to have it on your bookshelf.



2. some very interesting projects by Harvard Design School students. projects are critically approached, its not just eye candy. seem to be on the cutting edge of this kind of exploration. and some interesting interviews of practioners

No comments about Simplified Design of Wood Structures (Parker/Ambrose Series of Simplified Design Guides).

2 comments about Laboratory Design Guide, Third Edition.

1. The used book, listed as great condition, was in very crappy condition and I sent it back



2. Laboratory Design Guide, B.Griffin (Architectural Press,1999) ISBN 0 7506 3858 3

   Having moved in to a new laboratory for teaching and research 12 months ago, I wish that our faculty had had this book available to us 4 years ago while we were in the planning stage of the building. This would have given the laboratory staff insights into how buildings are built and how to go about consulting with the building designers, architects, engineering consultants, contractors and sub-contractors and all the other various people that most laboratory staff have little day-to-day experience with. It would have also improved the discussion on options for design of the laboratories and furniture by the faculty staff. The idea of adjustable benches would have been a better solution to our need to cater for disabled students than making a permanent low bench in each teaching laboratory which means these benches go unused if no disabled student is in the unit. The second half of the book is case studies and looking at new laboratories. Fourteen of the 17case studies are from Australia, all but two of these from NSW. How the architects responded to the needs of their clients and the different needs for different types of laboratories is discussed. The examples cover rnultifunctional tertiary teaching, research institutions, pure research, and commercial pathology and government laboratories. All the case studies are there to amplify points made earlier in the book. This book must be read in conjunction with the appropriate Australian Standards and the CCH manual and although it does not mention individual standards or CCH guidelines the text does give a good place to start your search of the standards and guidelines which are the definitive sources.

   Neil Ludvigsen, Northern Territory University, Book review in "Chemistry in Australia"

No comments about Door & Window Design.

1 comments about Building with Lime: A Practical Introduction.

1. An unassuming cover and title do not come close to revealing the riches within. This book embodies a passion rarely found in how-to-manuals that belies the author's awareness that he is archiving an artform that has been nearly lost to us. Very well-organized, easy to read and thorough, this should be the bible of building and sculpting with lime.
   
   The introduction alone will change the way you see concrete (i.e. portland cement) forever. If you are even remotely concerned with a healthy and sustainable future for our cities, this book is a must-have.

2 comments about Decorating With Concrete Outdoors: Driveways, Paths & Patios, Pool Decks & More.

1. This book is a good source of ideas for works in decorative concrete jobs. Each photo gives the technique used in that work so you can have a good idea on how to recreate it in yours job.
   I personally use it to show my customers all the possible outcomes of decorative concrete from rustic finishing to modern and chick floors for pool decks, driveways and patios.
   This is not a step by step photo demo book; this is only a final work photo album of the best decorative concrete installers in the nation.



2. Perhaps I just misunderstood. But this book just wasn't what I thought it was.
   
   I was really excited when I ordered this book. I just couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I wanted to see how things were done, what materials I'd have to buy (and hopefully where I could find them) and generally find out how to make this magic happend...
   
   But no such luck.
   
   I actually don't quite understand this book - and it really doesn't contain any text to misunderstand. It does contain a lot of nice pictures (and I mean a lot), even though some of the ideas displayed should perhaps rather have been made of plastic and varnish, glue and gypsum for people out of this world (really, some of the things displayed are really really ugly!). Some of the ideas don't have anything to do with anything real. These are glossy patios suitable for I don't know whom. But perhaps that really doesn't matter - at least if the book is just intended to be a good idea bank for different groups of people. But I found no warning signs on Amazon.
   
   I don't like to slaughter things, but then again I never review things as I'm doing now without having a very strong point in either direction, i.e. positive or negative... Sadly, this book had a negative impact on me, period!
   
   You make the math:
   
   The book has no functionality (other than ideas) for the DIY person.
   The book is in fact just a big "Ikea brochure" - a lot of pictures, but little or no text.
   Which brings me to the last point: The little text that actually is to be found is often wrong (typical copy-and-paste (or find-and-replace) Word failures) like "Courtesy of Courtesy of Action Concrete Services". For any serious publisher, one failure as this one should have been enough, but this particular blunder can be found evenly distributed over the entire book! Sorry, I just can't live with that, especially since the book is in fact nothing else than what Google would have given me with a few keystrokes.
   
   So: If you don't have Google, buy this book! That's my advice. Or, if you do have Google but want a glossy paper book with a lot of pictures in it, you might still want to buy it. Just don't expect any help with anything other than how to contact a contractor.

No comments about Glass Houses.

No comments about The Designer's Workspace: Ultimate Office Design.