No comments about Membrane Structures: The Fifth Building Material.

5 comments about Prescriptions for a Healthy House.

1. The introduction is a great primer on household toxins that affect us all, and includes references. Everyone should read it!
   
   Most of the book is geared to what to insist on when building a home, but it gives important insights if you're buying a home or wanting to make yours more healthy. Very good section on wiring errors (and how to explain to the electrician what you want), although some of the explanations of how electro-magnetic fields should be understood are slightly inaccurate. Unfortunately, not much about how to mitigate microwave signals, which is perhaps the biggest problem a lot of people will face. Still I wish I'd read this book years ago!



2. This is the perhaps the best book available for architects and builders wanting to create healthier homes. The book that not only explains what the potential hazards in a home are but provides lots of product information, i.e., where to order alternative building materials, less toxic-paint, safe insulation, etc.
   
   A must have for any architect or builder or home owner thinking of building their own home.
   
   
   Dan Stih is the author of Healthy Living Spaces: Top 10 Hazards Affecting Your Health



3. Ones' home is one of the most important factors in ones health, I believe. Todays houses are filled with toxic chemicles that slowly (sometimes quickly) erode the health of the occupants. Paula Baker-Laporte knows from first hand experience how a home affects its occupants - she herself has suffered from chemical poisioning in houses.
   
   As an an architect, she is sharing her years of research and personal experience with the public so that they can also live in a healthy home.
   
   This is a book that everyone in the civilized world should read. It is well written and filled with great information.



4. The book's major strength is that it gives specific wording to put into your contract that will try to ensure a healthy house. But some contractors will take one look at these specs and laugh "yeah, right!" Overall, I recommend John Bower's book "The Healthy House" over this one because it covers more topics and gives much more information.



5. When this new edition of "Prescriptions" came out, it was the most complete of any book about Healthy Homes/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. The combination of architect/doctor/building specialist as authors works very well.
   
   The information is thorough and well documented. They can back up what they say. It is very well organized.
   
   As a Home Builder, I find this to an excellent resource on MCS. On the down side, it is a little bit of a dry read.

2 comments about Catalytic Formations.

1. Ali Rahim has once again shown the future of Architecture and where it could possibly be.



2. just look inside the beauty of computional architectural design and you will see endless forms and inspiring curves

No comments about Exercises in Building Construction: Forty-Five Homework and Laboratory Assignments to Accompany Fundamentals of Building Construction: Materials and Methods.

2 comments about Intelligent Skins.

1. book was recommeded to me by amazon and its a great book full of high-rise buildings and the different ways they are utilizing materials to create green buildings. great book and arrived fast and had absolutely no complications



2. I AM USE TO THE INFORMATION CONVEIED IN THE 'DETAIL' BOOKS AND WAS DISAPPOINTED TO FIND THE DETAILS WERE NOT LABELLED AND IF THEY WERE THERE WAS NO KEY PROVIDED UNLESS THEY WERE IMBEDDED IN THE IMAGE OF THE DETAIL ITSELF. THEY SEEMED TO BE CUT & PASTED FROM SOURCES.
   
   ALSO A BIT EXPENSIVE FOR A SOFTCOVER 'IN DETAIL BUILDING SKINS' IS THE SAME PRICE, MORE INDEPTH, THICKER ...AND PART OF THE DETIAL PUBLICATION SERIES.

No comments about Wood Houses.

No comments about Windows of the World.

No comments about Intelligente Glasfassaden / Intelligent Glass Façades: Material, Anwendung, Gestaltung / Material, Practice, Design.

No comments about Architecture of Schools: The New Learning Environments, The New Learning Environments.

1 comments about Site Design and Construction Detailing, 3rd Edition.

1. In this day of AutoCAD libraries and "canned" construction details from vendors, it is rare that a book of hand drafted construction details exists. If the reader can get past the nostalgia of the draftsmanship, and understand the communication that is taking place - black and white photos matched with actual construction documentation - then one should begin to understand the educational component. The idea is being able to have what an AutoCAD library doesnt, a matched pair of construction details with a photo of the constructed landscape element. Some early career professionals and, particularly, students may benefit from having a three dimentional representation of landscape elements. It helps to be able to see the finished product and a detail of the guts - you simply have better comprehension of what goes into construction and how the components come together.
   
   As for criticism of this piece, understand that most of the landscape features look dated - railroad tie retaining walls out of the 70's, glass block fountains from the 80's, heavy timber playgrounds that no municipality would ever build due to liability - theyre all in here! But do not let this deter you, one should still consider this for his or her professional library, because, after all, material requirements, connections and structural considerations dont chage with aesthetic style - the landscape still has to function and standards still have to be met.