4 comments about Construction Operations Manual of Policies and Procedures (Construction Operations Manual of Policies & Procedures).

1. I am running a construction company and my basic mindset is functional business development. I recently purchased this Construction Operations Manual and I am extremely satisfied. The book almost perfectly addresses a wide array of issues, actually, it's phenomenal! It simply is a 'construction operations manual.' I have not read anything that would come close to this book in terms of running a practical construction company.
   
   Furthermore, this is basic business development. In my opinion it is a balanced and structured way of creating and operating any business in general. Whether it be a construction, technology or scuba diving companies, these basic functional principles of running a business will not change. It is a fabulous book.
   
   There is some room for improvement. The cd-rom with forms templates is fairly large and it forms facilitates many issues, however I personally have put together a compilation of templates 4x as large. Therefore, there is a way to create a better manual by adding more forms to the cd-rom.
   
   Overall, i give the Construction Operations Manual two thumbs up, five stars and lots of support.



2. Most spend thousands in buying a franchise. This book has what you need to build a successful system yourself at much less cost.



3. Author has huge experience in construction industry, but I expected something like a guideline - simple in structure, focused on essence. Topics are covered with plenty of words, could be simpler. However generally it is worth having this book.



4. THe attached diskette did not contain all the forms and letters as so indicated by the author. THe author should verify the diskette before shipping. Other than that I thought the manual prove to be worth the purchase.

No comments about Marketing Green Building Services: Strategies for Success.

No comments about Did Someone Say Participate?: An Atlas of Spatial Practice.

1 comments about Builder's Essentials Estimating Building Costs: For The Residential & Light Commercial Contractor (Builder's Essentials).

1. I learned a lot from the book and have passed it on to my son to do the same. He says it's A-OK.

1 comments about Investigate, Ask, Tell, Sense, Build: 3xn Architects.

1. As an architecture student about to graduate May of 2008, I find this kind of publication great to see what the rest of the world is doing. i especially enjoy the Danish style of model making. If you are a fan of the guys formerly of PLOT you will like this book. I got to visit the office of Henning/Larsen a few years ago and was impressed by the work they were doing then so seeing the work Larsen is doing now is cool.

5 comments about Patkau Architects.

1. I have met her through my school days in MA. As a guest critic, she was a great mentor and great designer herself. She even showed up to give an unscheduled private review sessions with one or two of us before she was heading back to Canada the next day and, I was impressed and much thankful for her passion and care for the education.
   
   The book itself does not cover all of her professional works as an architect or as a professor but it was good enough to introduce her name out as it is somehow difficult finding her name or works out internationally.
   
   If you are a student looking for a consistent yet tectonic architect, this book is a good introduction to what a passionate $ insightful architect produces over the time. I hope to see more of her great works in the future.



2. With plenty of large format pictures, this book helps to capture the detail for which the Patkau's are famous. And an essay by Kenneth Frampton doesn't hurt. This is my complaint about most Monologues: not enough process/methodology information. As an architect, I am more interested in HOW they solve particular design problems, than just the beautiful end product. But overall, this book is better than the their first [depth of analysis and range of products].



3. Patkau has been my favorite not only because of its formal language which is undoubtedly influenced by Aalto and 90' Morphosis, but also of its rigorous examination of every line, angle, corner, fenestration, texture, etc. all of which best exemplified by Seabird island school and Strawberry vale school. While the latter is arguably overdone, both of them masterfully guide circulation and elevate genius loci with precisely positioned (figural) elements, a method also seen in Haus Tugendhat by Mies.
   
   Unlike tectonic poetry pursued by Todd William & Billie Tsien that often comes down to the choice of fastener type for a detail, Patkau approaches tectonics in a hierarchical order that operates at the design level like structural articulation, material palette, and construction system. That said, one can certainly appreciate surprises like, say, steel plate canopy in Barnes house, or imaginary deleted gutter in Gleneagles Community Centre that allows rain strolling down the roof into landscape.
   
   However, Patkau seems to (intentionally?) deviate from its established site-specific approach when it comes to larger scale projects. Case in the point: Grande Bibliotheque du Quebec. Here Patkau chose to neglect civic and contextual challenge/opportunity with a homogeneous, if not abstract, plan and construction that resulted in an introverted and hard edged building (perhaps the climate or they spend too much on the channel glass skin?). Conversely, Bolles-Wilson successfully answers to challenges of greater magnitude with a complex yet poetic weaving of highly differentiated space and tectonics in the splendid Munster City Library project.
   
   Hence the title.... If you are interested in an earlier yet already mature Patkau, I would recommend "Patkau Architects: Selected Projects 1983-1993", a nicely edited monograph featuring additional projects and illustration, such as original scheme for Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery design competition.



4. A must for architects interested in challenging their approach to contemporary forms in architecture. A wonderful expression of the models involved in the designing process, a must for the contemporary architect.



5. Based on Frampton, PA's architecture can be divided more or less chronologically into two groups.
   
   First group are the buildings that emphasize the combination of earthwork
   and roofwork. This group holds the indigenous spirit of the specific
   place, telling the story of totem and genius loci expressed in the
   irregularity of forms. On the other hand, second group are the projects,
   built more recently in an urban setting, that speaks and advocates the
   modern approach of universal values manifested in the form of orthogonal
   approach.
   
   Chronologically different in attitudes, all the projects have same
   attitude towards the poetics of construction. Its organic forms expressed
   in wood, its attention to the details and play of light, and its almost
   mythical symbolism to site aligns to the approaches of Aalto, Scarpa, and
   Fehn. (Per Frampton)
   
   Personally, three projects were favored: Barns House (`93), Canadian Clay
   and Glass Gallery (`92), and Grande Bibliotheque du Quebec ('05).
   
   Barns House and Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery is an interplay of
   lightness and heaviness. Almost bird's wing-like roof is paired with
   smooth hard concrete floor. Likewise, light wooden fenestrations
   ungravitate the presence of cmu wall. The anchoring of floor and walls
   really emphasize the freedom towards the sky and forest.
   
   One of the most current built projects, Grande Bibliotheque du Quebec,
   illustrates PA's future potentials. More advanced and innovative in its
   use of materials, but still, basics are same. Structural concrete is in
   striking contrast to the light veil systems. This winning scheme of
   international competition proved that PA's architecture does not bind
   itself to the rural site with single-story program.
   
   Less oriented in theory and abstraction, the projects provide ample
   pleasure of making and specificity of architecture.

No comments about Toward a New Regionalism: Environmental Architecture in the Pacific Northwest.

No comments about Shopping Center Development Handbook (Development Handbook series).

3 comments about Good Deeds, Good Design: Community Service Through Architecture.

1. This is my first "review" of a book I didn't read because the print was too small. I'm hoping more people who share this issue will complain via their reviews and publishers will get the message.
   
   I order most of the books I read from the library, so I don't know if a book is "readable" till I get it. I don't need "large print" books, but there's no excuse for a 6"x9" paperback book to use print this small.



2. Bell's book neatly encapsulates all the best thinking being done on the cutting edge where architecture meets social consciousness. Probably nobody in the United States is more qualified to address the subject of architecture for the less-advantaged, and its potential for positive impact in their lives. As a young man, Bell left a highly prestigious position in New York to live in a cold-water cabin in Pennsylvania and formulate ideas about the role architecture might play in the lives of those not traditionally served by good design. Bell gained influence as the founder of Design Corps and a teacher at the Rural Studio, and has since become a sought-after lecturer. "Good Deeds, Good Design" collects the best thinking about socially-conscious design in one compact book. It should be required reading for both students and practitioners interested in this burgeoning area of architecture.



3. Good Deeds, Good Design challenges the reader to re-think, or at the very least further refine his perspective on architecture for those who cannot afford an architect. While all the essays promote the premise that the enhancement of life by good design should be made available for those who can least afford it, they approach the "how","what" and even the "why" questions from very different perspectives.

   Bell has done an excellent job of compiling these very different points of view in order to make the reader think. I have thought about some point or other from the essays almost every day for the past two weeks, and may well mull many of them over for years.

   The great stories told by the case studies, like the elderly native american woman who moved from living in a school bus to a home, or the village which was given a place to gather and to worship, inspire the reader to take up the cause and act. This book should be required reading for every student of architecture (and probably for every public policy wonk as well).

2 comments about Project Scheduling and Management for Construction.

1. I bought this book thinking I would learn all about contract and construction management. Is not a bad read, but the font style is so light as to make it very uncomfortable visually. I'm not a fussy guy, but one has to wonder, after 500 years, why someone would feel the need to get so creative about the font style of a book. the subjset matter is faily limited, goes on and on ad nauseum on how scchedules are formulated , built, managed etc. Other references go at it in a fraction of the pages. Good for the uninitated I suppose, but way overdone for the well aquainted.



2. This was presented as a text for a continuing education class and I read it cover to cover. For a third edition, it still has a lot of typos and other annoying errors. It just doesn't seem like a professional manual. There is no glossary, and much of the book is taken up by tables and specs for an imaginary project. Also, I an others in the class who have years of experience in the trades found it confusing or worthless. It just isn't a well organized book. I found better information online for free.