No comments about Plusminus 20/40 Latitude: Sustainable Building Design in Tropical and Subtropical Regions.

2 comments about If You Lived Here : The City in Art, Theory, and Social Activism : A Project by Martha Rosler (Discussions in Contemporary Culture , No 6).

1. This book is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in questions of urbanism and housing in advanced societies, from architecture to urban planning to homelessness.
   It is especially useful for the discussion of some of the ways that artists, architects, activists, and planners have responded to successive city and housing crises. It offers theoretical and historical documents but also art projects and transcripts of public forums.
   I found it very helpful in thinking about the issues and in suggesting ways to address similar questions.



2. Economically privlidged white males who edit books like this (i. e., Brian Wallis, who edits many such compiliations) need to recognize that it is Difference, not seperation from white male patriarchal paradigms, which constructs the most significant art work today. Somehow, white males always make it seem like it's about themselves....

No comments about The Media City: Media, Architecture and Urban Space (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society).

5 comments about Charter of The New Urbanism.

1. This book presents urban design ideas which are useful, sustainable, and proven by time. Many of the cities that are so loved, for example, Paris, Budapest, Prague, Rome, etc., are built on principles of design that are similar to those that are presented in this book. While this form of urbansim may now seem new in America, it is found in America's past, throughout Europe, and other areas of the world. I really enjoyed reading this book.



2. The Charter of the New Urbanism not only sets forth a manifesto of what future generations of town planners and residential developers may deem the most significant architectural movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, but it does so with clarity, precision, and economy.

   This volume is an essential text in an essential field, and should be considered so by municipal planners, developers, builders, architects, and citizens who care about the quality of life in their cities, towns, suburbs, and hamlets.

   In addition to rendering their own analyses in compelling and thoughtful prose, McCormick and Leccese have displayed the deftness of master cat herders by wrangling a passel of leading New Urbanists -- by no means the most egregiously agreeable of architectural types -- into presenting their thoughts in a thorough-going and satisfying manner.

   The reader who delves into this book and rides it to its conclusion will come away understanding a great deal about how we live today, and how we could -- and perhaps should -- be living.




3. This is a very dry and disjointed work. If you are interested in the topic, have a blast and read Suburban Nation and The Geography of Nowhere. Then if you want more, buy Christopher Alexander's works--and savor them.



4. "An important work that defines the tenets of New Urbanism, this book serves as the group's manifesto. The charter illustrates the 27 principles of New Urbanism, from the scale of regions to neighborhoods and buildings, and pairs each with an essay by a different author. Now followers of the movement can use the charter to define their work and detractors can refer to it when presenting their side of the debate. ... Graphically pleasing, the book reads well ... When defining the problems of today's development patterns, the text is clear and seductive. ... The test of the Charter of New Urbanism will be its timeless quality. ..."



5. The Charter of the New Urbanism is an absolutely fantastic book. It should be required reading for all planners, architects, public officials, engineers, and citizen activists. It brings together in one book essays from some of today's brightest minds. Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Peter Calthorpe, Walter Kulash, John Norquist and others describe the Congress for the New Urbanism's (CNU) positions on many important issues, such and traffic congestion, regional planning, environmental issues, affordable housing, civic art, and of course, curbing urban sprawl. New Urbanism is a highly organized and diverse branch of the "Smart Growth" family tree. They have brought a broad range of people together in forming this book, which shows that the problems of sprawl, environmental degregation, inner city decay, and increasing separation by race and income are "one interrelated community-building challenge."

No comments about Placemaking: The Art and Practice of Building Communities.

No comments about Sensing the 21st Century City: The Net City Close-up and Remote (Architectural Design).

No comments about Making the Invisible Visible: A Multicultural Planning History (California Studies in Critical Human Geography , No 2).

No comments about Non-Fictional Narratives: Denton Corker Marshall.

5 comments about How Green Is Your City? The SustainLane U.S. City Rankings.

1. Numerous efforts have been made over the years to measure a city's performance in achieving environmental goals. This book is still the best.



2. I am originally from Germany and I would have loved to have this book when we decided to which city in the States we want to move. We chose to go to San Francisco and if you read this book, you will see it was a good decision.
   Since we are here I looked several times in this book, because my husband has to travel a lot and so I can see how sustainable these cities are. I also look very often at the website from the producers of this book [...]. There you can find reviews about sustainable products and businesses. So I can for example recommend restaurants to my husband in the cities he is going to.



3. This book is beautifully laid out, with all the criteria explained for each city. Several cities were ranked higher than I expected, due to my lack of knowledge of their "green" progress. If you want to move to where it's safe (disaster-wise), you can find it here. Or if your main thing is great air quality or any of the other rankings, there's a city for you.
   
   I think it is more than a coffee table book, since I've spent considerable time with it.



4. This book is a great introduction to many topics such as how cities use resources and what that means for quality of life in the near future. I'd recommend it for people who want to learn more and start discussions about the sustainability of where they live.
   
   How Green is Your City is systematic, but it is also imaginative in that it explores how these cities might do in a world of expensive energy, global warming, and other uncertainties that don't yet exist. Like most books that propose a "What If" situation, it's fun.
   
   The strength of the book is that it demonstrates these topics as a guidebook of cities so you can jump around like in a tour book. You can dip into descriptions and explore quick comparisons between the cities and their futures. It's like seeing the results of a series of wind tunnel test using the same "What If" conditions, it's playful and kind of fun to flip around in. To me it felt like traveling across the country and into the future, all at once.



5. This is a very well presented list of the Top 50 "Green" US Cities. The book gathers data about air quality, transportation, Green economy, Green buildings and other catergories and arrives at a average for each city. The book devotes around 2-3 pages per city, with some attractive photos spread throughout the book.
   
   At points however, one might ask for more information in certain sections of the book, as some cities/topics are under-respresented. I found myself reading reviews of cities and wishing that there was more information about each place and perhaps more city specific information.
   
   Overall, in my opinion, the book is very attractive and can have a place on your coffee-table, but needs a second edition with expanded information to have a place in your library.

No comments about Inclusive Urban Design: Streets For Life.