No comments about Urban Transformation: Understanding City Form and Design.

No comments about Property Development.

No comments about The New Downtown Library: Designing with Communities.

5 comments about How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built.

1. The book addresses another one of these important but rarely discussed architectural issues, which is how building age and evolve over time. What happens when we build projects that by their shape and choice of materials cannot change and evolve but simply freeze and decay. That fate will impact many trophy prize winning architectural projects. The book does a fairly good job at covering all aspects of this topic. I would have liked however more contemporary examples of buildings with specific illustrations to make the subject matter more current to our existing design practices. As a side note some supporting information is incorrect because the data provided to the author by the sources he interviewed was misleading but there was little opportunity for the author at the time to know the difference.



2. In 1997 the BBC aired a six-part TV series called, "How Buildings Learn," based on my book. I was the presenter and co-writer, James Runcie produced it, and Brian Eno provided original music.
   
   The series is now available online at Google Videos. Episode 1 is at the link; from there you can find the other episodes.
   http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8639555925486210852



3. A great review, from the experience, of the dynamics of buildings. A change in the paradigm of how we think of buildings. Professionals of the building sector can't miss it!!



4. This is a book someone foisted upon me unawares and I devoured. I write software for a living and I found this book has a lot to say about software that Brand probably doesn't realize he's saying. His constant return to Christopher Alexander is a dead giveaway: The pattern-language movement Alexander started took the software world by storm in the mid 90's. It is now generally assumed that the pattern-language movement in software is still unfolding. The authors of the first major pattern-language texts are heavily involved in the kind of "Agile" design processes that one associates with what Brand advocates in this book: the idea that the end is the beginning and understanding your work must be an evolutionary process where if it's done right, a building and a system is never finished and never perfect but always improving.



5. I am an acoustical and systems design consultant who specializes in worship and performing arts facilities, and use this book regularly in my practice. I have found no better resource for introducing the facility planning "layperson" to the enormous blind-spot that many in the architectural design and construction profession have regarding the relevance of buildings to the functional needs that should define their design, as well as the ongoing process of maintaining this relevance over time.
   
   While highly specialized rooms such as auditoria do not usually lend themselves to significant modification over time, or to strategies such as "loose fit," Brand's advice about the risk of architectural experimentation in the fundamental form of most buildings is spot on. This book is an extremely engaging read, and also serves as an excellent introduction to other key literature on architectural programming, scenario planning, the evolution of the architectural profession, and so forth.
   
   As other reviewers have suggested, anyone who lives or works in a building can profit from reading this book. I would add that anyone who works in the construction or facility management industries, or who expects to be involved in planning a building project from the perspective of the owner or user, has a duty to seek out the sort of education that this book provides.

No comments about Indefensible Space: The Architecture of the National Insecurity State.

5 comments about The Living Landscape: An Ecological Approach to Landscape Planning.

1. The Living Landscape has made a lasting contribution to ecological planning through its detailed documentation of this planning process and thoughtful comparison of the process's application in case studies. Dr. Steiner demonstrates in his book that ecological planning is just not a static plan-making process, but rather a dynamic process that requires consistent and meaningful input from stakeholders. In addition, he sees plan-making as a process that has implications for different scales of the environment, from the nation to the neighborhood. He stresses that the ecological planning process does not end when the plan is finished, but rather the process continues through the linkage of planning concepts to physical design. Given the strengths of this book, it is an essential volume for the library of any professional or student in the disciplines of the built environment and environmental management.



2. It is a rare planning book that outlines a detailed process for guiding landscape change in a deliberate and ecologically sound manner. The Living Landscape accomplishes this in a robust, clear and convincing way. The second edition improves on the first by including more landscape design information, updating case studies, and deepening the planning method (for instance, by including more on the use of Geographic Information Systems). The liberal use of cases is a strong asset of the book; each step in the ecological planning process is illustrated and explained by way of 'stories' from real places around North America. The Living Landscape is useful reading for students and practitioners in landscape architecture, architecture, environmental planning and natural resource management.



3. The second edition of The Living Landscape has came out nine years after the first. The first, in fact, was published in 1991, it received an ASLA Merit Award for Communications in 1993, and then it was translated into Italian in 1994, where it was very well received among scholars and students of planning as well as in the schools of architecture throughout the country.
   The very first difference between the two editions is the publishing series. The first did not form part of a series while the second is now in the McGraw-Hill "Professional Architecture" series. The Professional Architecture series is devoted to giving helpful tools to practitioners who are on the field and The Living Landscape provides a very wide set of how-to and why-to-do-it instructions, where-to-keep information, and best practices examples to learn from, organized around an eleven-step Ecological Planning Model. I consider The Living Landscape a refined, high-level professional handbook devoted to enhance the toolbox of any present or future planning practitioners.
   The Living Landscape II edition, as was the first, is built around a scheme of eleven steps called "Ecological Planning Method" briefly presented in the first chapter and used as a step-by-step pattern to guide readers into the organization of a planning process. The "Ecological Planning Method" is a framework for presenting information to decision-makers, and to display "a common language, a common method among all those concerned about social equity and ecological parity" (p. 9). The approach to planning presented by Steiner is innovative for two reasons. The first is the incorporation of ecology in planning - briefly "the use of biophysical and sociocultural information to suggest opportunities and constraints for decision making about the use of the landscape" (pp. 9-10). The second reason is the author's stress on the citizen's involvement in almost every step of his method. These two issues, even if they are the prime themes of the book, are prudently embedded into the body of the full text. Ecology and citizen involvement are the leitmotif of the entire book which is composed of a precise combination of techniques and tools presentation, useful references to literature, light - but effective - revocations of the theoretical frameworks on the issues, and application examples deriving from real plans or projects.
   The eleven-step Ecological Planning Model goes from the identification of problems and opportunities (step 1) and the establishment of goals (2) to inventories and analysis at regional (3) and local level (4). It proceeds with the realization of detailed studies (5) and the definition of planning concepts (6). The landscape plan (7) follows and it is directly assessed and criticized by citizens (8), who are involved and educated along the whole process-phasing. Design exploration (9) comes next and the study of the implementation of the plan and projects (10) precedes the administration (11) that is the last step of the model. The Ecological Planning Model is linear in its descriptions (the book chapters - excluding the introduction and the conclusion - are devoted to deepen every single step, with some minor exceptions), but the steps are strongly interactive. In the graphic scheme of the model (p. 11), solid and dashed arrows between the steps emphasize the necessity and the opportunity of feedback and retroactions in order to monitor the previous results.
   Citizen involvement is the center of the model. Almost every step is addressed to inhabitants and a systematic educational and citizen involvement effort occurs throughout the process. The model, between the last step - administration - and the first - problem and/or opportunity identification -, presents a dashed arrow in order to accent that problems and opportunities facing the region and the goals addressed that may be altered by time, occurrences and circumstances.
   Compared to the first edition, the structure of the Ecological Planning Model and of the book contents remains unchanged in the second, but the book has some 120 more pages. Graphic design of tables and figures has been enhanced - a four-color page section was added to present the GIS maps of the Desert View Tri-Villages Area (Arizona) and of the Camp Pendleton study area (California), two of the many new examples used along the entire book. New photographs, mostly authored by Steiner, follow the entire text. Sources and references have been updated including recent books and articles on the matters. New examples, as said before, have been included in this edition to present more recent application of techniques and tools explained and illustrated along the text. The final glossary, one of the many useful tools of the book, has been enlarged with 46 new entries bringing the total to 350.



4. I am a graduate student in landscape ecological planning. I would recommend Dr. Steiner's book for students, professionals and the lay leaders interested in making a difference in their community. The idea of planning is sometimes hard to grasp by communities that are ruled by economics and development,not ecology. Dr. Steiner shows us step by step how to include ecology into communities and how that may give us other alternatives that we may not have considered.

   The use of case studies in this book enhances the practical application of ecological planning in real world situations.

   I would recommend this book for anyone interested in ecology, planning or being part of your community's future.




5. I picked up a copy of "the living landscape" at the local library thinking I was on to something interesting. Instead, I found the book to be a rehash of old, simple ideas under the cloak of a "sexy", progressive title. I am a practicing environmental planner and must admit that I was even fooled by the picture on the cover--How in the world is a linear mono-cultural hedgerow of trees that line an walkway even remotely a just symbol of "ecological planning"? The picture seems to satisfy the landscape architect's need to have order-- Ecology is anything but linear or orderly.

   I must be fair. The book is well writen and offers students in environmental planning a good introduction to landscape planning with some environmenatl emphasis. However, in my opinion, I don't believe that the book does justice or furthers the progressive concept of "ecological" planning, as defined by the likes of the late Ian McHarg.

1 comments about Building San Francisco's Parks, 1850--1930 (Creating the North American Landscape).

1. In 1865 San Francisco decided to build its first public park: residents only had private gardens and small public squares, and this park was envisioned as a retreat from urban crowds. Five years later supervisors approved the park's creation, starting a 60-year endeavor which was to link and build upon a network of smaller parks and parkways to create Golden Gate Park. Terence Young's Building San Francisco's Parks is part of the rather impressive Johns Hopkins University Press "Creating The North American Landscape" series and covers the period of expansion from 1850-1930, tracing park system history and the key individuals responsible for its development.

2 comments about Traffic Flow Fundamentals.

1. The title is no exaggeration: This book is the THE fundamental source of traffic flow theory.
   
   I know no book that is that comprehensive; the extensive coverage of macroscopic and microscopic traffic flow theory is supplemented by traffic demand modeling, intersection planning, traffic simulation...
   
   I am not aware of another publication containing such a broad content. Regardless whether you are scientist in traffic modeling or practitioner, there is no alternative to this book. Although not updated since 1990, most is still valid today. A remarkable exception is the chapter about traffic simulation since the significant progress during the last two decades is not covered (-1 star).
   
   Plus, the physical quality is very low: Soft-cover almost as thin as any page, printed in black & white, weak binding (some pages loose after only a week of careful reading). For approximately $100, I'd expect better. (-1 star).
   
   Regardless of these handicaps, I strongly recommend this book. There is no better. I hope, though, there will be an updated edition one day.



2. This book give wide range of traffic flow fundamental. The context start from explaining the principle of traffic flow theory to explaining the application simulating the traffic flow in real world. The appropriate person for this book should has a background about statistic and claculus.

No comments about With/Without.

No comments about Urban Catalyst: Strategies for Temporary Use.