1 comments about True Urbanism: Living In and Near the Center.

1. Mark Hinshaw takes the conventional American Dream of a single family home with a big yard and proposes an alternative: living in a densely populated area where children and the elderly - and all in between - enjoy the broad sweep of humanity and the convenience of near-living. In this book about urban planning, he takes on questions of sociological significance - caring for our aging population as well as raising children in an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding.
   
   For the student as well as the layman with an interest in the way our country will (should?) look when our children are grown, True Urbanism is a horizon-stretching, thoroughly enjoyable read.

3 comments about A Safe and Sustainable World: The Promise Of Ecological Design.

1. Nancy Jack Todd eloquently relates the history of her and husband John Todd's New Alchemy Institute (NAI) for ecological design starting in 1969 to the present day incarnation of Ocean Arks International. This book has many photographs and drawings showing systems, buildings both at their research facilities and installations around the world and many of the dedicated people who have worked with the Todd's over the years.
   
   The original focus of their research was to develop sustainable organic food production, bioremediation, off-grid energy production, and efficient building construction methods for a virtual stand-alone closed-loop system capable of self-sufficiency without any toxic side-effects, especially, effluent. Through trial and error and much research they met their goals and became internationally recognized for the high state of efficiency their various systems achieved. NAI became a successful format and influence for many colleges to replicate on campuses all over the U.S. and abroad.
   
   Eventually, they turned their focus almost exclusively to natural effluent and pollution remediation techniques developing the "eco-machine" system that utilizes plants, micro-organisms and fish to convert sewage to re-usable water and fish for food production.
   
   The Todd's contributions to solving many of the world's toughest environmental problems and influence on ecological study cannot be understated, especially in the area of bioremediation. If every municipality, farm, and industrial site in the world were join the ranks of those who have already installed "eco-machine" type water purification systems to clean-up their toxic run-off, a huge chunk of global pollution could be eliminated.
   
   This book is a must have for all those interested bioremediation and that should be everyone- a clean environment requires it.



2. This book is written for those of us who are not architects or engineers. It illustrates how to live more sustainably on this fragile planet. The process described of incremental learning based on experimenting with small changes over time to find the most efficacious approach to sustainable building, agriculture, food production and zero waste is a lesson in itself. Learning came from doing, carefully recording results, applying lessons learned and improving results. In addition, the book describes how sustainable practices can also be economic engines for new product development and cost reduction.
   
   I've recently been in Tanzania looking at community development projects and I plan to send this book to several of the people that I met. It's the way to build and live for the future survival of our species.



3. Ecological design issues were in the news in the late 1960s, the height of ecological understanding; yet today it remains relatively in the background. A Safe And Sustainable World: The Promise Of Ecological Design provides a personal account of those who set out to discover more sustainable methods of shelter and energy - and comes from research and work of a couple who served as sustainable leaders of ecological design for thousands. What can be done and what should/will be done is discussed in chapters defining elements of success and ecological failure.

No comments about Urban Pioneers.

1 comments about VISIONS OF EDEN: ENVIROMENTALISM, URBAN PLANNING, AND CIT (URBAN LIFE & URBAN LANDSCAPE).

1. The book was hard to put down. An indepth history of what happened as people discovered sunny St. Petersburg and moved in. Greed reigned over sensible planning and now people are paying the price for uncontrolled growth and urban blight. Dr. Stephenson did excellent research and shows us that John Nolan was right. The people of St. Petersburg should have listened to him.

1 comments about Environmental Design: An Introduction for Architects and Engineers.

1. As an introduction book, this book is success to aim the mission. Part one contain aspects to get an environmental design, and the author seems to play tactically. Mention the aspects, then give an explanation briefly in a proportional matter ! There will be no long tiring explanation here, and its disccusion is good enough to open our mind. It's an introduction book, isn't it ?

   One IMPORTANT thing. This book is written by UK engineeriering consultant. Means that most of resources data given here is only valid for Europa / northern hemisphere region. For example,"...building orientation should face south to take advantage of the sun's energy..."( ch. 4 ). Heating aspects, insulation, heat losses and many 'cold climate zone' aspects can also found.

   On my opinion, despite of Europan point of view, this book is still useful but we must have few knowledge about the aspect to modify the contents for our own purposes. Part two this book contains case studies, all is Europan building. Interesting topic, you will find aspects from part one is aplied here.

   After all, it's good introduction book to start learn about environmental design, with the best using for Europan / northern hemisphere region readers.

No comments about Handbook of Road Technology (Transportation Studies).

2 comments about Architecture of Fear.

1. The articles were interesting. However, the direction of the articles fell like scattered shot. This was not planned exploration into the interaction of fear and environment for which I had hoped. Perhaps that was not the point of this work, but that was what I wanted as a layman.

   The gender and literary perspectives complemented the expected architects well. I did not expect the personal accounts and they added energy and freshness into the work. The photo-essay annoyed me more than enlightened me. In short, there was something for everyone, but not a whole lot for anyone in particular.

   None of the articles explicitly built on each other. The full value of the many perspectives was not used. One article was spent defining different types of defensive spaces and then the definitions fell by the wayside.

   Besides the loose nature of the work, I felt that sociology and economy were excluded. Numbers have powerful stories to tell (anyone who need convincing, see Edward Tufte) and their voices were not heard in this multi-disciplinary collection.

   This is worthwhile reading, but not a must have.




2. Architecture of Fear provides fascinating insights into the effects of the structures that surround us in our everyday lives. By drawing upon a diverse group of professionals, not all of them architects or urban planners, Nan Ellin has created an important work that will serve as a base for future research into the perplexities of urban life. Nan Ellin's own thoughts are among the most significant contributions to the compendium.

No comments about Classic Golf Hole Design: Using the Greatest Holes as Inspiration for Modern Courses.

No comments about Design Out Crime: Creating Safe and Sustainable Communities.

No comments about Styles and Types of North American Architecture: Social Function and Cultural Expression.