5 comments about Architecture as a Translation of Music: (Pamphlet Architecture 16).

1. I picked this book up for some fun reading two years ago, and wow! Did I get more than I expected! As an educated individual I knew a lot about the new directions in contemprary music, and I often dreamed of uniting my love for physics and architecture with my musical talents. This book is a fascinating and well designed introduction to the kind of developments in contemporary architectural/musical circles. These projects discussed in PA-16 are some of the first of their kind, and something I am excited to follow up on in my own lifetime. And it's dedicated to John Cage! I reccommend this book to anyone who is at all curious about architecture or contemporary music. It is always refreshing to learn about people who are pushing the boundaries of our imaginations, whatever the topic.

   "New music will be answered by the new architecture- work we have not yet seen --only heard." (John Cage).




2. Read simultaneously Marc Trieb's 'Space Calculated in Seconds' with Liz Martin's PA16. Both books are elegantly written and designed for those willing to delve-in and consider the possibilities.



3. In the begginning i was impressed by the title but disappointed by the quality of its material besides the font is very bad and hard to read , very small sketches hard to see , and the ideas exploration is not accomplished ,so never start with this book for this subject ....



4. For me, this is a thoughtful 80-page booklet touching, with a big broad-brush stroke, on some very intuative and evocative ideas on interdisciplinary work framed around ideas of time and space. To expect a book in the successful Pamphlet Architecture series to be an end all exhaustive study of any given subject is like looking at Time or Granta magazines renowned fiction writings and comparing it to a 500-page Dostoevsky novel - both are equally valid views of the world, but to compare them is like comparing apples to oranges.

   To cover such an intensive topic in a paperback series format with the aim of bringing interest to a subject that is not explored by many in contemporary theory; to have a current look at an age old topic for students to use as a springboard for research; and for over five years to be rated #18 on amazon.com's bestseller list is quite an accomplishment. I encourage all to keep thinking and writing - taking a chance.

   Hats off to the young authors the Pamphlet Architecture series supports!




5. As the title suggests, I was hoping for a book with a thorough symbolic analysis of the connection between architecture (the design of elements in space; or the configuration of space) and music (the design of elements in time; or the configuration of [the experience of] time). Instead, this book offers some mostly affectatious studies on obscure ideas. If your goal is to find a book which presents ideas as of how to explore the architecture+music marriage, I personally would recommend you look elsewhere.

   Some of the projects are intriguing, granted, but perhaps I expected the kind of book which is yet to be written. In any event, this one was not worth the money.

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.

1 comments about The Architecture of Entertainment: LA in the Twenties.

1. The difference about Los Angeles in the 1920's was money. New money for people who previously hadn't had nearly this much. And one of the places they spent the money was on their homes. Commercial buildings likewise grew to reflect the ever increasing incomes of the area. And because of the increased income going to the local governments public buildings received their share as well. Los Angeles in the 1920's was becoming a city. It needed the big buildings of a downtown area.
   
   To fill this need, LA attracted some of the best architects available. This included Bertram Goodhue; Morgan, Walls and Clements; Allison and Allison; and Parkinson and Parkinson in the public sector, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright and Wallace Neff in residential design.
   
   These houses remain as classics of their time, and this book uses stunning photography and insightful writing to describe buildings that remain outstanding to this day. Dr. Winter has spent most of his life in the LA area and is an outstanding authority on the art and culture of the area.
   
   Highly recommended as a classic book of its type.

2 comments about Digital Ground: Architecture, Pervasive Computing, and Environmental Knowing.

1. The book digital ground presents new ideas about place and technology. I was particularly struck by the idea of technologies piling up at a place -an interesting problem is how this pile of technologies can be organized into a useful whole - device ecologies, and an extensible system (hardware and software) that can grow over time (and be subject to changes, e.g. devices removed, replaced, added,etc). Another interesting idea is how certain places fulfill or serve different aspects of life or functions, and the technology at a place should then be in accordance with the corresponding aspects of life or functions at that place, or at least be attuned to or be aware of context necessary for such functions and related activities. There are also other interesting ideas and underlying theories in the book which makes it an interesting read, and not only for architects and builders but computer scientists!



2. This book is a wonderful look at the background and future of interaction design. McCullough provides wonderful depth of understanding for the reader on the many discipline that support interaction design: psychology, architecture, cultural anthropology, technology. Not only does McCullough draw the disciplines together nicely, it is done seamlessly to the reader.
   
   My copy is now filled with highlighter marks and it a book I will be returning to for my profession and through time. If you are a fan of well developed end notes to find further information, this book is a charm.

1 comments about Domesticity at War.

1. This book is both original and exciting in terms of both content and layout. It offers a fresh perspective on the history of the cold war, and rethinks the relationships between the public and private domain, militarization and everyday life in ways that I found useful not only to my own research but also to my students. It is also one of the only texts to really examine gender and space in relationship to war. I strongly recommend this work!

No comments about Som Journal 3.

1 comments about Eero Saarinen: An Architecture of Multiplicity.

1. A handsome, long-overdue monograph on an architect who, between 1948 and his untimely death in 1961, created some of America's greatest icons-including Dulles Airport in Virginia, the Gateway Arch in St Louis, and the CBS tower in New York-as well as the classic Womb and Tulip chairs. Saarinen defied categorization, employing a different style for every job, and that damned him in the eyes of many critics. Some of his buildings soar-the TWA Terminal at Kennedy, now imperiled, was once a thrilling expression of the jet age-others, like Stiles and Morse College at Yale, and the US Embassy in London fall with a thud. Roman, a Bilbao-based architect, traces the evolution of key buildings with an abundance of plans and images.

5 comments about Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture. ( Twentieth Edition ).

1. I purchased this book for my daughter as a Christmas gift. She works for an architecture firm and specializes in historic preservation. She has wanted this book for years but it is pricey and she did not feel she could purchase it for herself. She is extremely pleased with book and would recommend it to anyone that is interested in the history of architecture.



2. Without a doubt, this text is the Quintessential Gold Standard for introductory Western Architecture. A must have for anybody who is serious about learning about how Western Architecture has evolved over time, and with little if any bias. Its only weak area is with architectural development in Asia and South/Central Meso America. Other than that, this is my third copy of the text and it just keeps getting better. Believe me when I say, this is one book you may never want to loan out, for it may not get returned. I know, it's happened to me once already.



3. Mine is a new 1975 edition (which was a small fraction of the new price). It is as much a history of the world--and an incredibly detailed one--as a history of architecture. It opens each of its 40 chapters with a discussion of a civilization or era, then describes the buildings very matter-of-factly. Sometimes opinions emerge: Louis Kahn is cited as an example of a flash-in-the-pan; FLLW's Guggenheim is criticized as impractical.
   
   The photos are top quality B/W, often very old. Its real strength is early architecture; by chapter 35, it is only finishing up the Renaissance. The authors are so knowledgeable, the writing so polished after 18 editions, all others pale by comparison.
   
   I don't think there's much of a market for these books outside of libraries, but those who read it will marvel at its erudition.



4. For over a century, this has been THE classic study of the history of architecture. It is a work of art in it's own right and worth owning simply for the joy of hefting it's not inconsiderable weight and browsing once in a while - even as a layman. The text is extraordinarily readable and the illustrations are a delight. It's so packed full of information - believe me, even if you have only a limited interest in architecture you will learn a great deal that will surprise you from this book! Enthusiasts for classical and other older branches of architecture may wish to consider purchasing second-hand copies of older editions - they're somehow nicer, and devote less space to the debased modern form of the art. (Yes, I'm biased and proud of it!:) Of a reasonable collection of architectural history books, (including several larger-format, beautifully-illustrated coffee-table books in the modern style)this book is easily my favourite. It has class, style and above all, character. Buy it!



5. If there ever was a book on the history of architecture this is it! So very well documented with numerous pictures and chronologies. Wow! the mother of all architecture books-well worth the price.

No comments about Modern Architecture: Being the Kahn Lectures for 1930.

No comments about World's Greatest Architect: Making, Meaning, and Network Culture.