1 comments about Residential Design for Aging In Place.

1. I found this book to be very informative. The information provided is very specific. It should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in updating a home with concerns about aging in place.

3 comments about Designing the Exterior Wall: An Architectural Guide to the Vertical Envelope.

1. 
   - Easy to understand. Well explained. It served my purpose and I think it is a good start for people who want to start from basic and move up to understand enclosures.



2. Our architects and I agree this is a must have for people who design buiding envelopes. The author is clearly knowledgable about theory and practice and writes clearly for architects and designers.



3. This is one of the best books on the subject I have encountered. Exterior envelope design is a complex topic. The author does a good job of presenting both basic principles and practical examples.
   
   This is valuable reference to anyone trying to keep up with the science and practice of designing the building skin.

No comments about The Architecture of Parking.

4 comments about Antique Stained Glass Windows For The Home.

1. This book was infomative and had lovely pictures of stained glass windows, but it was still not just what I was looking for in a book on this subject.



2. Great catalog reference book to see actual photos (all color) of old stained glass windows and designs that were executed for period homes. All types of designs from simple to complex are depicted and beautifully photographed. The book can be used to research design styles; as a reference tool of design ideas for the stained glass craftsperson; or for anyone who appreciates stained glass and enjoys looking at beautiful windows.



3. This book is a great resource, or a beautiful coffee table book. It covers a broad range of architectural stained glass styles with both common and unusual examples. The photographs are excellent. I pull it off my shelf to illustrate possibilities to my stained glass clients all the time. It is very similar to "Old Stained Glass for the Home" by the same publisher, but the two together make a great pair for ideas, information or inspiration.



4. I am an amateur stained glass collector and after having read this book I feel much more prepared to continue my hobby. I found the book well oragnized and photographed beautifully. There was more than enough information for me regarding pricing, locations and vendors. I recently had the opportunity to meet with the author and I found her very charming and well informed. She really knows her stuff. Not only am I a fan of stained galss but now I am a fan of Molly Higgins!

5 comments about Space Matters: Use the Wisdom of Vastu to Create a Healthy Home. 11 Top Designers Show You How.

1. A straight forward guide to understanding how to organize the space around you in ways that improve the energy and "healthiness" of it. Lovely pictures and thought provoking ideas.
   
   If this is an area you are exploring, or if you have already explored feng shui, you should get this book.



2. A "genius" Italian architect featured in this book is teaching our Design Class. So he made us, his students, buy this worthless book under the gun of bad grades. It is completely of no value for design students or anybody else!
   You look through it once, it is like a magazine.
   Plus, Mrs. Cox, you have to carefully select whom you feature in your book - somebody whom everybody in the industry hates? Feature honest and moral architects instead, there are plenty of good ones around.
   As for the value of this book - Readers, if you don't want to waste your money, better buy something else.
   I'm going to donate mine to the library. Waste of money!



3. I bought this book based on the reviews, as I was looking for a book that incorporated the theory of vastu. While it does have beautiful photography, I was very disappointed, as this is a book mostly about interior design, with very, very little discussion of vastu principles and theory. It is quite conclusive; for example, the author will point out that a room that is pictured in the book is vastu compliant, but she fails to discuss why. Also, many of the photos are of rooms that are rather austere and depressing. Earthy, yes, but living around so much gray and brown is not very uplifting to my spirit. I read this book from cover to cover and found it very superficial. For vastu theory and beautiful photos, check out Sherry Silverman's excellent book: Vastu: Transcendental Design in Harmony With Nature, which I have also read cover-to-cover, and from which I learned much more than I did in Cox's book.



4. Wonderful book. Kathleen Cox (I heard her speak at a design convention) writes from the heart about the meaning of home. One review on the back says the book puts soul into design--and she does this by explaining why we need to decorate a home so it doesn't just please the eye but the body and mind. This may sound strange or coy. But when you read each chapter and see what she means--her reasoning makes perfect sense. I also appreciated the way she tackles the issue of clutter--she provides a solid definition of clutter that can really help people recognize it and actually do something about it. If you are planning to redo your home, which is what we're about to do, read this book--and interior designers should keep it on their desk--and loan it out to their clients!!!!



5. As a photographer, I found Kathleen Cox's advice right on the mark. She fully understands lighting, space, form, and above all color. Her suggestions would work for any type of home/space (from a MacMansion in the suburbs to a New York City 400 sq. ft. apartment). And guess which one I live in!

1 comments about Frank Lloyd Wright : America's Master Architect (Tiny Folio).

1. 
   This mini-book for the gnome's coffee table contains superb color photos, plus occasional color artist's renderings, of Wright's exteriors, interiors, and accessories from all periods of his life; it even includes items from his art collection.
   
   Informative mini-essays in each of 7 chapters plus Introduction precede the pix; includes glossary and index. Lotsa pages in this "Big Little Book" format -- a sleeper!

No comments about UnStudio: The Floating Space (Basic Architecture).

No comments about My Father, Frank Lloyd Wright.

2 comments about The International Style.

1. The most interesting aspect of the new edition is the recent forward by Philip Johnson (1995). In it he humorously describes his relationship with "The International Style," and how dated the book now appears. He also notes that it was Alfred Barr who introduced Hitchcock and him to this new world of architecture. It was Barr who had written extensively on the subject and dubbed it an "International Style."

   Not surprisingly, nearly all the buildings included in this catalog for the 1932 MoMA exhibit date from 1927. This was a pivotal year in the Modern Movement. Le Corbusier's "Toward a New Architecture" first appeared in English. The new improved Bauhaus opened its doors in Dessau, in Gropius' newly constructed complex. The International Competition for the League of Nations building was held with Le Corbusier losing out on a technicality. A building exhibition, laid out by Mies van der Rohe, was sponsored by the Deutscher Werkbund in Stuttgart. Modern Architecture had come of age.

   The selections are interesting for their range of architects but have several notable omissions. Among them Rudolf Schindler, who dismissed the idea of an "International Style," in a letter to Johnson. Modern architects then and now hate the idea of a "style," believing their works to be based on a set of constructive and compositional principles which transcend the notion of style.

   Nevertheless, the name stuck. Hitchcock and Johnson are widely credited for bringing the International Style to America, even though some early works by Neutra, Hood, Howe and Lescaze were included in the exhibition. Most importantly, Johnson lured Mies to America, where he would achieve his most lofty aspirations. The book makes for an interesting read but has long been superceded by more insightful and penetrating books on the subject.




2. This book is a living proof that architecture is an evolving being. It never stays stagnant. What is deemed to be modern then has now become a foundation for new styles & new materials to be developed to serve the functions & purposes of the occupants. Whilst the book defined the 3 principles that formed the backbone of the International Style, it's doing so as a mean of helping people to understand the 'style'better. Architects know better that there aren't any form of '-ism' but just good architecture when all the criterions of their clients are met. Half of the book is devoted to photos of buildings applying the so-called International Style but after you've seen one, you've seen it all. They all look distinctively indifferent to one another.

1 comments about Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media.

1. The best way, somtimes, to talk about a larger condition is to delve into specifics. Colomina uses Loos and Corbusier to draw out comparisons about the use of information.
   
   Considering the amount of architectural monographs being churned out on a daily basis, and the creation of terms such as "information architecture," it's extremely valuable to look at how modern architecture might have started from an alliance between types of publicity and design.
   
   Both Loos and Corbusier come out, biography-wise, as extremely creepy, though shrewd in shaping how their work is percieved by the traces that they leave behind. In Corbusier's case, he leaves an archive stuffed with minutia, an overabundance of information to supplement the built work. Loos, on the other hand, leaves very little, and thus what little remains of his work requires imagination to fill gaps in his story. What a designer can gather from this is to ask the question: how does what we do effect what our work is? Colomina's work functions reflexively as well as she works from "evidence" to create representations of both architects.
   
   It is a compelling argument, passionately written, and not the least boring.