5 comments about 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die: The World's Architectural Masterpieces (Quintessence Books).

1. I was one of the contributing authors to this book. The reviews so far are spot on. Even though I worked on this book I find it difficult to find even my own entries as the index is inadequate. I also wrote the Elrod entry - and yes, the photo is wrong - and I would have known that if I'd seen page proofs. But on a positive note, I believe this book is definitely worth buying (I don't get royalties!) if only because I know it contains entries (like mine) that are not rewrites of existing viewpoints, but original, fresh perspectives. The next book in the series is "1001 Houses" and I've been asked to be the General Editor. I intend to take these comments on board and ensure a good index and good geographic spread for 1001 Houses. The publishers have indicated they want a website to go with the book, and that will also be a priority for me, assuming they ok costs. So buy this book as its assets outweigh its faults, and keep an eye out for 1001 Houses! http://www.dennajones.com



2. 1001 Buildings is a resource that you need. That said, it has some drawbacks. It has a strong English focus; perhaps London emphasis is better as a describer. Many English buildings. Almost all the written parts which are signed were by experts from London. Thought it missed some very important Western Hemisphere and Asian buildings, although it did have a lot for Cuba. Seemed to miss a number of outstanding American architects. Do not assume you will find a picture of each site as there are numerous pages with only written text. Variety of types of buildings (churches, factories, temples, and public use structures) was excellent. Indexing was poor, but the arrangement by year brought an interesting awareness of buildings in different parts of the world built at the same time.



3. We purchased this book in preparation for a world wide tour. It is quite extensive and has been helpful. Unfortunately there are quite a few page number errors in the index making looking up specific buildings a challenge. The book is arranged by periods and style, so if traveling, you need to use the index and look by country. The index does have building list by country. This country list does not always specify what cities the building is in and this is where I find the page number errors. So when planning a trip it is much more difficult than need be to locate what building you may want to see in the city you are going to. I was disappointed that there is not a picture for every building. Although the book has these user issues, it is a nice reference and my son is excited that he has already seen 10% of the buildings and plans to get to 25% before returning.



4. I love this book but I am giving it one star because I am so infuriated by the lack of a useful index. There is no index that lists which cities the buildings are in -- they are only arranged by country. Why? Many of us would like to visit buildings that are near us or in cities that we travel to. This bizarre lack of information in the index makes that virtually impossible.
   
   This is perhaps the most foolish indexing decision I have ever seen in my entire life, perhaps the most foolish indexing decision in the history of the written word.
   
   Also: why don't they give addresses of the buildings anywhere?
   
   Please correct this in the next edition. Maybe create a website where we can look this stuff up.
   
   Clearly, a lot of time was spent on this book. It's unfortunate that strange indexing decisions have rendered it almost useless.



5. Some of the buildings do not have corresponding photos with the descriptions but that can be understandable because the book runs almost 1000 pages.
   But I did find two errors:
   First Error - Page 523 has Case Study House No.22 but the photo is of Case Study House No.21 both are by Pierre Koneig and they are both in the Los Angeles area.
   Second error - Page 565 has Elrod House but the photo is of the Sheats/Goldstein House which is in Beverly Hills will the Elrod House is in Palm Springs. The Elrod House is famous for its location in the film Diamonds Are Forever and its circular in design.
   Overall the book is a very good reference book with a photo and a short description of the building.

1 comments about The Way We Live In the City (Way We Live (Rizzoli)).

1. This is a terrific book, full of all great photographs of beautiful places. Lots of ideas for anyone interested in decorating a room, or designing a home. Too often design books are either too extravagant or feel rather staged in they way a house is photographed. This book finds home -- both fancy and simple -- that are about great taste and they are photographed in a way that is very beautiful, but also real. You know a team of assistants didn't spend the day lighting every surface of the room. A really inspiring book.

No comments about The Skyscraper and the City: The Woolworth Building and the Making of Modern New York.

1 comments about Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century: Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier.

1. Although an interesting subject matter, the author does an amazing job using the narrative of the thinkers lives to cooincide with their belief system, the only problem is he probably could have done it in about 50 pages less, but overall its a good fast read

5 comments about Storybook Style: America's Whimsical Homes of the Twenties.

1. This is probably the best book that explains what "STORYBOOK STYLE ARCHITECTURE" actually is.
   
   Before I purchased this book, I had a slight idea of what "storybook style" might be, however, after buying this book and seeing the photos, I now know better what this style is all about.
   
   The descriptions in the "Introduction" are very worthwhile because the author attempts to describe where this style came from and how it evolved.
   
   The photos, of course , speak a thousand words, because they actually show what "storybook style" actually is.
   
   
   Living in Puget Sound, we just don't see too many "storybook style" homes out here, so it was just wonderful to find a book in which this interesting style of architecture was explained and shown (ie: mainly in California).
   
   Although, we do see many "TUDOR STYLE" homes out here in the Northern Pacific Northwest, we do,however, not see any "storybook homes". Thus, it was actually nice to find a book that explains the difference between Tudor and Storybook Architecture.
   
   Formally trained architects may not view this "storybook style" as an architectural style per se, however, the author of this book explains how Hollywood influenced this style greatly, and how eventually it became a "style" that was different from the actual Tudor style. As stated before in my previous statements: photos speak a thousand words.
   



2. This book offered plenty of ideas in my restoration and planning process of my tudor home. Great buy for the $$$



3. Having grown up in Southern California in the 50 and 60's I fell in love with the storybook house and my grand aspiration was to at least live in one if not own one.
   My dream almost came true because in the 60's many Orange County houses were built with storybook features; diamond pane windows, shake roofs, cat slides - they weren't as wonderful as the masonary models, but, still fun. Unfortunately, these house were updated with asbestos shingle roofs, the windows were removed for double pane. The character was diminished, but not completely lost. You can still see these houses in Anaheim in the neighborhoods surrounding Disneyland. What a perfect setting for a fairytale style.
   And I recommend this book as a nostalgic look back and a real joy to read.



4. I received this as a Christmas gift and promptly took it to Christmas dinner that night... the entire family enjoyed flipping through the book (and were eager to buy their own copies). Beautiful pictures of unique and gorgeous homes, with some neat historical/factual information to boot. My favorite homestyle. The pictures gave me great ideas for my own cottage home.



5. A BEAUTIFUL LOOK AT WHIMSICAL HOMES FOR THE YOUNG AT HEART - THE BEST I'VE SEEN ON THE SUBJECT -

No comments about Electricity & Controls for HVAC-R.

4 comments about Analysing Architecture.

1. In clear, precise diagrams and thoughtful text, author Simon Unwin offers an engaging methodology for the study of architecture and aesthetic systems. Time-tested buildings from classical temples to traditional Japanese homes and early modernist masterpieces, are explored in this wide ranging, but focused study. Unwin demonstrates that while architectural styles change over time, the underlying principles that organize quality designs remain remarkably consistent.
   
   This book is a must for all architectural students interested in acquiring the visual skills needed to understand a wide variety of design methodologies. My only criticism is that proportion and scale were not given enough attention, but there are many other books that cover this important topic separately.
   
   Intelligently considered, and clearly presented, `Analysing Architecture' is a refreshing counterpoint to the sort of pretentious, self-serving rubbish that Eisenman, Libeskind, Hadid, et al try to pass off as design.



2. I used this text for a architecture class I was enrolled in. The figure/ground drawings are useful.



3. This book establishes a systematic method in analyzing architecture. It explains how architectural elements are combined together to form designs that could relate an appropriate sense of 'place' specific to the programme as well as the environment surrounding it. The book is well illustrated with diagrams and examples. An extremely useful introductory guide for those who want to learn more about the basics of architecture.



4. Beginning with the root definition of architecture as its "conceptual organization, its intellectual structures"., the author makes clear its function as "identification of place", goes on to identify the basic elements and concepts, examines the use of natural features of the landscape, analyzes primitive place types, geometry in architecture, space and structure, and other key concepts.
   From the campsites of primitive man to the sophisticated structures of the late twentieth century, architecture as an essential function of human activity is explained clearly, and illustrated with the author's own excellent drawings. Highly recommended as a well-organized and readable introduction.

   (The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

4 comments about Residential Design Using Revit Architecture 2008.

1. I have been using Revit since version 6 and this is a Basic but thorough overview of using Revit for Residential Design. If you have not used Revit and will be atempting to learn, this book is a great resource to start with. I feel this book doesn't cover enough to make this an effective overview if you are looking to do some high end modeling and construction documents but to get the basics. I found most of the advanced Revit techniques come with using the product and creating your own best practices. This is done by making mistakes and taking risks. This is not much differenct than any of the commercial books I have read except that it does some "House" tutorials.



2. although i have used revit before, this book taught me things i did not klnow how to do with revit.



3. Residential Design was my fourth text book on Revit Architecture 2008 and I found it to be the most practical for common sense hands-on learning. SDC publications and Daniel Stine authorship have combined for a winner. I look forward to beginning the "Commercial Design" text they have produced also.
   Thanks, Hub7d



4. This book provides a common sense approach to designing a house from the ground up.
   This is the 3rd book that I've tried. I was so frustrated, now I'm on my way to really understanding Revit. Bob

No comments about Loblolly House: Elements of a New Architecture + DVD.

No comments about Olympic Architecture: Beijing 2008.