No comments about Windows of the World.

3 comments about Iron: Erecting the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

1. Michael Webb is arcitectural critic for a magazine owned by the publisher of Garcetti's book. Fair's fair.
   This is a nice book, but the photography is well, mediocre. The building is astounding.



2. In his foreword, Frank Gehry calls ironworkers "the forgotten heroes of architecture," and this book celebrates their courage and skill. Nobody who saw the structural frame going up on Grand Avenue will forget its raw beauty, but most of the bones were covered in a shimmering skin a year before the hall opened. Garcetti, better known as the former DA of Los Angeles County, has captured the physicality of the work in his photos, and in the words of the people who did it. Their pride and solidarity are inspiring. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)



3. There were only a few architectural drawings of The Disney in the back of the book: most of this photographic tour de force deals with the iron works, the skeleton of the building. After paging through this entire book, which is on display for sale at the historic Lummis Home off the Avenue 43 exit of the Pasadena Freeway, I had a new appreciation of the new Disney Concert Hall, which I had photographed under contruction against the backdrop of a thunderstorm.

   Garcetti takes you close to the massive lattice of ironwork that underlies the curvaceous and apparently delicate hall. "Lattice" , "Skeleton", "frame", none of these words capture in their sense of mere adumbration the massiveness of the iron underneath. Can I say it simply? There's really a lot. Just what you're looking for in a book entitled "Iron."

   Garcetti does a great job of capturing the workers, too, with many closeup shots of them as people that really bring out their essential happiness. There's a sign of their union hall, and the wonderful holiday shot of the christmas tree being lifted up to the top on a huge steel beam.

   Also shown are some huge ironworking tools.

   If you're fascinated with the state of the art in iron-based construction today, I'd say this book is for you.

   Something else to remember -- once a building is built, you'll never be able to take photographs of it under construction again. It may sound trivial to say it that way, but after reading this book you probably won't think so.

3 comments about Noise Control Manual for Residential Buildings (Builder's Guide).

1. This is an invaluable reference. I've been searching for weeks for materials related to noise control in a residential setting. I've found only one "expert" in the yellow pages and he charges hundreds for his advice. This book provides all of the information he provided and more. Although, the editing isn't great and there are typos and other errors, the content is first-rate. For once, this book was exactly what I expected.



2. This is an invaluable reference. I've been searching for weeks for materials related to noise control in a residential setting. I've found only one "expert" in the yellow pages and he charges hundreds for his advice. This book provides all of the information he provided and more. Although, the editing isn't great and there are typos and other errors, the content is first-rate. For once, this book was exactly what I expected.



3. El Libro del Sr. Harris ha sido de gran ayuda en mi trabajo como Ingeniero Acústico. Sin lugar a dudas es un texto que debe estar en la biblioteca de toda persona ligada a la arquitectura, construcción y control de ruido. Un Gran Libro.

No comments about Future Forms and Design for Sustainable Cities.

No comments about Epoxy Resins in Stone Consolidation (Research in Conservation, 7).

No comments about Digital Representations in Architecture: Motion, Montage and Experience.

No comments about Architecture's New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design.

2 comments about Structure Systems.

1. This is ASTRONOMICALLY THE BEST architectural structures book of all time!! This is the second book for a serious architecture student or architect to buy after Deplazes' foundation book. My structures education was so frustrating because it was not VISUAL. I longed for a book like this 20 years ago!! But better than I could have ever imagined, this book is intensely visual, almost no numbers, instead an encyclopedic catalogue of structural spanning options in a maniacally ordered logic, drawn with a sweet German version of Ching's style. Just skimming this book several times will aquaint you with the logic, the systems, the options, and the breathtaking possibilities this great book throws at your feet. "Take that", it says, "and go do something great!"



2. This is almost the only graphically illustrated book on structural principles for architect.
   
   Most of the structure book concentrate on calculation which are more important to structural engineer than to architect. However, this book put emphasis on structural principals and structural typology. The author uses very clear drawn illustration + table + text to illustrate different structural types.
   
   This is a helpful resources if readers are architects interesting in structural design. The book could be more complete if real building examples are illustrated together with the diagrams.

No comments about Construction Materials: Types, Uses and Applications.

No comments about Thermal Analysis and Design of Passive Solar Buildings.