4 comments about Modern House 2 (Modern House).

1. I think the photography of this book is its greatest strength it shows the architecture in it best form! You can get a real feel of the buildings and the surroundings. GREAT BOOK WITH GREAT ARCHITECTURE!



2. I think the photography of this book is its greatest strength it shows the architecture in it best form! You can get a real feel of the buildings and the surroundings. GREAT BOOK WITH GREAT ARCHITECTURE! If you liked 10 x 10 or 40 under 40 you will like this!



3. This book presents a collection of houses as a range of ideas--producing a wide range of styles and designs sited around the world.



4. This book appropriately divides into 5 categories: environmental awareness, changing patterns of living, urban interaction, the rural retreat, concept houses of the future. With that, we are bombarded with ideas, many of them innovative ideas that are willing to be embraced by the architects' clients & in some instances, by the architects themselves. Some houses here blend in with their surroundings, & some stand out from the crowd, some that look & work more like a machine, some that facilitate the lifestyle of the occupants, some are meant to be poetic, & so forth, but overall, they all convey the thinkings & the personalities of the people who are willing to embrace the ideas behind the buildings. As St. Patrick of Assisi said before that stones don't build a city, but people do, & ultimately, the erection of spectacular buildings conveyed in this book is all done to serve the people, which in turn are fabricated into a bigger urban picture of where they are living in. Highly enjoyable to read & browse thru, & a well presented coffee book it is. We don't expect a lesser quality book from Phaidon, to put it simply. The book is finished by relevant chapters such as credits, further reading, index, & acknowledgments. One downside of this book, however is the usage of works of architects already covered in the first offering such as Thom Craig of Christchurch, Mathias Klotz of Chile, & others that I wouldn't remember. Then, there is the usage of small grey fonts over the white background, & in many instances, the statements are simply too vague to read.

No comments about Complete Roofs & Siding (Stanley Complete).

No comments about Designing Your Natural Home.

No comments about Alberto Pinto Orientalism.

2 comments about Natural Timber Frame Homes.

1. My wife & I are planning to build our own timber frame home in the Pacific Northwest. This book really helped out with our design and material selections. We have had the pleasure of touring both of the author's homes in Idaho and were impressed with the personal touches in each one.



2. This book is far from typical. It is well written and has a strong theme about the economic and environmental imperative of natural building with local materials. Gibbs and Smith typically publish pictures books with writing that is secondary to design. This book has both great writing and great pictures. And it will challenge any homeowner, builder or designer to rethink conventional building norms. Well done.

1 comments about House: Black Swan Theory.

1. Steven Holl's architectural work is quite interesting, although I am not as sure his ideas are the most livable. I can't comment on his writings, as I prefer to look at pictures.

2 comments about Built-Ins and Storage (For Pros by Pros).

1. A lot of the examples given in this book don't apply or do not easily apply but it does give some very good ideas. It sparks a lot of "What if" situations. This book was very good for getting ideas and sparking new ideas.



2. This has a lot of great material - both ideas for how to use space and how to build the things they describe. I've found this one of the better For Pros by Pros books in terms of completeness of the "how to" part and useful new ideas.

5 comments about Barkitecture.

1. It's a great book but most of the the dog house plans are not practical,I was looking for something like a presidential white house dog house or something like that. Good book though!



2. This book contains great ideas for doghouses. They are unique and truly amazing. The photos provide great inspiration. However, the book does not contain any actual plans to build a doghouse.



3. This book isn't a how-to; some of these designs probably wouldn't be too practical for the average dog person to build. What it is is a fascinating and fun look at the inspired creations of some of the world's architects with the purpose of providing shelters for dogs, and even a few historical facts, figures, and photos. A terrific coffee table book, Barkitecture is valuable as something to peruse with a friend at leisure and determine which styles you like and dislike. There is a wealth of doghouses found in these pages, proving the author's committment to scouring the globe for all the most brilliant and/or puzzling ones. The photographs are excellent; some of these canine casas have exquisite detail. A couple of them look genuinely uncomfortable, I must admit, and others just make you wonder why anyone would ever even dream up such an odd mansion (or monstrosity). Others are just fun to look at. The Muttropolitan Museum features six paintings of famous dog composers and opera stars, all with clever names. Some are funky and colorful. Some are luxorious. Some defy description, and some are just remarkable; the bone-covered !!!*SIT*!!! has photos of dogs on the walls and is painted like a real house. Foreign Correspondent is notably decorated in curtains and pillows. Some houses are culturally inspired, and Red Rover even has a pool attached. How can one beat that? Truly this is a book worth flipping through at least once. You might even get a few ideas for your own dog.



4. As a lifelong cat lover, I normally would not have glanced at this book, but my nephew, now a Jr. in high school, has chosen Architecture as his career. That, plus his love of dogs, caused me to have a look at the contents of this book as a possible fun gift for him. Glad I did! The imagination, the styling, the artistry, and of course, the LOVE that obviously went into the creation of this book, proved to be a great gift choice for my nephew. Even if there area no canines sharing your life, this would be a great coffee-table book to keep on display for friends and guests to enjoy.



5. I have had this book sitting on my coffee table for about 8 years. It makes everyone laugh and rave over the ispired dog house designs. I wish there was a cat companion book. This is not a "how to" book; it is a "how cool!" book.

No comments about Porches and Sunrooms: Planning and Remodeling Ideas.

1 comments about Elegant Country and Suburban Houses of the Twenties.

1. Dover has greatly improved their covers over the years, and their publications still provide an inexpensively accessible record of domestic architecture. This particular book, however, has many of those dusty grainy photographs that mark most of their black and white republications.
   
   If you can get beyond that, you will be pleased by the selected floor plans, of which there are about 50 US examples from these styles: Colonial, Georgian, Italian. Spanish, French, and English.
   
   This book is a good compendium of the grander style of homes, most of which include substantial maid/butler suites (one even has a "housekeeper's office") and typically small kitchens and master baths.
   
   I love these republications because I like to believe that some modern-day builder is also reviewing the same book, looking for better ways to improve upon what passes for "executive homes" in today's architecture. Imagine a development built entirely of the homes captured in history by these Dover republications!