INDEX Architecture: A Columbia Architecture Book (D, Columbia Documents of Architecture and Theory, V. 7-9)

Book Description

INDEX Architecture documents the extensive cross-fertilization of ideas that can occur between architectural practice and education. Through work developed by students and faculty at Columbia University's School of Architecture, it offers not only an archive of avant-garde work but a record of architectural discourse at a time when the design studio has been radically altered by digital technology.

Writings, interviews, and images are organized according to an alphabetical "index" of key terms. Cross-referencing allows for a rich reading of concepts currently discussed in the field. The contributing critics and theorists include Stan Allen, Karen Bausman, Lise Anne Couture, Kathryn Dean, Evan Douglis, Kenneth Frampton, Leslie Gill, Thomas Hanrahan, Laurie Hawkinson, Steven Holl, Jeffrey Kipnis, Sulan Kolatan, Greg Lynn, William MacDonald, Reinhold Martin, Mary Mcleod, Victoria Meyers, Hani Rashid, Jesse Reiser, Bernard Tschumi, Nanako Umemoto, and Mark Wigley.

Customer Reviews:

Speak English, Please.......2004-07-06

This book basically dares you to read it.

As an aficionado of contemporary architectural thought, I expected that this book would be enlightening coming from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, a program frequently renowned for leading contemporary architecture into the avant-garde. I was tremendously disappointed in the book in general. While there are worthwhile observations from many notable architects (and students), the book devolves into a self-congratulatory, politically correct collection of "insights" in language so obfuscating that the gist of the statement is normally impossible to determine.

The book takes it as a guiding principle that Occam's Razor (which requires the simplest of equal competing alternatives be selected as best) is never to be regarded, and that when one small word will suffice, ten large words will instead be used. Is it so hard for these obviously very bright people to speak English? Here is a prime example from page 10, which I obtained by opening the book at random: "In blob modeling, objects are defined by monad-like primitives with internal forces of attraction and mass. Unlike a conventional geometric primitive such as a sphere, which has its own autonomous organization, a meta-ball is defined in relation to other objects. Its center, surface area, mass and organization are determined by other fields of influence. The surfaces are surrounded by two halos of relational influence, one defining a zone of fusion, the other defining a zone of inflection." I will spare you the rest, but suffice it to say that that paragraph drones on and on, and gets even more ridiculous before it is concluded.

The organization of the book is so confusing that there is actually a key to decoding the format at the beginning. The format is extremely unpleasant. Avant-garde? Yes! Readable? No! Largely the book is an index (hence the title) taken alphabetically, but there is an abundance of information in tiny font adjacent to the text in the gutters, which are, inexplicably, the hideous color of green found in the interior of a school bus.

Among the horrid design of the pages and the tiny graphics that rarely are directly associated with anything else on the page or under discussion, there is some genuinely brilliant commentary on contemporary architecture, which is, after all, why someone would buy this book. Due to these occasional pithy insights, combined with a few brilliant illustrations, I give the book two stars.

I would not recommend this book to many people, probably only practicing architects, and only with the strong caveat that it is very unpleasant and annoying reading trying to sort the wheat from the chaff, hidden as the wheat is among the pomposity and pretentiousness of the text. This book could have been utterly wonderful; instead it was one of the most trying reading experiences in recent memory.

INDEX Architecture - A Columbia Architecture Book
Average customer rating:
INDEX Architecture - A Columbia Architecture Book
B Tschumi
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQLUTA

Prairiescapes: PHOTOGRAPHS (Visions of Illinois)
Average customer rating:

This book makes Illinois look great.

Austere Zen-like beauty

Prairiescapes is 100+ pages of visual poetry

Striking photography of the Midwest.

Prairiescapes: PHOTOGRAPHS (Visions of Illinois)
Larry Kanfer
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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On Second Glance: MIDWEST PHOTOGRAPHS (Visions of Illinois)

On Firm Ground

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Heart of a Nation: Writers and Photographers Inspired by the American Landscape

ASIN: 0252014820

Customer Reviews:

This book makes Illinois look great........2002-11-23

I love this book. The pictures are awesome, many of which were taken in the early 80's. Farms dominate the pictures. If you like pictures of barns, prairies, or trees you'll want to buy this book. It's just too bad these pictures aren't large and ion frames.

Austere Zen-like beauty.......2002-07-27

This is the book that I show to people when I try vainly to explain in words why a prairie view or a prairie skyscape is more inspiring to me than a mountain range. Although a few of the photos are a little too posed and sentimental, the finest of them convey the power and austere beauty of this often-dismissed part of the country. Akin in their severe beauty to Zen or to Shaker design, the finest of these photographs will catch at your heart and your mind.

Prairiescapes is 100+ pages of visual poetry.......2000-04-21

This collection of timeless photographs eloquently expresses the strength and sustenance we midwesterners draw from our environment. "Praireiscapes" reveals what many of us would never have taken notice of or been able to explain with words on our own--that the midwestern landscapes are glorious, and beautiful in a profound, enduring way. Kanfer has another book, "On Second Glance" which picks up where "Praireiscapes" ends, and there is an annual calendar of photographs widely available.I recommend them highly for anyone who appreciates fine art photography.

Striking photography of the Midwest........1998-06-22

Kanfer certainly has an eye for the little details that give the scenery of the Midwest its own particular charm. Beautiful landscapes captured by a master photographer. A "must" for those living in the region, as well as those like myself who've moved on to other places and enjoy reacquainting ourselves with surroundings once familiar.

Average customer rating:

Prairiescapes
Larry Kanfer
Manufacturer: UNIV OF IL PRESS +
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N7JPZ6

Prairiescapes (Visions of Illinois Ser.)

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Prairiescapes (Visions of Illinois Ser.)
Larry Kanfer
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLVZS6

DEEP CITY; EVARISTO. Translated by Jeff Lisle
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DEEP CITY; EVARISTO. Translated by Jeff Lisle
F. Solano & Carlos Sampayo. Lopez
Manufacturer: Catalan Communications,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N7621G

Evaristo: Deep City
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Evaristo: Deep City
Carlos Sampayo
Manufacturer: Catalan Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0874160340

Book Description

The economic analysis of a building is a complex subject and traditionally it has focused on a single aspect of the structure or a single part of the construction process. Dr Tempelmans Plat is a leading proponent of a new methodology which focuses on the building as a stock of services to be supplied over a long lifespan. This method is more realistic since it takes into account the changes in use and the adaptation of the building over its life. This book will be the first to make this method comprehensible to a wide audience of postgraduate students and professionals in the field of construction economics.

unique in its focus on the building as a durable means of production
presents an innovative and valuable new approach to building economics
includes many examples to highlight the practical relevance of the approach

Book Description

With over 70 gift-making activities, children ages 3 to 8 can create unique presents for moms, dads, grandparents, friends, teachers-all of the special people in their lives! Create a personal mouse pad for Mom. Dad will love the peaceful chimes of his Terracotta Music Maker, and grandparents will be delighted with the Family Picture Puzzle. From the card to the wrapping paper, and everything in between, Great Gifts from Kids has dozens of perfect gifts for children to make and give!

Just a few "great gifts" ideas-

Fun with Photos
?The Easiest Ever Photo Frame
?Monitor Photo Holder
?"My Year" Photo Album

A Garden of Gifts
?Sweet Treat Flowers
?Mini Bird-bath
?Love Bug Plant Stake

Office Originals
?Made-It-Myself Mousepad
?Corky Note Board
?Family Foam Magnets

Household Helps
?French Memo Board
?All-Smiles Key Chain
?Treasure Box

Decorations to Display
?Sun-sational Sun Catcher
?Decorative Tile
?Stained Glass Candleholder

Ann Wheeler has worked in the early childhood field for over 10 years, as a teacher, trainer, and speaker. Stephanie Mueller has spent over 15 years as a professional in early childhood education. She is on the board of directors of Friends of Early Education, and is a trainer and webpage developer. This is their first book with Gryphon House.

Customer Reviews:

101 Great Gifts from Kids by Stephanie R. Mueller et al.......2002-07-09

This is a fun, creative book. I initially ordered it for my child's preschool teacher as an end of the year gift, but school ended before it arrived. When it came, I decided to keep it for my family. Should have ordered two copies and taken one to the teacher this summer. There are some familiar ideas with new twists (paper weights, picture frames), but also lots of ideas new to me (tube sock duster, fabric wall hanging using pastels and food coloring). I have two girls (teenager and a kindergartener) and have helped their teachers with arts and crafts throughout years of preschool and elementary school, scouts and bible school. I thought I'd seen every kids' craft idea there was, until I saw this book. My teenager loves to help her little sister with crafts, and there are loads of new ideas in this book to keep them busy. Some ideas are messy, most are neat and tidy, using common household things available on a rainy day with little or no planning ahead required. I love this book and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone whose children love to do crafts. The joy little ones feel when presenting someone with a special handmade gift is priceless, and these ideas make the recipient really take notice!!!!!! NOT your everyday repeats. Great for teachers, scout leaders, moms, big sisters and brothers, Sunday school teachers, and even an interested dad or two. But, it's best for little hands that love to create. Buy it. It is a wealth of information for the price.

Priceless Gifts.......2002-05-17

In an era of self-help books and publications of financial advice, Mueller and Wheeler have written about a subject that will add REAL value to our lives - how to spend time with our children. Discarded household items and time can be combined and leveraged into shared accomplishments.

As the title indicates, over one hundred projects are described; each one taking a page or two. The needed materials are listed and "helpful hints" follow the instructions. The illustrations are not only instructive but will also generate enthusiasm in a youthful co-worker by showing the finished product.

This book can be used for individuals or groups. (I know of a congregation that organized Mother's Day and Father's Day activities for over twenty children around these gift-making suggestions.)

The dusters and cards you make won't last forever, but the memories will.

Customer Reviews:

The Standard Work on this Subject.......1999-07-23

I was a friend of Randy from meeting him in 1991 til his death. He was one of the most persistent men I ever knew. Born in Oklahoma of mixed descent, Anglo and Native American, he attended the Naval Academy and served for many years. He became an accomplished artist and illustrator. He spent many years preparing his monumental work. Just when it was finished and ready to submit, he went to town on an errand, upon returning, he discovered his entire collection gone--the studio had burned to the ground. And he had to begin all over again. It is a testimony that he finished it and sent it in. Even though Volume Four was published post-humously. Not every man gets to fulfil his life's ambition as Randy did. Every illustration in this multi-volume work has been drawn by him from original materiel. Where relevent the complete text of regulations is quoted. For example, in the period which I research, that from the 1880s to today, the volume three, reprints the complete uniform regulations in the teens, not just the portion on mounted men. Thus, the work is useful also for those interested in the military up to 1943. One must elucidate on the title a bit. As stated, it is not just on the mounted horse cavalry so celebrated in John Wayne movies, but covers all the mounted troops, dragoons, mounted rifles, and cavalry in the period of the frontier expansion, before the Civil War, then both North and South, and the post war frontier patrolling days. Not only is the equipment, both individual and horse, of the cavalryman covered, so is that of the artillery man where it differed. The coverage is relevent to all mounted men--engineers, signalers, and hospital corpsmen, and their clothing and equipment.

The Horse Soldier, Vol. 1: 1776-1850, The Revolution, The War of 1812, The Early Frontier, 1776-1850

Average customer rating:

The Horse Soldier, Vol. 1: 1776-1850, The Revolution, The War of 1812, The Early Frontier, 1776-1850
Randy Steffen
Manufacturer: Univ of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBVLN2

Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume 3
Average customer rating:

The birds ARE in order (contra the most recent review)

Good Information to Better Understand Your Feathered Friends

Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume 3
Donald W. Stokes , and Lillian Q. Stokes
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316817171

Customer Reviews:

The birds ARE in order (contra the most recent review).......2004-04-16

Most books about birds present the species in 'phylogenetic' order, a conventional sequence intended to show the apparent relationships between species. This book, for example, begins with a loon (long considered the most primitive of extant North American species, though recently replaced by the waterfowl) and ends with a hummingbird (a relatively advanced family of 'pre-passerines'); the owls, for example, are kept together to show their relatively close evolutionary ties. Ordering the birds alphabetically, by color, or in any other of the artificial schemes one occasionally encounters, results in scattering closely related species throughout the book, and in the case of alphabetical order, requires revision with every nomenclatural change (does that funny-looking red-billed rallid go under 'm' for 'moorhen' or 'g' for 'gallinule'?).
It's great that the reviewer prepared an alphabetical index, but all birders eventually grow accustomed to phylogenetic order and use it without thinking about it at all.

Good Information to Better Understand Your Feathered Friends.......2003-02-08

The Stokes Guides to Bird Behavior are great little references for backyard bird-watching. You may have to wander a little further than your backyard to observe some of these species, but the birds in your neighborhood are probably in one of the three Stokes volumes. Each Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior features 25 common North American bird species. For each species, the authors explain visual displays, auditory displays, territory courtship, nest-building, breeding, plumage and seasonal movement, and provide a calendar so that you can clearly see when these behaviors occur. I wouldn't take any generalizations about bird behavior too seriously because many birds are very individual, and their behaviors and social customs vary accordingly. But these books will give you a good basis for understanding and predicting the behavior of your avian neighbors. You'll enjoy watching your little feathered friends all the more with the added understanding the Stokes Guides provide.

My one complaint about these books is that the bird species are not in any particular order, and neither are they indexed. If you look at the table of contents you will see that the species are not in alphabetical or any other order, and there is no sense to which birds are in which volume or where they are placed in the book. In other words, you have to read through the entire list of 25 species in the table of contents, in each book, to locate the species you want. I have no explanation for this, and I made an index for the books myself to save me from the frustration involved every time I want to look up a species. That is the reason I gave the book(s) 4 stars instead of 5.

In Volume Three: Common Loon, Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, American Woodcock, Common Tern, Bald Eagle, Sharp-Shinned Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Broad-Winged Hawk, Red-Tailed Hawk, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Northern Bobwhite, Rig-Necked Pheasant, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Eastern Screech Owl, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Purple Martin, Common Raven, Eastern Bluebird, Dark-Eyed Junco, White-Throated Sparrow, and Bobolink.

Average customer rating:

Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior Volume 3
Lillian; Stokes, Donald Stokes
Manufacturer: Little Brown & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J4NHMU

A Guide to Bird Behavior, 3 Volume Set (Stokes Nature Guides)

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A Guide to Bird Behavior, 3 Volume Set (Stokes Nature Guides)
Donald Stokes
Manufacturer: Little, Brown & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NQBYVK

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