Reviews (16)

Not instructional
This is a great book to see what someone else has done using trompe l'oeil, however it is not instructional.

Oh The Possibilities
The murals in this book are beautiful, fantastical, grand and WAY above my abilities. :-) I enjoyed this book because of the possibilities and the ideas it fostered versus my ability (or inability) to mimic the designs. I've been looking for a book that addresses how to incorporate doors into murals and this is the first one that I've come across that showed some ideas.
Not useful
Although the work depicted in the photos is incredible, none of it is very useful.Nice to look at - not at all practical for everyday painters. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Applied Arts (Specific Aspects)    2. Decorating    3. Domestic    4. General    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. Interior Design    7. Interior decoration    8. Mural painting and decoration    9. Rust, Graham    10. Non-Classifiable   

Reviews (1)

Not a lot of creativity
I have the restaurants and hotels book, a portfolio of 40 designers( which is recommend), and thought that this one would be good too.There are a few good photos in it but most are a little outdated and old.not a whole lot of creativity being shown. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Interior Design - General    3. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    4. Interior design    5. Office systems & equipment    6. Public buildings: civic, commercial, industrial, etc   

Reviews (5)

Poetry masquerading as prose
Creating the New American Town House only reaffirms my longstanding appreciation of the work of Alexander Gorlin, known for his high-end residential designs, but equally deserving of accolades for his innovative design of synagogues, churches, affordable housing and educational projects.Check out his own website www.gorlinarchitects.com and you will see why he is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a regular in magazines like Architectural Record, Architectural Digest and Interior Design.
American beauty
Yes, some of this book's projects may not technically meet the traditional criteria for the town house; but as Gorlin himself describes one of Stanley Saitowitz's projects, it "extends beyond general restrictions for the type".The book is more a record of how gifted architects have in the last five years reimagined and utilized the typology in new contexts and in striking new ways.Indeed you will be disappointed if you are looking for "typical" projects, but who wants typical when you can have genius!!
Is a townhouse different from a city house?
First of all let me say that Mr. Gorlin has compiled and selected very beautiful projects for his book.The book itself is very well constructed and the detailed photographs provide insight to how these exquisite homes were designed and constructed.
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Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Domestic    3. Interior Design - General    4. Residential Buildings Architecture    5. Architecture / Interior Design   

Reviews (1)

Good forms
This book is really helpful. I love the forms and that they are all on CD in variable formats. Great place to start from! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Business    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Design - Decorative    5. Forms    6. Interior Design - Professional Reference    7. Interior decoration    8. Interior decoration firms    9. Management    10. Practice    11. Small Business - Legal Guides    12. United States   

Reviews (2)

the most beautiful book in the world
Really.The listing here doesn't do this 2 volume set justice.If you have any interest at all, don't hesitate, this is the most beautiful thing ever!

how
both books are wonderful!!!!!! it's a mix between travel & interiors. another taschen-you-must-have-it !!!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Interior Design - Style Books    3. International Architecture - African    4. Photo Essays    5. Africa    6. Interior design    7. Residential buildings, domestic buildings   

Subjects:  1. Decorating    2. Decorating - General    3. Decoration & Ornament    4. Home Improvement / Construction    5. House & Home    6. Interior Design - General    7. GAMES (bks) - Games TRD PB    8. House & Home / Decorating   

Reviews (4)

Beautiful and Useful
Architects work with light as one of the basic components of design. Unlike the more technical and morphological aspects of building, light is very difficult to learn and understand without direct experience. Knowledge of the nature and effects of light comes by seeing examples and thinking about them. This book provides the next best thing to being there.
Beautiful, Informative, and Inspiring !
Victoria Meyers leaves no stone unturned as she weaves through the worlds of Architecture, Art, and Science to illustrate the broad and intricate capacities of light.
A Beautiful Design Book
Designing with light is a georgeous book. I love the title as well.It has amazing photos and it is stunning to look at.Every page is like a new adventure. It is one of the best design or architecture books I have ever seen. This book makes a beautiful coffee table book that you would love to share with your guests. The author shows a vast knowledge of architecture and the way that light aids in creating sophistication in design.I would highly reccommend this book for any artist's, architect's, designer's or anyone's collection for that matter.Bravo! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Daylighting    3. Interior Design - General    4. Interior Design - Lighting    5. Light in architecture    6. Lighting, Architectural and decorative   

Reviews (1)

Green, but top of the line, Kitchens
What? Yet another book on kitchens? And what does GREEN mean in terms of a kitchen, certainly not the color?
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Subjects:  1. Cleaning & Caretaking - Household Hints    2. Do-It-Yourself    3. General    4. Green products    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. House & Home    7. Kitchens    8. Reference    9. Remodeling    10. Remodeling & Renovation - Energy Efficient    11. Remodeling & Renovation - General    12. Remodeling & Renovation - Kitchens    13. Residential Interior Design    14. Home furnishing & decoration    15. House & Home / General    16. Interior design   

Reviews (1)

Blends art history, interior design, and biographical sketches of fourteen fascinating artists
In Artists' Houses, historian and art critic Gerard-Georges Lemaire has compiled and written a informed and informative work that blends art history, interior design, and biographical sketches of fourteen fascinating artists from Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, and America. The reader is treated to a kind of survey of the private homes of these extraordinary men and women who put as much care and creativity into the design and furbishing of their homes and gardens as they did their paintings. The artists featured include Andre Derain, Frantisek Bilek, Frederic Church, Alphonse Mucha, Rene Magreitte, Rosa Bonheur, Gustave Moreau, William Morris, Gabrielle Munter, James Ensor, Claude Money, Alfred Kubin, Giorgio De Chirico, and the members of the Bloomsbury Group. The fascinating text is wonderfully illustrated throughout with the impressively visual photography of Jean-Claude Amiel. Enhanced with the inclusion of a House Directory and a Bibliography, Artists' Houses is an strongly recommended addition to academic library Art History collections -- and would make a superb Memorial Fund Acquisition choice community libraries as well.
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Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Art    3. Artists    4. Domestic    5. Europe    6. Homes and haunts    7. Interior Design - General    8. Residential Interior Design    9. United States    10. Architecture / General    11. Architecture / Interior Design    12. The Arts: General Issues   

Reviews (1)

Excellent hands-on resource for Interior Designers
I am a professional Health Care interior designer who is always lookingfor resources to enhance my knowledge base for creating healingenviornments in the health care market.A few years ago I attended, alongwith about 300 other designers, a presentation by a nationally known healthcare designer.At the end of the 1.5 hr. lecture, there were six of usleft.The focus of the talk was entirely philosophical:there were nogems of knowledge or tools we could take back to our design practices tomake our projects better.Ms. Leibrock certainly doesn't have to worryabout anyone leaving her presentation.The book has been delegated to myreference shelf and I am sure will become dog-earred.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. Commercial Interior Design    4. Decorating    5. Decoration    6. Health Care    7. Health Care Delivery    8. Health Care Issues    9. Health facilities    10. History    11. Interior Design - General    12. Interior decoration    13. Architecture / Interior Design    14. Hospital administration & management    15. Interior design    16. Public buildings: civic, commercial, industrial, etc   

Reviews (3)

A unique source of enduring ideas
Lavishly illustrated with one hundred gorgeous color photographs by Phillip Ennis, Great Escapes: New Designs For Home Theaters By Theo Kalomirakis by Steven Castle presents extravagant designs for "media rooms" in private homes. These are specialized entertainment oriented rooms set aside to take full advantage of surround sound, acoustics, and visual appeal to bring forth the same quality experience as visiting a theater. Great Escapes showcases the work of interior designer Theo Kalomirakis as it artfully presents his work in creating home theaters of celebrities such as Dean Koontz, Eddie Murphy, Roger Ebert, and others in this unique source of enduring ideas.

Just Amazing
This is a book to die for. The photography is amazing, the architecture out of this world and what Theo Kalomirakis does for his lucky clients will blow you away. I am already wearing out my copy and I only have had it for two days.

Great Escapes
Whether your interest is home theater, or movie palaces from the 1920's and 30's, Great Escapes is sensational!Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Interior Design - General    3. Technology & Industrial Arts    4. Television & Video    5. Architecture / Interior Design    6. Interior design   

Reviews (5)

Worst ever
We just bought a house and I bought many interior design/home decorating books recently and screened through a bunch in a book store. I bought this one because I saw it was named as a best seller, and I seriously do not understand how could this become a best seller, maybe best seller 5 tears ago? When the book arrived from Amzon, both my husband and I were shocked: Who would want to design like that? The pictures are simply ugly!!! Both the pictures and text are so dated, and the text type is the smallest I have ever seen. I could not bare to read two paragraphs because my eyes were too strained.

Dated
Too much fluff. Typeface is very small and hard to read. Pictures have a yellowish cast and the room scenes look dated.

A terrific book.
If your mind has been on other things, and you suddenly need to know all the basics, this is the book for you.All subjects are covered in a comprehensive way.This was a great help to me since I have needed to decorate a new house from scratch, and really never was acquainted with the basic ideas.If you need a really good start (and even middle and finish) try this book.I think it was well worth the price. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Decorating    2. Decorating - General    3. Design    4. Home Improvement / Construction    5. House & Home    6. Interior Design - General    7. Interior decoration    8. Interior design   

Reviews (3)

Makes you want to go see them for yourself!
If you love historical architecture, and the histories of old homes, then you shouldn't miss this book.The photographs alone make this a book worth owning, but the author has also included well written, indepth, and informative stories about these incrediable homes, their builders, owners and subsiquent owners.Reading this book has encouraged me to plan a trip to visit to the Hudson River Valley to see these beautiful places for myself.

Mansions For Miles
This is a nice overview of the best of the estates along the Hudson.The book give a nice short history on the houses presented and the photos are nice, though the pictures could be more crisp.Having said that, I did enjoy the book and was just amazed at the variety in the styles of the houses from period to period; really a very informative book.If you are interested in this sort of thing, then you will certainly be pleased with this book, though the $50.00 price tag is a bit daunting.

Hudson River Mansions
This book is fantasic!I highly recommend it.It has loads of spectacular color photographs, and the mansions are breath taking.Being someone who has never visisted the area, this book really makes me consider a trip to New York, if only to see these mansions. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Architecture, Domestic    3. Decoration & Ornament    4. Domestic    5. Gardens    6. Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and    7. Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.)    8. Interior Design - General    9. Interior decoration    10. New York (State)    11. Architecture / Domestic    12. New York    13. Palaces, chateaux, country houses    14. Photographs: collections    15. USA   

Reviews (3)

BEAUTIFUL PICTURES
The pictures are absolutely beautiful.They give you much inspiration.This book also includes detailed artist profiles.
Superb All the Way Around
It's not just that there are works from over 75 artists, or that the subject matter ranges from table tops to fountains to showers to a whole mosaic outdoor "living room" complete with a lamp, or that Locktov has tracked down artists from around the world who are so amazing you'll find yourself gasping out loud as you turn each page . . . all of which would be reason enough to buy this book. . . BUT, the photos are absolutely superb and, better yet, marvelous and multiple detail shots are provided. At last, a book on mosaics were you actually get to SEE things!
Throw Out the Tile and Discover Mosaic Art!
Through pages bursting with vivid color and inspired artistry, author Locktov makes it unmistakably clear that mosaic tiles and mosaic art are no longer the sole purview of bathrooms and kitchens.This outstanding book showcases creative mosaic art applied with skill and vision to personal and public spaces.Artists from America, Italy, Japan and New Zealand, many of
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Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Crafts & Hobbies    4. General    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Interior Design - General    7. Mosaic    8. Mosaics    9. Tiles in interior decoration    10. Ceramics   

Reviews (5)

A very strong four and a half stars!
I am a librarian and a woodworker and thus have access and interest in many books on this subject."In the Arts and Crafts Style" is a beautiful book that is deserved of much praise.The color photography is as plentiful as it is beautiful.I appreciate that the subject matter for this book does not seem to be drawn from the same dozen houses that so many others have used (As much as I like them, how many times can we look at the same pictures of the Gamble House, or Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio?).The text in this book is very well written and conveys clearly what is so special about the subject matter.I was also very impressed with the excellent resource list given at the end of the book.
Great for Dreaming Your Ultimate Spaces
What a lovely book, for the A&C afficionado and the newbie alike. Dividing her content into Influences & Innovations; Hallmarks of the Style; Furniture; Objects and Accents; and Case Studies, Mayer presents a stunning and inspirational tour of homes and objects from the Arts and Crafts Movement. My sister gave me this when she realized I loved the style, and I nearly wept. How amazing to have someone understand your passions!
Excellent entry point into Arts and Crafts Movement
An arts and crafts website recommended this book as the place for beginners in the movement.Following their lead, we purchased the book and have not regretted it.Read more

Subjects:  1. Antiques / Collectibles    2. Arts And Crafts    3. Arts and crafts movement    4. Decorating    5. Decorative arts    6. Folk & Outsider Art    7. General    8. Interior Design - Style Books    9. United States    10. Art / Folk Art    11. Decorative arts & crafts    12. Handicrafts   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Individual Architect    3. Individual Architects Of The 20th Century    4. Interior Design    5. Interior Design - General    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    8. Architecture / General    9. Architektur    10. Individual architects    11. Le Corbusier    12. Salubra-Farben   

Subjects:  1. Architectural & Industrial    2. Architecture    3. Interior Design - General    4. Interior Design - Professional Reference    5. Interior design   

Reviews (2)

Nice homes, title deceiving
This book features some fine architect designed, contemporary homes....but the title is very deceiving.While some of these homes may employ the use of unconvention (suposedly cheaper) materials like corrated metal siding, most of these homes have complex forms, elaborqate steel detailing, and from a construcition standpoint appear very complex.
Oh, boy
I took one look and sent it back.Just didn't feel the homes in this book were places I wanted to live. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Domestic    3. Interior Design - General    4. Home furnishing & decoration    5. House & Home / General    6. Interior design   

Reviews (3)

An Excellent Resource...
As an Interior Design student at OSU this was an invaluable resource to have.No student or designer should be without it in their library.

Time Saver Standards for Interior Design and Space Planners
This is a a "must have" for anyone in the interior design industry.The best book since Architectural Graphic Standards for the Interior Design Profession.Very Specific and all inclusive, excellent details for just about every application. Not great but the only thing like it.
This is a compilation of materials from other sources, most of which are readily available to everyone but it's very convenient to have all the information in one place. However, some of the information is inaccurate,some of the illustrations are out of date, and many are poor copies ofphotocopies that aren't legible.I find this inexcusable in a bookintended for designers and one that is $100+. Unfortunately, it is the onlybook of its kind. I recommend double checking any information that you takefrom it. Reznikoff is the only comparable book and that is even more out ofdate.At least Reznikoff was well produced though. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architectural Design    2. Architecture    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. Interior Design    5. Interior Design - Professional Reference    6. Interior architecture    7. Interior decoration    8. Reference    9. Standards    10. Architectural structure & design   

Reviews (2)

There's no place like Bali...
Many westerners have set up homes inBali, which have long been a magnet for western culture-hound. Here,writer and photographer showcase what the island's most inspiring examples of contemporary residences, shops,restaurants and of course the beautiful resorts that Bali is renowned. Thework is well researched, featuring architectural and interior detailing ofcross cultural legacy and an amalgamation of both modern and traditional.The text includes little stories of origins and legends. And as always,Lucca Invernizzi Tettoni's superb photography, mostly outdoor shots of thecreme de la creme of Bali's private and resort landscaped gardens. Thiswork captured all parts of the Balinese tropical living experience, provingwhy Bali is often remembered as the place to rejuvenate the soul.

Bali,Modern The Art of Tropical Living
This is just what the doctor ordered for enthusiasts of tropical decor and culture.By focusing on the use of modern (alibet, longer lasting) building materials with techniques designed to provide a tropical ambiance is neat. It's not something that I have found elsewhere.It would also benice to provide some interior decorating schemes to be translated into theAmerican shopping market using or importing accessories from the Baliregion or using alternative sources for the "tropical" look fromother areas, i. e., the British West Indies, the Caribbean, major U.S.catalogues, etc.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. Architecture, Tropical    4. Bali Island    5. Indonesia    6. Interior Design    7. Interior Design - General    8. Interior Design - Style Books    9. Interior decoration    10. International Architecture - Asian    11. Vernacular Architecture    12. Bali