Interior Design Books

Elizabeth Wilhide's Flooring: The Essential Source Book For Planning, Selecting And Restoring Floors is packed with ideas for restoring or installing a floor in any room of the house. Packed with illustrative photos of a range of settings and uses, Flooring discusses wood qualities, finishes, maintenance, and styles ranging from glass and metal floors to traditional wood. From differences between new and old wood to sealing and treating a floor, Flooring offers insights into not just choices, but maintenance after installation.

Not only is this a very complete reference for someone interested in exploring all the options in flooring, but it has merit as an overall design reference as well. To assume this is just about floors is a mistake, there is much to be gleaned in overall design as well. It is an excellent reference. Beautifully photographed and full of innovative ideas and very thorough consideration of all aspects of floors from design to materials to installation.

Muslim men of religion are experts in the law, and every one has been trained in the law of one or another school. The Sunni schools of law are named for figures of the later eighth of early to mid-ninth centuries C.E., but the schools such as we are familiar with them from the 11th century and onwards demonstrably did not function in that fashion till the early tenth century. For one thing, we don't find commentaries on earlier works until the late ninth century and early tenth. For another, learning jurisprudence in the ninth century was virtually indistinguishable from learning hadith. One went to many teachers and learnt the opinions of earlier jurisprudents alongside hadith (which, in that century, included the opinions of Companions and Followers as well as reports of the word and deed of the Prophet). But starting with the teaching of Ibn Surayj (d. A.D. 918), al- Khallal (d. 923), and a series of Hanafi teachers ending with al-Karkhi (d. 952), we do find regular chains of teachers and students in the distinct field of jurisprudence, as well as, a little less clearly, a tradition of commentaries on earlier works of jurisprudence. If we may say the schools had founders, then Ibn Surayj, not al-Shafi`i himself, counts as the founder of the Shafi`i school, al-Khallal, not Ahmad ibn Hanbal, as the founder of the Hanbali school, and al-Karkhi, not Abu Hanifah himself, as founder of the Hanafi school. (The Maliki school probably would have died out in favor of one or more of the others if not for the accidents of geographical and political isolation in North Africa. The Zahiri and Jariri schools seem to have died out partly because they never adopted the new teaching methods.)

I think my book puts the history of the schools of law on a new evidentiary basis. We shouldn't any longer hear Abu Hanifah referred to as the founder of the Hanafi school, al- Shafi`i as the founder of the Shafi`i, &c. The book is pretty full of names and dates, though. I wrote it for someone already interes! ted in the history of Islamic law, and not as anyone's first book on the subject. Now that I think of it, I admit it's hard to think of another book on Islamic law more suitable to be somebody's introduction. Perhaps the best are the works of Joseph Schacht, Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence and An Introduction to Islamic Law, which remain monuments of critical scholarship even if they do need revision at points (as all scholarship must in time). Noah Ha-Mim Keller has usefully translated The Reliance of the Traveller, an actual book of Islamic law from the Middle Ages. My own introduction to Islamic law was Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1973), vol. 1, which is another work that needs revision at points but is still a monument of scholarship. It may be read with profit by beginning, intermediate, and advanced students.

This tremendous book, brought to you by the nation's favourite pizzeria, shows a genius at work. What is evident in the work of Lloyd Wright, and what can certainly be seen in this magnificent retrospective, is his continual striving to incorporate innovation with consistency in order to create an architectural grammar which was, though eclectic, uniquely American. Take, for example the Larkin Building, in which the architect showed his willingness to experiment with new materials and technologies. Just as Lloyd Wright innovated with air-conditioning, plate-glass windows, integral desk furniture and suspended toilet bowls, so the Domino's Master Piemaker brings an almost symphonic unity to his work with multifaceted swathes of mushroom, cantilevered tranches of melting cheese and geometric designs hewn from pork. As David Hanks says in his helpful introduction "The romantic spirit that Wright brought to all his buildings is that same unabashed virtuosity that is brought boxed and piping hot to your door (thanks to their revolutionary new HeatWave packaging system) when you phone for a delicious Domino's pizza from any one of their 6200 franchised stores worldwide".

Although many people know that Frank Lloyd Wright operated his architectural enterprise for many years from Taliesin in Wisconsin, relatively few Wright fans have been there. Having been born into the rural farm country of Wisconsin, many of Mr. Wright's architectural ideas emerged from that rolling country and its beautiful rivers and views.

Many who admire Fallingwater will be intrigued to compare the views of the Wisconsin river at Taliesin ("shining brow" in Welsh) with the stunning sights in the Alleghenies. Mr. Wright was working at Taliesin when he sketched his first drawings of Fallingwater. The land is steeper at Fallingwater, and the waterfall at Taliesin was originally there to provide power. Many of the principles of the two sites are otherwise similar in striking ways that will give you a deeper understanding of Mr. Wright's work.

The highlight of this book comes in the wonderful color photography that will probably inspire you to want to visit (in the summer time) to enjoy the hundreds of acres of grounds and the many architectural features that Mr. Wright designed there. Many may not know about his windmill tower that the local farmers predicted would not survive high winds, but which continues to beautifully grace the site.

I was fascinated to see original photographs of Taliesin and its surroundings while Mr. Wright was working there, as well as the views from today. Like a lot of Mr. Wright's work, the romantic idealization of his vision has proceeded quite far. But we will still enjoy it, even if it has evolved from the original.

Having seen this book, I have decided to make a pilgrimage to Taliesin. I have been to Taliesin West many times, and have enjoyed that wonderful Wright work very much. Taliesin West is located in Scottsdale, Arizona and was Mr. Wright's refuge from the cold Wisconsin winters in his later years.

After you enjoy the beauty and the history of Taliesin in this fine volume, I suggest that you think about the place where you were born. How has it shaped your vision? In my case, my home was nestled in a small valley surrounded by enormous mountains. It was natural to want to aspire to climb to great heights upon considering that monumental view every day.

Take the best from your heritage and share it with those whom it will help!

Frank Lloyd Wright began designing furniture over 100 years ago and yet this is the only comprehensive book on his 75 years of work. The book offers contemporary and historical views of many Wright interiors featuring the furniture in the original context for the most part. Much of this furniture has now been removed from the houses. Several of these pieces are on view in museums but much of it went into private collections. The range of views of the furniture is unique to the kind of book that Heinz has become well-known for. He finds views that can show features and arrangements of parts that other photographers seem to be blind to. When Heinz includes more than one example of a chair, either by using two chairs of the same design but faced front and side, or by including several designs [as in the Dana House] or with the designs of others [with Mackintosh, Stickley and the Greene brothers] they tell more than any text or caption could. The large page format is also helpful in showing the detail of each example. The types of wood and grain directions as well as finishes and textures assists in the analysis of the work. Heinz even goes outside the title definition of the book and includes associated examples of Wright's work as the chapter on rugs and textiles shows well. This may be the only concentration of Wright's textile designs. This is refreshing, to see the originals. in light of the "interpretations" that are now in the marketplace confusing the issue and the real genius of Wright's work. Interiors and Furniutre is a great companion book to Heinz's Glass Art which was issued at the same time and by the same publisher as this volume. This will be the definitive work for many years to come.

I bought this book for my 14 yr old son who LOVES architecture. He is taking an architecture class in eight grade and loves it. The book is probably meant to be for college students/adults, but it is clearly written so that a younger person with similar interests can understand it.

I have been trying to get this book for over a year - I kept ordering it and it kept getting delayed. But now that it's here *sigh* what a marvel! gorgeous, giant fold-out illustrations of ambitious rooms sets shown in great detail. The text is a little hard to follow, but there is some interesting information about the designs, and process of printing this huge panels.

The book is a great resource for someone interested in building or renovating to create an authentic "french look". French architectural elements are categorized and many pictures of authentic elements are provided in the book. By using the book as a guide, one can choose authentic looking or actual reclaimed elements widely available as opposed to the garish alternatives on the market that are advertised as "the french look". Kudos to the author !!!

Publisher's info:

The studies collected in this volume deal with ancient, medieval and early modern forms of Gnosis and the diverse expressions of their myths, rites, ideas and expectations. The emphasis lays on Hermetism in Antiquity and its influence in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the early modern period. The 14 contributions were written by R. van den Broek (3), C. Gilly (2), P. Kingsley (2), J.-P. Mahé (1), and G.Quispel (6).

The book contains discussions of several aspects of the Hermetic and Gnostic tradition, such as hermetic religious practices, magic, alchemy, apocalyptic visions, and the influence of Hermetic ideas on Early Christian and medieval theologians.

The volume is of interest for students of Graeco-Roman religiosity, Early Christianity, medieval theology and the Hermetic traditions in the Renaissance and later western culture.

Roelof van den Broek, Dr.Theol. (1972), University of Utrecht, is Emeritus Professor of History of Christianity at the University of Utrecht. His publications include Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity (Brill, 1996).