Design and Construction Books

I thought this book was absolutely fantastic with the loads of information it provided. It is also LOADED with COLOR pictures. What I liked about it is that it taught me how to go about figuring out a layout for my new home and provided me with measurements for everything (i.e. how much space you need to provide in certain areas, etc.). I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is planning on building their own home.

This book presents a lot of information that is helpful during the early planning/design stages. Its easy to read layout and good use of pictures/diagrams brings out points that were either missing or hidden in some other books I have used.
I ended up using this book extensively, both for ideas and as a reference.

Note that the title of the book is something of a misnomer, less than 1/3 the book
is on 'building'. However the other 2/3 more than compensates for this.

This book is a collection of plans from state agricultural extension services across the U.S.. Plans are presented for fences, cabins, barns, animal feeding stations, milking stations, shearing stations, green houses, cold frames, sheds, outhouses, cisterns, smokehouses, picnic tables and saw horses. Plus a whole lot more.
The only word of caution is that quite a few of the large structures are geared to the state of origin. For example, the guest house is designed for Florida. The roof as presented will never withstand snow loads in Vermont. Likewise foundation depths; designs from Maryland will need to be extended below the frostline in colder climes. Otherwise, an incredible amount of good, useable information is presented along with several novel design approaches such as the reinforced concrete fence or the pasture drag made from old car tires.
This is one of my most prized and most used books. Highly recommended.

Excellent source for building ideas from fences to cabins. The plans are concise and very detailed. Highly recommend for the do it yourself person!

Bull's books on corkscrews are simply the best for describing the types, patents and prices of these facinating little devices. Bull is a passionate collector as well as being an irreverent and hilarious man. For a thoroughly pleasant diversion, visit his web site to learn and laugh. Wonderful.

This book is a must for the corkscrew collector, and for the wine enthusiast as well. It presents in a user friendly fashion the major types of corkscrews, with pictures and patent details, all one wants to know about this screwy subject. The pictures are great, and it is a good reference book.

A must have for all Designers interested in understanding how products are ultimately judged within their context-by thier effectiveness and usefulness.The six levels of Design Caplan outlines is a great measuring stick for all disciplines of Design and Engineering.

This outstanding book is said to be aimed at design students, professionals, or anyone else who could benefit from af uller appreciation of the design process. And yes, I have to agree, it is.

More important to me however is the presentation in this book of the essence of what design is all about. This is the kind of book that the financial people behind a new big hotel should read. It is the book that a product development engineer should read before he starts working with his industrial designer. This is the book that nearly any business manager from marketing, to engineering, to sales, should read.

The first time I travelled to Scandinavia I was struck with the simple elements of design that they do so much better than we do in this country. Simple things like the design of hotel doors, no more expensive than what we do here, just better.

And the sub-title, 'why there are no locks on the bathrobe doors in the Hotel Louis XIV' -that's a great story, it makes such eminent sense. A special problem, a great design, see page 179.

Aside from the fact a reader will gain new appreciation for the Larssons and their art, a reason to purchase this book is that it is gorgeous. Good paper, excellent color reproductions, a nice heft. If you admire Larsson and Scandinavian culture, this book is a "must have."

I ordered this book sight-unseen as a gift, and thought "well, I like Carl Larsson's paintings, I'll get one for myself while I'm at it." I'm so glad I did! I realize that, before reading this delicious book, I had never really "seen" a Carl Larsson painting before. I didn't know that all those happy Swedish ninteenth-century domestic watercolor scenes actually documented Larsson's home and family, and I had no idea that his wife Karin was the creator of the fabrics, co-creator of the furniture and equal partner in what is not only a beautiful and original home environment, but one that has influenced interior design to this day, a hundred year later.

The text is written by different experts. I am not really sure that I come away from it with much sense of the Larssons' personalities in a detailed way, but the work speaks for itself and I consider this book to be more than just a valuable addition to my art library, but also as a great read and, even more -- a great "look".

The publisher of this book, The Taunton Press, has published a series of outstanding book on homes in America. Unlike many publishers, they have not concentrated on the giant mansions that few of us can afford. This book is a compilation of houses selected from about ten years of hous books. It features fifty homes, perhaps ten percent of the homes featured in all of their books, that have been selected by a panel of distinguished residential architects using a number of criteria based on both attractive design and things like livability.

I'm thinking of building a new house. I live alone, kids are gone, I don't like house cleaning so want a small easy maintenance house. That's not to say that some distinctive architecture would hurt. There are some houses here that really have me thinking. One in Kansas was built to a $50,000 budget using a lot of salvaged commercial building pieces such as trusses.

Then at the end of the book, three of the architects who helped select the 50 houses have short essays on residential artechitecture. This is a splendid coffee table book, but beyond that, if you've any thought of building, this is a marvelous book.

Celebrating The American Home: 50 Great Houses From 50 American Architects by licensed architect Joanne Kellar Bouknight showcases the architectural plans for fifty homes selected by a panel of distinguished residential architects (John Connell, Duo Dickinson, Jeremiah Eck, Richard Hayes, Kerry Dietz) based on how well these houses reflect core qualities of great residential design. Profusely illustrated with 350 color photos, Celebrating The American Home is an impressively produced and organized contribution to professional, academic, and community library Architectural Studies collections.

Practical book for communication Engineer

This book is an excellent starting point for the not so well versed in this field. It has a lucid approach with clear diagrams, well referenced throughout the text. It can be used on its own or as supporting material to the William Lee book (Mobile Cellular Comm. Systems).

Ms. Vojtech captures the heart and soul of the Chesapeake bay with her delightful book on skipjacks. If you think that this book is just a book of pictures, you're wrong. While the photographs are superb, it is the writing that brings to the forefront the hard and lonely life of a waterman.

This book should be an essential element of personal library within a few hours drive of the bay.

This is a must have book for Chesapeake Bay skipjack devotees as well as others interested in work boats. Pat's over 50 beautiful color photos of skipjacks in action on the Cheapeakee Bay are worth the price by themselves. Ms Vojtech supports the photos with a facinating history of the oyster tonging and dredging along vignets of actual people in the trade. Interesting, is the discussion of economics which has extended the lfie of working sail on the Chesapeake to protect the oyster beds from depletion.

As an architect, I work closely with clients to build their dream home. This process begins with concept design and progresses on to the design development phase. This is when Chicago Luxury Home & Condo becomes an indispensible guide for my clients. It allows them to quickly and easily research and select the multitude of shelter industry resources in the Chicago area - builders, interior designers, landscapers, home furnishings, kitchen & bath, etc. This book helps my clients envision their new homes holistically and allows them to take an active role in the creation of their home.

Wanting to build my own new home has been a long-time dream. But where and how do you start? Picking up this book allowed me to not only find architects, builders and craftspeople, it also gives great tips about what to look for in planning. Beautiful photography and illustrations gave me lots of "what if" ideas. Highly recommended and at a very reasonable price!

good book about Chimney swifts, their habitat loss and constructing "Chimneys" for them to raise young in. The book describes the construction of these small towers using modern methods and materials. I think this book will be the definitive Chimney Swift work of our time. Buy it and build a tower. You and these gregarious little flying insect eaters will be better for it. Watching Chimney swifts reminds me greatly of watching a Quiditch match as described in the Harry Potter books.

Kyle and Georgean have put together "the book" on how to build a chimney swift tower. What I especially love about this book is that they provide a numb er of different designs - three different types of wooden towers as well as different types of masonry/cement block towers - so you have options. There are pictures - photographs and drawings throughout to help with the building and the materials/instructions are very clear. I haven't convinced my husband to build one (yet)and we already have swifts in our chimney but I am working with a local park and some eagles scouts to put one up. Another thing I really like about this book is that it goes beyond just putting up a swift tower. It also gives guidance on monitoring the tower (to include electronic monitoring like putting a camera inside) and report forms. It also has great pictures so that at a park, for example, you can create an educational evironment as well. Another neat thing is to also host a "swift night out" in the fall, where people gather to watch the swifts (babies all fledged and practicing their flight maneuvers)as they fly around the tower, dive in and more. Its so amazing to see them flying at incredible speeds and then dive into the chimney or tower. What a sight. I've also ready that when the young are learning to fly, if one is having trouble, the adults will flying in circles below them, creating an updraft to help lift them higher. They are such amazing birds, deserving of our attention and preservation. This book really helps us not only provide a nesting site but also opportunities for our own education.....as the saying goes....we conserve what we love, we love what we understand, we understand what we are taught.