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A Field Guide to American Houses

5 stars (Great Photographs-Line Drawings Weak) - At 525 pages, Virginia and Lee McAlester's " A Field Guide to American Houses " is an exhaustive study of the different styles of American domestic architecture. They identify and categorize 39 different architectural styles. This is much more than most field guides. I have been collecting architectural field guides for a number of years. The only thing I do not like in this well prepared book is the over-reliance on black and white photos of homes. The quality of the photos vary significantly. The photos are not of the same high caliber as the photos taken for Historic American Building Survey.(HABS) I believe the best field guides are made up line drawings. Line drawings get to the point and the different archiectural features can be labled. The best line drawings really help in clarifying stylistic points. Photos can be distracting because trees, power lines and vehicles end up in many of the photos. There are line drawings in this book at the beginning of each section. Unfortunately, the line drawings are the weakest part of the book. This is a great book and you cannot go wrong with purchasing it. However, as a devotee of these types of books, I would recommend purchasing Lester Walker's "American Shelter". His illustrations are really beautiful and very informative. 5 stars (Great Book for Preservationists!) - This book has helped me through school! Its a great book to have in your collection if you study preservation or interested in architecture! 5 stars (Invaluable Reference) - You will truly value this book if you are interested in the styles of residential architecture in America. After an engaging survey in the introduction, the styles and movements are presented in chronological order. Also included at this point are outline drawings of the various types of houses, illustrating style, basic shapes, elevations, plans, types of materials and building techniques used as well as a pictori...
Knopf :: Architecture & Reference :: United States :: U S Architecture - General :: Reference :: Guides :: Guidebooks :: Domestic :: Description and travel :: Architecture :: D :: A Field Guide to American Houses

 

Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction Ramsey-Sleeper Architectural Graphic S

1 stars (Readers' Digest Version of AGS) - Although these editions change little, this review is based upon AGS 10th Ed. & AGSRC 2003. Negative: This is bascially a regurgitation of the more complete Architectural Graphics Standards, distilled to a "residential" focus but appears as volumous because some details have been photo-enlarged (in poor-average quality). Few, if any new residential details/information has been provided. Positive: Those ONLY interested in residential construction and NOT requiring a full brace of ALL details will find this quite a good value - compare its price to Architectural Graphics Standards. Recommendation: Anyone in construction should have one, but not both of these books as a prime resource. The content does improve every year, although some years it's like watching grass grow. Challenge: IF there are numerous portions of the Residential version that are unique and new to it, exclusive of passages in the larger AGS version - I would really appreciate a review that contains how to locate these passages, as I've spent enough time trying to find them. If enough of these exist, it would give thought of updating this resource once in awhile. 3 stars (One volume encyclopedia) - Experienced readers will benefit from its brief summaries and drawings covering the broadest range of topics imaginable. Some economizing is evident in the paper and printing quality, some of the drawings look 50 years old, but there is lots of reference information, like span tables, solar position data, etc. Probably not the last word on every topic, but still worth consulting. 5 stars (A wonderful resource) - Following in the terrific legacy of the benchmark Architectural Graphic Standards book, this edition clearly makes building for residences an easier task. I've found innumerable details that I've used in my residential practice on a daily basis, details not found in other reference books. Of particular help are the pages that give an overview of...
Wiley :: Residential buildings :: domestic buildings :: Building construction & materials :: Architecture & Reference :: Architectural structure & design :: Standards :: R :: Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction (Ramsey-Sleeper Architectural Graphic S

 

Interior Graphic Standards

5 stars (A good handbook for interior details!) - The day I received the Interior Graphic Standards , I used some of the details in the book for a project I was working on. This book provides information, including construction details, which are very useful to the practicing architect and interior designer. 5 stars (Bible of Interior Design~!) - I'm an Interior Design student at Ryerson University in Toronto, and I have never seen a book that is as comprehensive as the IGS. It covers almost everything. I've used this book as a reference for almost every school project I've done. My professor strongly recommended this book to us, but at first I was hesitated to buy it because of the price. However I found it cheaper to buy online than in retail bookstores. I told my classmates about it and showed them the book, after they've seen it they said they are all gonna buy it. Overall this book is worth its price and I strongly recommend it~! 5 stars (Most Comprehensive and Remarkable Book for the Industry) - This book is a remarkable achievement, from cover to cover! A must buy for anyone in the industry (or anyone interested in the industry)!!! I have been a practicing Interior Designer for eighteen years and I have yet to see anything as comprehensive and remarkable as this book! Even the Architectural Graphic Standards book pales by comparison! There is a section on Wood Veneers and Flooring with (12) pages of beatiful and informative color plates! There is even a Color Theory (color plate) section that is very useful! There is so much useful information and reference in this book, that any Designer or Architect should have it close by and keep a watchful eye on it, so that colleagues do not borrow it indefinitely!! ...
John Wiley - Sons :: Architecture & Reference :: Standards :: Reference :: Public :: Commercial :: or Industrial Buildings :: Interior Design - General :: Interior Design :: Drawings :: Det :: Interior Graphic Standards