Book Description
People have shaped the landscape around them since prehistoric times, creating places as diverse in form and meaning as Stonehenge, the Forbidden City of Beijing, Versailles, and New York's Central Park. Overflowing with hundreds of plans, drawings, and photographs, many created specially for this book, this engrossing volume spans the history of landscape design and reveals a great deal about the development of societies, and how cities, parks, and gardens embody cultural values.
Examining famous and lesser-known sites, some now vanished, this comprehensive survey leads the reader from ancient Egyptian royal cemeteries to the magnificent gardens of Renaissance and Baroque Europe, and from great 18th-century English estates and American public gardens to the earthworks and other landscape projects of today.
A feast for the historian, landscape designer, and gardener alike, this new book has no equal.
630 illustrations, 430 in full color, 544 pages, 85/8 x 111/2"
Customer Reviews:
Landscape Design.......2006-11-10
This is one of the most tedious books that I've ever read. It focuses more on historical, cultural and politcal influences than actual garden design. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're in need of a good night's sleep.
Perfect History book for a visual learner.......2005-07-21
This is a great book. It is very readable, and even if you are not particularly interested in landscape design/architectural history, Elizabeth Barlow Rogers will inspire you. This book follows landscape and cultural architecture through history and makes me wonder why all schools - from elementary on up - don't attack history lessons from such a practical and fascinating point of view.
Also, compared with other landscape Arch books this is much less narrow and really weaves in many many threads of cultural and historical interest.
Great coffee table book, bad text book.......2003-12-18
I had to purchase this book for my LA class and it's a bug squasher. While the pictures are impressive, and the coverage of the subject in-depth, the author can be long winded. What she covers in a page could have easily been said in a couple of paragraphs. I also don't care for the glossy pages. While they make the pictures look nice, reading the fine text that it's printed can give one a headache.
A note about the photos.......2003-10-14
Very well researched history of landscape design. However, I wouldn't go so far as to describe the photographs as 'breathtaking' as does another reviewer. There are many of them, all interesting, but almost all (apart from a brief intro sequence) only quarter or eighth page size. As a result, there is no image as impressive as the front cover. This is my only quibble, and the reason for 4 not 5 stars: why have a book so big and then not make full use of its size to present such a visually-based subject?
Landscape Design: A Cultural And Architectural History.......2002-06-15
From Nineveh to a mobile home in Pecos, NM, Rogers casts a wide net, exploring the evolution of formal landscaping in parallel to humansÕ urge to put their mark on the earth. A scholar, who administered New YorkÕs Central Park for two decades, she provides a compelling account of the cultural roots that underly the plantings, explaining the ideas inherent in unfamiliar and classic gardens. Every page contains sharp insightsÑfor example, her suggestion that the broken column that the Baron de Monville built as his house at the Desert de Retz outside Paris in the 1780s portended the revolution that would sweep away the civilization he cherished. The abundance of plans and illustrations do ample justice to the text. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)
Book Description
This book examines the fierce debate on the styles and forms of garden design that took place in England c. 1870-1914. Focusing on the wild garden, the cottage garden, the formal garden and the synthesis of the formal and natural styles, Anne Helmreich argues that design principles were indelibly shaped by the quest for a powerful English national identity. She demonstrates how "Englishness" was purportedly expressed through the leading styles of garden design and why the garden was promoted as a symbol of national identity.
Book Description
Elaborately conceived, grandly constructed insane asylumsâranging in appearance from classical temples to Gothic castlesâwere once a common sight looming on the outskirts of American towns and cities. Many of these buildings were razed long ago, and those that remain stand as grim reminders of an often cruel system. For much of the nineteenth century, however, these asylums epitomized the widely held belief among doctors and social reformers that insanity was a curable disease and that environmentâarchitecture in particularâwas the most effective means of treatment.
In The Architecture of Madness, Carla Yanni tells a compelling story of therapeutic design, from America’s earliest purposeâbuilt institutions for the insane to the asylum construction frenzy in the second half of the century. At the center of Yanni’s inquiry is Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, a Pennsylvania-born Quaker, who in the 1840s devised a novel way to house the mentally diseased that emphasized segregation by severity of illness, ease of treatment and surveillance, and ventilation. After the Civil War, American architects designed Kirkbride-plan hospitals across the country.
Before the end of the century, interest in the Kirkbride plan had begun to decline. Many of the asylums had deteriorated into human warehouses, strengthening arguments against the monolithic structures advocated by Kirkbride. At the same time, the medical profession began embracing a more neurological approach to mental disease that considered architecture as largely irrelevant to its treatment.
Generously illustrated, The Architecture of Madness is a fresh and original look at the American medical establishment’s century-long preoccupation with therapeutic architecture as a way to cure social ills.
Carla Yanni is associate professor of art history at Rutgers University and the author of Nature’s Museums: Victorian Science and the Architecture of Display.
Customer Reviews:
I agree with sigdragon .......2007-08-12
I tend to agree with you sigdragon. Most authors outside of the field who write on this topic do not do the proper research on mental illness/psychology/psychiatry. The reader must be very cautious and hesitant to accept knowledge from a writer who may be writing in their field but incorporating vast data from outside of their field. It is difficult to find well researched and accurate books on history/treatment of mental illness but there are some out there. Two come to mind: "The Art of Asylum Keeping: Thomas Story Kirkbride and the Origins of American Psychiatry" by Nancy Tomes. Also "Asylum: A Mid-Century Madhouse and Its Lessons about Our Mentally Ill Today" by Enoch Callaway, who is very well versed in the field. I am still waiting for my copy of the latter to arrive, so hopefully I can post a review on it by the end of the month. Cheers
Superb study of intersection of arhitecture, treatment of mental illness, and social norms.......2007-07-26
Once again, Prof. Yanni has contributed a significant work to the literature on architecture and society with "The Architecture of Madness." Following her well-received study of Victorain museum architecture, "Nature's Museums," her new work vividly depicts the relationship among social views on mental illness, prevailing trends in the treatment of mental illness, and the institutions into which those sufferers were admitted. A reader can only agree with Cotterill and Solomon that Yanni's work is, on Solomon's words, a "masterful job of blending meticulous research and superb analysis with well crafted writing."
Beautiful Scholarship.......2007-06-30
The Architecture of Madness is a thoughtful, important, and visually stunning book, which, for the first time, studies the relations between architecture and theories of treating the insane in public institutions in nineteenth-century America. The author is an architecture historian who is interested in relations among architecture, science, and social and cultural history and whose wide-ranging intellect is drawn to topics that open up the importance of architecture within the intellectual culture of early modernity. Like her previous book, Nature's Museums: Victorian Science and the Architecture of Display, this new volume is beautifully produced with text and accompanying drawings, graphics, and photography arranged on spacious, larger-than-usual pages which are inviting to the eye and also inviting to be read. Moreover, what characterizes this book, as it characterized Nature's Museums, is the author's clear, exact, highly readable prose. Yanni is a first-rate scholar and writes precisely, but she wears her learning lightly, eschews scholarly jargon. The extensive bibliography and notes are there, at the back, but this is a book designed to interest general reader and scholar alike--anyone who wants to know more about the movement for moral treatment of the mentally ill and the effect on institutional care of early ideas of environmental determinism. Her care and humility as a scholar are evident in what she perceives as the "respectful distance" her subject required: "if I have not performed feats of scholarly acrobatics, that is intentional, and, I believe, appropriate, for this is a book about places that witnessed a great deal of suffering." Finally, one of the most poignant observations Yanni makes in the Introduction concerns a critical disjunction between science and architecture that effected the buildings of her study as the nineteenth century ended. Ideas about care had begun to change: "In many ways, these buildings gave physical form, however, imperfect, to the ideals of their makers. But psychiatry moved on, and by the middle of the twentieth century, Victorian buildings had no medical credibility....This desperate obsolescence is one of the central issues in architecture and science." Her perception captures the delicate balance, in retrospect, of the moment Yanni has chosen to explore, when architecture and science were drawn to each other so fruitfully.
The Architecture of Madness: Insane Asylums in the United States.......2007-06-26
Carla Yanni's book will be the classic text on
19th century insane asylums. She has done
a masterful job of blending meticulous research
and superb analysis with well crafted writing.
Yanni, who is well versed in the history of architecture
and the history of science, tells a compelling,
accessible story.
Questionable Value.......2007-05-18
I bought 2 copies of this book - one for myself and one for a friend in the Mental Health field as it sounded as if it would be a nice addition to both of our Mental Health libraries.
The book, however, has some fundamental flaws in areas I have in depth knowledge of which causes me to question the accuracy of the areas with which I am less familiar.
The author clearly has a very limited knowledge of Psychiatry and Mental Illness from both an historical and modern day perspective. The book attributes the decline in populations in State mental hospitals from the 1950's on to among other things - the refusal by them to directly admit voluntary patients. This is strange as, at least in New York State - the institutions mentioned in her book were still admitting patients referring themselves directly from the streets well into the 1980's.
There are many other examples too numerous to list which betray her very limited knowledge of the field. The book would have been much better if it had confined itself to architecture and left out the author's almost "grade school need to write a report" attempts to explain mental illness and its treatments.
The author has, by trying to go beyond her knowledge base, turned what could have been a very good book into one which starts out with a great premise and ends with some pitiful speeches on why the author thinks these large facilities declined- decades before they actually did and her belief that psychiatric hospitals are not needed but ones for physical illness are.
Would recommend you borrow this book from the library to read as it is too expensive to own with its flaws.
Customer Reviews:
A powerful and unconventional look at contemporary America.......2001-06-04
This is a bold and powerful look at American life outside of political cliches like "evil corporations" and "evil Hollywood," thrown around by PBS / Naderites and conservatives respectively. Even though I am what Miller would consider a conservative, I could very much appreciate his book. It is a diagnosis like no other; it is coming straight from the heart of the beast -- a PR executive who realized the fine line between reality and fiction, advertising / entertainment and real life, and saw how it became uncoscionably blurred in post-Industrial America. I recommend Miller's inter-disciplinary (everything from economic sociology to art theory) book to anyone seeking an irreverent perspective on what at first glance seems to be a wornout subject. Prepare to be shocked!
A critical, and sometimes harsh, view of cultural decline.......1998-07-07
Miller's Egotopia presents an iconoclastic, highly critical view of modern America. Miller's central thesis is that the suppression of the public individual in favor of the private individual has had drastic consequences on our culture and environment; while Miller's focus is on aesthetics, his argument can be modified to bear on discussions of the environment and ethics as well. To blame for the rise of the private individual, Miller argues, are psychotherapy and neoclassical economics. The former is problematic in that it encourages individuals to satisfy primarily, if not only, their own egos. The latter replaces aesthetic, ethic, and cultural values with strictly economic value. The result of combining these two forces: the New American is taught to increase utility and profit at the expense of beauty, right, and goodness. All forms of value are replaced with economics; and, further, economic value is personal and subjective. The private individual is heralded as the measure of all things, and as a consequence society and culture decline. As a general warning, this book should probably not be read by economists, advertising agents, or "outdoor advertisers". For the rest of us, however, it serves as both an enlightening expose of the true American culture and a call to arms.
Book Description
Historic preservation efforts began with an emphasis on buildings, especially those associated with significant individuals, places, or events. Subsequent efforts were expanded to include vernacular architecture, but only in recent decades have preservationists begun shifting focus to the land itself. Cultural landscapes -- such as farms, gardens, and urban parks--are now seen as projects worthy of the preservationist's attention. To date, however, no book has addressed the critical issues involved in cultural landscape preservation.
In Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America, Arnold R. Alanen and Robert Z. Melnick bring together a distinguished group of contributors to address the complex academic and practical questions that arise when people set out to designate and preserve a cultural landscape. Beginning with a discussion of why cultural landscape preservation is important, the authors explore such topics as the role of nature and culture, the selling of heritage landscapes, urban parks and cemeteries, Puerto Rican neighborhoods in New York City, vernacular landscapes in small towns and rural areas, ethnographic landscapes, Asian American imprints on the western landscape, and integrity as a value in cultural landscape preservation.
Contributors: Arnold R. Alanen, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Luis Aponte-Perés, University of Massachusetts-Boston • Gail Lee Dubrow, University of Washington, Seattle • Richard Francaviglia, University of Texas, Arlington • Donald L. Hardesty, University of Nevada, Reno • Catherine Howett, University of Georgia, Athens • Robert Z. Melnick, University of Oregon • Patricia M. O'Donnell, Historic Preservation Consultant, Charlotte, Vermont • David Schuyler, Franklin & Marshall College
Customer Reviews:
Landscape Preservation.......2001-04-23
This book is well worth your time. If you have any interest in preservation and /or landscape you should read this book. It is very thought provoking and intelligently written. It poses more questions than it answers...which I believe is the intention of the editors. Because this book raises many questions and issues, I would recommend it for a book discussion club or a seminar class.
Book Description
A complete practical course for beginners-a step-by-step guide to the fine art of lettering. Throughout the book, structured exercises and practical step-by-step demonstra-tions help you put your new skills into action. 8 projects.
Customer Reviews:
Best Book No Matter What Your Level of Expertise.......2006-03-30
This book is full of outstanding examples of calligraphic artwork, some of them unusual. It's extremely complete regarding pens, such as how to sharpen them. And it even gives you an excellent overview of how to watercolor. I own many calligraphy books and thought I knew a great deal, but I learned much from this book. Worth buying.
Easy to Learn Calligraphy.......2003-04-13
I just sent out 200 elegant wedding invitations all done in Calligraphy that i learned from "Calligraphy School" in the last two months. i had never picked up a calligraphy pen and could not find any local classes so i bought this book to give it a try but was certain i would probably be hiring someone to do the calligraphy on my wedding invitations.
The book is interesting, easy to follow, has great instructions, modern colored pages, and a great font selection but not too overwhelming. i have the worst handwriting in the world and this book was able to teach me the basics in calligraphy. Worth every Penny and more.
suggestion to beginners - start with the thicker felt tip calligraphy pens till you master the letter flows and than change to the calligraphy cartridge pens (Scheaffer has been the best).
Wonderful.......2002-04-08
"Calligraphy School" is everything I was hoping it would be when I ordered it. Beautifully written, informative, gorgeous lay-out, very inspiring. I brought it to my calligraphy class to show the instructor and the other students, and they were as impressed as I. The book takes the student from Roman Serifs to the Lindesfarne Gospels and carolingian minuscules through to the Renaissance and some of the modern italic hands-- very comprehensive. Besides just the letterforms of virtually all the important alphabets throughout history, the authors also address the basics (and beyond) of applying a watercolor wash, interpreting text though color and design, even working with metallic leaf and illuminated letterforms! Pages and pages featuring the work of the most talented calligraphers. An absolutely beautiful book and very inspiring, as I said before, but it bears repeating.
Excels in step-by-step instructions.......2000-07-21
A very detailed introduction to calligraphy aimed at people who have NO prior experience. Pens, paper, ink are all covered in an unintimidating fashion. In tutorial fashion, the authors move from basic letter forms all the way to illuminating with gold leaf. Thorougly illustrated.
good beginners' reference.......1999-12-07
Quite a good reference guide for beginners. Plenty of examples and step by step guide. Projects are excellent ways for anyone to put their skills to practice. Get your money's worth.
Average customer rating:
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Celtic Illumination: The Irish School (Celtic Design)
Courtney Davis
Manufacturer: Irish Books & Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Ancient & Classical
| Schools, Periods & Styles
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
European
| Regional
| History & Criticism
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Calligraphy
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Illustration
| Commercial
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Decorative Arts
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Painting
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Calligraphy
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Books
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Crafts & Hobbies
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ireland
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0500280398 |
Book Description
Early Celtic illuminated manuscripts continue to intrigue us with their intricacy and craftsmanship. Contemporary artist Courtney Davis recreates portraits of the saints, border designs, Celtic symbols, and elaborate initials from all the Irish School manuscripts, spanning the period from the beginning of the seventh century until the twelfth century. His text vividly describes the historical background--the Christianization of Ireland, the Viking raids, and the monks who fled with their precious books to libraries abroad. From the Book of Durrow to the Corpus Missal, the origin of each manuscript is given, with an account of where and by whom it was made, its purpose, and the symbolism of its designs. The result is an inspiration for designers everywhere, and an essential resource for anyone interested in the Celts.
Average customer rating:
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Awesome Alphabets
Mike Artell
Manufacturer: Good Year Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 0673586472 |
Book Description
Draw 17 different letter styles, including slimy letters, fuzzy letters and super heroes! Ideal for young authors and illustrators, for their own comic book or comic strips, as well as for signs, posters, and banners. For Grades 2 and Up
Average customer rating:
- A complete treatise on handwriting
|
The Art and Science of Handwriting
Rosemary Sassoon
Manufacturer: Intellect L & D E F a E
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Education
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Elementary School
| Education
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
| General
| Reading
Business Skills
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
| Business Math
| Public Speaking
| Secretarial Aids & Training
| Shorthand
| Typing
General
| Publishing & Books
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Calligraphy
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1871516331 |
Book Description
Building on her diverse experience as an artist, trained in classical letterforms, and a researcher in calligraphy and educational and medical aspects of handwriting, Rosemary Sassoons work is encapsulated here.
Part one traces the transition from her background in letterforms and design to her more recent research. Part two presents an overview of her work in both hospital and educational settings.
Customer Reviews:
A complete treatise on handwriting.......2001-04-05
In The Art And Science Of Handwriting, Rosemary Sassoon draws upon her many years of study to present a complete treatise on handwriting. The topics and issues she covers include an analysis of penholds, the variability of written letterforms, medical and therapeutic aspects of handwriting, children's signatures, writer's cramp, curriculum planning, handwriting as an indicator of stress, and the psychology of calligraphy. The Art And Science Of Handwriting is unique, scholarly, and fascinating.
Average customer rating:
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Calligraphy
Fiona Watt
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding
ASIN: 0613539796 |
Customer Reviews:
all fluff no substance.......2000-12-12
This book is not worth the money. It is short, bright, and attractive, supposedly geared to kids. However, there are no basic instructions, mostly just cute ideas of things you could do if you already knew calligraphy, and those ideas are not particularly unique. Examples, at best, show complex letter forms that they haven't shown you how to do, at worse they do not match the text. For example, they recommend "using two pencils" to draw double line letters, but then picture an outline letter form that could not have been made with two pencils. Instead, look at The Complete Book of Callligraphy, Lyon and Sullivan, which does what this purports to do, but fully and well.
Customer Reviews:
Not that easy.......2007-02-25
I found the layout really confusing. Also if you are a beginner I would say this is not for you. It doesn't contain much "instruction." I would suggest "The Calligrapher's Bible" instead.
Not a beginner's book.......2006-02-07
I'm trying to teach myself this beautiful art. This book is certainly not for the beginner. The concept of a new alphabet each week and weekly projects is a great one, however there isn't enough instruction on materials or form to make it very helpful to those of us new to this art. I'll keep it for reference but must continue my search for a great teaching tool.
My Least Favorite Book on Calligraphy.......2005-01-03
I was given 3 books on Calligraphy, as a Christmas present from my daughter, and this book is at the bottom of the list.
It does contain many different fonts, and the idea of having a practice lesson every week for a year is a novel idea indeed. However, I found this book disorganized, and try to do the lessons with one arm trying to hold the book flat.
Wonderful book.......2004-02-10
This book is more complete than I expected and it is written in such a way that you are eager at trying your hand at the next alpahbet. Great for the person who already knows how to handle the pens.
Very helpful.......2002-10-12
Nicely-formatted book with a gazillion scripts. Made me get out my calligraphy pen immediately and start practicing, which is really the name-of-the-game to developing this delightful and useful skill. Knock your friends out and write in some of these beautiful hands!
Customer Reviews:
As easy as it claims.......2007-03-09
This book is great with its workbook format. It really did make it easy to learn the style of calligraphy it teaches. Its format makes it so simple that all you need is a calligraphy marker or pen. The rest is all in the book, from how to instructions, to tracing pages, to practicing, and to decorative projects. I really enjoyed it and also gave a copy to a 10 year old who equally enjoyed it.
Content needs updating..........2005-07-28
I have this workbook and I feel that the content needs to be updated. I photocopy the exercise pages and others but I would prefer a different workbook for Calligraphers. I don't use carpenters pencils...but my Sheafer Fountain Callgraphy pen broad nib works with this book. I think for what I paid for it that I could have gotten a better deal elsewhere.
Amateur!.......2003-04-03
I am so tired of seeing calligraphy "how-to" books put out by folks who don't really have the background and knowledge, but I guess it makes them money. I wish the author would take the time to truly learn good calligraphy letterforms before passing hers on to the unsuspecting public.
YIKES!.......2000-08-28
Not the greatest letterforms for beginners to be looking at... don't use this... please!
The best book for learning calligraphy I have seen........1999-02-19
I found this book to be very comprehensive, easy to follow and will recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn calligraphy.
Average customer rating:
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Decorated Lettering (Fresh Start Series)
John Lancaster
Manufacturer: Franklin Watts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding
Calligraphy
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Crafts & Hobbies
| Arts & Music
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0531140741 |
Books:
- Lighting Design Basics
- Making Law: The State, the Law, and Structural Contradictions (A Midland Book ; Mb 834)
- Mastering Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2006
- Minding Her Own Business: The Self-Employed Woman's Essential Guide to Taxes and Financial Records
- Morphosis: Volume IV (Morphosis; Buildings and Projects)
- New Bar And Club Design
- One Morning in Maine
- Outside the Bungalow: America's Arts and Crafts Garden
- Palm Springs Weekend: The Architecture and Design of a Midcentury Oasis
- Permission to Steal: Revealing the Roots of Corporate Scandal (Blackwell Public Philosophy)
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