The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live

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When describing a favorite room in the house, do you find yourself using terms such as "expansive," "formal," and "spacious"--a marble foyer or a formal dining room perhaps? Or do the words "cozy," "intimate," and "warm" come to mind--a cheery little breakfast nook or a window seat complete with plenty of pillows and a breathtaking view? More than likely, you--like thousands of other homeowners--are drawn to the more personal spaces in your home, where comfort, beauty, and efficiency meet. In The Not So Big House, respected architect Sarah Susanka and coauthor Kira Obolensky address our affinity for the "smaller, more personal spaces" and propose "clear, workable guidelines for creating homes that serve both our spiritual needs and our material requirements." The heart of the not-so-big house--which is not "just a small house ... [but] a smaller house," that uses "less space to give greater quality of life," and is designed to not only "accommodate the lifestyles of its occupants" but also to express "our values and our personalities," is discussed in chapter 1, entitled "Bigger Isn't Better." Susanka's urging for homeowners to get creative with their space as well as loads of ideas to encourage that creativity are covered in "Rethinking the House" and "Making Not So Big Work." Discussions of specific needs, such as a home for one and designing for kids, can be found in "Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous," while "Dreams, Details, and Dollars" gets down to the nuts and bolts of the operation, looking at quality versus quantity, budgeting, and what "low end," "middle ground," and "high end" really mean in home design and construction. Lastly, the authors look at the home of the future, which involves simplifying, recycling, reducing waste, and using energy-efficient construction. With more than 200 color photographs, as well as floor plans and Susanka and Obolensky's intelligent and lively dialogue, The Not So Big House is perfect for homeowners ready to rethink their space. --Stefanie Hargreaves

Book Description

Sarah Susanka contends that people are naturally drawn to intimate spaces. Large structures inspired by outdated patterns tend to result in houses that just don't work. In The Not So Big House, she proposes clear guidelines for creating homes that serve spiritual needs as well as material requirements. Topics covered include designing for specific lifestyles, budgeting, building a home from scratch, and using energy-efficient construction. With more than 200 color photographs as well as floor plans, the book is perfect for homeowners ready to rethink their space. “Susanka says to evaluate what makes you feel at home and let your activities define your rooms.” — San Francisco Chronicle

Customer Reviews:

Great concepts, middling design.......2007-09-25

I've found this book to be an invaluable resource and appreciate the philosophy and information contained within it. I also found the numerous photos and illustrations to be helpful to convey Susanka's ideas.

The only problem is that I found the actual design and decor of the homes in the book somehow dated and uninspiring. This is definitely a personal reaction, and I'm sure others would disagree. Despite my issues with the actual look of the homes, I'd recommend this as an essential resource along with John Wheatman's books (whose design does resonate for me).

Inspiration & ideas for rethinking your living space.......2007-09-02

The ideas in this book encourage you to think about how you would like use your home space and how to accomplish this marriage of functionality with comfort and aesthetics. Almost every photo has some new little idea to think about. It gives me hope that I'll finally be able to create a comfortable home that integrates everyone's interests & needs. It's inspirational for those of us who have to adapt living spaces to growing families & to those like me who are now empty nesters (but who still need bed space for visiting family members).

A must Have If You Plan To Build.......2007-06-27

Useful, practical, creative. Anyone can gain something from this book even if you aren't building.

Reviewed by Amy Lignor.......2007-06-21

Have you ever found yourself asking, "Is this all there is to life?" We are running in a world of cell phone and blackberry technology, where life is so fast that we never have time to do what we truly want: sit back and enjoy our lives while we have one. This author, with a background in architecture, has put together a fantastic psychological blueprint, if you will, to make changes that will offer you a more rewarding life. This is not like the usual "schlock" that says close your eyes and all good things will come. No, this author takes the time to reveal that things like form and function are not only useful in building a house, they can be translated into building a better life. In a house, you can tear down interior walls to make more space and bring in more light; in your life, you can tear down your fears and open new possibilities.

This is a lovely read filled with wise advice. The author has successfully interwoven her extensive architectural background into well-compiled thoughts on how each and every one of us can make small changes in our lives that will allow us to treasure the time we have.

My advice? If you wish to begin taking time out to enjoy your life - begin by reading this book.

Insightful book with great ideas.......2007-05-26

I was starting to think I was crazy for wanting to build a small house, but this book perfectly articulates the thoughts I was having so much conveying. It is a wonderful basis for discussion and offers many practical, well thought out ideas for implementation.

Not So Big House, The: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live

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Not So Big House, The: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live
Sarah; Obolensky, Kira Susanka
Manufacturer: Taunton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KWFMB0

Book Description

In 1851, a war began in what would become Yosemite National Park, a war against the indigenous inhabitants that has yet to come to a real conclusion. A century later--1951--and about a hundred and fifty miles away, another war began when the U. S. government started setting off nuclear bombs at the Nevada Test Site, in what was called a nuclear testing program but functioned as a war against the land and people of the Great Basin. Savage Dreams is an exploration of these two landscapes. Together they serve as our national Eden and Armageddon and offer up a lot of the history of the west, not only in terms of Indian and environmental wars, but in terms of the relationship between culture--the generation of beliefs and views--and its implementation as politics.

Customer Reviews:

The Other Reviews Are Not About The Book.......2007-03-02

Wow, take a moment to read the other reviews of this book.

I picked this book up off a bargain table, and months later happened to take it with me when I was visiting Yosemite without knowing 1/2 the book was about Yosemite. That was kind of a thrill.

Solnit's historical and writing skills, her ability to build a world stage of activity and its interconnectedness with her narrative are extraordinary.

As a landscape artist and photographer, I find this book to be a great resource. Understanding the history of Yosemite is frankly consciousness shifting.

As the other reviewer says, nuclear weapons are our oyster.

Indians, big bangs, Central Park, Fremont and the Heart of Darkness. How about that.

People should really learn Yosemite Native American history.......2007-01-10

If people would really read the TRUE history of Yosemite Indians they would find something interesting. First the Miwoks in the area were friends and workers for James Savage and Charles Webber, the founder of Stockton. The Miwoks had a working relationship with both white men and they dug gold for them. The real Indians of Yosemite were Mono Paiutes who tried to fight off the invasion, and not Miwoks. They were allied with the white invaders and they called James Savage "White father". I am a descendent of the original Indians of Yosemite and there is a problem. The defintion "Some of them are killers" for Yosemite was fabricated in 1978 and is not the original meaning of Yosemite. The real meaning was "The Killers" or "The Grizzlies" because the Miwoks were afraid of the Ahwahnees. It was Chief Bautista and Russio, who were helping the Mariposa Battalion, who coined that term "Yosemite" for the Indians in Yosemite Valley which they were afraid to enter. It is because the Miwoks were once enemies of Chief Tenaya and the Ahwahnees. 30 years Yosemite National Park Service hired a person named Craig Bates who was married to a Miwok woman and had a 1/2 Miwok son who created that new defintion. So it is increble that ONE person changed the meaning and defintion of one of the most important and well known parks in the whold world...and no one noticed. The Miwoks were actually the scouts and guides for James Savage and the Mariposa Battalion, but you would not know it because the information was controlled by the "Indian expert" at Yosemite, which causes wrong information to be written...like the actual defintion of Yosemite. For the real story read Lafayette H. Bunnell's Discovery of the Yosemite to find out the truth.

A thrilling excursion into the heart of the West.......2004-05-19

If you have an open and inquisitive mind, no matter what your political outlook, you will enjoy this exploration of western America and our relationship with this unique landscape. Solnit weaves discussions about the settlement of the west by Euro-Americans, native American rights, nuclear testing, and other critical issues, with ruminations about H.D. Thoreau, John Muir, country music, landscape painters, and other intriguing topics. This is an excellent book about an important subject that will delight you if you let it.

Savage Dreams.......2004-01-15

This book is classic eco paganistic 1/2 truths and full tripe. Solnit carries on a dreamy and irresponsible massive 'feel good' opinion piece about the handfull of people harmed by our successfull development of our deffensive nuclear weapons. The author fails to note that our development and limited use of our weapons saved millions of lives.
If you are currently a eco pagan, here is more for your religion. If you want a full account of the history of our deffensive development of nuecs, don't waste your time reading this novel. However, if you want further insight into the basis that drives our planet's new pagan eco religion, then this book will help you to understanding their factualy fictionist journey into politics.

No romanticism here.......2000-02-06

Solnit's juxtaposition of the insidious nuclear poisoning of Nevada to the making of Yosemite National Park (that she shows has been "loved to death" since it was first discovered by whites more than 150 years ago)makes this book a must for all environmentalists. Solnit deals directly with themes of conquest and redemption in historic efforts to both tame and use these lands. Readers gain specific understanding about two places that are, after all, national icons. However, the deeper themes so well-developed in this book are being played out no less dramtically all across the country.

Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America

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The fading ruins among us
A Haunting Tour of America's Cold War Ghost Towns
A Fantastic Storyteller Explores the Cold War
Heady stuff, very smartly written
Boring - should have been much better

Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America
Tom Vanderbilt
Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Reference | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1568983050

Book Description

The Cold War was the war that never happened. Nonetheless, it spurred the most significant buildup of military contingency this country has ever known: from the bunkers of Greenbrier, West Virginia, to the "proving grounds" of Nevada, where entire cities were built only to be vaporized. The Cold War was waged on a territory that knew no boundaries but left few traces. In this fascinating--and at turns frightening and comical--travelogue to the hidden battlefields of the Cold War, Tom Vanderbilt travels the Interstate (itself a product of the Cold War) to uncover the sites of Cold War architecture and reflect on their lasting heritage. In the process, Vanderbilt shows us what the Cold War landscape looked like, how architecture tried to adapt to the threat of mass destruction, how cities coped with the knowledge that they were nuclear targets, and finally what remains of the Cold War theater today, both its visible and invisible legacies. Ultimately, Vanderbilt gives us a deep look into our cultural soul, the dreams and fears that drove us for the last half of the 20th century.

Customer Reviews:

The fading ruins among us.......2007-06-28

Author Tom Vanderbilt takes us around the country examining the evidences left by the Cold War, a war which did and yet didn't happen. From missile silos being destroyed to ones being turned into homes, from "proving grounds" to backyard bomb shelters, Mr. Vanderbilt uncovers sites which often sit right in front of us and simply blend into our landscape in spite of their obviously militaristic features. But he goes beyond the aging and disappearing signs indicating "fallout shelters" and discusses how the threat of nuclear annihilation shaped our cities and our thinking. Cities became the targets, and today's suburbs, often denigrated under the label of "urban sprawl," were a reaction to and a defense against the calamities which befell the densely packed cities of Germany and Japan which proved so fatal during the firebombing raids of WWII. Attempts to fortify buildings, strategies for minimizing casualties, underground cities, interstate highways, early warning systems, NORAD, massive retaliation... it all walks a fine line between critical and absurd, interesting and boring.

I can't help imagining the puzzlement the younger generation must feel at seeing some of these things. Growing up in the 70s and 80s I only saw the end of the Cold War, but the Reagan years witnessed an increase in tensions with the USSR (do younger people even know who that was or what it stood for?) and I recall some events like the local opposition which prevented the deployment of MX missiles in the Utah desert in the late 70s. It also reminded me of movies I saw as a teenager like "War Games" and "The Day After," or music by Sting ("Russians") or Frankie Goes To Hollywood ("Two Tribes") which reflected the contradictions of a peace maintained by the ability of two nations to assure "mutual destruction" of each other within minutes. And yet that seemed to be the reality of the world we lived in, and I thought this book captured that sense very well. Mr. Vanderbilt ends with some sobering observations on how September 11th relates to this struggle to protect ourselves without falling into a "bunker mentality." Overall, an interesting and reflective look at a fading time, a look at the darker side of the optimism and technological advances of the 50s and 60s, with lots of great pictures (all in stark b&w) although maybe not quite 4 stars.

A Haunting Tour of America's Cold War Ghost Towns.......2006-04-06

Tom Vanderbilt's Survival City is a sociological survey of a forty year war that never happened. Rummaging through the modern ruins of Cold War America, Vanderbilt's haunting travelogue takes the reader into old and derelict Altas II and Minuteman missile silos, past deserted radar stations and along the broken desert landscapes of weapons proving grounds. The Cold War was an invisible conflict that most of us somehow learned to live with. But, the Cold War had a visceral reality for those technicians that watched the radar screens for the "hand of god," the massive missile attack expected from the Soviets, which would appear like a skeletal hand reaching down from the North Pole towards North America. Mid-twentieth century architects weren't speculating if a nuclear attack would occur...but when. Fallout shelters and bunkers were integrated into some public and corporate buildings, but for the most part, urban and military planners had written off cities as indefensible. This, in part, explains the growth of suburbia -- the last defense against urban decapitation attacks.

Vanderbilt's writing is crisp with the right combination of horror and moral shock at appropriate times.

Survival City charts the emergence of the city as a war machine, its subsequent elevation to a military target in World War II, and the overall effect weapons of mass-destruction have had on our urban conscience. This book is a great read that even includes a postscript written on Sep. 17, 2001 that eerily reinforces the message of the book.

I found this book to be a fairly short read, with lots of pictures of the various places the author is visiting along the way.

Good stuff.

Final grade: B+

A Fantastic Storyteller Explores the Cold War.......2005-12-21

Tom Vanderbilt's book is not only factual, but provides a riveting adventure through the remnants of America's Cold War. His writing is compelling. What he reveals is astonishing, and the pictures placed through out the book give the story crucial details that portray the reality of the Cold War in a way that words simply cannot articulate. The book draws you in and changes your perspective on and knowledge of history as well as the residue that coats America today.

Heady stuff, very smartly written.......2004-05-16

I'm usually a rather tough grader, but this is the best book I've read in quite some time. Vanderbilt takes us on a lively and diverse tour of cold war America's remaining architectural artifacts (the interstate highway system, bomb shelters, missile silos, misc. military installations - some still in use, nuclear waste sites, etc.) and weaves an analysis of same into an interesting and often surprising commentary on the historical period and the society which gave rise to these structures. For me, the novel perspective of looking at things from an architectural standpoint worked quite well at making the history and those times come alive.

The style is part documentary, part story-telling, part travelogue, part cultural anthropology, and part essay on topics in architecture (generally) which I previously would not have thought about, or thought I had any reason to think about. The approach was successful enough that I found myself frequently being simply and skillfully led to surprising and profound insights, which were a delight. I came away from the book thinking Vanderbilt was an excellent writer with many new and important ideas on the fascinating subject of nuclear weapons, the cold war, and national security generally -- subjects which can easily be made drole, heavy, boring and/or tedious. For many, the so-called atomic era seems long gone and forgotten (and slightly silly in many aspects), but Vanderbilt makes the issues faced then seem relevant to many similar problems facing us today by placing them in a context of continuity. Highly recommended to a broad audience.

Boring - should have been much better.......2004-03-20

Tom Vanderbilt would love to be an architect. He's constantly critical of 1950's architecture - wherever he finds it.

With surprisingly little technical knowledge, he tours testing grounds and bunkers. But it's not all Atomic America: he has the same commentary towards Arcosanti and Biosphere. Where I yearn for a storyline, he delivers watered down architecural critique.

Vanderbilt's writing seems to follow this algorithm: Begin a paragraph using a sentence with an odd phrase in quotations. Then refute this with an academic argument. The first dozen times are fun. A whole book written in this style is tedious.

Customer Reviews:

Hellish........2004-08-21

I read this book twice ten years ago when it was still in the library. I haven't been able to find a copy since then, but the images of the hellish, alien landscapes that Mr. Goin photographs are still so vivid that to use words "powerful" or "evocative" would tarnish their terrible beauty.

If any book begs to be reprinted, this is it.

One of the most haunting books you'll ever see.......1998-06-02

I don't know of any book whose images have stuck with me for so long. "Nuclear Landscapes" is a chilling look at the remnants of America's vast nuclear weapons production and testing. From the Hanford reservation in Washington state to the south Pacific to the deserts of Arizona you will always be aware that while the photos may look serene there's always enough radiation around to at least give you cancer or some other related malady. Peter Goin knew the risk he was taking, but he left a priceless work for all people to look at and become aware of what we've done to many places on Earth with nuclear testing. One would wish that India and Pakistan would take a serious look and realize that they too have places that can never be inhabited. That they also have nuclear landscapes.

A pictorial history of nuclear waste graveyards and testing.......1997-10-16

Anyone researching locations on nuclear waste disposal sites or areas used for nuclear testing will find ample material in this book by Peter Goin. If you're looking for images of desolate and abandoned landscapes, this is definitely a great resource.

Landscape permanence and nuclear warnings.: An article from: The Geographical Review

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Landscape permanence and nuclear warnings.: An article from: The Geographical Review
Martin J. Pasqualetti
Manufacturer: American Geographical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00097UHHU
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Geographical Review, published by American Geographical Society on January 1, 1997. The length of the article is 7754 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: From the perspective of a human lifetime, the hazards of some nuclear wastes are permanent, so the warnings we place at contaminated nuclear sites must be permanent too. I address questions of how best to provide one hundred centuries of public warning at the first facility for permanent disposal, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Scenarios of intrusion developed to guide the design of warning markers predicted that most of the changes in the area will be social and cultural. Because blatant and permanent markers will increase, not reduce, the probability of inadvertent intrusion, the most appropriate warning is a "landscape of illusion." Such a landscape needs not permanent surface markers but underground warning devices beneath a soft surface marker. No warning can guarantee deterrence for 10,000 years, however. Keywords. landscape, nuclear waste, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Citation Details
Title: Landscape permanence and nuclear warnings.
Author: Martin J. Pasqualetti
Publication: The Geographical Review (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 1997
Publisher: American Geographical Society
Volume: v87 Issue: n1 Page: p73(19)

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Still Crazy-nuclear power plants as seen in Japanese landscapes

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Still Crazy-nuclear power plants as seen in Japanese landscapes
Taishi Hirokawa
Manufacturer: Korinsya Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 4771301697

Book Description

Born and raised by the seashore, the photographer observed the coastline that transformed along with Japan's rapid post-war economic growth. He captures, quite serenely, the nuclear power plants that appeared on the coasts of Japan and the transfiguration of countryside that came with it.

Are we to live forever with this edifice of convenience, or have we taken into hands something ungovernable?

One thing for certain is that human beings and nuclear energy have become inseparable, and that we enjoy its benefit at all times.

As if a specimen, the power plants are labeled by the date they were photographed. These plants are to be dismantled in over 40 years.

This, nonetheless, is a typical scerery of modern Japan.

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Decommissioning nuclear power plants: A landscape architect's perspective
E. Lynn Miller
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Nuclear | Energy | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000712OD8

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Peter Goin, nuclear landscapes: Mint Museum of Art, September 14 through November 3, 1991 (ARTCurrents)
Peter Goin
Manufacturer: The Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006QE932

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