Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design

Rating:
Summary: Appropriate Design Thought Engine
Review: The authors of this book have taken the best of Alexander's "A Pattern Language", and combined wonderfully designed and excellently photographed homes to publish an inspiring and thought provoking book. Frankly, the world has too many "500 House Plans" types of books. This one describes the logic, reason, and common sense that involves the interlocking of ten basic patterns that could make any basic design more successful. As a residential architect, I consider this among my five top-rated books.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful new book!
Review: This book takes the main concepts in A Pattern Language and fleshes them out, illustrating them with concrete examples and explanations, and demonstating how they can work in a residential home. Some of the themes are quite practical, like capturing light and creating indoor and outdoor rooms, while others are more abstract and theoretical, like the concept of being able to look out from a protected space. All of the principles are based on human psychology and why we inherently like and feel comfortable in some places and not in others, which makes Patterns of Home much more interesting than a typical architecture book. It is a great guide for anyone that wants to design their own house or is interested in vernacular architecture in general. The photos and diagrams are great, and haven't been recycled from other Taunton Press books, which was a nice surprise. I found Patterns of Home very easy to follow and understand as it has a very organized layout that ties all the chapters and their themes together, making it an easy read in addition to everything else.

Rating:
Summary: Recommendation
Review: This is a great book! It shows how the Pattern Language applies to some of the best contemporary residential architecture. And the book itself--the photography and layout--is beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Patterns Of Home
Review: This is a must have book for anyone building or contemplating building whether with or without an architect. The spaces shown are beautifully depicted. The treatment of tall open spaces as well as smaller more intimate spaces is impeccable. I wish we had had this book before we started building.

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Summary: ARCHITECTS THAT KNOW HOW TO TREAT CLIENTS
Review: WE LIVE IN A COUNTRY COMMUNITY WHERE A GREAT DEAL OF NEW HOUSE BUILDING IS GOING ON, EACH OF US NEEDS THIS BOOK. ANYONE PLANNING TO BUILD MUST FIRST READ THIS BOOK. IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO MANAGE YOUR BUILDING PROJECT AND UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERIES OF BUILDING A HOUSE THAT SUITS YOUR SPECIAL NEEDS AND WISHES. THE AUTHORS UNDERSTAND THEIR CLIENTS. FINE HOMEBUILDING MAGAZNE PUBLISHED AN ARTICLE THAT DEMONSTRATES HOW JACOBSON, SILVERSTEIN AND WINSLOW WORK WITH THEIR CLIENTS SUCCESSFULLY. (SEE THE FINEHOMEBUILDING ANNUAL HOUSE ISSUE SUMMER 1997) THE LANGUAGE USED BY JSW IS CLEAR, DIRECT AND BREEDS SUCCESS. THE PICTURES AND DIAGRAMS ARE TO THE POINT, AND FULL OF IDEAS THAT WILL HELP THE READER FIND SOLUTIONS. THIS BOOK IS A BEAUTIFUL PUBLISHING PRODUCT, A PRODUCTION OF HIGH STANDARDS AND STATURE. IT IS CLEAR THAT THESE GUYS KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. HERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN FROM SOME OF THE BEST ARCHITECTS IN THE BUSINESS. SIGNED; A PERSON WHO HAS OFTEN LISTENED TO JSW AND BUILT THREE HOUSES THAT FOLLOW THE PATTERNS IN THIS BOOK.