I know most of the time these "hey, look what I just read list" come across as self aggrandizing attempts to gloat about perceived intelligence and I'm not expecting to write many very amazing reviews unless a particular tome intrigues me, however I have a lot of new commute time on my hands and if I can prove that there is a great value in a relaxed commute, then perhaps some value can be extracted from my (hope to be) monthly asides.
A little backstory. I hate commuting to work. Sort of. I hate driving to work. I commute from Lakewood (on the near West Side of Cleveland to Shaker Square, on the far East Side of Cleveland, typically at 25-35 minute drive, depending on weather, local traffic, construction, level of aggression, etc. The only way to really access Shaker Square is through some particular neighborhoods that the city and/or ODOT don't really care about the smoothness of the roads. There are some crazy potholes. I don't particularly like my car, but I think attempting to drive it around/over such large road obstacles is stupid on my part. So I started taking the public transit, which typical consists of a 10 minute bus ride, 10 minute train ride and a 15 minute light rail ride (with around 10 minutes wait time) which equates to a standard 45 minute one way trip. Double that to come home and I now have an extra hour and half to finally read all the books stacking up on my desk. I was amazed at how much I tore through.
I need to come up with a rating system, suggestions are welcome.
Feb. 2013
In order of been read:
Walkable City: Jeff Speck
Overall this book typically preaches to the choir and while the most interesting and useful portions are not why a walk-able city is important, it is how to attempt to accomplish the goals of a walk-able downtown (whether dense enough to be a major city or a suburban downtown). And the foot notes. I love good foot notes, it basically creates another reading list to go through. I already ordered a couple books mentioned in Walkable City to read. Most of the arguments are good, but should be common sense. 7/10
CLOG 4 - Renders 9/10
CLOG 5 - National Mall 9/10
I am a huge fan of most journals. Usually. CLOG is excellent. I cannot stress this enough, whether it is due to the editors selecting such great content or how the journals are organized around a singular topic, CLOG seems to be a ridiculous success. Damn you Kyle. Great job.
Writing About Architecture - Alexandra Lange
An attempt to exercise instruction of critical writing about architecture doubles as an interesting traipse through classic criticism (Mumford, Olmsted, Jacobs) and dissection of technique. While it will probably not make you a great architecture critic overnight it may just give you a better array of tools for understanding buildings, if you are into that sort of thing. It is a quick read, makes you want to pick up more Mumford and will probably help you with writing overall (maybe, I am admittedly not exhibiting much improvement). Easy to read in short bursts I was capable of picking up and putting the book down during natural break points (when my train reached my stop). 8/10
LOG 23
Log, an architecture journal. At times obtuse and difficult to get through, however my first exposure to Kwinter (swoon!) so I continue to order and read (I am behind by 5 issues or so) to discover more great essayists. At times extremely self referential and long winded (Hays, I'm assuming you are paid by the word) it is still a nice diversion into theory and, at times, absurdity. 7/10
The Landscape Urbanism Reader - Charles Waldheim, editor
You know that book you know you should have read forever ago that is sitting on your shelf mocking you? Yeah, this was mine. I finally finished it, having read it in fits and starts over the course of five years. It is a great primer on what should have been a basic understanding of site investigation/articulation in architecture school (but wasn't). I wish I hadn't put finishing this book off as long as I had, you should pick it up and read it (over the course of half a decade or so). 9/10
Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Mehodologies are Poised to Transform Building Construction - Kieran/Timberlake
The thought of being clever enough to plan for the rapid design and deployment of prefabricated design units seems like a rather clever (albeit tried and admittedly failed) however an entire tome dedicated to this idea, comparing buildings to aircraft manufacturing seems not only a stretch but at times attempts to remove the entire "soul" of architecture. While it takes a long warm-up to get to the pitch (specific examples Kieran/Timberlake have attempted to deploy) the results ring shallow (how about those mixed metaphors?). There is what seems to be very little product for the amount of research going into what is basically prefab systems added to what seems to be repetitive points and imagery. Corb did it better. 5/10
LTL: Intensities - Lewis, Tsurumaki, Lewis
Continuing on their trajectory of putting together writings that make rigorous, tactile, craft-centric designers hate their desk jobs, LTL follows up Opportunistic Architecture with a piece showcasing more detail, more thought and more work. If you are not happy in your job, do not read this book. DO NOT GET THIS, it will depress you, that somewhere out there, all the thoughtfulness and care you wish you could take the time to put into the project, is being done, not by you. I borrowed this book, read it, and immediately unfriended the guy who let me borrow it. Not really. It is a great book, a fine example of what really succinct and clever design solutions could look like, if only given the chance. I digress, buy this book, show it to your boss, make them read it, ask them why you aren't allowed to question everything, the program, the process, the assembly and intent. If they can't answer you, quit and find a better job, or start your own firm. Life is too short to pretend you don't care. When I grow up, I want to be LTL. 12/10
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