Product Description
Architect Stanley Saitowitz has designed a great number of projects that share the qualities of early modern architecture: they are unassuming, simple, honest, anti-classical, anti-elite. Inspired by the seminal works of Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Giuseppe Terragni, Saitowitz has developed an approach he calls "human geography," an attitude that is carefully cognizant of the relationship between architecture and setting. This monograph, the first on Stanley Saitowitz Office, presents fifty projects from more than thirty years of practice.

The work is divided by building type. The bar houses are Saitowitz's reconsideration of a modern prototype: bars of space, which the architect calls "houses of constructed emptiness," that measure but do not interrupt the terrain. Urban houses—both affordable, multifamily housing and single-family lofts—are indeterminate in relation to plan, free in regard to program, and express a volumetric quality within their dense city settings. Also featured in the monograph are schools and a series of designs that explore the formation of Jewish architecture: the Holocaust Memorial in Boston, a menorah for the Jewish Museum in San Francisco, and synagogues in La Jolla and San Francisco. ... Read more

Product Description
Recognized as one of Japan's finest architects, Fumihiko Maki reached a greater audience in the 1990s with the completion of his first major projects in the United States and Europe - the Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, and the Isar Buropark in Munich. This study focuses on 25 of the architect's buildings, tracing the evolution of his ideas and architectural vocabulary. Arranged thematically, a range of work is featured, from a small house in Poland to the massive construction of the Makuhari Messe complex on Tokyo Bay. The text includes essays by Botond Bognar, Paolo Polledri, Kenichi Echigoshima and Alex Krieger as well as excerpts from "Investigations in Collective Form", written by Maki in 1964 and the basis for much of his subsequent practice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

one of Japan's finest architects
This is one wonderful reference book for everyone interested in Japanese. If you are an architectural students or profession, you must get this book for your home library. It's a good investment. This is a good guide to Japanse architecture. It contains many illustrations, and is a detailed description on types of modern Japanese architecture to create imaginative spaces for contemporary society. ... Read more

Product Description
For architectural practice and building design and construction industry, there are two kinds of people: those who know and those who don't. The tips of building design and construction and project management have been kept to those who know until now.

Most of the existing books on Architectural Practice are too expensive, too complicated and too long to be practical and helpful.This book simplifies the process to make it easier to understand and uncover the tips of building design and construction and project management. It sets up a solid foundation and fundamental framework for this field.It covers every aspect of Architectural Practice in plain and concise language and introduces it to ordinary people.Through practical case studies, it demonstrates the efficient and proper ways to handle various issues and problems in architectural practice and building design and construction industry.

It is for ordinary people and aspiring young architects as well as seasoned professionals in Construction Industry. For ordinary people, it uncovers the tips of Building Construction; for aspiring architects, it works as a construction industry survival guide and a guidebook to shorten the process in mastering Architectural Practice and climbing up the professional ladder; for seasoned architects, it has many checklists to refresh their memory. It is an indispensable reference book to ordinary people, architectural students, interns, drafters, designers, seasoned architects, construction administrators, superintendents, construction managers, contractors and developers.

You will learn:

1.How to develop your business and work with your client.
2.The entire process of building design and construction, including programming, entitlement, schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding and construction administration.
3.How to coordinate with governing agencies, including a county's Health Department and a city's Planning, Building, Fire and Public Works departments, etc.
4.How to coordinate with your consultants, including soils, civil, structural, electrical, mechanical and plumbing engineers and landscape architects, etc.
5.How to create and use your own check lists to do quality control of your construction documents.
6.How to use various logs (RFI log, submittal log and field visit log, etc.) and lists (contact list, document control list and distribution list, etc.) to organize and simplify your work.
7.How to respond to RFI, issue CCDs, review change orders and submittals, etc.
8.How to make your Architectural Practice a profitable and successful business. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

great book!!!
This book was easy to read and follow.I found all the check lists very helpful. I would recommend this book to any one making the transition from school into the working field or someone who just started working.It summarizes all aspects ofthe business of architecture, from client interaction to project management.Thank you

A Practical Guide
It provides not only a transition from school to office, but it is also a complete and helpful checklist for day to day architectural practice. It is easy to understand, remember, and apply. Through it, you can understand how a project can be easily run. I found that much of the experience I gained from working in an architectural firm for a number of years is summarized and concisely presented here. Very practical, highly recommended.

Gang Chen hits it on the spot!
In a world of books that contain the words Architectural Practice, Gang Chen's book stands apart. They say the time it takes for a person to decide if a technical book is good or not is a few minutes. Go to any page of this book and you will find something useful. When I made the transition from school to a full time job at an Architectural firm, every day was a nightmare since I would find a hundred things that I didnt know. I wish I had this book at that point. This is a must read and must have for someone making this transition from education to real world practice. Architecture is not just about design but all also the numerous other processes which make it a whole. "Architectural Practice Simplified" makes you aware of those processes which you were not taught at school.

I could write a long essay about why you should buy this book, or I can summarize it one sentence.True to its title, this book does simplify the practice of Architecture into its most simple blocks! Architectural Practice Simplified: A Survival Guide and Checklists for Building Construction and Site Improvements as well as Tips on Architecture, Building Design, Construction and Project Management

Useful Collection of Tips and Guidelines
This book is a collection of useful information gathered over the course of a career. It provides a briefing for young professionals on what to expect and look out for as they start working. As such, it provides some valuable insights into the mechanics of the practice of architecture. I found the design development and construction document checklists to be particularly valuable for navigating some of the trickier aspects of the design and documentation process. Given the recent attention on the value of checklists in managing complex tasks topics, this book seems particularly timely. That said, the book seemed to focus on one particular building type (retail) in one state (California) so a lot of the information and time lines are specific to that type of work in that region. Also, the book would have benefited from more diagrams and visual aids. Architects think visually and can better process information when presented in a visual format. Finally, one complaint I had was that some of the information seemed rather dated. In particular, there was a reference to using sticky back paper and while the author discussed the use of AutoCAD, there was no mention of Building Information Modeling or other current design tools that new professionals might encounter. All in all, Architectural Practice Simplified is a useful collection of tips and guidelines for both new and seasoned professionals.

Great Source Of Information
I really enjoyed reading it. The language is simpleand coveys a lot. It is very useful for aspiring architects in the Industry. In short its a fabulous survival guide for all of us.
Thumbs up for the book.
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