books etc.

  • Minneapolis neighborhoods profiled in new book

    A recent article by Ellen Tomson in Minneapolis’ Pioneer Press describes local historian and author Larry Millett’s research and subsequent book on Minneapolis’ historic neighborhoods. excerpt:

    Larry
    Millett biked the streets of St. Paul and Minneapolis for three summers
    to produce his latest book, (the) AIA Guide to the Twin Cities, the first
    major neighborhood-by-neighborhood handbook of its kind.

    But the foundation of his 665-page book was decades of
    research and writing about the Twin Cities, first as a Pioneer Press
    reporter, columnist and critic, and then as author of Lost Twin Cities, Twin Cities Then and Now, and Strange Days, Dangerous Nights, all which focused on local structures and events.

    "The book is the result of three years of work and, in a sense,
    it’s the work of a lifetime since I’ve worked here all my life," says
    Millett, 59, who grew up in North Minneapolis and has spent much of his
    adult life in St. Paul.

  • Ted Wells’ Living Simple: a new book

    My single favorite writer on architectural and design issues is Ted Wells. Unlike here, where I’m constantly filling in the space between interesting issues with notes of very minor importance, Ted’s  puts articles up on Living Simple only when he has something to say. He’s a really good writer and teacher (and designer, of course; that is his primary profession), and in my few conversations with him I’ve learned a lot about architecture and our responsibility to art.

    Living Simple’s motto is "Do your work. Be honest. Keep your word. Help when you can. Be fair." Even when Ted is critical – as he sometimes is, especially of communities (and homeowners) who are unable or unwilling to maintain architectural and aesthetic responsibility or historic character through either a lack of education or simple greed, or historic homeowners who are dishonest or inattentive stewards of their homes – he is always fair, and takes his responsibilities seriously. He even writes on his personal website that his "most important job is helping guide the stewardship of notable historic architecture, art, built and natural landscapes, and thought and culture."

    Ted has a new book coming out next year with Gibbs-Smith, one of the world’s best publishers of books on American architecture and design. Ted and John Ellis are currently finishing up work on the book, which is about the mid-century modernist architect Harwell Hamilton Harris. Twenty-two of Harris’ homes will be profiled in the book, which will be published next year.

  • new books, April 2007

    A number of books which look like they’d be very interesting to Craftsman (and other old-home) aficionados have been released recently. I’ll try to get my hands on copies of some of these for full reviews. If you are a publisher and would like to have your book reviewed here, drop me a line.

  • beautiful necessity: avoiding trendiness for simplicity

    Simplicitybookphoto
    Sheba Wheeler, a writer for the Denver Post, recently had the opportunity to ask a few questions of Minneapolis architect Sarah Nettleton, whose recent book The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough "argues for need over trends." Basically, she’s pushing the continued integration of the basic tenets of the Arts & Crafts movement into contemporary architectural design and redesign.

    Nettleton’s basic mantra, or "six paths to simplicity" are:

    1. simple is enough;
    2. simple is thrifty;
    3. simple is flexible;
    4. simple is timeless;
    5. simple is sustainable; and
    6. simple is refined.

    These bear a remarkable similarity to Edward De Bono’s ten rules of simplicity, which certainly do need a wider audience, especially in the world of design – whether it’s graphic design or house design. His own book, Simplicity, should be read by all architects and everyone planning any kind of new build project.

    an excerpt from Wheeler’s article:

    Writing a book wasn’t on Sarah Nettleton’s to-do list.

    But when Taunton Press came knocking, Nettleton pushed aside her drafting software.

    This 30-year architecture veteran caught the publishing
    company’s attention after winning national praise from the American
    Institute of Architects for her simple-living aesthetic.

    Here, Nettleton shares her theory for getting more out of life
    with less, which is outlined in her new book, "The Simple Home: The
    Luxury of Enough."

    Q: How do you define simple?

    A: In conversations I had with my editor, we kept coming back to
    defining simple by what it is not. It’s not a style, it’s not a
    location, not a city or county or price point.

    I went to a different place within myself, to a time in my
    childhood growing up in New England. My father loved the idea of
    pounding a nail straight, of reusing a nail he’d taken out of something
    else instead of driving to the hardware store to get new nails. Each
    person has that opportunity – whether they are remodeling something in
    their current house or doing a new house – to (determine) what they
    need and what would really delight them, as opposed to "here’s what’s
    in style, we’d better just do that."

    photograph by Randy O’Rourke for Taunton Press

  • Searching Google Print for Arts & Crafts

    Google Print is one of Google’s numerous specialized search engines. It lets you peek inside any of several hundreds of thousands of books. You can’t download & print, or even read through most books in their entirety (I imagine that would hurt book publishers, but a number of them – mostly out of print texts or those with permissive publishers – do allow you to read through the full text) but you can browse, seeing sample pages that have been okayed by the publishers or authors, or search through them for a particular phrase or word.

    There are many book son the Arts & Crafts movement available, including some that are very photo-rich; here are a few dozen that I’ve found, which I think you’ll appreciate.

    Greene & Greene specific

    decoration, design & picturebooks

    essays & history

    plans & remodeling

    woodwork & furniture

  • book review: 500 Bungalows

    500bungalowsthumb
    Douglas Keister’s 500 Bungalows ($12.95) is a neat book. A small but hefty soft-bound volume with hardly any text beyond a brief introduction, it is quite literally what it’s title says: a photo essay of 500 bungalows, spanning the various permutations of the Arts & Crafts movement.

    I am not usually effusive about books, but this one is terrific. Unlike so many of the big hardbound coffee-table photo books focusing on Arts & Crafts, this one makes no pretensions at all. It is a perfectly simple idea book for painting, landscaping or externally-remodeling your Craftsman or Mission home. If you’re contemplating a paint job or adding a bit of "curb appeal" to your home, this may not show you how to do it, but it will certainly give you five hundred ideas. And at less than $15, it’s a great gift idea for the bungalow-lover (or anyone eternally working on an old house) on your shopping list.

    The only thing that would have made it a little bit better would be perhaps year/architect information on some of the more unique homes – like the amazing Japanese-inspired bungalow (#13) in Pasadena, which looks like Greene & Greene pushed almost to abstraction. Additionally, the form factor of the book suggests postcards; I bet a postcard book, with maybe 50 selected images from this volume, would sell really well. Think about that, Taunton!

  • book review: Stickley’s Craftsman Homes

    Stubblebinecover
    Ray Stubblebine, Stickley’s Craftsman Homes, Gibbs Smith, 2006

    Ray Stubblebine’s new volume, a lifetime’s magnum opus, provides an exhaustive review of the homes promoted by Gustav Stickley over the years of publication of his Craftsman magazine. Published from 1901 to 1915, The Craftsman was a vital component of the first American Arts and Crafts movement, promoting its spirit, theory, and style in a fashion that was far more democratic — far more accessible, and relevant, to ordinary citizens — than its English counterpart.

    While Gustav Stickley will ever be associated with furniture, especially given the auction prices his best pieces fetch, and the high profile of the family brand in recent years, he was also a tireless promoter of arts and crafts sensibility as an approach to building, so much so that his Craftsman nomenclature has become associated with a particular architectural style — the rustic, woody, slope roofed, shingled and porched medium size homes that are so much a treasured part, coast to coast, of the American build tradition. While The Craftsman magazine offered plans and commentary on an eclectic range of vernacular styles, many quite un-bungalow, un-Craftsman-like in outward appearance, his interiors were distinctly arts and crafts, with their paneling and art lamps and cozy fireplaces.

    Stubblebine’s great achievement is providing, in one hefty volume, a complete catalog of house designs published in The Craftsman, along with a description of each, floor plans, and photographs, both historical and contemporary.  In his nineteen years of Stickley investigation, Stubblebine located examples of a good portion of the homes, presenting them chronologically from 1904 to 1916 — some 220 separate designs.

    Introductory chapters introduce the Craftsman “idea,” provide wonderful photos and detail on the homes Stickley designed for himself and his family, and discuss arts and crafts colors, the missing element, of course, in the mainly black and white magazine layouts of the era. Stubblebine also addresses the question of Stickley’s contribution to the design of the homes presented in his magazine. Not an architect, the author suggests that “design director” would be an appropriate description, as Stickley set the tone and critiqued the work of the many architects who worked for his magazine over the years. The particular contribution of Harvey Ellis in the early years of the magazine is highlighted.

  • book review: Updating Classic America: Bungalows

    M. Caren Connolly and Louis Wasserman, Updating Classic America: Bungalows, Taunton, 2006

    Now available in paper, Connolly and Wasserman’s Updating Classic America: Bungalows (originally published hardbound in 2002) provides a practical guidebook for homeowners contemplating bungalow renovations, remodels, and enlargements. This handsome, well illustrated volume, is full of useful bungalow information and perspectives – a bit of history, a stab at defining the always illusive bungalow concept, useful sketches of the basic “elements of style,” both internal and external, and a sidebar glossary of basic architectural and building concepts.

    The heart of the book, though, is a primer for updating bungalows to modern needs and sensibilities – keeping the distinctive and comfortable bungalow essence while adapting for space, light, ventilation, efficiency, and today’s kitchen and bath requirements.  One chapter addresses interior remodeling – particularly the opportunities and challenges involved in converting attics into bedrooms, baths, and studies.  Another describes the overhaul (“frog to a prince”) of a ramshackle 1912 Seattle bungalow with just 900 square feet of usable living space into a modern tiled, floored, and wainscoted 3000 square foot gem, with the formerly uninhabitable attic and basement converted into useable space.

    Loaded with bright original photographs, briskly written, with plenty of before and after floor plans and sensible advice, Updating Classic America: Bungalows is a valuable addition to the ever-growing bungalow literature.

  • book review: Country Furniture

    My colleague Derek Martin, a woodworker here in Sacramento, was kind enough to review a copy of Aldren Watson’s Country Furniture for Hewn & Hammered. The book is a reprint of the 1957 original edition, and includes all original illustrations.

    As an avid hobbyist for the last fifteen or so years, I have spent much of my free time focused on wood working. It came as no surprise to me that I would enjoy reading this book after quickly skimming through it to see some wonderful illustrations that would get my immediate attention and spark my interest in reading it as well.

    This book not only examined the materials and techniques that were used by master craftsmen of past centuries, but also addressed even the most subtle changes in wood furniture building up to more recent times. Changes to this art form mentioned by Mr. Watson were mainly brought on by wood supply, reengineered tools, and the evolving change in personal tastes.

    As a modern day woodworker with fairly modern day tools I now have a greater appreciation for those who developed and made popular the art of crafting wood. I also have a better understanding of how making hand-crafted pieces from wood started out of necessity and not just for the beauty of it’s finished product. All different types of woods from all different places on the map were used initially for their hardness, longevity, availability and then their beauty.

    The illustrations in this book alone are worth picking it up for, but just wait until you see and read about joinery that could help you in your next project. I have already experimented with some techniques that I learned in the book and I was fully satisfied with the result.

    I would recommend this book to anyone interested in woodworking or even collecting antique furniture. I will end by saying that this book was loaded with information and the illustrations were the icing on the cake to say the least.

  • Book Review: Gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement

    Picture_1
    Judith B. Tankard, Gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 2004.

    This handsomely produced volume takes us through the theory and practice of the Arts and Crafts Garden from the era of William Morris up to the present in pictures, photographs, garden plans, and text.

    For those familiar with the house and home aspects of the English Arts and Crafts movement, Tankard’s book will be a delight, and an education. Gardens, like buildings and furnishings, were a venue for reform and innovation, an opportunity to express integrity and beauty, and a chance to move beyond the artificiality of the dominant Victorian paradigm. For garden design, this meant rejecting Victorian orderliness and ostentation in favor of naturalism and informality. While certainly not “simple” gardens – Tankard’s illustrations portray wonderfully green lawns, orderly hedges, topiary, rustic steps and garden pools and fountains, along with roses and, typically, local flowers – the overall effect is an inviting one of comfort and ease rather than grandeur.

    Garden design evoked considerable discussion during the height of the Arts and Crafts period, especially given the fact that the famous architects of the day (C. F. A. Vosey, M. H. Baillie Scott) viewed house and garden as a unified whole. As Tankard says, the Arts and Crafts movement “gave gardens a new definition as a harmonious component of the house. Gardens … were never an end in themselves, but were intertwined with the house like ivy growing on a wall, blurring the distinctions between indoors and outdoors.”

    Tankard’s volume focuses on the homes and gardens of England, with modest attention given to the United States (and none at all to other countries). This I think is appropriate given England’s preeminent gardens and landscapes. The reader is given an extensive tour of over a hundred gardens, with full commentary on their design as well as the garden philosophy of their architects.  The contributions of Gertrude Jekyll and Thomas Mawson, the most distinguished landscape architects of the era, are given especial attention, and an entire chapter is devoted to the renowned English gardens created by the collaboration of the architect Edwin Lutyens and Jekyll.