Architosh News Reports
  Architosh Staff ([email protected])
 
 

 

ArchitoshBooks Revision and Recommendations: Our Series

04 October 99.

ArchitoshBooks will not be adding in more titles to its current list in the form that the site currently stands. Instead we will bring you a few updated lists of books that we recommend and are related to the site's reader interests. Later with Architosh 2 we will have a whole new ArchitoshBooks digital bookstore, including training CD's and videos.

New ArchitoshBooks Library Series for AEC and Mac Pros

Architects are particularly aware of the importance of personal library development is to their development as designers. This seems to be an ingrained lesson from architecture schools and is particularly emphasized in schools heavy on theory and history. Here in Boston, both MIT and Harvard students have great access to some of the best architectural libraries in the world, some on their own campuses. And in Bean Town the emphasis on library development is ingrained in students at the BAC (Boston Architectural Center) as well as Wentworth Institute. Part of this appreciation and love of books comes know doubt from the influences of the Boston Public Library (both old and new portions) in Copley Square, the famed McKim Mead and White building. And any BAC student knows that on the 6th floor of that school lies the museum like replication of the Memorial Library from the clubs' founding days over 100 years ago when it was a club for many of the Boston's best architectural practitioners. Wherever you are, chances are as an architect you have a special appreciation of books, especially those on the subject. And while not educated as an engineer or a construction professional, I have no doubt that books form a special part of your professional development as well. What follows is a preview of things to come in regard to books with Architosh 2 and the future.

The Architect's Library: Classic Books

In this series we will continuously suggest and collect titles that for centuries have formed the core of the classical architectural library. Such books are not always architecture specific, but belong to an important literary legacy for the proper education of an architect. Our first two suggestions fit this category and focus on the ancient past.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Modern Library) by Edward Gibbon, Daniel J. Boorstin (Intro.).
   

Gibbon's history on the fall of the great Roman Empire is a classic history text (in three volumes) and compliments any architect's architectural references on Roman architecture. Another recommendation focused on the everyday living in Roman society is Lionel Casson's Everyday Life in Ancient Rome. Our second suggestion is Chester G. Starr's A History of the Ancient World.

 

New, Notable and Interesting at Amazon

It's impossible to spend enough time in life browsing around to learn about every neat book that comes along. And with that in mind we created this series, which we will sometimes pick up on what's hot at Amazon and other times from different sources.

Survival of the Prettiest by Nancy L Etcoff
   

One of the more hotly contested and talked about books to hit the shelves this year, Nancy's book focuses on explaining the potentially scientific reasons for our perception of human beauty, and goes beyond the social norms of cultural determinism. A quote from Amazon: "Gentlemen may prefer blondes not so much for their hair color as for the fairness of their skin--which makes it easier to detect the flush of sexual excitement. And high heels accentuate a woman's breasts and buttocks, signaling fertility. Is beauty programmed into our brain circuits as a proxy for health and youth?"

What do these questions have to do with architecture? A lot actually. In some ways Nancy's book is striving to answer the same questions that art historians and theorists have been asking for decades. Are there universal truths about human perception of beauty? Can beauty really be linked to survival? Dr. Edcoff's book compiles most of the research directed at answering these very questions.

Our Other Series: More to come

Our other series will consist of Art & Architecture Monographs (including all fine arts and digital arts) and The Macintosh User's Bookshelf: Essential References. In addition we will start a AEC Practice Professional Bookshelf series. Our current books listed on ArchitoshBooks will mostly fall into the Macintosh AEC Professional Library series. In all we will have a half dozen series that will grow over time -- all of them centered on addressing the continuous professional educational development of Macintosh-based AEC professionals and related-design fields. And if you have any suggestions on titles we'd love to hear from you. Just drop us a note.

Our New and Forthcoming Series:

Macintosh AEC Professional Library Series - (Mac IT for AEC Pros) click here

The Macintosh User's Bookshelf: Essential References Series - (general Mac references)

AEC Practice Professional Bookshelf Series - (non IT AEC practice references)

The Architect's Library: Classic Books Series - (classic, scholarly texts for the design fields)

Art & Architecture Monographs Series - (picture and coffee table books)

New, Notable and Interesting at Amazon - (general education and fun)


Our ArchitoshBooks e-tail Store: Purpose, Facts and Privacy

The Architosh website has an Amazon.com Associate Bookstore contract for selling books to our readers via a web interface to Amazon.com. Essentially you buy books directly from Amazon.com at regular prices after learning about them at Architosh and clicking on book images or titles within our website. Amazon.com in return pays us a small referral fee based on a small percentage of the book's cost.

You pay the same Amazon.com low price and have the same Amazon.com conditions for sale as any other web buyer at Amazon. Architosh acts as a referral agent only and is not directly involved in the e-commerce transaction with Amazon.com. For more information on e-commerce with Amazon.com go to their website to read about sales policy and security and privacy issues.

The purpose of selling books at Architosh is to gain revenue to support the costs of the site a well as to support reader requests for information related to Macintosh-based AEC information technology. Architosh is in the information business as a commercial enterprise conducted internationally and in the United States. We hope the purpose of selling books of related interest to our content is clear to you and that you properly understand our relationship to Amazon.com. If you have any questions about ArchitoshBooks please email us directly for clarification. Thank you.

 

 

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