Product Description

This internationally prizewinning volume now appears in its second, revised and expanded edition. Since the first edition was published in 2005, it has been adopted as a textbook at many universities.

Customer Reviews (6)

it worked
i ordered the book and got it on time. it was also cheap. the book said it was used but it is practically new.

good book, bad print
This great and useful book is printed so badly, that makes wanto to write to the authors and Birkhauser to ask for your money back. It is basically a low def scan. Anything that is not a line drawing is plainly illegible.

Outstanding
Excellent book, everything you wished to know about construction, it's there explained, in theory, in in technical drawings, and with images of contemporary buildings.
The way it is organized is very straightfoward, good index, with all themes and sub-themes making sense.
One of the buys of the year for me...

The best studentfoundation book
I have reviewed many attempts at a comprehensive description of the complex subject of architecture, and this is the best. This book is far better than the exhaustively recommended Francis Ching (all due respect), and even better than Unwin's Architectural Notebook, which is also excellent. This is the very first book I would recommend for any serious architecture student. It covers tectonics and construction in elegant detail but, even more importantly, this book delves into the conceptual intentions behind the tectonics, at every scale. Telling examples, well chosen, illuminate the ideas, and the case studies feature some of the finest contemporary architecture in the world today. Simply the best.

Essential book for architecture students and teachers
The English title might be misleading--this book is not about 'construction', but rather about what the Germans call Baukunst, the art of construction, or the art of 'putting buildings together', considering the spatial order as an inseparable part of that putting things together.
The book provides a structured approach to the basics of contemporary architectural composition, several essays introducing fundamental concepts and giving you the bibliography to go into them in detail (the key part is making them all fit into an overall framework, and pointing at the sources that normally take years to discover), and illustrate several remarkable buildings in remarkable detail, with excellent descriptions reaching a depth and quality of analysis unfortunately missing in typical architectural publications.
Andrea Deplazes, the editor and author or co-author of many of the articles, teaches at the Zurich ETH (and I would guess the same must be true for the authors of most of the other articles), which for well over a hundred years has been one of the few true schools of architecture in the world. The book glows with the power of this accumulated knowledge developed in a true academic environment since the times of Semper. It also gives a glimpse at how the ETH consistently produces first class ordinary architecture, and for that matter first class extraordinary architecture too.
This book will be of huge value to every architecture student, teacher, and architectural designer. I bought it by a fortunate mistake --I thought a construction book from the ETH was sure to be an excellent reference book on technology, and the mail delivered a treasure trove of architectural knowledge instead. ... Read more

Product Description
A detailed examination of the hottest areas of architectural design today.Over the past decade, digital tools have radically transformed the design, practice, and construction of architecture. But behind the photorealistic renderings of projects that are never built is an entire body of design research that informs the latest innovations in design and construction.

Edited by a pioneer of the digital revolution, this new book takes its cue from the practice of mass-customization, one of the most important design and retail trends of recent years, to consider how variations on the same design idea can be applied to a broad spectrum of architectural, engineering, and construction solutions.

The book has three parts: a group of essays by leading thinkers on design; comparative studies on variation; and case studies. Full of ideas, examples, and current research, this exciting new publication is well-priced for students but sophisticated enough for professionals. 500 b&w Illustrations ... Read more

Product Description
Newly designed and containing a full 40 percent completely new content, Time-Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture, Second Edition, continues to be the most complete source of site design and construction standards and data. It is fully metric, to meet Federal and International requirements. It features increased coverage of: Site storm water "best management" practices · New urban tree planting and xeriscape concepts · Earth retaining structures and pavement design · Land reclamation, including soil and vegetation restoration · Metric site layout practices, including recreation facilities · Energy and resource conservation · Natural processes and site construction procedures · New expanded construction details · Simplified construction materials data. Over 50 sections provide concise tables, checklists, "Key Point" text summaries, and illustrations to provide an invaluable information resource for offices and classrooms throughout the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

price valued
I save 30$ for this book, just as described all pages inside is good except for the cover, quite good

Great Book poor service
The product I received is great, especially because I'm a student, it has quick references for almost all of the information I need. It has great little sketches and all kinda of information I need.
It took almost week longer than said April 16 -May 3 was my expected delivery date and I did not receive it until May 11.I felt that the 18 day shipping window was too broad for it to have still come late.

A must have for any landscape architect
Fantastic detailed drawings with standard practice for graphic technique. Includes a wide variety of information but goes in depth with each one as the book is almost a thousand pages. Would certainly recommend.

Useful, overview
The Time-Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture is large and heavy; however, it provides an overview of Landscape Architectural standards.I purchased mine as a LA student for class, which I believe to be where the book is best suited as a reference and introduction to the profession demonstrationing how plant and hardscape details are created, design and construction process of a landscape design, and description of design elements (paving, water, light, vegetation, ect).I've found the book helpful with my studying for the LARE (Landscape Architectural Registration Exam) as well.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
This manual is a MUST for practicing land professionals. This is considered a "bible" for anyone who works with the land. As you know this field is constantly changing but this book is fundamentally sound and thorough. ... Read more

Product Description
This sixth installment of Architecture Now!, featuring buildings ranging in size from Terunobu Fujimori s tiny (6.07 square meters) Teahouse Tetsu to Norman Foster s gigantic Crystal Island project in Moscow (1.1 million square meters), provides an overview of what is happening right now in architecture, be it of traditional inspiration, or at the very edge of current thinking. What is the spirit of this moment, and how does architecture reflect the creativity as the first decade of the 21st century draws to a close? Architecture Now! 6 is THE reference for what is happening and what is to come. Easy-to-navigate illustrated A Z entries include current and recent projects, biographies, contact information, and web sites.

Featured architects/firms/artists:
3deluxe, 3LHD, Adjaye Associates, Ai Wei Wei, Tadao Ando, Alejandro Aravena, ARGE Grazioli Krischanitz, Shigeru Ban, Barkow Leibinger, Bernardes + Jacobsen, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Olafur Eliasson, EMERGENT, Engel und Zimmermann, FAM Arquitectura, Foster and Partners, Terunobu Fujimori, Massimiliano Fuksas, Antón García-Abril Ruiz, Dionisio González, Zaha Hadid, Heatherwick Studio, Herzog & de Meuron, Steven Holl, Holzer Kobler, Junya Ishigami, Toyo Ito, Jakob+MacFarlane, Jensen & Skodvin, Carlos Jimenez, Kengo Kuma, Lassila Hirvilammi, Legorreta + Legoretta, Daniel Libeskind, LIN Finn Geipel Giulia Andi, MIII architects, MADA s.p.a.m., Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Corinna Menn, Merkx+Girod, José Rafael Moneo, Morphosis, MvRdV, Manfredi Nicoletti, Valerio Olgiati, Studio Pei-Zhu, Renzo Piano, PTW Architects, Quinze & Milan Designers, RCR Arquitectes, Rojkind Arquitectos, Marc Rolinet, Hans-Jörg Ruch, Sejima + Nishizawa/SANAA, Thomas Schütte, Scope Cleaver, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Snøhetta, Tonkin Liu, Bernard Tschumi, UNStudio, URBANUS, Pekka Vapaavuori, Various Architects, Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch, Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Riken Yamamoto, Peter Zumthor ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Awesome!
Really happy! The photography is contemporary & the dialogue is engaging. I recommend this book hands down.

Review
Good book with interesting projects and updated.If you bought the others of the collection you already know what you can expect.
... Read more

Product Description
Every year, a bevy of new phones, games, televisions, and electronic reading devices ride into our lives on a tidal wave of interactive hype. These i-products, while handy, primarily confine their interactivity to the surfaces of screens. Not exactly the kind of "world-changing" transformation we've been promised. In Interactive Architecture, authors Michael Fox and Miles Kemp introduce us to a brave new world where design pioneers are busy creating environments that not only facilitate interaction between people, but also actively participate in their own right. These spaces able to reconfigure themselves in response to human stimuli will literally change our worlds by addressing our ever-evolving individual, social, and environmental needs. In other words, it's time to stop asking what architecture is and start asking what it can do.

Interactive Architecture is a processes-oriented guide to creating dynamic spaces and objects capable of performing a range of pragmatic and humanistic functions. These complex physical interactions are made possible by the creative fusion of embedded computation (intelligence) with a physical, tangible counterpart (kinetics). A uniquely twenty-first century toolbox and skill set virtual and physical modeling, sensor technology, CNC fabrication, prototyping, and robotics necessitates collaboration across many diverse scientific and art-based communities. Interactive Architecture includes contributions from the worlds of architecture, industrial design, computer programming, engineering, and physical computing. These remarkable projects run the gamut in size and complexity. Fullscale built examples include a house in Colorado that programs itself by observing the lifestyle of the inhabitants, and then learns to anticipate and accommodate their needs. Interactive Architecture examines this vanguard movement from all sides, including its sociological and psychological implications as well as its potentially beneficial environmental impact. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

the end of the beginning
Interactive Architecture (IA) is a great read and a must have in everyone's physical/ digital library. IA gives you a great overview of the area of research and its origins found in cybernetics, computer science, electrical, mechanical engineering and other disciplines. IA redefines the role of the designer as a catalyst of design that evolves with an understanding of the pragmatic and awareness of aesthetic, conceptual and philosophical issues. Michael Fox and Miles Kemp challenge the state of architectural design and propose transformable spaces that dynamically change and create adaptable spatial configurations through embedded computational infrastructures and intelligent feedback loop systems. The authors describe a future of the architectural profession in which a new level of consultancy and multi-disciplinary approach is needed to address the issues brought by innovative materials and biologically inspired systems. The book ends with a beautiful statement " IA as a field is not at the beginning, nor is it by any means at an end; but it is, in a sense, at the end of the beginning". I look forward to future editions and inspirational works in IA.

A must for everyone in design related fields
I highly recommend Fox and Kemp's user-friendly "Interactive Architecture"; it is a concise resource, a must for everyone in the design related fields and anyone that has ever wondered what else was possible within the built environment. The thoughtful progression in the book is helpful for someone that had relatively no prior knowledge of the systems and technologies associated with this field. IA will spark your interest and curiosity immediately. It is also a beautifully designed book, full of amazing photographs that make you hungry for more.

Could be great...
Interactive Architecture (IA) is a beautiful and well constructed book that outlines some of the key trends and developments in the field. I love the look and feel of the book, a great piece for the bookshelf. There are lots of full-color examples and eye candy that really make the book pop.

Eye candy aside however, there are number of problems with IA that detract from its potential.
There is SO much redundant information in the book that I had to stop reading a number of times and make sure that I hadn't turned back to a previous chapter. Repetition can be a great way to emphasize a point, but it's down right annoying in IA after a point.

It also drove me crazy how the author's hardly ever explain any of the figures and examples that are featured. They will talk about a general topic that somehow relates to the corresponding picture but never explain the real connection. You will have to do most of the research yourself to find out what is actually going on. Furthermore, the author's misconstrue some of the examples to illustrate their point. For example, the Phalanstery Module was used as an example of a space that conforms to the changing needs of people at different times. The Phalanstery Module has nothing to do with that idea and was inspired by anti-gravity and exploring how in space all surfaces can be utilized, ei..floor as ceiling, etc..

The overall tone of the book is inconsistent as well. At times the information is presented in a super technical, detailed fashion, and then the following paragraphs may be downright elementary. Some of the best info in IA so buried in bogs of technobabble that it's easily missed.The book is still a fast and clean read however, but could afford to cut LOTS of fat.

You COULD buy this book, read it, and put it on your shelf only to be outdated in a few years, or you could just surf the internet for a few hours and get all of the same information.It is nice having all the references in one place though.

d.

We need more like this!
In my research on digital technologies and architecture, I have been trying to find a collection of the latest trends in the domain of the digital-physical architecture, that is, and will shape our future. Fox et al.'s work is the best up-to-date resource which reflects such quality. Every chapter of the book has a light on the underpinnings and the main concepts that shape these trends. "Interactive Architecture" is a unique research for any one who is interested to know what is going on right now (it is like a web-blog.) Yet the book can't be used as a reference, specifically when talking about the theories that shape these trends. But to be fair, the authors had supplemented each chapter with references (very helpful!) I highly recommend the book for both researchers and professionals.
The chapters of the book are: physical change; embedded computation; project landscape: adaptable space, environmental impact; enhancing and extending activities; sociological and psychological impacts; design and the profession; new horizons. ... Read more

Product Description
The Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio was one of the most influential figures that the field of architecture has ever produced. For classical architects, the term Palladian stands for a vocabulary of architectural forms embodying perfection and beauty. Of even greater significance than Palladio's buildings is his treatise I quattro libri dell'architettura (The Four Books On Architecture), the most successful architectural treatise of the Renaissance and one of the two or three most important books in the literature of architecture. First published in Italian in 1570, it has been translated into every major Western language.This is the first English translation of Palladio in over 250 years, making it the only translation available in modern English. Until now, English-language readers have had to rely mostly on a facsimile of Isaac Ware's 1738 translation and the eighteenth-century engravings prepared for that text. This new translation by Robert Tavernor and Richard Schofield contains Palladio's original woodcuts, reproduced in facsimile and positioned correctly, adjacent to the text. The book also contains a glossary that explains technical terms in their original context, a bibliography of recent Palladio research, and an introduction to Palladio and his times.The First Book discusses building materials and techniques, as well as the five orders of architecture: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. Palladio describes the characteristics of each order and illustrates them. The Second Book discusses private town houses and country estates, almost all designed by Palladio. The Third Book discusses streets, bridges, piazzas, and basilicas, most of ancient Roman origin. The Fourth Book discusses ancient Roman temples, including the Pantheon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Quatro Libri
Andrea Palladio's Quatro Libri is a timeless work on classical architecture.All four books are consolidated into one book that has been translated into English.This book was very easy to read with hundreds of woodcuts that read as very detailed renderings.It was enjoyable to take my time and read an instruction book on how to create beautiful classical architecture from the Master himself. My architectural alumni never bothered to mention Andrea Palladio or his four books in the design studio except to mention them in my architectural history classes.This had to do with ignoring classical architecture and practicing contemporary architecture.How unfortunate.This book is a timeless piece of work.I recommend this book to anyone (especially architecture students) before you go to Europe to study architecture.My favorite book is book IV on temples.While this is the largest book, it is the most interesting.Palladio documents the great works of Roman antiquity of both ruined and preserved works (Pantheon).The lesson to be learned by all contemporary architects is Palladio's timeless use of proportions of which he goes thru great efforts to document in the Quatro Libri.

Excellent book
I'would recommend this book to anybody who's searching for something real classical architectural mold or old type building design! #1

Andrea Palladio: The Four Books on Architecture
One of the most celebrated and influential of architectural texts has been republished in a highly readable version by Robert Tavernor and Richard Schofield (the first new English translation since 1738!) with facsimiles of Palladio's woodcuts, correctly placed in the text. It makes a wonderful introduction to the timeless principles of architecture and to Palladio's dazzling oeuvre. How agreeable it would be to browse this classic in the shade of the Villa Rotunda on a hot summer afternoon. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

Modern Translation Details Ancient Architectural Secrets
Palladio was not the first to publish a bookillustrating principles of classical architecture but he was the most convincing. Palladio'sfinely detailed, measured wood cut illustration --reproduced at a slightly smallerscale in this translation--,made the long lost principles of Romanarchitecture and construction easy to understand.

In hisFour Books ofArchitecture of 1570, Andrea Palladio balancedillustrations of ancientRoman construction,that he had drawn from observing ruins,with brief,straightforward practical interpretations of historicaldescriptions ofRoman architectural design and construction from Vitruvius's FirstCenturyBC Treatise on Roman And Greek architecture, which had been found a centurybefore in a Swiss monastery.To this treatise on Roman architecture,Palladio added examples of his own imaginative designs to demonstrate howancient principles of engineering, planning, construction and decorationcould enhance public and private buildings of his day.

Palladio'ssuccessful Four Books were published and translated many times. They becameone of the most cited references for architects in the West, where theydominated architectural studies until academic training for architectsbecame standard in the 19th century.Variations on Palladio's designs areeverywhere. Thomas Jefferson's house, Montecello, is one of the best knownexamples in the U.S.. Jeffersonowned a copy of Palladio's 1570 edition ofthe Four Books.

Robert Tavernor and Richard Schofield'swell written,carefully annotated scholarly, 1997translation of Palladio's Four Books--the first new English translation since 1738-- from MIT Press is apleasure to read for what it reveals much about both great principles andfine detail of classicaldesign and construction practices. The textexplains how Palladioorganized roomsin urban palaces as well as how hearranged living, storageand work areas in his rural villas to takeadvantage of the climate.Practical details about construction include building foundations, sizing windows, designingclassical columns as wellas instructions for to selectingand harvesting timber: Cut treesonly inthe fall after the sap has run out. Cure the lumber, covered withexcrement,under a shelter for two years to prevent rot.

The text alsodetails how toquarry, cut and set stone --always in place--, how toprepare cement, mortar and concrete and how to build masonryformedconcrete walls, as the Romans did. The reinforced masonry used today is thesame inprinciple as Roman walls. We have merelymodified the pratice inthis century with larger hollow bricks,Portland cement and steelreinforcing.

It's not possible to understand Roman and modernarchitectural history in the West or building technology with withoutstudying Palladio.Original editions of Palladio's 1570 book are availablein a few rare book libraries. Occasionally a copy turns up in rare bookauctions.Robert Tavernor'snew English translationof the Four Booksmakes Palladio accessible to modern English readers.

An exemplary edition
This is one of the most important of architectural manuals.Palladio's influence was enormous; one magnificent example of American Palladianism isThomas Jefferson'sUniversity of Virginia Library; others can be found in thework ofPhilip Johnson. The design of The Four Books ofArchitecture is one of the reasons for this success.Drawings and plans fill the page, comments are sparing,invitations to use the eye and imagination as well aspractical instructions. In this respect Palladio'sbookresembles that of the equally influential, equallyvisionaryPaul Klee in his Pedagogical Sketchbooks.Seeing so much of his influence in public buildings, it ishard not to find theoriginal sourcebook refreshing.I'd suggest looking through it alongsidea general survey of the buildings themselves, like translatorRobert Tavernor's Palladio and Palladianism(in Thames and Hudson's World of Art series). Tavernor has done his job very well. The english translationis neither anachronistic nor colloquial, but as lucid as the original. The book's designers have really donebrilliantly in finding the most suitable typefaces to matchPalladio's original woodcuts and in choosing a size andformat, down to the weight and colour of the paper, that makes these ideas handsome and vivid now.An exemplary edition.Richard Bernas. ... Read more

Product Description

The industry¿s leading resource for Internet routing solutions and scenarios

• Explore the functions, attributes, and applications of BGP-4, the de facto interdomain routing protocol, through practical scenarios and configuration examples
• Learn the contemporary Internet structure and understand how to evaluate a service provider in dealing with routing and connectivity issues
• Master the addressing techniques--including Classless Interdomain Routing (CIDR)--that are demanded today to facilitate the Internet's rapid and continuing growth
• Develop optimal routing policies--redundancy, traffic balancing, symmetry, and stability--for your network
• Learn how to seamlessly integrate your intradomain and interdomain routing and manage large and growing autonomous systems

Internet Routing Architectures, Second Edition explores the ins and outs of interdomain routing network designs with emphasis on BGP-4 (Border Gateway Protocol Version 4)--the de facto interdomain routing protocol.

Using a practical, xample-oriented approach, this comprehensive resource provides you with real solutions for ISP connectivity issues.You will learn how to integrate your network on the global Internet and discover how to build large-scale autonomous systems.You will also learn to control expansion of interior routing protocols using BGP-4, design sound and stable networks, configure the required policies using Cisco IOS Software, and explore routing practices and rules on the Internet.

Internet Routing Architectures, Second Edition is your complete resource for Internet routing solutions and scenarios.

Topics covered: Means of connecting one network to another, especially by means of Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4) on Cisco Systems routers. There's coverage of addressing and routing-protocol generalities, as well as of BGP tuning for routing inside and outside autonomous systems. Design decisions are a big part of this book's scope. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

the bgp 'bible', even for non believers :-)
This book has been reviewed many many times before, and because it is such a brilliant masterpiece, it thought it was worth while mentioning this again.
I simply don't have words for this book.Everything is so well explained, well documented, well written... it simply is a must read for anybody who wants to do anything with BGP.
Personally, I have found it valuable to first learn some basics about BGP before reading this book. But even if you are a BGP beginner, you will like this book.

High five, well deserved !

A must read on BGP
This is a great book to get the fundamentals of BGP and many advanced concepts related to BGP on the internet and in your enterprise. Even though Halabi wrote the latest edition almost 10 years ago the information is very relative to today. It is of course very Cisco specific but gives you a great understanding of how the protocol works and will help any engineer who deals with BGP. A must read.

Internet Routing Architectures Book
Very satisfied. The description of the condition of the book said it was like a new book. I wasn't disappointed. It was in excellent condition. The seller was very good and actually followed up with me to make sure that I was happy and totally satisfied with the book and delivery. I was.

Classic BGP and Internet Architecture
This is a really great book on BGP and Internet Architecture.The explanation of BGP at the protocol level is great.More importantly though is its explanation and examples of using eBGP / iBGP with an IGP.

I've heard it criticized as being dated and too Cisco specific.Though it is Cisco specific, it's still very relevant.I would start with this book and read past NANOG presentations on introductory BGP if I wanted to learn how the Internet works.

A great BGP book, but not the first book for the CCIE
I have always felt that I am part of the small minority that just does not see the beauty of this book if studying for the CCIE.I have, for years, read other's comments on the how Halabi's "Internet Routing Arch" is a `must have', yet I still have not found a similar reason why.While I do feel that the book does (probably) the best job at explaining BGP and how to implement BGP in a Cisco-centric world, I have not discovered the value for the CCIE.I would much rather spend my time with CiscoPress's "Routing TCP/IP" Volume 2, by Jeff Doyle and Jennifer DeHaven Carroll than this book.

One item of concern, there is a noticable amount of trivial errors in this book that can lead to disaster if implemented incorrectly.For example:

Page 106 - "...any traffic that has an origin OR destination that does not belong to the local AS."This clearly should be an AND, not OR.

Page 315 - "You can also specify a PREFIX list..." - I believe this should be a filter list, not a prefix list.

And then there are places where the book is too opinionated - for example - page 206 "Many operators choose to filter dynamically learned defaults to avoid situations in which traffic ends up where it is not supposed to be."I do not feel this is true, and can think of multiple times when not filtering the advertised default route may just end up being the worst option.In fact, I do not feel either configuration is the right configuration to admit or condone, as the wrong configuration can have disastrous effects.

I still have to give this book 4 stars - simply because of it's utilitarian value and overwhelming sense of loyalty given to this book by others.But I don't reach for this book too often.

I give this book 4 pings out of 5:
!!!.! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

How could you not get this for the price?
Beautifully illustrated, written, and presented. This book covers an excellent range of projects and firms/architects. The only thing I find slightly disturbing about this (and it may just be my copy) is that all the pages are bound into the hardcover upside down haha. No big deal, flip the dustjacket around and nobody will ever know! Wonderful find for the price, full of excellent information that should definitely inspire. ... Read more

Product Description

This book provides practical advice on how to develop an enterprise architecture practice. The authors developed different tools and models to support organizations in implementing and professionalizing an enterprise architecture function. Coverage applies these tools and models to a number of different organizations and, as a result, will help readers avoid potential pitfalls and achieve success with enterprise architecture.

Customer Reviews (1)

Good book for beginners
I have not gone through the whole book but going through the first 3 chapters I kind of liked the pace at which the book is written. The fundamentals are clearly documented with equal emphasis on product , process and people. Nice clear diagram to covey the concepts. I think it is a good buy. ... Read more

Product Description
Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of ArchitecturalTheory collects in a single volume the most significant essays on architectural theory of the last thirty years.

A dynamic period of reexamination of the discipline, the postmodern eraproduced widely divergent and radical viewpoints on issues of making, meaning, history, and the city. Among the paradigms presented arearchitectural postmodernism, phenomenology, semiotics, poststructuralism, deconstruction, and feminism.

By gathering these influential articles from a vast array of books and journals into a comprehensive anthology, Kate Nesbitt has created a resource of great value. Indispensable to professors and students of architecture and architectural theory, Theorizing a New Agenda also serves practitioners and the general public, as Nesbitt provides an overview, a thematic structure, and a critical introduction to each essay.

The list of authors in Theorizing a New Agenda reads like a "Who's Who" of contemporary architectural thought: Tadao Ando, Giulio Carlo Argan, Alan Colquhoun, Jacques Derrida, Peter Eisenman, Marco Frascari, Kenneth Frampton, Diane Ghirardo, Vittorio Gregotti, Karsten Harries, Rem Koolhaas, Christian Norberg-Schulz, Aldo Rossi, Colin Rowe, Thomas Schumacher, Ignasi de Sol -Morales Rubi , Bernard Tschumi, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, and Anthony Vidler. A bibliography and notes on all the contributors are also included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Fantastic
An excellent collection of readings covering a wide variety of philosophical architectural readings.Highly recommended for those who want to understand the essential theory behind true architecture.

merely passable
while nesbitt's introductions to the various sections and articles/excerpts are often quite good, i cannot give this book more than a "passable" rating.the selections are heavily weighted toward a the ideas of a select few authors/theoreticians, creating a fairly lopsided look at recent architectural theory (as can fairly easily be seen in a review of the table of contents).in addition, those familiar with the topic sections covered (for example, semiotics and its relation to architecture), will find the excerpts chosen to represent certain theoretician's bodies of work rather inappropriate and incomplete.i have not yet had the opportunity to read any similar anthologies of very recent architectural theory, but this is certainly not one which should impress, or one that should be used as a stand-alone source.

Post Modernist psyco-bable
As an arcaheology student studying vernacular architecture, I found this particular text to be a waste of time. It does nothing for the history of architecture, nor does it lend itself to coherent reading.

Excellent Architectural Theory text
Architectural Theory from 1965-1995 is complex, nuanced, and somewhat pretentious. Part of the problem is that contemporary Architectural Theory (and I would call this "Postmodern" theory) is connected to Continental Philosophy, which is also quite pretentious and often inaccessible to the vast majority of readers. Quite frankly, a lot of postmodern theory is, in my opinion, meaningless, but very hip, drivel.

That being said, if one is able to separate out the drivel, there is also a great deal to gain from reading postmodern theory. They key is to learn how to separate the good from the bad. This book won't teach you that, so you may often wonder, after reading a text, whether you just don't get it, or if there is really anything to get at all. All of the authors whose essays are contained in this text are very important in contemporary architecture, and any student or enthusiast of contemporary architectural trends needs to understand these figures, such as Koolhaas, Eisenman, and Tschumi (also, all major figures at architecture schools in the US). I would say every one of the authors here has some good points, although some of them write in far more verbose and pretentious language than others. But, this book is simply presenting the important figures in architectural theory, so I won't fault the book for the flaws of the texts contained within. It would be irresponsible NOT to include all of these texts. Judge them for yourself, and remember that each of theorists in these pages has critisized the work of other theorists in the textbook. They aren't all equal, and nobody has claimed they are.

The only problem with this book is that it doesn't contain any illustrations. Now I know this isn't meant to be a coffee-table book with pretty buildings, but it's very problematic to have architecture texts without illustrations. I highly recommened looking up some of the work of each of the architects in here. For example, if you don't understand what Eisenman is talking about, take a look at some pictures of his buildings and it may become clear. Also, remember that most of the texts in this book, when first published, DID contain pictures accompanying them, so something is lost in their removal. Some of the texts need pictures more than others. I think Rem Koolhaas, more than most of the rest, relies quite heavily on images to get his point across in his fantastic books (especially S,M,L,XL and Delirious New York), and republishing his work without these images takes a good deal of the meaning away, and also makes the texts much more dry.

I recommend this book, but probably just as a reference or a jumping-off point from which to explore certain trends and theorists further. The organization of this book is quite nice, outlining each theoretical trend (such as deconstructivism, phenomenology, or critical regionalism), and making clear the overlap (many theorists have essays in several sections). Again, this book is probably not for the casual architecture fan, and reading it is not as fun as opening up a Koolhaas book or other beautifully-made visual book, but if you really want (or need) to understand the most important trends and theorists in contemporary architecture, this book is a great buy.

Correcting Ignorance
I am an architecture student at Washington University.This book is a great stepping stone into Architectural Theory.But, why I am really writing this review is to correct the unread
individual who wrote a review of this book prior to me.

phe·nom·e·nol·o·gy - noun

1. A philosophy or method of inquiry based on the premise that reality consists of objects and events as they are perceived or understood in human consciousness and not of anything independent of human consciousness.

2. A movement based on this, originated about 1905 by Edmund Husserl. ... Read more

Product Description
The Modern Architecture Pop-Up Book showcases three-dimensional replications of some of the most innovative modern and contemporary architecture from around the world. Accompanied by illustrations, photographs, and elaborate pop-ups, the talent and imagination of architects and builders of the modern era is brought to life. Ranging from the nineteenth century to the present day, the pages follow the development of modern architecture: the creation of new buildings and innovations that led to such feats as the Brooklyn Bridge; the birth of the skyscraper and the modern city; mid-century modernism, and the cutting-edge architecture of today. Modern Architecture Pop-Up features the following structures: London’s Crystal Palace; the Brooklyn Bridge; the Eiffel Tower; New York’s Flatiron Building; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, Chicago; Reitveld’s Schroeder House; Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye; Saarinen’s TWA terminal; Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Bilbao; Calatrava’s Milwaukee Art Museum; and Foster’s London "Gherkin" building, to name only a few. Innovative, informative, and elegant, Modern Architecture Pop-Up is an elegant visual tour of the world’s dynamic, inventive, and original architecture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Architecture book
Very nice gift.Bought it for a college engineering student and he loved it!

Thanks
Great book with super pop-ups! No worries with folding the pop-ups back in...it's easier than said in the other review.

A pop-up flop!
Some reviewers complain that the pop-ups don't fully or easily close.They actually don't really pop up.They're floppy, which is really bad for Mies.Many tabs are broken.One piece fell out of the book that doesn't even seem to have been glued in, and I can't match it to a specific building because none of them work very well.

Poorly designed.Poorly produced.I haven't even bothered to read it.

If you really want a pop-up book with educational content, get one of the Encyclopedia Prehistorica series, any one of which is full of amazing, sturdy constructions.

great book
great book just that there are pictures on the back cover that aren't in the book and some of the popups are hard to open

Popups that don't pop down
I would not recommend this book unless you like to spend lots of frustrating time trying to make the pop-ups pop down! They look great when you first open them but many of them would not fold back down easily. I bought it for my husband and we were very careful trying to use it. Definitely not recommended for kids, they would destroy it. ... Read more

Product Description
Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web, Second Edition introduces the core concepts of information architecture: organizing web site content so that it can be found, designing website interaction so that it's pleasant to use, and creating an interface that is easy to understand. This book helps designers, project managers, programmers, and other information architecture practitioners avoid costly mistakes by teaching the skills of information architecture swiftly and clearly. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great intro to information architecture
This book is not meant for specialized Information Architects, rather it is aimed at Designers who need to perform IA tasks as part of their job. The book touches on key points such as creating personas and user-flows. This easy-to-read book carries a light-hearted tone, and charming illustrations by Michael Fleming are used as humorous visual aids for the concepts.

Concepts such as usability basics, user-centered design, and social web design are explained, and there is even a chapter with a case study on the Boxes & Arrows website. The book is a great addition to any interaction designer's library.

Information Architecture defined...(2nd Edition review)
Wodkte and Govella do a good job in outlining their definition of the basic principles of IA:
- Design for Wayfinding
- Set expectations and provide feedback
- Design ergonomically
- Be consistent / consider standards
- Provide error support (Prevent, Protect, and Inform)
- Rely on Recognition rather than on recall
- Provide for people of varying skill levels
- Provide contextual help and documentation

While the illustrations that drive home the subject matter can be a little clipart-ish at times, the concepts are presented in a non-technical and non-jargon based way. Each topic is explained clearly using an outline / numbered bullet format to ensure that each section can be clearly understood independently and collectively. Items such as `Who are the users?' may seem trivial at first, but imagine how many interpretations of `who are users' exist with an organization and the problems that arise when the user begins to morph throughout the product lifecycle. Wodtke and Govella decompose several non-obvious items such as persona creation and navigational types (structural, associative, and utility) into chunks that are comprehensible (Hrair Limit). I was genuinely surprised to find a section for Social Architecture which exposed me to topics such as Kurt Lewin's formula for understanding human behavior and the elements of social architecture: identity + elements, relationships + elements, and activity + elements.

The book can be read from cover to cover, if time permits. However, most of the world will probably use this book as a reference guide for completing IA related tasks as they arise. I would strongly recommend that all aspiring and current IAs give the book a once over to spawn new thoughts about the discipline or to renew the interest in keeping things usable and findable.

Three Information Architecture Heroes...
Now I have three information design heros - Tufte, Wodtke & Govella. "Information Architecture - Blueprints For The WEB" SECOND ADDITION by Wodtke & Govella is exactly what the title suggests - a guide to effective form, structure and organization of information on the web. A quick glance at the table of contents reveals essential topics like; Principles, Balance, Search, Navigation, Flow, and Social Spaces. Graphic illustrations abound to give the reader concrete examples of the principles the authors set forth. Anyone considering upping their game and thinking relative to web building should get two ( 2 ) copies of this book; one to read, reference and literally carry around, and a second one to replace the first one when it wears out. ... Read more

Product Description
Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent introduction to contemporary museum architecture
Like other volumes in Taschen's "Architecture Now!" series, this book features brief but excellent case studies. A well-written introduction by Philip Jodidio covers the development of museum architecture since the mid 20th century, putting star museum architects into their historical and cultural context. The meat of the book is comprised of the case studies of over 50 museums around the world, including a few unbuilt designs. Each project is prefaced by a one-page description of the architect or architectural firm with a brief biography and list of important works. One to three double-page spreads are dedicated to each museum, with a description the design requirements and inspiration, interior and exterior photographs, plans, elevations, and occasionally sketches.

Each museum is accompanied by no more than a few paragraphs of text, so this is not a resource for in-depth studies of individual museums, the design process, architectural decision-making, or the construction process. However, it provides an excellent overview of contemporary museum architecture around the world, allowing readers to spot themes and connections as well as how different museums can be. Highly recommended as a source of inspiration during the initial planning stages of a design project, and as a source of broad information about the current state of museum architecture. ... Read more

Product Description
Pattern-oriented software architecture is a new approach to software development. This book represents the progression and evolution of the pattern approach into a system of patterns capable of describing and documenting large-scale applications. A pattern system provides, on one level, a pool of proven solutions to many recurring design problems. On another it shows how to combine individual patterns into heterogeneous structures and as such it can be used to facilitate a constructive development of software systems. Uniquely, the patterns that are presented in this book span several levels of abstraction, from high-level architectural patterns and medium-level design patterns to low-level idioms. The intention of, and motivation for, this book is to support both novices and experts in software development. Novices will gain from the experience inherent in pattern descriptions and experts will hopefully make use of, add to, extend and modify patterns to tailor them to their own needs. None of the pattern descriptions are cast in stone and, just as they are borne from experience, it is expected that further use will feed in and refine individual patterns and produce an evolving system of patterns.Amazon.com Review
Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture: A System ofPatterns looks at how patterns occur on three different levels--insoftware architecture, in everyday design, and in idioms (whichdescribe how a particular design pattern is implemented in aprogramming language like C++). This synthetic approach is a littletheoretical at times, but the authors also present over a dozenpatterns and provide real-world examples wherever possible.

For architectural patterns, the authors look at the Layers pattern,used in operating systems such as Windows NT and virtualmachines. They also consider Pipes and Filters, which process streamsof data. (This pattern, the authors point out, is a lynchpin of Unix.)Their Blackboard pattern shows how a complex problem, such as image orspeech recognition can be broken up into smaller, specializedsubsystems that work together to solve a problem. (For recognizingwords from a raw waveform input, a Blackboard approach might haveseparate processes to find phonemes, then words, then sentences.)

This book also looks at today's distributed systems in considering theBroker pattern, which is used on the Internet and in Microsoft's OLEtechnology.This section also presents several powerful patterns forbuilding effective graphical user interfaces, such asModel-View-Controller.

The authors define several well-known design patterns, such as theProxy and Command patterns, and also basic, far-reaching patterns,such as Whole-Part and Master-Slave, which are widely used throughoutcomputing. Their survey ends with a discussion on the way objects cancommunicate (using such patterns as Forwarder-Receiver,Client-Dispatcher-Server, and Publisher-Subscriber), which manydevelopers will recognize as familiar patterns, but are codified hereas "official" patterns. The book then discusses some idiomsin C++ and a more far-reaching role for patterns in software designand architecture.By fitting patterns into traditional softwareengineering practices, the authors of Pattern-Oriented SoftwareArchitecture successfully argue that the role for patterns willonly continue to diversify and enrich tomorrow's software engineeringtools and methodologies. --Richard Dragan ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Too expensive
$70 for a stream of bytes? Even for a hardcover technical book, that's a tough sell.

Amazing book
This book uses an easy way to explain system patterns. I think every software developer has to read this book; it's a nice reference to help software architects doing a well-done job. Another great reference that you may have in your list of references is the classical book "Design Pattern", also at Amazon.com.

The second best pattern book
Second best isn't bad when the #1 book changed forever the way software architecture is talked about.GoF is not only well-written, but it covers all the basic, most-used patterns.Everybody thereafter is going to have to either re-hash GoF, criticize it, or come up with new patterns which are not as fundamental.

This book is full of new patterns, and fortunately they are good ones: Command, Broker, Layers and worth the price of the book in itself Presentation-Abstraction-Controller.

PAC can be seen as a generalization and extension of Model/View/Controller.The Abstraction is the domain-specific part of the architecture, effectively the Model.The Presentation exposes the Model in some interesting way, either as a user-interface in which case it is a View, or as an API, in which case the Presentation becomes a new Abstraction used by the next level up.The Controller is left with the job of coordinating the Presentation and the Model.The key to the pattern is that PAC agents can be built up into layers with the Presentation API of each lower agent creating a higher abstraction for the next level.Thus PAC becomes MVC for all or your architecture, not just the UI.

The book goes into this at length and adds useful discussion of MVC.Highly recommended.

Not concrete enough
First of all, you need to understand the patterns in the gang of four book before you attempt to read this one.They talk about them all over the place without explaining them.That's a warning, it didn't affect my review.

The major thing I don't like about this book is the abstractness with which they talk.They give you a high level description of a pattern and leave you with that fogginess.

I think the examples were poorly chosen.I would have prefered to have examples that are only as complicated as they needed to be.Unfortunately the book uses examples like, "We're going to make a voice recognition application" or "We're going to make an OS that can run applications that were built on Unix or WinNT or Linux".I think the intent was to have some real-world-I've-been-working-for-six-years examples... it would have been smarter to put the real world examples in a separate chapter and keep the design pattern explanations simple.

Also, I hate the diagrams.They should have just copied the diagrams in the GoF book!Instead they chose these diagrams that give less info and IMO are downright ambiguous in some situations.Another thing the GoF book does is have 2 separate diagrams, one that's a (simple) real world example and another that's a diagram of the actual pattern.This book only has the diagram of the actual pattern.

I disagree with those that say this book is better than the GoF book.I think what they like is the material covered.Material aside, the GoF book presents the information in a much clearer way.That's why I prefer the GoF book over this one.

Clear and wide-ranging
This is an unusual book in the pattern genre. It presents a number of patterns, categorized by archtiectural level. That's just the first part of the book, though. The third of the book is about the process of using, relating, collecting, and distributing patterns.

Only chapter 2 really addresses patterns for the strategic, architectural level of a software system. It does a very adequate job, using a variety of notations, examples, and analysis steps. This book is from 1996, so time has changed our view of some patterns. "Reflection," for example, has become pervasive in applications based on plugins and software components. It is also a fundamental API in the major langauges (Java and C#) released since this book was published - perhaps reflection should be downgraded to an "idiom". That's just nitpicking, though, since reflection is even more important now than when the book was written.

For contrast, the authors present additional design patterns (including some from Gamma's book) for use at tactical design levels. They also discuss idioms patterns that typically involve just a few lines of code within on function. The contrast between the three different levels of implementation and design gives a useful discussion. The authors also present a weak chapter on "systems" or "langauges" of patterns The discussion is OK as far as it goes. The weakness is in what it omits. After reading this brief chapter, the programmer has very little practical information about choosing patterns from some library for some task. The poor programmer has no information at all about how to link patterns together, and that's a real stumbling block for beginning pattern users.

The final section of the book is really sociology. It's about the pattern community, what that community is for, and how to be a working member. I find the discussion un-helpful, but I expect opinions to differ.

Even today, this is a good second book (after Gamma's 'Design Patterns') on patterns and pattern usage. It lack the depth and precision of Gamma's book, and tends to add words without adding meaning. On the positive side, it's broader than Gamma's, and addresses a wider range of implementation levels. ... Read more

Product Description
Exemplary reprint of l6th-century classic. Covers classical architectural remains, Renaissance revivals, classical orders, etc. 1738 Ware English edition. 216 plates. "...a new and splendid edition of what has probably been the most influential book published in the history of architecture since its first appearance in 1570."—Art in America.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Classical architecture of Palladio
Excellent book of classical temples and structures.Way too over the top for building for today, unless you are building a backyard temple or mediterranean villa but great inspiration if you are looking to incorporate a few classical design elements into a project.I will be using some of the moulding profiles and patterns for some carving templates.The large number of line drawings are clean and concise with lots of detail.

A classic
This book belongs in all of the architecture libraries of the world. It is a book that is a classic, a "must have" for all the professionals in the field. It requires a bit of concentration to read, because it is written in an "old fashioned" way, where some of the letters look a bit odd for the modern eyes ( the letters "s" in a lot of the words look like an "f", which reminds you of the german "ß"). But other than that, I think it is a wonderful book, carefully illustrated. I gave one as a gift for an architect friend, and he has been enjoying it a lot.

must have for your library
The four books of andrea palladio is a must have for the interior design library.The father of architecture's designs are the cornerstone of good classical design.Even though he is so widely copied he has never been equaled. This is a very good value for his works. ... Read more

Product Description
This massive compendium by a noted architectural historian contains over 2000 line drawings, and clear, concise definitions for over 5000 important terms relating to the architectural achievements of a great variety of world cultures, ancient to modern. Includes cutaway views, close-ups of intricate details, precisely rendered plans for many famed structures.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Useful
I ordered this dictionary for a History of Design class. The required textbook wasn't very useful so I got this dictionary to do my terminology assignments. It's easy to use and has great descriptions and pictures.

My favorite book on Western Architecture
No long narratives, but a picture or dictionary description of everything you can think of architecturally.Very easy to use.This is my most used book for a class in the history of western architecture.The drawings are VERY well done.

Great Textbook Follow-Up
I love this book!My textbook can be unclear on certain architectural elements and I can almost always count on this book to give me a definition and a drawing.If you are looking for colored pictures this isn't the right book for you but if you need some great reference material this is a great book.

Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture
This book is extremely helpful when taking any Architecture History course.Everything I have needed to know is in this book.The diagrams are more understandable than my textbook.

Dictionary Covering World Architecture
Cyril Harris has produced two great architectural dictionaries.The first one published in 1977 is the one currently being reviewed.His second dictionary is entitled, "American Architecture:An Illustrated Encyclopedia" and it was published in 1998 by Norton.

If your interest in primarily in American Architecture stick to "American Architecture".It is a newer book and its has beautiful line illustrations of which the majority come from the Historic American Building Survey (HABS).It has over 2,500 definitions and 1,000 illustrations.

However, if your interest is in World Architecture, this is the book for you.In this volume, Harris provides concise definitions for over 5,000 architectural terms and there are over 2,000 illustrations.From ancient ruins to 20th Century Modern Architecture, this illustrated dictionary covers the full spectrum of architectural achievement.All the illustrations are black and white line illustrations and they appear to principally come from the illustrated magazines of the 19th and Early 20th Century. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

• Just the essential information for readers on the go who want to understand architecture.
• Covers the highlights of architectural history, from the Great Pyramids to Frank Gehry's Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.
• Explains how to look at a building and appreciate it. Explains when a building's a building and when it's art.
• Part of Tens includes: Ten Great Architectural Masterpieces, Ten Biggest Architectural and Engineering Failures, Ten of the Most Interesting Architects Working Today-and more.

Customer Reviews (2)

See Chapter 11
The pictures are tiny, grainy, black and white--the text is worse. Almost every paragraph is punctuated with brackets. (See chapter 3.)

Most of the (parenthesis) are unnecessary or allude to information, which is practically non-existent. (For more information see any chapter.)

The abundance of cross-referencing makes this book almost impossible to read. The most blatant example was the last sentence of chapter ten. (See chapter 11.)

Definitely and only for dummies.

Good information. Terrible editing.
"Architecture for Dummies" provides a solid overview of the development of buildings and structural philosophies from ancient times to the present. It doesn't really break any new ground; the examples presented are the same you'd get in any similar sort of publication or course (Gothic = Chartres, Art Deco = Chrysler Bldg, Wright = Fallingwater, Modern = Utrecht, etc.). The sense of humor is occasionally dorky, and feels like it's been forced into the text to meet the conventions of the Dummies series, but the information is still good and, for the most part, well organized.

Where the book seriously falls down, though, is in the editing. The text is riddled with typographical errors and irritating redundancies, the paragraph-label icons in the margin frequently seem randomly dispersed (especially the ones purporting to highlight "technical info," whose paragraphs often don't seem materially different from neighboring text), and there's at least one "take a look!" icon that falsely indicates the building being discussed is featured in the handful of color plates in the middle of the book.

Worst of all are the limited and oddly chosen illustrations, a very distressing problem for a subject that by its very nature demands visual representation for understanding. The vast majority of the photos are credited to "GreatBuildings.com," and show the structures at obscure angles or from a distance, appearing to be little better than tourist snapshots. This suggests to this reader a desire on the part of the Dummies editors to pinch pennies on the pictures, and sadly mars the book's effectiveness to a considerable degree.

Ms. Dietsch is an authority in the field, and if I were her, I'd be highly displeased with this barely professional treatment of my material. The shoddily edited text and the parsimonious imagery greatly undercut the value of the presentation, and reduce my rating from four stars to three. The book is adequately informative, but little more. ... Read more

Product Description
Feeling overwhelmed by the buzz about SOA—service oriented architecture? Take heart! Service Oriented Architecture For Dummies, 2nd Edition makes it easy to understand, plan, and implement the latest SOA solutions for your business.

Whether you’re the IT person responsible for developing SOA or the executive who’s trying to get a handle on the concept, Service Oriented Architecture For Dummies, 2nd Edition will help you understand what SOA is, why it’s important, and how you can make the most of it. You’ll find out about the business and financial aspects of SOA, how to decide if you need it, and what it can mean to your bottom line. Discover how to:

• Identify the main components of SOA and how they work to create business processes
• Create reusable, flexible systems and avoid common pitfalls
• Deconstruct business processes and applications to identify their components, then put them together in new ways
• Construct SOA business applications for maximum adaptability
• Confirm quality in a situation that’s difficult to test, and assure the quality and consistency of your data
• Develop a governance strategy for SOA based on your company’s philosophy and culture
• Work with XML and understand how it’s used in SOA
• Maximize the benefits of unified communications
• Understand software ecosystems, rich interfaces, and the development lifecycle

Packed with real-life case studies illustrating how SOA has been applied in a variety of industries, Service Oriented Architecture For Dummies, 2nd Edition demystifies one of today’s hottest business tools. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

great resource
The best resource for the S.O.A. professional. Cuts out all the boring jabber and gets to the point!

Very poor introduction to SOA
Started off very trivial but by Part II had become completely incomprehensible, introducing new terminology without explanation at every line.

Doesn't work at a business or technical level and certainly will not help any business get going with SOA.

Very poorly written book - don't waste your money.

Still searching for a book or website that actually helps someone get going on what looks like it should be a good methodology.

VERY low signal-to-noise ratio.
Picked up a copy of this book from the library, and was very disappointed.

It is full of stupid jokes, the table of contents is mostly useless because of the childish and uninformative chapter/section titles.

More than 50% of the book is useless fluff like "OK so you really want to know what service oriented architecture is? That's good, hold on, it won't be too hard -- you'll understand all of this later. Don't be scared off by these very technical terms -- we'll get through it...." --- PAGE AFTER PAGE of it. You will (literally) learn more from the Wikipedia article on SOA than you will from this entire book.

If you want a good book on the subject, get "SOA in Practice" by Nicolai Josuttis instead -- it is much clearer, more interesting, and in-depth.

Do not waste your money on this book -- get it from a library or a dumpster.

Not a programming tome -- just a necessary one
I've always hated the "for Dummies" series -- while I never doubted its application to me (at least in some areas), I didn't think I should display my stupidity nakedly with a long line of yellow book spines!That said, the real difficulty with the series naming convention is it doesn't allow one to level-set purchases.Are the (IT-focused) Dummies books for technical novices, learning how to program?Are they for management, trying to understand the industry's latest fashion?It's unlikely you can address both segments with a single title, and having sat in both seats I can understand the confusion.

If you're looking for how to write programs that output SOAP headers, this book is emphatically not for you.This so-called "low-SOA" point of view, in which "service oriented architecture" means only "addressing services with URL's to applications running behind web servers" is well-served by plenty of other books, and in any event isn't particularly interesting.Middleware is middleware, and while there are certainly differences in quality, performance, stability, reliability and integrity of various middleware architectures from XDR to CORBA, from DCOM to SOAP, they all perform the basic functions of finding, calling, and getting results from network-addressed applications or services.Enough said.

What's more interesting in a real SOA world -- what Gartner calls "high-SOA" -- is not how one builds services, but how one structures business processes given the capability to distribute infrastructure (and other) services.That's the focus of this book, and in fact the focus of the SOA Consortium [...] Assuming you can capture, precisely define, store, reuse and optimize business processes (some of which are automated, and some of which aren't), how would you structure your business to take advantage of that "modularity of process" to better build business capabilities that support your interactions with your customers and your suppliers?

In clearly laid-out chapters, accessible by any reader, this book details only briefly the technical underpinnings; but in far more detail (and to my mind, more interesting detail) how SOA changes your company's structure.Sure, SOA is a fashion that has struck the IT industry, like many others -- but that doesn't mean it lacks value as an approach, a methodology to optimizing the business.Certainly the adoption of SOA by industry -- Gartner has called SOA "mainstream" since late 2008 -- comes from more than simple fashion.It comes from a proven methodology for improving the bottom line, using IT automation where appropriate.Most importantly, the clear case studies in this book of SOA success in real companies make it an invaluable reference.Nothing clarifies a complex topic more than clearly-explicated case studies, and those alone makes this book worth far more than the price.

David Linthicum said it best when he said "SOA is something you do, not something you buy."That said, it's good to have a solid, well-structured introduction to hand when you're doing it -- so this book is something you buy!

Was dumb . . . still am dumb
Wow - what a waste! It's one thing to waste the money but it's all the more painful when you also waste time reading just to realize you wasted money on a book.

Funny enough wikipedia has been more helpful than this book > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-oriented_architecture

... Read more

Product Description
A Comprehensive, Proven Approach to IT Scalability from Two Veteran Software, Technology, and Business Executives

Customer Reviews (12)

A pick for any library catering to web programmers
A pick is Martin L. Abbott and Michael T. Fisher's THE ART OF SCALABILITY: SCALABLE WEB ARCHITECTURE, PROCESSES, AND ORGANIZATIONS FOR THE MODERN ENTERPRISE is a pick for any library catering to web programmers. It tells how to build processes for scale, optimizing performance and planning for rapid data growth and new data centers. It isn't just about technology - it's about processes, people, and the entire issue of scalability at all levels.

Out of touch with reality
1. An excerpt from page 13:
"...if a single person can produce 1.0 unit of work in a given timeframe, a two-person organization might produce 1.99 units of the same work in the same timeframe. Each person's output was slightly reduced and while the team produced more overall, each person produced slightly less on an individual basis. The resulting relative loss of .01 units of work in the aforementioned timeframe represents the inefficiencies caused by coordination and communication."

So the authors think communication/collaboration overhead between two people results in just 1% loss of productivity?? anyone who has worked in the trenches know this is flat out lie. Did they read the classic "the mythical man month"? Probably not.

2. Another one from page 89:
"management is ... the judicious and ethical use of means to accomplish an end." Why ethics? Today, more than ever, we need managers and actions that show concern for the wealth of the shareholders of our companies.

Jeez, don't they realize that in this day and age, "personal success is everything", only a fool would put shareholder value ahead of his own personal gain.

This sort of meaningless pompous statements are everywhere. These charlatans are truly disgusting.

My Current Operations Bible
I became aware of this book through Abbott's website [...] and found it extremely useful.

I use it as my operations bible and refer frequently to it whenever a specific subject comes to mind. The chapters are independent to the extent that if you have a general idea of service operations in a technical environment, can easily zoom in a specific subject and not miss the point.

Really pragmatic, without all the theoretical fat you find on some related books.

Really recommend it to whoever has to put a service IT organization in good operational shape, specially a fast-growing company.

Fantastic and Accessible
As a software engineer and technical manager, I have seen my share of computer professionals who throw on sapphire robes and cloud the air with shapes and noise, all designed to preserve their own position in an organization as the mystical wizards and keepers of the dark secrets of their own black arts.

This book serves as a talisman against that kind of mumbo-jumbo. It's a clearly-written and well-organized guide that's aimed at a broad audience.

Remove the giant Win32 programming bricks and half the O'Reilly library -- and the big red .NET Unleashed volume -- from your library and make space for this book.

It's both a great reference, and a great linear read.

Abbott and Fisher have done us a great service by penning this book.

Excellent Book with Practical Information
The Art of Scalability is an excellent book, written by some guys that know A LOT about scaling technology and organizations. These were the guys that scaled the infrastructure at eBay to support massive growth in the late 90s through the mid 2000s. The book focuses on people, process, and technology - ALL of which are critical to building a scalable company. Some folks write books purely focused on the technical aspect of scaling a business, which I think misses most of the picture. Yes there are certain technical design principles that are critical such as scale out, not up, implement caching, etc. The point is that if you hire and fire the right people and implement correct processes you have a much greater chance to implement the appropriate technology infrastructure to support a high-growth business. What really elevates this book from others is that it is not too abstract when talking about people and process. They provide detailed examples of what a post mortem meeting agenda should be and who should attend, what the role of the problem manager should be, etc.

ON the technical side of the equation, they spend a lot of time discussing design principles and architecture trade-offs. This includes when to split databases, separating applications or actions into 'swim lanes', etc. There is enough here to satisfy someone who is just looking for technical design and architecture as well.

If you are involved in building or supporting a scalable technology business this is a MUST read. ... Read more