Customer Reviews

Brave New Houses: Adventures in Southern California Living

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It takes courage to leap into the unknown, but the thirty homeowners featured in this handsome new compilation picked architects who could translate their desires into something they could never have imagined by themselves. Rather than choose an off-the-shelf design, they went for something that was one-of-a-kind. That bold decision brought them lasting satisfaction.

Even if you do more than fantasize about your ideal home, you can learn something from this varied menu of houses. Each has a distinct character, but all open up to nature and conserve energy by pulling in natural light and breezes and blocking direct sun. As Michael Webb observes in his introduction, we spend too much of our lives in boxes--driving, working, and shopping--and we deserve something better to come home to. A new house, or an inventive remodel by a creative architect can revolutionize the way we live.

The thirty completed houses are located from Santa Barbara to San Diego, but most of them are in or around Los Angeles. That gives this book a coherence that is lacking from most anthologies of residential architecture, for each house relates to a similar climate and topography. As a bonus, there are five unrealized projects that show just how far you can break out of the box.

Great book with very recent houses. I had seen many of them published in the Sunday LA Times magazine, as well as other places BUT this book provides additional pictures, along with floorplans, and text. The houses represent very current styles and range from small houses to large estates.

Very much worth purchasing.

PS. the book is paper back and approximately 9" x 9" in size

Normally when I buy design books I buy for pictures that I use as ideas or reference at work. This book has nice quality photos of the homes at various angles as well as supporting text and floorplans. Being a picture person, I found myself reading and didn't want to put the book down. Lastly, this book is labeled as paperback but I received a hardcover, which I prefer anyways.

Well... If you've just entered the design world of modern living, the content in this book might be dashing and "brave" to you. For most of the readers who are familiar with modern design concept (e.g., me), this book is not "brave" at all. Though it is a recently published book, I felt that it does not catch the pace of cutting-edge modern design simple because I could not get excited at all when viewing the pictures. Plus, this book focuses more on interior than architecture. You need to think about what you need from this book before getting a copy.

A very nice book with great photos, however, the floor plans provided are very poor.

Judging from its title, one should know that it is not for most of people. Most of homebuilders work with many constrains, i.e., budge, topographic, dimension of the lots, and not to forget the resell value. Thus they do not have the luxury to orient the house wherever they like and build whatever they like. If one tries to look for practical ideas how to build a house, this book should be the last one to consider. However, I purchased it with full expectation that this was not a practical book, I am happy with what it is. Well, except the floor plans.