Customer Reviews

The House Book (Architecture)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A great collection of 500 houses, from huts in thirdworld countries, to historic castles and palaces and estates and chateaus, to modern architecture, done by 500 architects. This is a visuals-only book. It does not have much information about the buildings or the architects, but it makes up for the lack of text with the large, vibrant photos, which is what the book is all about. This book is a trade-off - it has more homes and architects than any other book out there, but it also has very little information, since with 500 architects, that only leaves one per page.

Fun to look through and mentally design the dream estate of my retirement years...and to learn about a lot of architects I'd never heard of.

If you liked The Art Book you'll love The House Book. An alphabetical listing of the most important 500 houses from all time. This concise visual history of icons covers everything from ancient cave dwellings to the latest in architectural wonders. Everyone one is there - Gehry, Aalto, Eames, Thomas Jefferson, Henry VIII, Palladio.
Beautifully photographed and printed, I ordered 10 copies of this coffee table book for holiday gifts.

Fascinating tour of homes, with most of the really rewarding images revealing the indigenous styles of homes across the globe, including the iglu, the long house, dung hovels, and dozens of other styles that incorporate the folk wisdom of humans across the centuries. The modernist austerities were the least interesting, even more boring than castles from the Hapsburgs. Some of the contemporary puzzle pieces were striking, and each page repaid the time invested pouring over the details captured. I wish that they would double page load, and show a representative interior of each exterior captured here.

A roof over our head is a need just as the air that we breathe, the food that we consume, & the water that we drink. As human gradually evolves & that our mind is getting more complex, a house doesn't serve the need simply but it also has become a form of expression, a display of the occupants' personality &/or their wealth, bringing into fruition an ideal or an -ism, &/or a culmination of both. Irrespective of which countries we're going to, & what cultures we immerse ourselves into, we still need a house to go home to. And the "House Book" delves into the residential end of architecture scale by showing us all range of houses that transcend boundaries, dollar value, time. I view this book as a collage of 500 houses. I wish certain iconic houses could be discussed further with provision of additional pictures but what we are provided with are simply pictures taken from the most potent angles, which supposedly do the most justice to the houses. Having said that, I would opt the strengths & weaknesses are exposed & they are to be judged by their own merits but then, the size of the book would have been increased quite significantly & so does the cost of owning the book. Still, this is an exceptional book with high grade quality pictures, good summary, good end notes for us to delve into a particular style, particular countries. At the end of the book, there is also an index of further information regarding houses that are available for public viewing. Overall, a very well-done book & it is featured permanently & prominently on my coffee table. Highly recommended

In the best tradition of the phaidon culture books, this one explores architectural styles.
It covers most periods and is eclectic in terms of style and the cultural heritage of the buildings. It also manages to present a huge time span of works, though the focus is on the boom years of architectural styles and changes (from the Victorian era onwards).
Inspires plans for lots of day trips for culture vultures or indeed travels abroad. Very interesting, I imagine there was not quite the struggle to overcome snobberies with this book as there must have been with this books family members, Art, Modern Art, Fashion and Photography.

This is a small book on all kinds of houses all over the world. It has one page per house, with a small text presenting the history and background and one photo. It is not very useful for me as the info is too short and generic, the photos do not explain very much. Sometimes it is about some eccentric house sometimes it is about some typical kind of housing. I expected more explanatory info on how they are built or at least some floorplans.

I now own The Garden Book and The House Book. They both have brief summaries and a picture of some of the most incredible homes and gardens in the world. I am using them as a list of places I want to visit...someday.

As with all books in this series, its about big pictures and only a small amount of text. Great for browsing. I enjoyed the fact that architectural style on one page has nothing to do with the next since its alphabetical. In the top 10% of coffee table style picture books I've bought.

it was one of my favourites until i got the phaidon atlas of contemporary architecture but this book is also a good one. 500 houses over the world. quick guide to have information around the world.
ayse gokbakan yildiz, architect

I was thrilled with this book (and all the other mini-Phaidon books: The Art Book, The Movie Book, The Fashion Book, and The Garden Book -- I think that's all). It's absolutely gorgeous with large pictures on each page and just enough text to make it interesting and informative. I love the alphabetical organization that essentially randomizes all the eras and countries, thus making the diversity more apparent. And, of course, IT'S CHEAP! I love it!