Customer Reviews

Stunning Houses

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This is a good book about modern residential architecture. The whole book features 23 carefully selected houses in different countries. Some of my favorites are Glass House (the Netherlands), House and School (Japan), and Jordi Cantarell House (Spain). In general, all these houses share a similar architectural style, so the design concepts are quite consistent and the modern aesthetic (somewhat neo-minimalism) flows well throughout the book. In an abstrative manner, nearly all these houses are based on modern architecture design paradigm, but with different materials and layout to address specific problems or requirements (posed either by the location or by the clients) and to fit the surroundings. Most of the houses featured in this book is small in scale. The text is succinct and catches the heart of each project.

Something I don't like about the book: 1) I don't like the title simply because it does not tell you anything about the content. Any kinds of design (traditional or modern) could be stunning. In fact, I find the houses in the book represent high quality modern architecture, but are not actually stunning (because these projects are not meant for innovation and experimentation from an architectural perspecitve); 2) Some of the floor plans are not clear enough. I have to think hard and use my brain-cells to imagine and connect all the pictures into a 3D virtual house.

In summary, it is a nice little addition to your modern residential architecture book collection.