Customer Reviews

Wood: New Directions in Design and Architecture

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

 

 

This book is a must-read for architects and architecture students who are designing with wood. These well-chosen projects from around the world highlight the varying qualities which can be achieved through the use of wood. The designs reveal a close attention to the inherent properties of the material, and showcase many of the ways in which they can be exploited by a designer. The photographs nearly allow the reader to touch the material and feel the texture. This book is a great one to keep on the shelf and leaf through to ignite the imagination before beginning a new design. The book was previously published under the title "The New Wood Architecture."

I am in agreement with the Amazon reviews I read from John and Scott on this one...

1) Not featuring Greene and Greene quality of wood detailing.

2) Nor a good guide for what it claims to cover.

I think the cover sells this book to people. This seems to be a book I see a lot on the selves at Borders and Barnes and Noble; it must be marketed well with people pushing it pretty hard. It might sell too, but don't be fooled.

If you're seeking books about wood and it's applications look for books with more substance such as the "In Detail" line, or "Wood Houses: Spaces for contemporary living," or seek specific architects (the ones in the Northwest such as James Cutler or Miller/Hull Partnership seem to come to mind, or an even better idea may be Shigeru Ban.) If you are a novice concerning architecture books who's just seeking a coffee-table book, start by picking up masters such as Mies or Corbu and work your way up into materials books.

When buying books, it is not always true with books that you "pay for what you get," but in this case I paid relatively cheap, and that's exactly what I got.

If your expecting beautiful wooden architecture like Greene & Greene's or Val Agnoli's, look elsewhere. Most of the buildings in this book look cold and lifeless. I don't even think a Termite could stomach this book!

First a warning: this is a paperback edition of Stungo's "New Wood Architecture".

This book provides an interesting overview of recent developments in using wood to express architectural forms. It spans residential to public to industrial applications. Stungo provides a broad overview of the use of wood in design across socio-cultural needs. For anyone seriously interested in the way wood is used today, this is a worth-while purchase.

This book is not a very good guide for people interested in what its title claims to cover.
The project selection is pretty poor with the exemption of a couple housed and Ando's projects.
To put it simply the book lacks a larger gradient on the possibilities this material has to offer. The majority of the projects, which have practically no drawings to accompany them, are an aesthetic use of wood, and most of them do a poor job at this. Even so the book has great pictures and the projects are visually entertaining. They just don't sum up the new directions and design wood has taken in architecture.

You donŐt have to be a tree-hugger to love this book, which is as appealing to the senses as a forest after a spring shower. Stungo is based in London and the majority of the 31 buildings are European, though there are a few from Australia, Japan, and north AmericaÑincluding the marvelous Skyrose Chapel of Fay Jones and Maurice Jennings in Whittier. Sections examine green architecture, structural possibilities, and updating the vernacular, and houses are balanced by schools, museums, and sports buildings. Excellent photographs, plans, and sections supplement the concise text. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)