Customer Reviews (1)

More Like Architectural Movement in AWESOMENESS!
As a non-Dutch person who grew up in Michigan and now a world famous comedian living in Los Angeles, I think very little about architecture.In fact, I think very little about anything that doesn't involve me.But on a friend's recommendation, I picked up a copy of Veneklasen Brick.And what can I say?I loved it!

Mr. Douma clearly knows his way around Michigan.Anyone who grew up there will love the references to Lake Macatawa or the humble beginnings of Holland (the city in Michigan, silly!)History buffs will cheer at the in depth analysis of the tumultuous lives of these settlers.And comedians, such as myself, will love the long funny Dutch words.

A+ Mr. Douma.Sequel anytime soon?Cuz I know a guy... ... Read more

Product Description
Instantly solve complex design calculations right on your screen. Get instant design solutions for virtually any project you face with the new Architectural Engineer's Solutions Suite. This first-ever completely interactive CD-ROM puts 200 calculation procedures at your fingertips you can use to determine the best solutions for a huge range of design tasks, from structural members and plumbing to HVAC systems and solar heating. Just plug your data into the live formulas and equations and let the Mathcad-based software calculate for you! You'll get instant, accurate answers every time-quicker than you ever thought possible. ... Read more

Product Description
This innovative and absorbing book surveys a little known chapter in the story of American urbanism - the history of communities built and owned by single companies seeking to bring their workers' homes and place of employment together on a single site. By 1930 more than two million people lived in such towns, dotted across an industrial frontier which stretched from Lowell, Massachusetts, through Torrance, California to Norris, Tennessee. Margaret Crawford focuses on the transformation of company town construction from the vernacular settlements of the late eighteenth century to the professional designs of architects and planners one hundred and fifty years later. Eschewing a static architectural approach which reads politics, history, and economics through the appearance of buildings, Crawford portrays the successive forms of company towns as the product of a dynamic process, shaped by industrial transformation, class struggle, and reformers' efforts to control and direct these forces. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Useful Insights on the Rise and Fall of Corporate Paternalism
What inspired employers to provide for all their employees' wants via company towns?What forces closed the era of welfare capitalism so completely in the 1930s?These were the questions I had in mind at the start.Though the book is primarily about design, it answers them decisively.

In the mid 19th century, power was scarce.If you wanted to run a mill, you needed to locate along an unclaimed river, often in a remote, isolated area.There were no cars, or even bicycles.Commuting any distance for work was unheard of.People lived close to where they worked, by necessity.There was no interstate trucking to bring groceries from afar; food was local too.The 30-year low-interest home mortgage did not exist.Business titans were still religious: they feared accountability to God more than to short-term shareholders.It was a very different era that gave birth to the company town.

Towards the late 19th century, organized labor disputes began to impinge on the peace.The book speaks at length of Pullman: a town planned meticulously by the sleeper-car baron to be the workingman's paradise.Prolonged labor strikes came nevertheless.The book cites period congressional testimony to the effect that unions hated company towns, so capitalists had to love them.Companies were not at war with their employees -- only with the agitators who may in fact have been demagogues implanting false notions into the easily manipulated masses.In a company town, interests of labor and employer were aligned.Unions divorced them.Incredibly, the pro-union Wagner Act even outlawed company social and recreational clubs!

The enemies of welfare capitalism were diverse and telling.Taylorism, the scientific management movement much admired by Bolsheviks and capitalists alike, was opposed.Taylor himself called it a joke.Indeed.And treating a man as if he were a machine: what's that called? -inhuman.FDR's New Deal mounted an attack: "There is something feudal and repugnant to American principles in the practice of employer ownership of employee homes."Perhaps one might recall how little financial acumen the common laborer had, or has even now; absolving him of the administrative burden of home ownership is arguably an act of mercy.A third enemy of the company town was a chimera: the artificial prosperity of the 1920s.When the ephemeral tide that lifted all boats crashed in 1929, it dashed the hopes of countless laborers who thought they could do better on their own than in a company town.And the financial crisis forced employers to slash their welfare programs just to stay afloat.

It was especially shocking for me to learn that home mortgages were, until 1934, quite different: 50% down payments, repayable within only 3-5 years at high interest.With the advent of 30-year FHA loans, easy leverage inflated home prices but made home ownership seem affordable.Arguably, it meant paying $300k over the life of a loan on a $100k house that would only have cost $20k if mortgages were as rare and expensive as they once were.The implications for company towns were grim: why pay rent to the boss when you could own an "investment" instead?

Of course, not all company towns were headed by a benevolent Charlemagne.Many used ruthless tactics to permanently indenture the workers, with overpriced company stores and extortion-level rents.But on the whole, this is a debatable chapter of history.It's just possible that industry was headed in the right direction when it attempted to care holistically for its many dependent employees.We don't give our children money and expect them to care for themselves; perhaps it's time employers resumed caring for their employees in like manner.Too many feel they can pay too little, since food stamps and other public assistance programs can fill the gap in employee pocketbooks.It's not right.Companies should take full responsibility for the maintenance of their labor force.

This Book Was Very Self Explanatory
It Was An easy to read book ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1909.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1903.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y., The Radford architectural companyPublication date: 1908Subjects: Architecture, DomesticNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be 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
Originally published in 1907.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1909, this Radford architectural classic covers plain concrete construction, concrete on the farm, sidewalk construction, reinforced concrete construction, reinforcing materials and systems, and general building construction. ... Read more

Product Description
Sketches, final renderings of private homes, multiple family housing and public buildings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An Amazing Delineator!
I remember this book when it was first released, about my fourth year of architecture school. I was so jealous of the rich kid that could afford to buy it, as it was completely beyond my reach as a student. At the time, we all wanted to draw like Paul Rudolph. This large, stunningly-illustrated book of Rudolph's renderings influenced the drawing style of architects for two decades.

Rudolph's complex Brutalist megastructures are featured in this volume. It was a time when many architect's, developers, and urban planner's thought that multi-purpose massive buildings were the solution to revitalize cities by providing myriad activities under one roof. Some megastructures worked well, like Chicago's John Hancock Building, and some did not (and will remain nameless).

Although the architectural profession has moved on to computerized virtual-reality 3D renderings to visualize buildings, this book is a record of the best images that hand rendering achieved. Being a member of the last generation of architects that hand drafted for a living, I miss it. This book helps record what was good about hand drafting.

good..fine..thanx
i feel like wow..this man is grea ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Chicago, Riverside, Ill., The Radford architectural companyPublication date: 1902Subjects: Architecture, DomesticNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be 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
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Radford architectural companyPublication date: 1909Subjects: Architecture, DomesticNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be 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
The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Publisher: Riverside, Ill., Chicago [etc.] The Radford Architectural Company; Publication date: 1903; Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Riverside, Ill., Radford Architectural CoPublication date: 1903Subjects: Architecture, Domestic -- Designs and plansNotes: 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