Book Description
COURTYARDS
Aesthetic, Social, and Thermal Delight
Courtyards is an artful, informative exploration of courtyards, from their origins in early civilization to contemporary design concepts. Architects and landscape architects will repeatedly turn to the detailed guidelines for reference, gain a greater sense of balance between building and garden, and cultivate optimal green space by using the practical planting tips. Over one hundred photographs and drawings illustrate the concepts written about by an authority and passionate scholar in his field.
Customer Reviews:
Stunning!.......2007-08-11
This book surpassed all my expectations. I was looking for a book full of photographs of Spanish courtyards, to assist me with constructing my own "patio" at home. I was delighted when I found not only loads of beautiful photographs, but also incredible detail about how to construct a courtyard, which direction it should face, keeping it warm in winter and cool in summer, how courtyard entrances work, thermal sailing, what to plant, and more! I have really enjoyed using this book to plan my own private oasis. I would have loved to have seen more colour photographs (many are black and white, but most are colour), and it would have been ideal if courtyard construction in the southern hemisphere had also been considered (I live in southern Australia, where the climate is very similar to southern Spain), but these minor issues did not interfere with my enjoyment of the book.
Courtyards: Aesthetic & Function.......2006-05-18
"Courtyards: Aesthetic, Social, and Thermal Delight" begins with a brief history of courtyards including itemized accounts of such topics as placement within a building, orientation, exposure, and the promotion of temperature conditions within a courtyard.
Over 50 full-color photographs from Spain and Latin America supplement the second section. Temperature charts, solar diagrams, and other key technical data accompany these images.
Finally an extensive section of planning and design guidelines highlighting factors for consideration such as daytime/nighttime temperature ranges, zoning regulations, proportions, and proposals for driveways and use of rainwater.
Architects, landscape architects, and building designers will find useful information for creating or renovating any courtyard. Students will also find this an inclusive reference. This is not a title of tremendous value to the casual reader.
Couryards: Interacting with nature.......2005-11-06
I got this book several years ago on an inter-library loan from NDSU. It's a great book. The only problem is that it's relatively expensive -- $60 or so.
I'm not an architect, but over ten years ago I built a geodesic dome on an Indian Reservation with the permission of the local district. Assuming you can afford it, where and how you live is the most important spiritual element of your life.
Professor Reynolds approaches his subject with this sort of wonderment. Someday, I hope to build again using some of his ideas as a base. I've never met him, though I would certainly like to sometime. And, I don't know any of these other reviewers who, like me, seem to be very swayed by his writing. (The only reason I mention this is because of one reviewer who felt that there was a certain intellectual dishonesty in the sameness of the praise for this book.) If you're interested in creating harmonious personal space, then you should fork over the $60 or get it from your local library like I did.
Honest Reviews?.......2004-03-03
Were all the reviews written by the author? Give me a break! The fact that every review sounds the same will keep me from ever purchasing this book. In that case, I guess all the reviews helped!
THE Book on Courtyards........2002-05-09
Courtyards is a terrific book, the result of 20+ years of loving research. Oregon Professor John Reynolds is crazy for courtyards and it certainly shows.
A courtyard is a space surrounded by a building, often surrounded by a house. There are all manner of courtyards, large, small, huge, quiet, loud. Some are open and others are terribly private. But all good courtyards have things in common. In the landscapes most of us in the US are used to, we have a house and the gardens are on the outside and we see them before we see the house. In a sense these landscapes serve mostly as dressing to enhance the outward look of the house. But a fine courtyard garden is different. It is smack in the middle of the house and the house surrounds it. It is not wide open to the world, but instead is a place to get away from it all, a place to be outside, but not to be out in the open. The best courtyards are open to the sky, have water, vines, a multitude of interesting flowers, trees, potted plants. A large number of the very finest courtyard plants are discussed in detail in this excellent book. I was struck by how interesting the numerous photos and designs were. Profusely illustrated, each one serves a definitive purpose. I was struck too, by how many different things go into the making of a well thought out courtyard. What is involved so that it will be warm in the winter and cool in the hot summer. What is involved so that it becomes a place where people want to be. I took many notes as I read this large book and some day I plan to build a house of my own design, and in the middle of it, I'm going to have a courtyard. And in this courtyard, I'll have all the things needed, the ingredients so carefully detailed here, that make the right courtyard a magical place. I'd recommend this book for anyone who ever plans to build their own home, for all landscape designers, for all architects, for anyone with a serious interest in horticulture and design. An excellent book.
Book Description
The team behind the best-selling Mexicolor and Mexicasa has unlocked the gates to Mexico's patios, courtyards, and walled gardens. From private homes to luxurious resorts, In A Mexican Garden celebrates Mexico's hidden oases where lovers meet for margaritas at sunset and families gather for spirited fiestas. The dazzling array of featured properties includes rustic coastal hideaways, elegant Spanish Colonial mansions, rural haciendas, and Modernist architectural masterpieces. Melba Levick's stunning photographs capture page after vibrant page of bold Mexican design elements: swirling mosaic floors, elaborate frescoes, hand-carved stone fountains, and lush native plants. Gina Hyams' informative text explains the historic roots of these uniquely Mexican outdoor spaces. Garden design enthusiasts, fans of Mexico, and anyone who appreciates a siesta in the sun need only open this book to hear the quiet babble of fountains and glasses clinking to toast another beautiful sunset.
Book Description
Enjoy it for its sheer beauty or use it for inspiration while creating your own small landscape garden.
Japanese gardening is the art of arranging plants, rocks, lanterns, and basins in an open or, as here, an enclosed space. According to the aesthetic principles long prevailing in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, even two rocks arranged in a tiny, enclosed space can be considered a garden. This
type of garden is called a tsuboniwa, and Kyoto has long being considered its birthplace and home. So it is not surprising that photographer Katsuhiko Mizuno, wishing to capture the best of such small gardens, should turn to Kyoto and its palaces, temples, shrines, and town houses.
The highlight of the book is the 100 photographs of these tsuboniwa-snow overlying sand patterns; coloring maple leaves; flowering cherry trees; lanterns, basins, fences; gardens featuring wisteria, azalea, hydrangea, Indian lilac, camellia, and daphne. Each photo is accompanied by an insightful
caption pointing out the outstanding characteristics of the garden in question.
An appendix gives Mizuno's instructions for creating a tsuboniwa, based on his personal experience. His account of the underlying concepts, design, choice of plants, and practical procedures will prove a invaluable reference for all garden creators, from amateur to professional.
Customer Reviews:
Nice pictures.......2006-06-29
This book is not only a great picture book, but it also provides wonderful descriptions of the Japanese gardens featured - succinct and informative. If you like landscaping with the Japanese feel, you'll enjoy this book.
faulty product.......2006-02-24
The book is excellent but the dust cover was torn obviously before despatch as the packaging was good.
The disappointment was that there was no method of complaint other than returning the product. From Australia to USA not practible.
Beyond the basics, Japanese Garden Book.......2006-01-19
I've been through a lot of Japanese gardening books, and many of been a little repetitive, covering the basic design elements and what not. Mizuno has put together a great "Intermediate" read once you've had enough of the basics. The pictures are some of the best available of authentic Japanese gardens, and the captions are short and to the point but with just enough plant identifications to be useful to someone in their planning stage.
Perhaps the best feature of this book is the introductory discussion on the "Omoteya style" town home (traditional Japanese merchant class town home). The text suggest there is a conservation movement to this vanishing style of Japanese home that mirrors the affection American's are beginning to culture towards the Bungalow. As the Omoteya styled homes share similar dimensions with the American city lot (diagrams are provided with the text), this book is a fabulous resource to urban dwellers looking to incorporate the Japanese garden concept to their grassy postage stamp.
A book to inspire you.......2003-10-31
Beautiful pictures and good text. It doesn't contain "how to do" tips but there is a chapter on how the author build one tsuboniwa in a Kyoto house.
Book Description
“Takes readers on a worldwide tour. Spa gardens, Zen gardens, Islamic retreats, and modern refuges are just a few of the styles covered. Also included: plants well-suited to limited spaces and special techniques designers use to make small areas appear larger.”—Gardener.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful photos, interesting ideas.......2003-10-19
This is a great book for those of us with only a small space to garden. The book is broken up into different themes for your courtyard garden, such as latin courtyard, morrocan courtyard, contemporary courtyard, french courtyard, medieval courtyard, etc. Each style of courtyard has about two pages of information, then a plant list of appropriate plants and a sketch of a possible layout for that type of courtyard with specific locations of plants, benches, water features, etc. The book is very inspirational with lots of helpful photos and sketches to get every level of gardener excited and ready to get started.
Excellent Design Source.......2003-06-07
This book is full of beautiful courtyard photos and ideas. Nearly every topic is covered...architectures from classic to japanese, themes from tropical to xeriscape, hardscapes, water features, lighting, statuary and furniture. Each courtyard design includes a landscape sketch and suggested plants list. I bought this book to find ideas for the gardens of my Arts and Crafts home...and there was indeed a plan for it! The final chapter has an extensive and well organized list of plants suitable for the courtyard garden. Even if you don't have a courtyard garden to escape to...Musgrave's book will take you there through its beautiful photos and descriptive text.
Book Description
Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces presents a pictorial survey of an increasingly popular part of indoor/outdoor design-the courtyard. Today's architects and designers are creating beautifully private indoor/outdoor spaces amidst escalating urban development.
Customer Reviews:
disappointing.......2006-08-25
This book was recommended as a guide to developing sculpture gardens and outdoor living spaces. It is not. The photographs appear to be very dated as are the subject courtyards. It is a dull, unispired book.
A rare look at the function, definition and purpose of a courtyard.......2006-01-05
Douglas Keister's Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces takes a rare look at the function, definition and purpose of a courtyard surveying courtyards around the world which grace both home and public establishment. Courtyards can be adapted to both large and small spaces, vary in greenery, stonework, and lighting, and are perfect additions for homeowners seeking to remodel with style. Turn a backyard into a courtyard setting or consider many options through the phone color exhibition of photographer Keister, paired with text which considers design options and successful examples.
What a Beautiful Book.......2005-10-01
The author has definitely done his homework. We are in the process of creating a courtyard in our back yard after having added a sunroom this past season. Our theme has been "New Orleans" for the sunroom ... even though we live in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we have visited New Orleans many times and consider it our "home away from home". There are courtyards from New Orleans featured in this book - but many from other places as well. Whatever you are looking for in courtyard ideas, you will find it here.
Book Description
One of the pleasures of visiting Kyoto is to wander around narrow streets lined with machiya, the traditional townhouses of the merchant class. Tucked away inside each of these unusually long, narrow dwellings is a hidden oasis: a small garden known as the tsuboniwa. Following on from
Landscapes for Small Spaces and The Hidden Gardens of Kyoto, the third book by garden enthusiast and photographer Katsuhiko Mizuno focuses on these miniature courtyard gardens of the machiya.
A wide variety of gardens are beautifully photographed and presented: from those in shops, inns, restaurants, and tearooms, to gardens in many private homes. A total of 150 color images from fifty-two houses showcase the flawless Kyoto aesthetic and use of limited space. Surrounding architectural
features, such as shoji sliding doors, reed blinds, beams, railings, and walkways are also featured.
Each photograph is accompanied by analytical and insightful comments from the author, making this a useful reference book for all garden lovers, as well as a visual feast for anyone with an interest in traditional Japanese design.
Book Description
The smallest space can be turned into a mini garden: windowsills, balconies, even stairs and front doorsteps. With plant suggestions, design ideas and step-by-step projects, No Garden? No Problem! can bring style, color and beauty in to your home making sensational garden spaces you never thought existed.
Customer Reviews:
Now that is creativ.......2007-03-10
This is really creative book. I love it and I bought it even though I do not have a garden. I simply love to look at it and imagine that maybe some day, if I will ever have a garden, a balcony or even a patch of grass, this is how it will look.
Customer Reviews:
I needed a "Little" help.......2001-07-11
I work in 1 inch scale with miniatures and want to start a Japanese Garden Roombox. I found some wonderful details in this lovely book and can hardly wait to reproduce them. In fact, I found exactly what I was looking for. My "Japanese Gardener" and my "Geisha" are waiting patiently for their habitats to be created. These are the figures I found that gave me the idea to do a garden and a tea room. It will be a fine winter's project.
one of the best.......2001-04-27
This book is by far one the best collections in my library. The pictures alone are worth the money. I can't tell you how much inspiration I extracted for future projects. A definite buy for any gardener.
One of the best purchase I've ever made!.......1999-05-29
Very beautiful photos. Nicely printed. Each photos has detailed description. Good for someone who loves Japaense culture, or who just loves gardens. I got this for a gift, but I will have to get some more for other friends, and for me!
Fantastic photographs.......1997-04-09
Inspiring book. Both traditional and contemporary courtyards are covered
Book Description
A courtyard conversion or patio addition often changes the entire focus of both a home and its inhabitants. Along with inspirational ideas and practical tips for anyone who is considering adding a little bit of heaven to their life, there are:
o design ideas for beautifying outdoor rooms with plants, including potted plants, trellises and arbors...including how to position them for best effect
o how to handle privacy, safety and security with help from walls, screens, and hedges
o possibilities for special features, such as fountains, dining areas, play spaces and secluded niches
o a full source list that directs you to mail-order suppliers for plants, materials, containers, and other essential items
It's the perfect antidote for that house that needs a bit of sun, a little more room...a nice courtyard or patio.
Average customer rating:
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Courtyard and Patio Plants: Instant Reference to More Than 250 Plants
Jane Courtier
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Garden Design
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
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General
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| Home & Garden
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House Plants
| Gardening & Horticulture
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Landscape
| Gardening & Horticulture
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Ornamental Plants
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ASIN: 0304359432 |
Book Description
Easier to create and tend, patio and courtyard gardens offer more enjoyment than other gardens: they're designed for living--eating or entertaining--not admiring from afar. All you need to know to make intimate "outdoor rooms" from these pages: how to select and lay the surface materials, pick containers, construct raised beds, even add finishing touches such as lighting. So relax--the perfect garden retreat, with thriving followers and foliage, is just outside your door.
Books:
- Creating Your Own Japanese Garden
- Creating Your Own Japanese Garden
- Desert Gardens
- Designing with Succulents
- Elementary, My Dear Watkins (Smart Chick Mysteries, Book 3)
- Every Year on Your Birthday
- Feels Like Family (Sweet Magnolias)
- Feng Shui For Gardeners: Complete Illustrated Guide
- Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers
- Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden And Your Neighborhood into a Community
Books Index
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