Book Reviews

Eco-House Renovations –
45 Green Home Conversions
Lucy D. Rosenfield
Whether a town house, a village colonial, country barn, or a coastal saltbox, any home can be converted to be environmentally friendly. That’s the message of this new design book, which provides inspiration for aesthetically pleasing and practical renovations. The new book features information about glass, including a section on the properties of glass, and several architects’ use of glass in their renovations.

Starting with a section on basic planning, this guide walks readers through some major considerations necessary to the success of an eco-renovation. It looks at 45 projects around the country, including homes that have been reconfigured, renovated, added to, or otherwise redone to address everything from the size of the building’s footprint and energy needs, to its use of sustainable or even reused materials and its pollution emissions. The book is illustrated with nearly 300 photos and building plans and also offers various other design resources.
www.schifferbooks.com

Reveal
Jeanne Gang, Studio Gang Architects
Jeanne Gang, founder of Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects and a recent recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, “is giving the epithet ‘Chicago School’ a new meaning.” Her book Reveal, published in 2011, presents an in-depth look at the firm’s unique work and working process through drawings, diagrams, sketches and photographs that illuminate the evolution of each of the book’s eight featured projects, both public and private, and ranging in size from exhibition to high-rise. www.papress.com

Architects' Guide to Glass & Metal
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