Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Earthship: How to Build Your Own (Earthship)

Earthship: How to Build Your Own (Earthship)

Earth-Sheltered Houses: How to Build an Affordable...

An earth-sheltered, earth-roofed home has the least impact upon the land of all housing styles, leaving almost zero footprint on the planet. Earth-Sheltered Houses is a practical guide for those who want to build their own underground home at moderate cost. It describes the benefits of sheltering a home with earth, including the added comfort and energy efficiency from the moderating influence of the... (more)

Ceramic Houses and Earth Architecture: How to Build Your Own

Ceramic Houses and Earth Architecture: How to Build Your Own

by Nader Khalili

How-to-build step by step an adobe and ceramic architecture that is affordable and self-help. How to build arches, vaults, domes, and utilize the natural energy of wind, sun-and-shade to help save forests and create a sustainable architecture. How to fire and glaze an entire building after it is constructed from clay-earth on site. A NEW UPDATE CHAPTER introducing the Superadobe technology, building with almost... (more)

William Morris Decor and Design

by Elizabeth Wilhide

Perenially popular, William Morris's designs for fabric and wallpaper have represented the best of English taste and sensibility for over a hundred years. Today, there is a renewed appreciation for pattern and decoration and a revival of interest in the entire arts and crafts movement. Morris created the original `natural' look. His patterns, inspired by living forms, have great vitality and rhythm, qualities... (more)

William Morris by Himself Handbook

Through his own work and in his own words, the book traces the fascinating progress of William Morris, pre-Raphaelite poet and architectural student into designer, writer and pioneer socialist. His youthful enthusiasm for the Middle Ages and Gothic architecture fired him with the conviction that he must dedicate his life to 'Art'. Later letters written to friends explain how in the industrialised nineteenth... (more)

The Straw Bale House (A Real Goods Independent Living Book)

The Straw Bale House (A Real Goods Independent Living Book)

by Athena Swentzell Steen

Get a leg up on the first Little Pig with The Straw Bale House , your guide to inexpensive, durable, earth-friendly construction that will stand up to much more than the Big Bad Wolf. Authors Athena Swentzell Steen and Bill Steen founded the Canelo Project, which promotes innovative building; David Bainbridge is a California restoration ecologist; and David Eisenberg is an alternative-materials builder who... (more)

Essential GaudiJohn Gill

Essential Gaudi

by John Gill

Sir Edwin Lutyens: Designing in the English Tradition

Sir Edwin Lutyens: Designing in the English Tradition

by Elizabeth Wilhide

This long-awaited book is the first to focus solely on the brilliant but often neglected interiors and furniture of the great British architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944). Lutyens's lifelong creative partnership with landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll spurred the revival of the English country garden, and his designs-rooted in the English Arts and Crafts movement but inspired by Classicism-remain... (more)

The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book

The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book

by Mike Oehler

Concrete Countertops: Design, Form, and Finishes for the New Kitchen and Bath

Concrete Countertops: Design, Form, and Finishes for the New Kitchen and Bath

by Eric Olsen, Fu-Tung Cheng

This book reinvents the countertop with a single material: concrete. Concrete Countertops is an essential book for architects, homeowners and contractors who want to learn how to design, form, mix, pour, color, trowel, inlay and finish decorative concrete countertops. Homeowners will be inspired by the 350 color photographs that bring this exciting medium to life.

Concrete at Home: Innovative Forms and Finishes: Countertops, Floors, Walls, and Fireplaces

Concrete at Home: Innovative Forms and Finishes: Countertops, Floors, Walls, and Fireplaces

by Fu-Tung Cheng

Fu-Tung Cheng’s surprise bestseller Concrete Countertops paved the way for a fresh look at a familiar surface. His new book moves beyond the kitchen and transforms this commonplace material into an elegant medium that can be used throughout the house. Combining cutting-edge design with helpful how-to information, Concrete at Home offers ingenious ideas for planning and building walls, fireplaces, mantels,... (more)

Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques (Natural Building Series)

Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques (Natural Building Series)

by Kaki Hunter

Over 70 percent of Americans cannot afford to own a code-enforced, contractor-built home. This has led to widespread interest in using natural materials-straw, cob, and earth-for building homes and other buildings that are inexpensive, and that rely largely on labor rather than expensive and often environmentally-damaging outsourced materials. Earthbag Building is the first comprehensive guide to all the tools,... (more)

Living in the Arts and Crafts Style: Your Complete Home Decorating Guide

Living in the Arts and Crafts Style: Your Complete Home Decorating Guide

by Charlotte Kelley

Now available in paperback, this practical handbook is designed to help both beginners and aficionados decorate in the Arts and Crafts style. The movement's timeless appeal, characterized by superior craftsmanship and natural materials, is at home in any interior. Living in the Arts and Crafts Style helps readers understand what makes an Arts and Crafts space, from fabrics and wall treatments to warm lighting. For... (more)

Comfort in Any Climate

by Michael Reynolds

In the Mackintosh Style

by Elizabeth Wilhide

Author Elizabeth Wilhide explores the life and work of one of the world's most popular and innovative modern designers. Here we are treated to magnificent Mackintosh sketches, paintings, and etchings, as well as photographs of his buildings, interiors, furniture, and much more. Wilhide also includes a valuable list of Mackintosh sites to visit abroad. 90 color images.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water

by Donald Hoffmann

A total revision—both in text and illustrations—of the standard document on Fallingwater, the boldest, most personal architectural statement of Wright’s mature years. Updated with valuable new material from the recently opened Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, the book gives special emphasis to Fallingwater’s architectural innovations: cantilevered construction, ingenious integration with a majestic waterfall, use of... (more)

Californian Textile Block: Frank Lloyd Wright at a Glance

Californian Textile Block: Frank Lloyd Wright at a Glance

by Abby Moor

From 1917 to 1924 Frank Lloyd Wright created a small number of buildings in California that remain classics of American architecture. Using a groundbreaking process, they were constructed with precast concrete blocks, molded with decoration, and inset with glass so light filtered through in interesting patterns. Visit some of Wright’s most distinctive textile block structures, including the famous Hollyhock House;... (more)