This book guides you systematically through the whole processof designing and building your own house. It offers practicalassistance from the moment you begin thinking about the kind ofhouse you want. It helps you focus your ideas and translate theminto working plans. It shows you how to estimate costs. Then, stepby step, it shows you how to construct the house -- explaining andillustrating every step systematically so that you can proceedconfidently from beginning to end. Here are complete, clear instructions on everything you need toknow, including: -- How to decide what you want the house to be like -- inside andoutside, and in relation to the environment and neighborhood -- How to translate your ideas and decisions into workingdrawings -- How to deal with all the components of a house: structural(roof, floor, walls, columns, foundations), mechanical (plumbingand heating), electrical, interior and exterior finishingmaterials -- How to establish the exact dimensions of e

In the era of e-books and online shops, when the classic book trade has come under increasing pressure, the success of a bookshop is by no means a foregone conclusion. Booksellers confront these new challenges with very different economic strategies and conceptual measures. Spatial concepts, furnishings and design are indispensable ingredients of a successful sales strategy for newer as well as more tradition-steeped bookstores. People like to linger and buy where they feel comfortable. This volume is dedicated to the most beautiful bookstores in the world. The old and the new, classical and innovative, giant stores and paradises in miniature for bibliophiles: What they all have in common is that they create a desire for books and prove that the bookshop as institution will always fulfil a need and without a doubt enjoys a future.

Today it is no longer a matter of taste as to how and whichcoffee we drink, as it is even more important where we enjoy it. Amultitude of new cafés, coffee shops and coffee houses around theworld honor a centuries old tradition, setting thereby new designtrends. The task is to create communicative and inspiring locationsand spaces, which at the same time measure up to the functionaldemands. The design solutions are as varied as the concepts, thetransitions to lounge, club or restaurant are flowing. After aninformative introduction, Coffee Time presents current projectsthat show the exciting conceptual and stylistic breadth of cafédesigns today.

To Alvar Aalto life, art, architecture, and creativity were inseparable from everyday work. When developing ideas or researching a design challenge he moved as easily in the world of natural sciences as he did in the world of art. This remarkable book celebrates the 1998 centenary of Alvar Aalto's birth. It is not the most comprehensive book on his work, but it is without question the most sumptuous and poetic. 23 projects from different decades are featured, ranging from private houses to public buildings. The text, written by Marku Lahtti, director of the Alvar Alto Museum, intelligently complements the photographic genius of Maija Holma, whose bold images capture the finest details of Aalto's structures and interiors. Works include Finland Hall, Helsinki; Art Museum, Aalborg, Denmark; Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki; House of Culture, Helsinki; Villa Mairea, Noormarkku; and Aalto's own house in Helsinki. Alvar Aalto - A Gentler Structure for Life is a visual feast and featur