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Reading List

reviewed by Stanley Abercrombie -- Interior Design, 4/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Stonework: Designing With Stone

By Malcolm Holzman

Victoria, Australia: Images Publishing Group, distributed by Antique Collectors' Club, Wappingers Falls, New York, $60

212 pages, 220 color illustrations

A love poem to a favorite building material, this book shows imaginative exterior and interior uses of stone, often in stunning images. Architect Malcolm Holzman, a founding partner of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates and member of the Interior Design Hall of Fame, draws on HHPA work but also shows buildings by H.H. Richardson and Kevin Roche, an ancient Egyptian temple, a Gothic cathedral, Scottish castles, Inca fortifications, and even an American gas station. The text praises stone's permanence, environmental friendliness, and appearance. Holzman offers tips for relatively inexpensive fabrication methods and, while this is not a technical guide, an appendix with working-drawing details that add a practical dimension.

For the King's Pleasure: The Furnishing and Decoration of George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle

By Hugh Roberts

London: Royal Collection Enterprises, distributed by Thames & Hudson, $175

453 pages, 489 color illustrations

Could the decoration of any suite of rooms be worthy of a book so large, so lavishly illustrated, and priced at such a princely sum? Yes, if the suite consists of more than 100 rooms at Windsor Castle that were redesigned to match the ambitions of George IV, England's "last great builder-king." Yes, if that redesign embodies the interesting transition from neoclassicism to Gothic Revival. Yes, if the transformation of what Queen Charlotte called the "Coldest House that ever existed" into a comfortable and luxurious (if not, perhaps, cozy) palace is also shown. Yes, if those rooms can be viewed by the public only one day a year. Yes, if the author, director of the Royal Collection and surveyor of the Queen's works of art, took part in the restoration of Windsor Castle after the fire of 1992. And most emphatically yes, if the book is able to tell us more about the design process of the early 19th century than is generally known.

What we are shown is chiefly the work of architect Jeffry Wyatville and decorators Nicholas Morel and George Seddon, with other participants including the father and son gothicists A.C. Pugin and A.W.N. Pugin. The foundation of the author's research is the London firm Morel and Seddon's richly detailed 1830 account book, which was recently brought to light and identifies and describes much of the work done and virtually every piece designed, bought, or specified. As a result, For the King's Pleasure reveals more than the appearances of some royal rooms, their architectural details, upholstery fabrics, curtains, carpets, and wall hangings. It tells us much about the taste, practice, and abilities of interior designers at that time.

The Interior Design Business Handbook: A Complete Guide to Profitability

By Mary V. Knackstedt

New York: John Wiley, $65

396 pages, 55 charts and diagrams

The third edition of a book originally published in 1988, this guide gives advice on starting up, team development, marketing strategies, fee structuring, office management, continuing education, and more. Revisions acknowledge the increasingly international character of current practice as well as changes in banking, finance, and technology. Included and explained are two standard ASID forms of agreement for design services and samples of contracts, correspondence, logs, and work sheets. There is a bibliography and a brief list of U.S. and Canadian design schools.

Collecting Chinese Art

By Sam Bernstein

Seattle: University of Washington Press, $75

180 pages, 188 illustrations (137 color)

This attractive and informative guide for designers seeking Chinese art and artifacts—for clients or themselves—documents 120 outstanding examples. Objects in jade, the major emphasis of the book, as well as glass, stone, bone, and metal are presented in dazzling photographs by David Tise and Corey Lesh. The bibliography is extensive.