Urban Design: Method and Techniques, Second Edition

Book Description

This book deals with a wide range of techniques used in the urban design process. It then goes on to relate these techniques to a unique, comprehensive account of method. A method of urban design is developed which has sustainability and environmental protection at the centre of its philosophy. Previously, literature regarding the urban design method has been almost totally neglected; this book introduces the topic to the reader. This revised Second Edition encompasses the latest techniques including the development of geographic information systems and financial techniques which help evaluate projects.

A number of techniques are illustrated by example or case study. Where techniques are discussed they are located within the structure of the design process. The book develops a logical framework for a process, which includes problem definition, survey, analysis, concept generation, evaluation and implementation. It is this framework which leads toward the development of an urban design method.

This book is a practical guide for students or professionals in the early part of their careers. It is organized so that each chapter provides guidance which readers would have otherwise had to discover for themselves, often with some difficulty.

* Shows how the techniques of urban design relate to method
* Outlines the techniques in detail and shows how to apply them
* In-depth case studies illustrate how theory has been translated into practice

Customer Reviews:

consise and informative.......2003-10-31

an excellent book for urban design students, with clearly defined and sequenced content, supported by appropriate case studies. Possibly the only negative thing about the book is its "textbook" nature; but very informative, nevertheless.

Book Description

Ten lessons to develop the artistic skills that will help you to paint great watercolours in your own personal style. Anne's vibrant watercolour style has already won many fans. This book moves beyond the simple techniques covered in Watercolour Workbook and helps those still relatively new to the medium of watercolour to build the skills necessary for artistic creativity.

The ten new lessons are set out in three sections to take readers on a progressive artistic journey. Starting with The Search for Realism, Anne provides guidance on portraying scenes realistically. Once readers are confident they can move on to the next section, Making Beautiful Images, where they are shown how to create artistic compositions using the unique properties of the medium. The final section, Finding a Personal Vision, encourages readers to develop a personal style and concentrate on their individual interests. Each lesson starts by setting out its aims clearly and is followed by clear, practical advice and plenty of useful tips. Anne Elsworth has a colourful and accessible style of painting, which is known to thousands through her previous book Watercolour Workbook. She also teaches regular watercolour classes and holiday courses, and frequently contributes articles to Leisure Painter magazine. She lives near Bingley, West Yorkshire.

Book Description

From 1983 through 1997, artist Joe Deal documented the site and construction of the Getty Center through a series of black and white photographs. Between Nature and Culture: Photographs of the Getty Center by Joe Deal presents 130 of Deal's photographs, offering an opportunity to view the
evolving site through this artist's eyes, from the selection of the starkly beautiful chaparral-covered mountain top to the steel and travertine of the final stages of construction. With an introduction by Mark Johnstone that provides both a key to understanding Joe Deal's unique vision and
commentaries on the thematic groups and individual photographs reproduced, this book offers a dramatic portrait of one of the Getty Center.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating look at the site and construction of the Getty........1999-06-18

The transformation of one of the most imposing "wild" parcels of land in Los Angeles into what is now the Getty Center (Museum, etc.) is the story of these stunning, beautiful black and white photographs. These images and thoughtful essays will be appreciated by anyone interested in art, landscapes, culture and/or modern architecture.

Book Description

This oversized slipcased set contains two hardcover books. The 368-page Book One includes the full 12-issue maxiseries (painstakingly restored and meticulously recolored in 1998), with an introduction by Marv Wolfman afterword by Dick Giordano, and creator bios. The 96-page Book Two contains a compendium featuring the fullbehind-the-scenes story on the years-long making of the maxiseries complete with memos, notes, original plots and commentary from Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway.

Customer Reviews:

A classical.......2007-09-19

What can be considered as th "Star Wars" of the DCU!!!
"King sized",with extras such as the compendium to help you understand the scope of the story in the DCU and the historical context of it.
I'm happy with it,it was worth!!

Fantastic!.......2007-04-06

Amazing, the hugeness of this is the way it should have been all along

The biggest mistake in the history of DC Comics.......2006-06-17

The event that destroyed the DC Universe. See the Flash and Supergirl die for no real reason other than cheap shock value, only to be reintroduced a few years later in "hip" new versions! See the Hawk lose his partner and brother, the Dove, also for no apparent reason other than because they had to kill a beloved character in that issue, but nobody too famous that people might complain about since they were already going to get flack over Flash and Supergirl! See meaningless changes to "continuity" in fantasy stories! See DC denying its past in hopes of appealing to young people, and failing at both!

A Must For Comic Fanatics.......2006-05-28

Getting this is like buying the 3 DVD set of some movie you love. It has it all. Notes from the initial proposal. Thoughts from the writers, artist, editor, etc.
The story was earth shattering (pun intended) and set the stage for DC's revival. If you love comics, the medium or the characters, buy it. It would also make a great present. For those just looking for the basics, I'd suggest a copy of the Trade Paperback.

If you love The Crisis............2006-03-03

...then this book is worth it. I can't say anything about this story that hasn't already been said so I'll go straight to the book itself. This is a HUGE deluxe version of The Crisis on Infinite Earth's story. George Perez's artwork shine's in this enlarged format his already beautiful work is now enhanced. The companion book list all of the tie-in and crossover's that lead up too and took place during the Crisis. There is even mention's of the supposed sequel's(crisis in heaven, zero hour etc...)that were inspired by the story. The only way this could have been better is if they would have included the history of the DC universe mini series that was the direct follow up to the Crisis. Hell they even menion Infinite Crisis(DC's current running true sequel to this story)in the appendix book. A list of ALL the alternate earth's are included. Bottom line is if you like this story enough shell out the money to buy this if you are a newbie try the softcover. hope this help's

Average customer rating:

Looks nice, but too many characters
Graphic SF Reader
"Crisis" eased
Nice Idea, bad termination!
Historical Greatness

Crisis on Infinite Earths
Marv Wolfman , and George Perez
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1563897504

Customer Reviews:

Looks nice, but too many characters.......2007-09-03

When you create a big mess, it's nice if you make an effort to clean it up. By the mid-1980s, the DC Universe was more than a little messy: with all sorts of alternate realities - known as Earth 1, Earth 2, etc. - and characters leaping back and forth between them, things were just too complicated and efforts to maintain continuity floundered. The effort to tidy things up was a 12-issue series by Marv Wolfman and George Perez called Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The story for Crisis begins with the destruction of the various realities already beginning, the result of a vastly powerful entity called The Anti-Monitor who comes from an anti-matter universe and intends to destroy all "positive" realities. His opposite number is the Monitor, who uses his assistant, Harbinger, to start uniting the heroes of various realities to save the remaining Earths. Even most of the villains - even they want to survive - get involved.

By the end of the story, both major and minor superheroes will die and the number of different Earths will be pared down to a more manageable level. It is a saga with both its pluses and minuses.

On the negative side of the ledger is the fact that the story is almost too grand: there are literally hundreds of characters and the story gets muddled in places. Very few of the characters have a big enough role to really involve the reader. On the plus side, the art - by the always reliable George Perez - is great, and given the scale of the story, Wolfman keeps things from getting too out of hand.

As DC fans know, the clean-up would be temporary and incomplete, eventually requiring other clean-up sagas (such as Zero Hour) to set things on course again. If you're a fan of the DC Universe, this is a must-read despite its problems: it is the bridge between the "classic" DC Universe and the modern one. If, on the other hand, you're interested in a great graphic novel, this one does not qualify.

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

DC Comics thought that their universe was perhaps too complex for new readers. An idea by a couple of their staff was circulated, and the
Crisis was born. This was obviously hugely successful, and has now led
the major comic companies to be obsessed with creating high profile and
publicity events such as this, as temporary sales boosts.

It is still dubious whether or not comic readers, or readers at all are put off by complex storylines, or histories.

That being said, this story of cataclysm, tragedy, and heroism is very good.

"Crisis" eased.......2007-08-27

I recieved the novel promptly with all professional documents. I bought it to read not to collect, ere go; the minor crease on the rear cover did not bother me. A decent comic book, very 80's plot, It was definitely revoluionary for it's time and age, not the best I've ever read but will be appreciated by anyone who wants to understand sequential art history.

Nice Idea, bad termination!.......2007-06-26

The book idea of ending the carrier of some DC Comics characters and heros is logical and acceptable in a way, giving the chance for future major changings.
But the way that idea terminated was so poor, unfortunately.
It needed a writer like Alan Moore or Cary bates to write it, and Curt Swan to pencil it.
After 30 years of reading the Flash, Barry Allen deserves a better end than the one we read in this book, an ownered death, not a terrified "silly" dead after weakened by a silly Fear Master.
Barry Allen deserved to die in the field.
Also, the way Kara, Supergirl died, is so not logical.
At least let some Kryptonite radiation appears before killing her, and at leat let the Superman Reaction be more emotional toward it.
I dont know what to say, i am disappointed.

God Bless Cary Bates, Alan Moore, Curt Swan, and others writers and penicellers, who made our imagination grows up.

Historical Greatness.......2007-03-16

Now, I only really know (roughly) whats going on in the DC universe since the great crisis in the eighties, but up until I read this epic, I didn't really know why everything that happened since all of this, actually happened (if that makes sense, well done.) Whenever I got my hands on a comic from before the eighties, none of it seemed to make sense.

I read the paperback book first, and that was great, but this collection (of the same story by Wolfman)was amazing to read. If you want to know more about your favourite characters, especially along the lines of 'what happened to all the different Supermen?' then this is the one for you!

I know this may seem like I work for them or something, but, it's really just that good. The artwork is a little dated, but it still stands up. You can really see where the inspiration has come from for modern comics.

For anyone interested on the whole Superman timeline, read this, and then read the volumes of Man of Steel, by John Bryne. Fantastic.

Average customer rating:

Super Reader
Weak adaptation
The Vengeful Concept: Lambs to the Slaughter of the Wolf, A Hook in the Eye of the Fisherman
An interesting look at the events of the Crisis through the eyes of its greatest sacrifice
Stick to what you do well, Marv.

Crisis on Infinite Earths
Marv Wolfman
Manufacturer: IBooks, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 159687290X

Book Description

A mysterious force is moving through reality, destroying all life in its wake. The world's greatest superheroes, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and thousands of others are confronted with their greatest challenge: stopping this interdimensional threat before it destroys all life everywhere! To stop this threat, they must ally themselves with the most dangerous super-villains. If they fail, more than 3,000 universes and untold trillions of living beings will die!

Customer Reviews:

Super Reader.......2007-09-01

This book, unfortunately, has one of the worst jobs of editing that I have ever seen. Egregious spelling mistakes like 'coat hangar', misplaced full stops, words reversed in phrases and other bad things.

It did improve in the second half of the book, luckily.

I also think this is too short. It was based on a dense, 12 issue maxi-series, and suffered from being in two minds.

The main part of the novel is from the point of view of The Flash. He is a pivotal character, with his ability to travel between the various parts of the Universe, so The Monitor is trying to use him to help, and the Anti-Monitor to get rid of him.

He is also dead at the time, and being so far, he is still travelling the multiverse and helping out before this catches up with him.

This part of the book is by far the best, seeing what The Flash is thinking, and how he is involved in the Crisis behind the scenes, where the other heroes don't know.

There are some cursory attempts at some of the other important scenes - the death of Supergirl, the heroes controlled by the Psycho Pirate on the last few Earths that are left, and that sort of thing. To do justice to all those, the book needed to be longer. If it had have just stuck The Flash, it would have been ok.

For some reason, there was some pseudo-updating. Mentions of cell phones, and internet map services that didn't exist in the 1980s, when this happened. This is somewhat jarring, and DC's influence on trying to make everything always 'current time' for Superman, et. al., I suppose.

So, rather disappointing as a whole. I can't recommend buying this as a hardback, or trade or oversized-and-hence-more expensive paperback.

I would wait for a cheap paperback, or get it second hand. If you have no interest in collecting books like this, just get it from the library.

Weak adaptation.......2006-12-31

One of the most phenomenal comic book events of all time was the classic 1985 maxiseries "Crisis on Infinite Earths." In this book, Marv Wolfman and George Perez told an epic, universe-spanning saga, explaining the DC Comics Multiverse and merging all the various worlds into one. The idea was to streamline the line and make it easier to understand. Now personally, even at the time I didn't find the concept of multiple realities hard to comprehend. But the fact remains that the comic was a seminal work and is the base against which all crossovers since have been measured.

So when word came out that Marv Wolfman was releasing a novel based on the comic, I knew I'd have to read it. Most of the book is written from the point of view of Barry Allen, the second Flash, which makes for an interesting read since he knows from the first page that he's going to die during the course of the story. That interesting perspective is probably the biggest thing going for it. The story is a bit too widespread, pulling in a myriad characters that I'm familiar with, but that the casual fan wouldn't recognize, and Wolfman doesn't really give any character other than Barry much development at all. This isn't as big a deal in a comic, where it's presumed that the readers have followed them and know who they are, but in a novel you can't make that assumption. In the long run, it's an okay book, but not a great one. Some comic-to-novel projects have worked very well - Elliot S. Maggin's "Kingdom Come" and Greg Rucka's "Batman: No Man's Land" for example. But this may have been a story better left in comic form.

The Vengeful Concept: Lambs to the Slaughter of the Wolf, A Hook in the Eye of the Fisherman.......2006-09-27

The book is absolutely innocuous. Anyone who reads the novelization is obviously a "superfan", someone who has dissected and digested every other Crisis on Infinite Earths-related media of the past 20 years. The book tells a different perspective and isn't particularly outstanding. However, let's face the rigid truth, worms...we're gonna buy it, anyway, because THAT'S WHAT WE DO.

The proofreaders were negligent; a multitude of grammatical inconsistencies litter this book. I'm an English teacher, and I hope my students think I'm a damn good one. I live by the code. I'm SPRACHGEFUHL.

I recommend the book to the collectors. JUST GO BUY IT. STOP READING THE REVIEW AND RESIGN YOURSELF TO THE INTANGIBLE AND INEXTRICABLE REALITY THAT YOU CANNOT BREATHE COMFORTABLY UNTIL YOU HAVE FULFILLED YOUR MONOMANIACAL INSENSIBILITIES. Life's short...blah blah blah...

I do not recommend the book to tyros. Tyros can read The DaVinci Code. Trust me, you'll be more comfortable.

An interesting look at the events of the Crisis through the eyes of its greatest sacrifice.......2006-01-16

While my parents grew up remembering where they were when JFK died, I grew up with a slightly different life-changing memory: where I was when the Flash died. I still vividly remember that spot on the floor in front of the magazine rack at the drug store as I watched my little world crashing around me with the death of my favorite super-hero. But he didn't die in his own series. He was just one of the many casualties of Crisis on Infinite Earths, a comic book mini-series put out by DC Comics in an attempt to "clean up the mess they'd made" by creating hundreds of alternate Earths with different heroes on each one. The mini-series was ground-breaking because it was the first time any comic book publisher had decided to kill off dozens of major characters in one book. Before they were through, heroes like Earth-2's Superman and Wonder Woman, Superboy, Dove, Supergirl (yes, the series was rough on the Kryptonians), and of course, The Flash were all dead just to name a few.

Now on the twentieth anniversary of the series, the original writer Marv Wolfman has come up with a novelization of the events that rocked the DC universe. But instead of telling the story linearly and in great detail (as was done with the awesome Kingdom Come novel), he's told the story from the perspective of its greatest sacrifice: the Flash. Barry Allen narrates the story of his death and life during the cataclysmic moments of the crisis. For some unknown reason, the Flash is thrown into an ethereal state and must watch helplessly as worlds and heroes die around him. Told from this perspective, we see how the Flash actually shaped some of the events from "behind the scenes". How in the world does a dead guy get to describe his moment of death in detail and the things that occurred afterward? Time-travel, dimension-hopping, and all the other little quirks that make comics so much fun.

The chapters in this book are extremely short (literally one or two pages on average), which makes the flow a little disjointed at times. And since this isn't a blow-by-blow retelling of the story (imagine how thick that novel would have to be!), there are numerous highlights of the comic series that either never get mentioned or are just touched upon briefly. Still, the book could be considered essential reading for a complete picture of what really happened, and why the story truly was a "crisis". There are a few chapters describing events involving other heroes, slowing the breakneck pace otherwise permeating the book.

If you've never read the comic book, you'll definitely want to read it first. Some of the major twists and jaw-dropping moments (and deaths) will only get a cursory nod here. Savor the depth of the story in comic form, then read this book for the icing on the cake.

The Flash's death has always been considered a sacred moment for DC Comics. He's one of the only major characters who've ever died that hasn't returned (Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Superman, and Supergirl have all come back), showing just how monumental the event truly was. After reading this, you'll see why. Recommended for any true comics fan.

Stick to what you do well, Marv........2005-10-03

Poor Marv Wolfman. The only work he's done for DC comics lately is a few gaming texts for the Teen Titans.
A lot of fans were looking forward to this book for a few reasons:
1. Marv is a great COMICS writer. His New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths set a standard for 1980s super-hero comics that, for many were only surpassed by Alan Moore and Frank Miller's work.
2. Crisis on Infinite Earths was complicated. You could spend a lifetime tracking down all of the cross-overs and related comics to learn the "secrets" of the event (Hunting every pre-Crisis appearance of the Monitor in his observation satellite is a particular obsession that some share). The novel tantalised with the chance of more "secrets" about this multiverse shattering comics event.
3. "Infinite Crisis" is coming... Marv is writing a special story for "Infinite Crisis Secret Files" which will supposedly draw a clear line between the Crisis of 1985 and this year's (2005) DC Comics cross-over event. Fan boys the world over are digging out their plastic baggied copies of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series and reading it in preparation for the new Crisis.
By the way, if you're lost by now and don't know what an "Infinite Crisis" is, you're reading the wrong review. The one on this page by Devlin Tay is excellent - try that one.

But Marv isn't a great novelist. Aside from the fact that I can see what he was trying to do - change the perspective of the whole Crisis event so that it is seen from a more personal viewpoint rather than on the epic scale of the original - his sentence structure often lets him down (like I can talk...) and you get the feeling that the whole job was rushed.
Certainly, no-one seems to have bothered to proof-read it. When the Flash comments that his intangible hands would pass through a "copmuter" (sic), or references are made to the character "Obsideon" (rather than the correct name "Obsidian") you know that no-one has bothered to use a spell-check either.
The cover features detail from a painting by George Perez and Alex Ross, the other (missing) half of which shows the Earth 2 Superman mourning the death of Wonder Woman. Yet this event is completely missing from the novel. Obviously, Marv was trying to cater for a broader audience than the one which read Crisis in the first place and, as such, fails to cater for either his orginal audience or a new audience. And the death of Supergirl is dealt with within two pages! The whole shebang seems rushed.
Inevitably, the condensation of a 12 issue comic series into a 320 page novel misses some detail and changes a few events slightly for more cohesion, and I accept that. But Marv should have realised that whatever suspension of disbelief readers will accept in a comic drawn so beautifully by George Perez, they will not be so forgiving about in a novel.

Average customer rating:

Crisis on Infinite Earths
Marv Wolfman
Manufacturer: IBooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1596873434

Book Description

A spectacular and original novel based on the epic comics series that forever changed the universe of Superman and Batman by the man who created the original tale! The original ibooks hardcover edition sold out and went into a second printing. Cover by popular artists Alex Ross and George Perez. Still high demand for the novel. Original story has been revisited by DC Comics, and the book is big news in comics. For fans of the DC Superhero Universe. Trapped in a timeless limbo, Barry Allen, the Flash, can only watch in silent and helpless horror as, one by one, countless universes fade from existance in order to feed the insatiable need for power of the Anti-Monitor, a being from the anti-matter universe of Qward. Under the guidance of the Monitor, his benevolent opposite, the super-heroes and villains of all realities are brought together for a last, desperate stand against the forces that promise the literal end of all existance. Crisis on Infinite Earths was a comic book maxiseries that set the tone for every superhero crossover storyline that followed it. An epic adventure that featured every character ever published by DC Comics, and which reinvigorated the Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman franchises. A story so big that not every angle of it could be covered in a single graphic novel. And now, Marv Wolfman, the creator of that series, has returned to bring an entirely new dimension to it in an original novel that expands upon the acclaimed series. Marve Wolfman has had an award-winning career in comic books that has spanned five decades. He is the creator of some of comics' most memorable characters, including The New Teen Titans (with artist George Perez), Nightwing, Deathstroke the Terminator, and Vigilante for DC Comics, and Blade the Vampire Slayer, Nova, Bullseye, and Black Cat for Marvel Comics. Marv has written virtually every character at DC and Marvel, including Suprman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four, as well as Howard the Duck newspaper comic strip, numerous live action and animated TV shows (including the recent Teen Titans on Cartoon Network), children's books, novels, and stage shows. Among his many accomplishments was a stint as Marvel's editor-in-chief, a DC Comics senior editor, one of the founding editors of Disney Adventures Magazine, as well as a 16-year run as the writer of The New Titans, and an unforgettable 70-issue run on Marvel's Tomb of Dracula. He was the writer of the classic history-changing miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths from which this novel is adapted. Crisis on Infinite Earths is Marv's fourth novel.

Crisis on Infinite Earth (Comic) April 1985, No. 1 (1st Spectacular Issue)

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Crisis on Infinite Earth (Comic) April 1985, No. 1 (1st Spectacular Issue)
Marv Wolfman , George Perez , and Dick Giordano
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Comic
ASIN: B000RE5K04

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Crisis on Infinite Earths
Marv Wolfman , and George Perez
Manufacturer: Titan Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1
Marv Wolfman
Manufacturer: DC Comics, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000Q1GSZO

Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 : Final Crisis (DC Comics)

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Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 : Final Crisis (DC Comics)
Marv Wolfman
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Comic
ASIN: B000W4KLVM

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CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #3
Marv Wolfman
Manufacturer: DC Comics, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000Q1GT0I

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CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #4
Marv Wolfman
Manufacturer: DC Comics, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000Q1LKIO

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