One Thousand New York Buildings by Bill Harris, photography by Jorg Brockmann (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers) (Paperback) From skyscrapers to parking structures, from the Stock Exchange to the historic townhouses of Harlem, the buildings of New York are as diverse as its culture. The City estimates that there are 90,000 buildings within the five boroughs, ranging from single-story warehouses to mighty skyscrapers. Now, for the first time, 1,000 of these buildings, widely varied in style-from landmarks to architectural oddities to humble utilitarian structures-are artfully photographed and beautifully celebrated. Photographer Jorg Brockmann has captured the power and personal essence of each building, providing a fresh, close-up view of New York unlike any other.

Essential information about each building, along with neighborhood maps and useful sidebars, make this the last word on New York structures large and small. It's a feast for lovers of architecture and of great photography, as well as devotees of the most vibrant and resilient city in the world.

From Publishers Weekly: Clearly modeled on Eugene Atget's meticulous documentation of Parisian architecture high and low, former New York Times photographer Jorg Brockmann's One Thousand New York Buildings captures, if not always from ideal angles, everything from the Little Church Around the Corner (on E. 29th St.) to the Russian Tea Room, the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory (at the New York Botanical Garden) and the Jamaica Business Resource Center in Queens. Uptown apartment buildings such as the Dakota and 1001 Fifth Avenue share covers with the Police Building Apartments downtown and Crotona Terrace in the Bronx. Every borough is represented in more than 1,000 four-to-a-page b&w photos and short descriptions of each building by Bill Harris, author of 17 books about New York, including a history of the Plaza Hotel. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Home Improvement 101by The editors of Creative Publishing (Creative Publishing International) An easy-to-use maintenance guide for the DIY novice.

The Complete Guide to Caring for Your Home is an easy-to-understand but comprehensive guide to common home maintenance and repair tasks, written specifically for less experienced do-it-yourselfers.

From cleaning stains from carpets to unclogging drains, from dealing with insects and pests to fixing a leaky roof, it's all here-everything you forgot to learn from your parents about maintaining a home. Along the way, you'll learn about your home's structures and systems, and how to protect your single largest investment. Home maintenance is not only possible; it can be easy and rewarding, with this one-of-a-kind book.

Gives complete, easy-to-follow solutions to more than 100 of the most common home maintenance tasks.

Includes tips on selecting and using tools.

Appendix includes a month-by-month guide for tracking routine maintenance.

Includes real-life tips from actual homeowners.

Features tips for working with plumbers, electricians & carpenters.

Architecture and Computers: Action and Reaction in the Digital Design Revolution by James Steele (Watson-Guptil) Computers have revolutionized architecture, raising deep issues that are forcing a shift within the industry. This cutting-edge guide examines the pros, cons, and various aspects of using the computer in architectural design. A fascinating introduction explores the theory behind cyberspace and traces the effects that the worship of technology has had on society. Five other chapters discuss such topics as Frank Gehry's pioneering use of the catia program, first developed to design fighter planes; the backlash led by Eric Owen Moss and Moore, Ruble, Yudell; and the place of the computer in architectural education, with examples of student projects from USC's School of Architecture. Also featured are incredible projects by such industry leaders as Frank Gehry, Morphosis, Hamzah and Yeang, Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, and others.

American Architecture: A History by Leland M. Roth (Westview) introduces the major developments that shaped the American‑built environment from before the arrival of the Europeans to the present, from ceremonial enclosures and homes to modernism and its discontents. On both the high‑style architecture of aspiration and the everyday vernacular architecture, Leland Roth presents the historical impact of changes in conceptual imagery, style, building technology, landscape design, and town‑planning theory. There is also extensive historical coverage of 17th­and 18th‑century architecture and regional styles. Throughout Roth charts the gradual development of towns, cities, and suburbs along with the social, cultural, and political forces that shaped their growth.

"Buildings, like politics, are based on the fine art o f compromise, and every building represents a judicious balance between the conflicting needs and aspirations o f the client, architect, and builder. Americans, especially, it would seem, have been caught between divergent needs and desires, between the impulse, on the one hand, to build pragmatically and efficiently, and the wish, on the other hand, to realize a conceptual ideal," writes Roth.