- Mark Epstein recalls his life and major design projects as well as his favorite recipes and gives table-setting and entertaining tips One of New York's top interior designers whose work is known by most of the city's elite, Mark Epstein's designs are about creating timeless interiors for his clients. His work is highly architectural with an emphasis on beautiful backgrounds, favoring serene tailored interiors enlivened with a richly muted palette. Since establishing his firm, Mark Epstein Designs, in 1977, the firm's work has ranged from traditional, to quietly glamorous, and eclectic modern interiors. Mark Epstein Designs includes 13 key design projects that each contain an extra feature - entertaining tips with recipes, table settings, and collecting ideas, bringing together all of Epstein's talents into one harmonious monograph. Content: My Life So Far (Introduction); ME at Work; ME at Home; City/Country - Two Families/Four Homes; Rising to the Occasion - Five Scenarios; Old World/New World; Dedication; Acknowledgments; Sources; Index.

Following a vast expansion in the twentieth century, government is beginning to creak at the joints under its enormous weight. The signs are clear: a bloated civil service, low approval ratings for Congress and the President, increasing federal-state conflict, rampant distrust of politicians and government officials, record state deficits, and major unrest among public employees. In this compact, clearly written book, the noted legal scholar Richard Epstein advocates a much smaller federal government, arguing that our over-regulated state allows too much discretion on the part of regulators, which results in arbitrary, unfair decisions, rent-seeking, and other abuses. Epstein bases his classical liberalism on the twin pillars of the rule of law and of private contracts and property rights—an overarching structure that allows private property to keep its form regardless of changes in population, tastes, technology, and wealth. This structure also makes possible a restrained public administration to implement limited objectives. Government continues to play a key role as night-watchman, but with the added flexibility in revenues and expenditures to attend to national defense and infrastructure formation. Although no legal system can eliminate the need for discretion in the management of both private and public affairs, predictable laws can cabin the zone of discretion and permit arbitrary decisions to be challenged. Joining a set of strong property rights with sound but limited public administration could strengthen the rule of law, with its virtues of neutrality, generality, clarity, consistency, and forward-lookingness, and reverse the contempt and cynicism that have overcome us.

“A warm, profound and cleareyed memoir. . . this wise and sympathetic book’s lingering effect is as a reminder that a deeper and more companionable way of life lurks behind our self-serious stories."—Oliver Burkeman, New York Times Book Review A remarkable exploration of the therapeutic relationship, Dr. Mark Epstein reflects on one year’s worth of therapy sessions with his patients to observe how his training in Western psychotherapy and his equally long investigation into Buddhism, in tandem, led to greater awareness—for his patients, and for himself For years, Dr. Mark Epstein kept his beliefs as a Buddhist separate from his work as a psychiatrist. Content to use his training in mindfulness as a private resource, he trusted that the Buddhist influence could, and should, remain invisible. But as he became more forthcoming with his patients about his personal spiritual leanings, he was surprised to learn how many were eager to learn more. The divisions between the psychological, emotional, and the spiritual, he soon realized, were not as distinct as one might think. In The Zen of Therapy, Dr. Epstein reflects on a year’s worth of selected sessions with his patients and observes how, in the incidental details of a given hour, his Buddhist background influences the way he works. Meditation and psychotherapy each encourage a willingness to face life's difficulties with courage that can be hard to otherwise muster, and in this cross-section of life in his office, he emphasizes how therapy, an element of Western medicine, can in fact be considered a two-person meditation. Mindfulness, too, much like a good therapist, can “hold” our awareness for us—and allow us to come to our senses and find inner peace. Throughout this deeply personal inquiry, one which weaves together the wisdom of two worlds, Dr. Epstein illuminates the therapy relationship as spiritual friendship, and reveals how a therapist can help patients cultivate the sense that there is something magical, something wonderful, and something to trust running through our lives, no matter how fraught they have been or might become. For when we realize how readily we have misinterpreted our selves, when we stop clinging to our falsely conceived constructs, when we touch the ground of being, we come home.

Blending the lessons of psychotherapy with Buddhist teachings, Mark Epstein offers a revolutionary understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life The line between psychology and spirituality has blurred, as clinicians, their patients, and religious seekers explore new perspectives on the self. A landmark contribution to the field of psychoanalysis, Thoughts Without a Thinker describes the unique psychological contributions offered by the teachings of Buddhism. Drawing upon his own experiences as a psychotherapist and meditator, New York-based psychiatrist Mark Epstein lays out the path to meditation-inspired healing, and offers a revolutionary new understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life.

As the baby boom generation ages, it is crucial that designers understand all they can about bringing this group, as well as all others, design that will offer function, aesthetics, and quality of life. Full of examples and illustrated with pictures of good design, Universal Design: Principles and Models details how the principles of universal design (UD) can be used to evaluate all products and places. Universal design is ubiquitous; therefore good examples are essential to understanding. This book includes more than 50 case studies that demonstrate successful applications of UD principles and helps professors develop curriculum and teaching strategies. More than 300 color photographs and drawings further illustrate the principles and best practices. The book includes topics ranging from the development of ergonomic chairs for home and office to the unique environmental concerns of those sensitive to electronic and chemical emissions. The examples illustrate a variety of user/groups in different situations and clearly demonstrate the design directives for meeting their needs. The author explores the many definitions of UD, enabling readers to identify those most meaningful to large portions of the population. Universal design (UD) facilitates the comfort and navigation of those with failing eyesight or restricted mobility, and the family members and professionals who care for them. Whether at home, work, or a public place, people appreciate the beautiful and the practical. This book takes a vital and meaningful approach, going beyond the basics and delving into details. It gets to the heart of UD and supplies an understanding of design from a greater perspective.

This comprehensive and authoritative guide offers an evidence-based overview of healing gardens and therapeutic landscapes from planning to post-occupancy evaluation. It provides general guidelines for designers and other stakeholders in a variety of projects, as well as patient-specific guidelines covering twelve categories ranging from burn patients, psychiatric patients, to hospice and Alzheimer's patients, among others. Sections on participatory design and funding offer valuable guidance to the entire team, not just designers, while a planting and maintenance chapter gives critical information to ensure that safety, longevity, and budgetary concerns are addressed.