Book Description

Here is the first book to examine the environmental landscape designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, probably the world's best known and most influential architect.WRIGHTSCAPES analyzes 85 of his works, and pays particular attention to site planning, landscape design, community scale, and regional planning.

The authors include many original diagrams, rare archival material, and some 200 photographs, many never published before.WRIGHTSCAPES also chronicles how and way Wright's famous ecological sensabilities were established and how his design aspirations went far beyond accepted definitions of architecture.

WRIGHTSCAPES is ideal for required or supplemental reading within many curriculums of architecture, landscape architecture, and city planning or urban design. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Essential, yet disappointing
This is an immense, original, dense, and unique attempt to evaluate what is "outside" of Wright's artful buildings. The authors' 50-year fascination with F.Ll. Wright's vaunted organic architecture and respect for nature results in the first book study of Wright's landscaping-only to discover Wright did hardly any landscaping, and what he did was often illusionary rather than natural (vide: spectacular and dramatic manipulation of artificial urns, planters, terraces, and axial markers)! The Aguars looked in the archives and, aside from impressionistic renderings or geometric exercises, they found hardly a developed site or garden plan from Wright's hand or after his early Prairie years! Consequently, the great bulk of this book is the authors' reconstruction or critical evaluation of the little that is explicit. Most of their attention is perforce upon what exists on the grounds of Wright houses today, 50 or 75 years on. The late Charles Aguar, a landscape architect, interviewed owners (37 original) and subjects 85 sites to intensive site analysis to try to reconstruct what was in Wright's mind and to evaluate the pros and cons of each landscape design. (Of course there's very little about the houses themselves, or their interiors.) Some of the most fascinating designs are Wright's ventures into mass suburban planning, where Aguar can trace the evolution of his thought and practice through a series of (mostly unrealized) housing schemes. Where available he includes original planting information from the archives, but supplies none of his own for the present day. He does address admonitions for maintenance or restoration to current owners of Wright places.

Aguar suggests that Wright was a far better architect than landscaper, that he was strongly influenced at specific points in his career by anti-realistic Japanese landscape design, that he became an "organic" (integrated) designer only with the development of his Taliesin estate, and that he was at his best designing and siting buildings on flat land where his geometries were least constrained by the siting analysis, soil studies, and grading plans he never made.

Text and illustrations complement each other well, but some corners have unfortunately been cut when the co-author had to reduce the text to one volume. Charles Aguar's lifelong devotion to studying Wright is poorly served by the tiny photos and maps, many his own. Despite taking thousands of color slides during their visits to 189 Wright sites, and publishing on heavy glossy paper, the authors include not a single color picture (the dust cover excepted). Gardeners will be immensely disappointed in this book, designers somewhat less so. There are no color schemes and hardly a decent planting scheme (at miniscule scale), but you can compile from the 13 appendices a short list of "Wrightian" species (while recognizing that most of them actually derive from the work of Griffith or Jensen, early collaborators of Wright in Chicago).

For an "environmental" appreciation of Wright's buildings themselves, you might like Grant Hildenbrand's The Wright Space, with its exciting visualizations of shelter, prospect, and procession within his buildings. ... Read more

Book Description

Peter Eisenman’s eagerly awaited magnum opus--forty years in the making--documents and investigates two of Italian rationalist architect Giuseppe Terragni’s masterworks: the Casa del Fascio and the Casa Giuliani-Frigerio, both in Como, Italy. This far-reaching study--illustrated with finely delineated two-color diagrams, archival drawings from Terragni’s studio, and period photographs--employs what Eisenman calls critical and textual readings of both buildings.

Eisenman describes the articulations and openings on the facades; notations providing the basis for his analysis. In the Casa del Fascio, the four sequential design schemes each record the previous state, encoding the process of transformation. In the Casa Giuliani-Frigerio, it is instead the process of decomposition that generates the facades. Also included in the book are an essay by Terragni, on the commissioning, design, and construction of the Casa del Fascio, and a critique by Manfredo Tafuri, the renowned Italian architectural historian and theorist. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Shallow Investigation
For such a big book it is a paper-thin study. I was disappointed that Eisenman reduced the buildings in the most simplistic way to lines and platonic shapes. And the text is dull and lifeless. I would not recommend this to anyone.

Disappointing Exercise in Graphics
This book reduces Terragni's buildings to a series of graphic exercises in alignment and proportion. Each elevation is studied separately but there is almost no sense of the building as a whole. Totally disappointing exercise.

Excessive & Pointless
Lots of diagrams (too many) documenting various iterations of the Case del Fascio. But it gets repetitive and boring. Eisenman makes too much out of the process and almost noting out of the result. The 'critiques' are mostly predictable stuff and not at all penetrating. It's just another excuse for Eisenman to spout the usual archi-speak jargon that is wearing very thin.

Uninformative
Little more than a series of diagrams applied to plans and elevations of two Terragni buildings with excessive but uninformative commentary by Eisenman. This book attempts to justify the building as a 'text' that can be read if, like Eisenman, you can only see buildings and spaces as intellectual constructs rather than the material, physical phenomena which all structures and their environments do become. Sure, ideas are important as generators, but they are not the primary purpose of architecture nor its intended end result. They never were and never will be.

In the introduction, Eisenman notes that he started this work over 40 years ago. He goes on to say that it is a work he mightn't have written today. Indeed looking at the simplistic way in which he has reduced a building merely to a series of diagrams, one can't help agreeing with him and feeling that this monumentally superficial book should never have been published at all.

Point for point
finally a book that cuts through contemporary bs, something that sees past the superficial and easy images that the profession is hiding under. eisenman is at his clearest, most lucid writing, painstakingly diagramming and drawing through every point and every idea. at the very least, it provides another framework through which we might see buildings, so that we don't have to rely on such reductive words like 'beautiful.' ... Read more

Book Description

This book provides an overview of the work of Carlos Ferrater, one of the most active and internationally acclaimed Spanish architects working today. Recent projects such as the Fitness Center in Barcelona, the Impiva headquarters in Castellon, and the Movie Studio in Barcelona, represent a new level of architectural brilliance from Ferrater. With the close collaboration of the architect himself, this book has been grouped according to the scale of his projects, from private housing to urban developments. In addition to his architectural practice, Ferrater serves as professor at the Architecture School of Barcelona and has lectured extensively at national and international seminars, congresses, and symposia. He was also the director of the Sixth Biennial of Spanish Architecture. Essays by William J.R. Curtis, Harm Tilman, Ricard Fayos, Bet Figueras, Llatzer Moix, and Carlos Ferrater.
Revised and Expanded. Hardcover, 9 x 11 inches, 262 pages, 30 color and 125 duotone illustrations. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Everything you need to know about Carlos Ferrater
This book brilliantly covers the work of the spanish architect Carlos Ferrater. A mediterranean international neo-modernist whos architecture best can be described as poetic rationalism expressed in clean-cut forms sharp details and a richness of fine details. This book is an overall pleasure to read including both text, drawing material and the many beautiful pictures it consist of. ... Read more

Book Description

"Everyone, rich or poor, deserves a shelter for the soul."—Samuel MockbeeBased on this simple premise, in 1992 Samuel Mockbee launched the Rural Studio to create homes and community buildings for the poor while offering hands-on architecture training for coming generations. Choosing impoverished Hale County, Alabama, for his bold experiment, Mockbee and his Auburn University students peppered this left-behind corner of the rural South with striking buildings ofexceptional design. Most use recycled and curious materials: hay bales, surplus tires, leftover carpet tiles, even discarded 1980 Chevy Caprice windshields. The publication of Rural Studio brought this innovative work to the public, and—five printings later—continues to affect the way people view architecture. Since Mockbee's death in 2001, the Rural Studio has continued to thrive, a tribute to its founder's vision. In 2004, the American Institute of Architects posthumously awarded Mockbee its highest honor, the Gold Medal for Architecture. Under Mockbee's successor, Andrew Freear, the studio has seeded southwest Alabama with an additional seventeen architectural landmarks, and all are shown here. With thoughtful text from Andrea Oppenheimer Dean and stunning photographs by Timothy Hursley, this new book explains the changes the studio has undergone during the last four years and its continuing ability to "proceed and be bold," as Mockbee counseled. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

absolutely brilliant!
i have been a big fan of all of richard meier's work and think that he is an absolute genesis!i recommend this book to anyone who loves and is in complete admiration of architecture as much as i am... absolutely amazing! ... Read more

Book Description

Cable-nets, membrane roofs, and unique bridges are among the structures designed by Schlaich and his partners. ... Read more

Book Description

The transparent clarity and rigid geometric forms of Wiel Arets have made him one of the most influential architects practicing today. A theorist as well as a designer, he is a rising star on the international scene and is revered in his native Holland as a modern master in the tradition of Louis I. Kahn.

Aret's works are stern buy humane, powerful but not overbearing, and attentive to their urban context. Unlike other acclaimed designers who create architecture of understated simplicity (Tadao Ando and Peter Zumthor come to mind), Arets is concerned with "skins"-the sometimes transparent, sometimes opaque membranes that define buildings and cities. His reputation is founded on such works as the Academy of Art and Architecture in Maastricht (1990-1993) and the headquarters for the AZL Pension fund in Heerlen (1990-1995), along with several newer projects, published here for the first time.

Wiel Arets features hundreds of stunning photographs by Hélène Binet, whose start photographs in Peter Zumthor Works garnered universal praise. In addition to project descriptions and excerpts of Arets's own writings, this book contains critical essays by Xavier Costa, Anthony Vidler, Greg Lynn, Stan Allen, and Bart Lootsma. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great work, Bad presentation
It is a shame that Princeton Architectural Press could not afford to hire a better graphic designer, as well as an editor that would make the work and its presentation shine. Sure, the book is a great collection of most of Arets' work as well as few essays, nevertheless the spirit that one expected from books such as "An Alabaster Skin" among others is completely missing.
All the beautiful drawings that describe Arets' attitude toward space and urban settings are exchanged for fairly ugly computer renderings and the photography of Helen Binet is not as beautiful as some customers noted.
I was looking forward to this book for a long time, nevertheless it became a great disappointment.

The first full-length monograph of Arets' work
Aptly edited by Xavier Costa (Curator of Architecture, Mies van der Rohe Foundation), Wiel Arets is an impressive presentation showcasing the creations of architect Wiel Arets. The first full-length monograph of Arets' work, Wiel Arets features a thoughtful text commentary offered by a variety of learned writers concerning Arets' application of leveraging theory "oneirism", uses of grids and rhizomes, and much more. Yet the highlight of this outstanding coffee-table book is undoubtedly Helen Binet's photography - some in color, and some in black-and-white, all combined with an informative text joyously proffering evidence of Wiel Arets' architectural genius. Wiel Arets is a welcome and recommended addition to professional and academic architectural history reference collections. ... Read more

Amazon.com

After designing the starkly symbolic Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., when she was still an undergraduate, Maya Lin might have been doomed to spend the rest of her architecture career vainly trying to top herself. But 18 years later, her concerns clearly have nothing to do with self-aggrandizement. In Boundaries, Lin's lucid, soft-spoken collection of writings, she discusses how her work evolves, after a lengthy gestation, as a way of heightening viewers' awareness of a specific environment and perception of the passage of time. This temporal aspect can be a sequence of historical events (as in the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama) or a purely aesthetic quality, like the shifting play of light over a grassy field of sculpted earth (Wave Field at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor). "I like to think of my work as creating a private conversation with each person," Lin writes, "no matter how public each work is and no matter how many people are present."

Understandably, Lin writes in greatest detail about the Vietnam memorial, a high-profile commission fraught with controversy because of its unusual form as well as the age, gender, and ethnicity of its American-born architect. But this engrossing, amply illustrated book also details the thinking and experimentation behind myriad other projects, including elemental sculptures, interiors, and furniture designed with an unusual degree of consideration for the user's needs. Influenced by her ceramist father, Lin always gravitated toward working directly with malleable materials--an experience that complements the rational precision of plans and blueprints (the Vietnam memorial first took shape as a mound of mashed potatoes). Boundaries reflects the same blend of close analysis, intuition, and quiet humility that marks Lin's public projects. --Cathy Curtis ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Beautiful
There are two ways to read this book, as Lin points out in the preface. First is just as a coffee table picture book. In that role, "Boundaries" gives a photographic tour of many varied monuments and installations. Lin is best known for the Vietnam Veteran's memorial. At the time, it was an unprecendented look and a deep controversy. Since then, I think it has become what Lin had hoped: one of the most personally involving war memorials ever. Lin has moved on since then, and this book shows many of her more recent works.

Although her family heritage is Chinese, Lin identifies herself as American. That gives her the freedom to use concepts from many Asian traditions. Many of her later works show a sense that I see as Zen-like. They are centered on stone, water, earth, and light. Like that first memorial, they invite the viewer to touch and become involved in the work. "Waves", for example, is a large-scale earthwork to be explored, offering surprising privacy in an open, sunlit lawn.

The second reading of this book comes from its text. It explains Lin's approach to her work. I was quite surprised to fined out how important collaboration is for her. Most of her installations are undertaken with archtitects, writers, or preparators of various kinds, quite opposite the 'lonely artist' stereotype. I was also surprised to learn that her first conception of most pieces is narrative, not pictorial. To me, translating word into image and structure is a complete mystery. My own thoughts work in the other direction. That difference intrigues me.

The book itself is a pleasant artifact. It's well printed, well organized, and displays some thoughtful, unusual typography. It's a vehicle well suited to the material it carries.

"Boundaries" was printed in 2000. That means that the catalog of Lin's work has developed since then. More of her work surely exists that was locked out by the publication date. I look forward to the next book documenting her work, and I look forward to her future development as an artist.

the most famous female architect with Chinese background
Sometimes I felt really sad that I don't have enough money to bring this book home.Maya lin should be an architect who can be also known as a good writter.Her writting had combined both beauty architecturally and verbally,like a stream of purity norished readers'heart,explained her designs with pleasure of sights.She got similar passion as her famous aunt lin huiyin,composed a melody of life,mastered the way a human being might uneasy to see.I am appreciated her way of representation.That she inheritaged from Lin's family.She absolutely knew that poetics in their family traditions,a symbol of very special abilities.

A good ABC for political architecture
A very interesting book. Particularly interesting was the description of the difficulties (creative and otherwise) experienced by the architect during the building of the Vietnam Memorial. I was especially drawn to the architect's ambivalence with regard to the seemingly desperate determination (exhibited by politicians especially) that the powerful non-iconographic representational force of the monument be adulterated by the addition of traditional iconography (the three soldiers and the nurses). I think that many who have visited the Memorial will agree that it's power is only reduced by the statues that now bookend it. Still, the architect's vision carries the day--a fitting tribute to her creativity.

insight into the mind of the architect
This book is a fascinating look into the mind of Maya Lin. It describes her intimate thoughts regarding the design of her most important works, how she develops the designs, and what they mean to her. It is written in a very accessible style and is a joy to read.

A brilliant artist explains her work
Maya Lin's "Boundaries" is much like her three-dimensional creations - austere, at once both subtle and direct, outwardly detached, and ultimately effective in evoking a deep emotional response from within the beholder rather than imposing an exterior sentiment. Lin, of course, first came to prominence two decades ago when, as an undergraduate architecture student, she won the prestigious design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Her concept, popularly known as "The Wall," was fiercely criticized at that time for its radical departure from traditional memorial designs, yet from its unveiling in 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has been accorded widespread recognition for its profound aptness and - there is no better word - genius. Although Lin's work since that remarkable debut has been on a smaller physical scale, it continues to follow a line of imaginative external simplicity in use of shape and space, covertly deceptive in masking emotional complexity beneath. The title of the book is meant to express Lin's view that she and her creations inhabit the boundary between distinctly different qualities - architecture-art, natural-urban, inside-outside, Asian-American - simultaneously being neither and both.

"Boundaries" is not an autobiography. Maya Lin speaks through her architecture and her sculptures, and this book unwaveringly focuses upon that work and the creative process behind it. While the photographs in the volume are effective in presenting a broad impression of design and form, the real pictures are those drawn by Lin's words. For a visual artist, she has a rare appreciation of verbal power and substance. In fact, Maya Lin regards words as a vital basis for her designs, the reflection of her own background: her father was a ceramist and her mother a poet. As a physical object, the book itself has purposely been given a unique character to fittingly express Lin's artistic vision, occupying the boundary between "art book" and "reading book". The text literally begins on the inside front cover and spans the entirety of the volume, ending only on the inside back cover. Even the jacket has been incorporated as a harmonious, integral component of the whole. Like Lin's creations erected in public spaces and those fashioned in her studio, "Boundaries" is an exquisite embodiment of a meeting between restraint and stimulation. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Thomas Jefferson, Architect: The Built Legacy of Our Third President, with text by Hugh Howard and photos by Roger Straus III, shows that the third U.S. President not only shaped democracy but also made the classical style of architecture an American architecture. Today, more than any other style, the columns and rotundas of classical Greece and Rome suggest "U.S. government building." Jefferson was a Renaissance man--inventor, politician, philosopher, scientist, doctor--but the dwellings and civic temples he designed are the only tangible legacy of his most Americans actually see every day. Arguably the crown jewel of Jefferson's architectural oeuvre, his Monticello mansion in Virginia receives a worthy 33 pages, with plenty of interior and exterior photographs. The Virginia Capitol also gets a chapter, as does his other home, Poplar Forest, along with other private dwellings Jefferson designed. Also in focus are public buildings such as the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, with its Rotunda at the head of a great lawn flanked by the copious colonnades-a design familiar now in campuses nationwide. Throughout the book, Howard guides us through the halls, sitting rooms, and grounds with writing that is knowledgeable but not overly technical. Straus' photos show off the estates and edifices in peaceable, natural light, illustrating some interiors as they would have been lit in Jefferson's day (i.e., by the sun). If not for Jefferson's vision, the book implies, our nation would look quite different today.-Eric Reyes ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Simply splendid
I live in Virginia, and have relative easy access to many of Jefferson's architectural accomplishments. I've enjoyed many, many good books about the man and his brilliance with buildings. Both of these things said, Mr. Howard's thoughtful, engaging text coupled with the truly breathtaking photography by Mr. Straus make this work a must-have treasure for anyone with more than a passing interest in Jefferson the architect. I cannot convey in words how Mr. Straus's skill with his many cameras give the viewer such a sense of immediacy about the buildings shown in this work. I've been on the grounds of several of Mr. Jefferson's buildings shown in this book - and photographer Straus's pictures truly give the viewer a sense of simply standing there on the grounds, seeing it all, "live and in person". As for the writing, it is all too common that sometimes a grand picture book has terribly dry and uninviting writing. Not so with this book. The writer has a highly engaging style that is yet not too obvious in its inviting charm, and, well, had me up reading the text this morning around 3. Three a.m. The writing is that good - and could stand alone even without those incredible pictures.
The book also does a beautiful brief salute to the remarkable Fiske Kimball, who published a book in the early 1900s by the same name. The work was a landmark compilation of Jefferson's architectural drawings. Those readers familiar with Kimball's life accomplishments will appreciate the fresh photographs of his private home Shack Mountain and its many grace notes to Jefferson's influence.
I had one small disappointment with the book but it is more puzzling than a showstopper: the pictures of "Bremo" , a property here in Virginia reputed to be more Jefferson than Jefferson himself in architectural style, just shows pictures from a historical archive. I wish Mr. Straus could have gained access to the property to show us all Bremo today as he does so remarkably with the other buildings. The other small regret is that I did not buy my copy of this marvelous book from Amazon. I paid full price at a local Roanoke bookshop - no regrets in supporting an excellent local business but the book's full price at first glance is steep. But you will quickly notice the book's very fine paper, binding and those other finishing touches that are hallmarks of truly beautiful books.
A treasure of a book. Especially if you love Jefferson's touch with architecture. ... Read more

Book Description

The first comprehensive study of one of America's great house architects. The Country Houses of David Adler (1882-1949) discusses in depth fifteen representative houses (many with interiors by Adler's sister, the noted interior designer Frances Elkins), illustrated with fine archival photographs and newly drawn plans. In addition, the full scope of Adler's work is documented in an illustrated catalogue raisonné. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

this book is fine
oh i wanted to LOVE this book-- it is FINE--but not amazing-- a bit too "textbook"--

Four stars for a Great architect, but so-so publisher.
I really love David Adler. I was thrilled to find out that this book was in the making. But when I finally got my hands on it I was furious to find that there were no color plates in the entire book. All photographs are archival. The Richard Crane mansion in Ipswich is a tremendous house, and I appreciate the old view from the beach, but how does that compare to the view now that all of the landscape has come to maturation. Not including color plates and more contemporary shots was a cruel tease to play.

beautiful book -- excellent gift!
growing up in Lake Forest, IL...I, too saw these beautiful country estates -- but never knew the common theme was David Adler. Such a wealth of information and history that I have to thank Mr. Salny for. We are talking an era of architecture that included not only the design of a building, but also the design of the gardens, the interiors, etc. A fabulous book -- beautiful and inspiring in so many ways!

Sloppy detailing
Useful and informative, but Norton was a bit slap-dash in its production. The "newly-drawn plans" were disappointing and nowhere near the standard in architectural publishing; whoever was responsible shouldn't have been.

Magnificently Done
Salny's comprehensive look at the work of David Adler is completely unprecedented and profound. Elegant,organized and thoughtful,this book clearly enables the reader to grasp the genius of Adler by dazzling him with his life's work.

Any fan of Adler will surely not be dissappointed, anyone new to his work will be enthralled.

Bravo Stephen Salny!! ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

This long-awaited book is the first to focus solely on the brilliant but often neglected interiors and furniture of the great British architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944).

Lutyens's lifelong creative partnership with landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll spurred the revival of the English country garden, and his designs-rooted in the English Arts and Crafts movement but inspired by Classicism-remain popular today for their clean lines, angles, and contrasts. Published with the cooperation of the Lutyens family, and illustrated with specially commissioned and archival photographs of intact or restored interiors and gardens, original furniture designs, and contemporary reinterpretations of the Lutyens style, the book provides fresh insight into a design genius whose masterful synthesis of function and artistry has enduring relevance and appeal.

ELIZABETH WILHIDE was born in the United States and has lived in England since the late 1960s. She is a leading expert on interior design who has written, co-authored, or contributed to dozens of books on the subject, including Abrams' William Morris: Decor & Design.

CANDIA LUTYENS, who has contributed the foreword, is the great-niece of Sir Edwin Lutyens. She lives in England.

116 illustrations, 90 in full color, 9 x 10" ... Read more

Book Description

The only comprehensive guide to the architecture of Philip Johnson-one of the most significant architects of the 20th century-with exquisite photographs and a foreword by the architect himself. Philip Johnson's imprint is indelibly stamped on cities across vAmerica. From New York's AT&T (now Sony) Building to his famous Glass House in Connecticut, Johnson's innovative designs and widespead influence have made him the undisputed dean of 20th-century architecture. With a foreword by Johnson himself, an essay by his biographer Hilary Lewis, and over 400 color photographs accompanied by detailed building descriptions, this is the book on Philip Johnson's architecture. The photographs were taken by Richard Payne, one of Johnson's personal photographers, who set out to document all extant buildings designed by this celebrated visionary. Johnson has produced a life's work full of surprises and groundbreaking ideas that have shaped the way we live, work, and play. ... Read more

Book Description

The quintessential California Modernist

Born and raised in Vienna, Richard Neutra (1872-1970) came to America early in his career, settling in California. His influence on post-war architecture is undisputed, the sunny climate and rich landscape being particularly suited to his cool, sleek modern style. Neutra had a keen appreciation for the relationship between people and nature; his trademark plate glass walls and ceilings which turn into deep overhangs have the effect of connecting the indoors with the outdoors. Neutra's ability to incorporate technology, aesthetics, science, and nature into his designs him recognition as one of Modernist architecture’s greatest talents. ... Read more

Book Description

Of the new generation of architects practicing today in Britain under the rubric "neo-minimalists," none has a higher critical reputation than David Chipperfield. As his fame and commissions have grown worldwide, Chipperfield now find himself in the circle of elite architects, including Tadao Ando and Peter Zumthor, whose reputations have been built on an architecture of spare sensuousness. Chipperfield’s London-based practice has recently garnered a large number of prestigious projects, among them the reconstruction of the Neues Museum and master plan of the Museum Island in Berlin. His River and Rowing museum on the Thames has been hailed as "a minor masterpiece, a match of modern manners and time-honored materials" and won the Building of the Year Award from the Royal Fine Art Commission.The projects covered in this large-format, beautifully produced book include: airframe furniture; BFI Film Centre, London; the Figge Arts Center in Davenport, Illinois; the Royal Collections Museum in Madrid; the Toyota Auto building in Kyoto; and the San Michele Cemetery in Venice, among many others. Stunning photographs, and Chipperfield’s preparatory sketches and countless drawings illustrate this exquisite work. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

David Chipperfield: Architectural Works 1990¿2002
Odd that the Brits-generally messy, philistine, and mired in nostalgia-should have generated, over the past two decades, such an impressive body of high tech architecture and purist design. Chipperfield-like John Pawson, for whom he once worked-is a maestro of luxurious minimalism, a perfectionist who demands polish and precision in every detail and on every surface. When he doesn't get it, he walks away: hence the omission of the Bryant Park Hotel in New York-a refined remodel of Raymond Hood's classic American Radiator Building-in which the client didn't stay the course. The thirty buildings and projects, plus furniture and ceramics, that he has anointed are arranged alphabetically to counter any suspicion of linear development. One finds a surprising diversity of invention. Curves sneak in, as they never do in Pawson's relentlessly rectilinear world, and Chipperfield's vacation house in Spain has a checkerboard façade. There are nods to Mies and Le Corbusier, to the English vernacular and to classicism-notably in his work on Museum Island in Berlin. The book is-of course-coolly beautiful, and concludes with a set of literate essays by Jonathan Keates. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.) ... Read more

Book Description

Over the past 35 years, Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects, based in Seattle, has created a body of architecture that is recognized for its ability to merge notions of materiality, craft, and lightness, all of which are richly demonstrated in their work on art collectors’ residences and art museums. The firm began its creative existence with architect Jim Olson, whose work in the late 1960s explored the complex relationship between dwellings and the landscape they inhabit. In the early 1970s the growing firm broadened its emphasis to include urbanism and the landscape of the city.

Though firmly rooted in the regional features of the Pacific Northwest -- its unique climate and dramatic landscape -- the firm’s work extends beyond any regionalist classification. Instead, their projects are charecterized by a relaxed modernism that is attuned to its regional context. Each of the projects featured in this volume exhibit a striking use of both natural and highly refined materials, masterful modulation of light, a careful balance between monumentality and intimacy, and frequent collaborations with artists and craftsmen, especially glass artists such as Ed Carpenter. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects
In a characteristically perceptive and graceful introduction, Paul Goldberger suggests that the world has caught up with the good sense and refined sensibility of this Seattle firm. This is a handsome, expansive study of a dozen houses, built for people of means and taste-a rare combination. All but two are located in the northwest, and each immerses you in the natural beauty of its site and its inner serenity. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

Light and Line
This book wisely does not try to show all the work of Olson Sundberg Kundig and Allen, one of the Northwest's leading architecture firms.Instead it focuses on a small number of selected homes designed by the firm, and then guides the reader through the creative process, from design through construction to finished product.What emerges is an elegant book of even more elegant homes, each quite different from the other, but all seeming to harness to the max both the power of line and the nurturing complexity of light. ... Read more

Book Description

Topher Delaney's twenty-six year career as an environmental artist and builder has encompassed a wide variety of projects including residential gardens ranging from intimate scales up to 400-acre large scale sites, one-acre large corporate rooftop gardens, numerous resorts, award-winning sanctuary gardens for medical facilities, and public art installations. Ms. Delaney's work has been exhibited nationally, most recently at the DeYoung Museum in Facing Eden: 100 Years of Landscape Art in the Bay Area, and at the San Jose Art Museum, 'Room of Fog,' a site installation piece. Her works incorporate many innovative materials including rubber, colored concrete, fiberglass, diachronic glass and recycled plastics. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

spiritual?
very interesting the way Topher Delaney passes her work off as spiritual. in what feels like a sell-out to the new-age craze, the designs feel contrived. the drawings and text suggest some sublime meaning in the works, look closer and the message is a one liner. the designs seem too similar to be real narratives. unless, all of the clients were one and the same.

Evocative after a pompous beginning
This book gave me a true taste of the original vision of Topher Delaney. I found the photographs and narrative fascinating and inspirational for the budding landscape architect, and probably of interest to any student of the creative process. However, I also was truly offended by the foreword written by Maggie Peng (whoever she might be) which sounded like a parody of all the pomposity and bombast associated with art criticism. Also, though the book has been designed in a clear and easy on the eyes format, it suffers from the annoying characteristic many of its tabletop/art book ilk share: a preoccupation with showing only 'details' and skewed points of view that make each photograph an evocative masterpiece but prevent the reader from getting a complete visualization of how each garden example was actually setup. A single pedestrian long view shot or just a simple blueprint would have sufficed to give me the big picture concept unfiltered by the book photographer's sensibility. Otherwise, Topher Delaney and her multiple visions do come through on the page and I enjoyed the book.

A Wonderful Narrative of Beautiful Gardens
Having seen Topher Delaney's work first hand on the West Coast and having heard her speak, I was anxious to read her book, Ten Landscapes. Delaney is an artist, architect, landscape designer, gardener and contractor rolled into one very passionate, humorous, spiritual being. She is a unique designer whose work is considered " cutting edge," This book will challenge your perceptions of what a garden can be. Ten Landscapes is a wonderful narrative with fabulous photographs. A must read for those who are into landscape architecture or who just enjoy beautiful gardens. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Nice presentation
The pictures alone justify the price; the commentary is standard stuff. Top quality coated paper and soft binding, too. Makes you appreciate this famous photographer.

great review of modernism
This book is made of the essence of modernism. All photos are taken during the original time period. It is a great lesson of architecture. To be read after a Frank Lloyd Wright book's and an Art & Craft anthology to discover how tasteless is the architecture of the end of the millenium.

LOST MODERNIST GEMS PHOTOGRAPHED BY MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER
Modernism Rediscovered is not just another book of gorgeous Julius Shulman photographs, but a serious and scholarly attempt to right a wrong done to each of the worthy edifices featured in this book.

To secure an enduring place in the public consciousness a new building must be photographed, and those photographs printed in a variety of publications, both professional and popular. Why do photographs of some buildings get wide exposure and others not? A history-altering book, Modernism Rediscovered explores that conundrum and, at the same time, attempts to redress the omission of these buildings from the public forum.

A fascinating convergence of elements determines which buildings are deemed editorially appealing and which fall through the cracks. Prevailing trends, editorial policy, financial considerations, the photographer's interpretation, and even personal editorial taste all contribute to the selection process and resulting exposure of a building project. Ideally, all these elements coalesce to lend the building and the architect validation and prestige, establishing recognition of the work within the profession and to the general public. As Modernism Rediscovered shows, this has often not been the case.

Now nearly ninety years of age, Julius Shulman granted access to his archives for the first and only time ever to architect Pierluigi Serraino. From this treasure trove of architectural history Serraino selected such underexposed projects as the breathtaking Spencer Residence, a steel cage cantilevered out over the Malibu coastline; the Upton Residence, an Arizona winter retreat combining the lightness of an open glass box anchored by desert stone and concrete; and the C.Y. Stephens Auditorium at Iowa State University featuring steeply cascading balconies jutting out of folded concrete side walls.

Reminders of Architecture at Its Best
This book is an elegant window back to a magnificent period of residential architecturel. Julius Shulman reminds us of not only his incredible eye for architectural drama, but of the many architects of modernism that invited us to live at the magical boundary between nature and architecture.

This is a wonderful retrospective of many, many talented architects who deserve a closer look at their work and their optimism and clarity of vision. ... Read more

Book Description

A compelling preview of the world of the twenty-first-century city dweller can be seen in the visionary work of an architect whose bioclimatic approach to skyscraper design sets new standards for high-rise construction. This comprehensive monograph examines the design elements that characterize Yeang's famous "green skyscrapers": low-energy, passive techniques for lighting and heating, environmentally friendly materials for facades and interiors, well-planned pedestrian linkages, public zones, innovative multiple-use areas, and stunning vistas. Numerous examples include built projects designed by his Malaysian firm, as well as theoretical case studies. 100 color illustrations. ... Read more