Book Description

Shigeru Ban lives and works in Tokyo, where he teaches architecture at Keio University. The scope of his practice - he has houses, museums, pavilions, and other public projects in progress in France, London, Beijing, Portugal, Brussels, and the United States - belies a relatively quiet early career in Tokyo. Following studies at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC) and graduation from The Cooper Union in New York, he established his own firm in Toyko in 1985. During next decade, Ban built a following in Japan by designing dozens of unique small houses, exhibitions, and other projects using alternative, environmentally friendly materials: paper, wood, bamboo and prefabricated paper products. Following the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, Ban responded by designing emergency temporary housing he calls Paper Log Houses, made out of paper logs, waterproof sponge tape, and beer crates that could be assembled in a matter of hours by volunteers and provided shelter for hundreds of displaced residents. Following on the success of this project, from 1995 to 2000 Ban was a consultant to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, advising on temporary housing for displaced populations in Rwanda, Turkey, and India. He established the Voluntary Architects' Network (VAN) in 1995, an organization that continues to promote such humanitarian assistance by architects. Ban has won several awards, including the Kansai Architect Grand Prize in 1996, and Best Young Architect of the Year from the Japan Institute of Architecture in 1997. Ban's fame began to spread rapidly beyond Japan when he was included in the Museum of Modern Art's "Un-Private House" exhibition in 1999 with his Curtain Wall House in Tokyo, a glass-and-steel house where privacy is controlled by means of monumental, two-story-high curtains along two glass facades that can be opened or closed. The following year Ban designed his first museum project in the United States, also at MoMA: "Paper Arch", an installation of cardboard tubes in a canopy over the museum's sculpture garden. Also in 2000, he collaborated with German architect Frei Otto to design the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hannover, a recyclable, organic-shaped structure of paper stretched over a paper tube armature. The modest names Ban gives to his projects - "Paper Church", "Library of a Poet", "Bamboo Furniture House", "Naked House" - express his lack of pretense and his focus on materials and structure rather than form for form's sake. This book features 32 of Ban's most exemplary projects realized since 1993, divided into 5 sections based on the primary materials or construction principle used: paper, wood, bamboo, prefabrication, and skin. Each project is documented with colour photographs, plans, drawings, and a brief, straightforward project description. In addition, the book contains four sections of "experimental data", or technical information, printed in red and black on grey tinted paper. These sections gather diagrams, tables, sketches, and explanatory text to document the numerous tests that Ban's office has made over the years to study the strength, performance, and structural potential of his materials. A foreword by the distinguished German architect Frei Otto, with whom Ban has collaborated for several years, introduces the book. Also included is an essay by Shigeru Ban about his work with Otto on the Japan Pavilion. ... Read more

Book Description

The New York Times has called the work of the Polshek Partnership a "triumph of substance over flash," and New Yorker Paul Goldberger has lauded the firm's ability to create meaningful works that demonstrate that "architecture can be an enriching force in life." This long-awaited monograph is published as the firm celebrates its fortieth anniversary. Guided by a respect for the environment, the innovative use of materials and technology, a progressive aesthetic vision, and its collaborative structure, the Polshek Partnership has produced a catalog of public works -- from theaters sand museums to libraries, hospitals, and schools -- that collectively ennoble our civic life on a daily basis.In this handsomely produced volume, sixteen, of the partnership's most important works are examined in depth from initial conception through design, construction, and completion. These works include the celebrated Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Times Printing Plant, and the Ed Sullivan Theater adaptation for David Letterman's Late Show. The book also documents seven of the firm's most recent projects, including the Clinton Presidential Library, Scandinavia House, and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Each day, the average Western citizen sees, assimilates, and recognizes16,000 logos. Chances are that Bruce Mau has been involved in the creation,evolution, and/or devolution of many of them. But calling Bruce Mau a graphicdesigner would be akin to calling Mae West a playwright--technically correct,but oh-so-limiting.

This mammoth catalogue raisonné of Mau's graphic work (which only PhaidonPress has the resources, and the patience, to produce) is the much-anticipatedfollow-up to the 1995 sensation S, M, L, XL that Mau coauthored withrenowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. Nearly as big, but much more colorful,Life Style offers a compendium of thoughts on the conflicts andconundrums that so perplex concerned aesthetes in Western civilization,including suburban sprawl, ecological threats, the implications of identitycreation, and the role of the graphic arts in architecture and design.

Trying to pin down this huge undertaking to only a few highlights would be adisservice to a man who counts such luminaries as Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, JohnCage, Michael Snow, Meg Stuart, and Chris Marker as friends and colleagues. Thecenter section alone, which recounts and reprints the celebrated spreads fromhis publishing venture Zone Books, would be worth the price: "The times wereextraordinary--the middle 1980s, the height of American yuppie culture gorgingitself on wealth. The Macintosh computer had only just been introduced and wasmaking itself felt in the world of typography by virtue of its capacity todistort fonts. It would eventually transform the field of design, disseminatingexpertise and clustering capacities vertically. Faxes and FedEx were makingpossible a new level of international collaboration that would soon put aToronto designer at the center of a transatlantic project. That project wasZone."

The collaboration at Zone Books enabled some of the most provocative bookprojects ever seen, and they are reproduced faithfully in Life Style(although one might need a magnifying glass to get the most out of them). Zonewas the first and most satisfying of Mau's team projects, and the pleasure ofits success is apparent in the book. But readers will find much more of interestdocumented here, including his revolutionary stint at I.D. Magazine; hisbrilliant realization of a book version of the underground, classic sci-fithriller "La Jetée"; and his ideas for information interchange at severalmajor architectural projects, including right here in Seattle, working with hisfriend Koolhaas in building the controversial new Seattle Public Library.

All things considered, this major book will leave some readers furious at BruceMau's audacity and others aghast at his cross-disciplinary influences. I doubtthat there's anyone working in design today who has had quite his impact. Thisbook is a beautifully realized celebration of that impact, and very much worththe wait.

By the way, Phaidon has produced this book with eight different and gorgeousfabric covers. Yours might differ from our rather inadequate representation onthe site. As with S, M, L, XL, I predict that some day all of them willbe (ahem) "coollectors'" items. --Charles Decker ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Overrated, overrated, overrated.
This is a good example of a well marketed product. It seem like every "modern" person got to have his copy of this book, called sometimes "the bible of style". I think is more a "pastiche" of interesting things, sometimes good things, but pointless and looong. And my version (uk) is so bad printed it makes me wonder for what have I paid 40 pounds on it.
Just like the other "S,M,L,XL" with the also overrated work of the overrated "modern" architect Rem Koolhaas, this is just a beautiful object. But hey, I wanted a book!

Ideas and images
Whenever you may have thought of the world as image, as customer economy, as something that you probably may have to digest visually, this is the book which will give you an idea of the weight of the image.
We're exposed and there's no shelter. If we want to survive sanely, we better learn to differentiate between the sublime and the ridiculous.
What BMD does, is serious. They know what they're doing and, most probably, they are among the very best in visual/conceptual design in the world. This book is a huge pleasure to go through, just peeping at the pages. But then, once you start reading, it becomes clear that this is not Disney or any sort of escapism - rather, it's anti-consumer, in the sense that the text URGES you to reconsider your comfortable stance of the by-looker and go out and get real about the stuff that goes into your head by way of your eyes.
We have to become active in creating a more responsible graphic/architectural/sensual surrounding; otherwise we'll all be homoequals soon.
Thank you, Bruce - and team, of course, for an insightful tome of words and pictures and simply great design which I'll never forget.

Thoughtful and imaginative
Working as a management consultant I'm often turned off by the staleness of much of the current management literature. The design community is a much more sensitive antenna as to what is happening in the world today.

Bruce Mau's Life Style is an imaginative survey of how the world is being transformed under the inexorable impetus of global capitalism. It is not a dispassionate account: basically Mau is trying to show us how he is dealing with a very fundamental existential dilemma. Because, as a successful designer, Mau is part of the system - developing and spreading the lingua franca of a global economy. At the same time he is rebelling against the pervasive homogenisation of our image culture: "We should not forget that the com after the dot is short for commercial. Must we define every gesture and possibility within this envelope? Is it not our role to imagine new futures more rich and complex and wild in their style than any single framework can accomodate?"

Yhe book is a captivating mix of artwork and short insightful essays. Sanford Kwinter's introductory three-page essay alone is worth the price of the book. I gather this book will be very influential in the years to come.

oma envy, or bruce erases rem's name (again)
Here's the thing: Bruce Mau is a very good designer. His office turns out a lot of very refined objects, this monograph included. That said, this book is probably twice as big as it ought to be. It seems to me as though BMD wants to be more like OMA; "S,M,L,XL" was one of the best architectural books ever, and its heft reinforced the work being shown within it. "Life Style" is just big for the sake of being big. Well, as well as being self-indulgent. Because graphic designers are not asked to be deep thinkers, and most of their attempts at same do not fare very well. Bruce Mau really wants to be considered as an equal to the deep thinkers, and he just isn't.He's just a (very) good designer.

Buy it anyway. It's got too much good work inside to ignore, but keep some salt handy.

(p.s. indigo.ca was allowing people to choose their cover; they may still be doing that)

Overproduced
The Bruce Mau Life Style clearly intends to brand the man behind the firm, thought the work is a corporate product.The Romantic artis-genius may be dead, but the irony of the book is its insistence on Bruce Mau as just that.

The inspirational tome (or semi-manifesto) is a beautiful object on par with the Tolleson book (Soak Wash Rinse Spin) and leagues beyond Cahan's I Am Almost Always Hungry.

In all, this is an overhyped, well-made product, worth seeing/having as an object of production. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Complete!
This is a comprehensive, well thought out study of a complete body of works.The book contains numerous photographs (both original and contemporary), plans, sections, and models.Schindler's concepts are well documented and explained.The author's commentary is extensive, interesting, and informative.Her passion for the material shines through (no pun intended). This book is a well-referenced member of my library. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A good place to start
It seems that this important phase in Wright's illustrious career has not been given the attention it deserves. As Frank Sergeant noted, Wright was most proud of his Usonian Homes and actively promoted his vision of a "Broadacre City." Unfortunately, Sergeant's book was the product of the 70's. He offers a good text, but poor photographs and mediocre illustrations that don't give the reader a compelling vision of these homes.

Wright started with the Jacobs House, built in the late 30's, which got the ball rolling. With a lot of sweat and material contributions by the owners, they were able to keep the cost near the $5000 budget Wright had set. He wanted these homes to be affordable, clean, efficient dwellings that reflected his streamlined view of America. Wright abhorred the wasteful society America had become, and envisioned a "Broadacre City" that would satisfy Americans' insatiable appetite for detached homes, without destroying the landscape in the process. He incorporated many passive solar features into these homes, relied on natural materials, and as always created an open plan that characterized the democratic nature of society.

More enticing books are now available on Usonian homes, but Sergeant's book is a good place to start in getting an impression of the quality of these homes, and how they came to shape America's suburban lifestyle.

A Good Vision of the Man, Poor Visions of His Work
Sergeant has made a wonderful and complete effort to balance both the technical information about the famous Usonian houses with the very concept of Usonia and how Wright envisioned the possibilities of what organic architecture could become. At the risk of becoming too reverent to the architect, the book attempts to cover Wright's somewhat anachronistic philosophical views as well as paints an idealised picture of the man. The book is lacking greatly in visual aids. The author takes pains to ensure that the ingenuity and the complexity of the design and construction of the homes is understood, but this is backed up with poor illustration. The homes are displayed in black and white photos that lack the neccessary detail needed to understand what their literary descriptions mean. The floor plans are small, undimensioned, and are not clearly captioned. This coupled with close in photography of specific features of the homes without showing the whole, is frustrating. The literature is complete and well ordered, but a reader just entering the realm of FLLW would be well advised to find a more picturesque book on this topic before diving into Sergeant's text.

The Less Well Known FLLW
The author spent six years researching the book, which is ostensibly about the houses but quickly turns into a book about the man. And how could it not? How many famous architects built mostly houses? Or started a commune during the Depression? Or had elaborate, futuristic, monorail-equipped cities all planned out in complete detail?

Profiles the iconoclastic artist a bit too sympathetically at times, though. For instance crediting him with setting the example for the Postwar ranch house, which would have undoubtedly emerged on its own. He also defends FLLW's writings as well as anyone could, but they're really too old fashioned to mean much today.

The drawings--just small floor plans--are nice but no details are included. Otherwise, plenty of substance.

A vital tribute to an architectural genius
"Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian Houses" is well-presented introduction to an important phase in the career of this legendary architect. Author John Sergeant has combined an insightful text with detailed floor plans and photographs of the Usonian homes themselves. The result is a book that serves equally well for light browsing and intense study.

The book is not without flaws. Some of the floor plans are so tiny that they are difficult to analyze. And the floor plans have no captions labeling each individual room; the reader is left to decipher the plans on his/her own. But these drawbacks aside, this is an excellent work.

Sergeant has truly captured the innovative power of Wright's genius. Look at the clustered circles of the Jester house project, the interlocking hexagons of the Bazett house, or the bold "solar-hemicycle" of the second Jacobs house, and you will get a sense of Wright's remarkable vison. Virtually every page brings a stunning image or insight. If you are fascinated by Wright's work in home architecture, you will love this book.

A Superb in Depth Study of FLW's Architectural Concepts
This book is a must have for anyone who is interested in Frank Lloyd Wright's 'organic' philosophy. It is one of the few books that actually discusses his building philosophy in depth. His 'Usonian' concepts are well illustrated although more up to date color photographs are probably required. This book also contains a quick biography of FLW as well as articles from the 'House and Homes' magazines written in 1958. In one of these articles are 32 extremely valuable Frank Lloyd Wright pointers on how to get the most from a small space. This book is a real gem. ... Read more

Book Description

Mario Schjetman was born in Mexico City in 1945. He completed architecture studies at the National University of México (UNAM) in 1968. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture with emphasis in Urban design at the University of California, Berkley in 1970. In 1985 he was appointed Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He received an Honorary PhD. from Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico, 1995.

He is a founding partner, together with José Luis Pérez, of Grupo de Diseño Urbano (GDU), a firm established in 1977 in Mexico City with projects in landscape architecture, architecture and urban design. He is a founding member and ex-president of the Mexican Society of Landscape Architects, Fellow of the National Academy of Architecture in Mexico, and Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

In spring of 1999, Schjetnan was given the Federico Mariscal Chair for a series of lectures at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Since 1999, he has been Director and Professor in Practice at the School of Landscape Architecture, College of Planning, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Arizona, Tucson. ... Read more

Book Description

Lawrence Murray Dixon (1901-1949) was a native Floridian whose career started in New York where he worked for Schultze and Weaver, the firm famous for designing the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Like most of the architects practicing in the boomtown that was post Depression Miami Beach, Dixon was outside the American architectural establishment-- he did not receive a complete architectural education, nor did he complete anything like a grand tour. He was nevertheless the most prolific architect practicing in Miami Beach in the late 1930s and early 1940s, building all types of commercial and residential buildings from the smallest house to the most lavish oceanfront hotels. Perhaps most importantly, Lawrence Murray Dixon was one of the first architects to build large-scale hotels in the Art Deco style in Miami Beach, bringing in the jazz age style of machine-age optimism and prosperity. Yet, what makes Miami Beach remarkable is not only the way in which Dixon and his colleagues used Art Deco to meet the local need for lower cost resort architecture, but the way in which they adapted the style to incorporate local motifs and historical styles. The result is the unique architecture of South Beach, as it is now known, the largely restored international vacation hotspot, and the country's first twentieth-century architectural district to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.Dixon's archive, one of the era's most complete, is now in the collection of Miami Beach's Bass Museum of Art. Its drawings and marvelous duotone photographs (mostly from New York photographers Gottscho & Schleisner) form the backbone of this book and show these landmark buildings in their original, pristine state. Allan Shulman and Jean François Lejeune were afforded full access to this treasure trove of rare images. But their research and writing is not limited to Art Deco architecture in Miami Beach alone-- Shulman and Lejeune look to the World's Fairs, the skyscrapers of New York, and the skylines of other twentieth-century cities, like Tel Aviv, Rio de Janeiro, and Casablanca. This makes The Making of Miami Beach 1933-1942 the most complete, up-to-date and highly researched history of Art Deco architecture as it was adapted to the utilitarian, yet fantastic, needs of South Miami Beach. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume documents the complete works of Carlo Scarpa, one of the leadig Italian architects of the twentieth century. There are over two dozen essays by leading architects and architectural critics, including Bruno Zevi, Vincent Scully, Arata Isozaki, and Christian NorbergSchulz offering an extensive overview of Scarpa's life and career as well as lucid interpretations of his architecture. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

no pictures
I was expecting alot o clearf pictures of his works, and got none. If a text book is what you are looking for, I recomend it but since I wanted mostly pictures, I was very much dissapointed. ... Read more

Book Description

The Natural History Museum in London is one of Britain's finest examples of late Victorian architecture at its exuberant height. A decorative tour de force, it was conceived by Alfred Waterhouse, whose attention to detail in the creation of this masterpiece is legendary. The terracotta mouldings of flora and fauna adorning both interior and exterior of the building rival in richness and variety the equally renowned contents of the Museum's collections.
This book presents a history of the development of Waterhouse's designs for these mouldings, setting them in the context of his work as a whole and of their manufacture. It acknowledges his courage in selecting the generally frowned upon medium of terracotta for the execution of the ornament, rather than the established and respected material of carved stone. It also provides a unique document of his exquisite pencil drawings for the individual blocks: although many of the drawings were destroyed when their practical use had expired, over 130 still survive, and are held in the Museum's Library. Seldom seen and never reproduced in their entirety, they bear witness to the fact that Waterhouse was not only a skilled architect but also an extremely accomplished draughtsman. This is a unique portrait of an ornamental scheme which influenced a generation at the end of the nineteenth century. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume is a unique compendium of the works of Robert and James Adam, both built and unbuilt.It includes 900 illustrations.


The Complete Works of Robert and James Adam is reprinted here in its entirety, updated and corrected.This title covers every one of the 230 or so built works, including 12 that have been recently discovered.It is complemented by a completely new title, Unbuilt Adam. This mentions all the brothers' important unbuilt projects, and it discusses and illustrates 130 of them.

This volume gives an exceptionally thorough review of the brothers' designs.From public buildings to country houses, and monuments to ceilings, it is well informed and erudite.It provides a mine of information for both the expert and the general reader, and it uses the works covered to give an understanding of the Adam manner.

* The definitive collection, one complete source of Adam 260 executed and 230 unexecuted works
* Detailed descriptions with photographs, drawings, plans, elevations and sectional drawings
* Covers works ranging from public buildings and country houses to estate buildings, monuments to ceilings to aid understanding of the Adam style and design ideas ... Read more

Book Description

The work of Catalan architect Carmé Pinós is known for a close relationship with its immediate environment. Her sculptural forms—sinuous lines and walls, teetering planes, inviting arches and containers—are derived from a poetic use of materials and from the history and patterns of human presence on the site. Pinós architecture of overlay is evident in her design process; her unique models and drawings are complex compositions that reinforce the multifaceted quality of her design. This monograph, the first comprehensive English-language publication of the architect's work, presents extensive visual documentation of twenty-five built and unbuilt works from 1991, the year she founded her own firm, to the present.

Pinós is particularly noted for her large-scale architecture-landscape projects, including her most significant current project, the JVC Cultural & Business Center fair area, part of a major project in Guadalajara, Mexico. Amongst other designs are the pedestrian bridge, Petrer, Alicante; Dunar Park, Matalascañas, Huelva; the Juan Aparicio and Punta Prima water-fronts, Torrevieja, Alicante; and lanscape improvements and recreational center, Caldas de Reis, Galicia. Pinós also specializes in sports facilities and schools: sports center and swimming pool, Mont-Sartoux, Côte d'Azur; soccer stadium, Seville; and high school, Mollerusa, Lérida. ... Read more

Book Description

This design book represents the premier works of Cottle Graybeal Yaw Architects and showcases their most treasured works for that special person who enjoys luxury home and architecture stories.

Cottle Graybeal Yaw Architects specialize in design for mountain and resort communities. The firm applies its rigorous commitment to thoroughness, originality and quality to a wide scope of services, from the design of custom hardware and furnishings, to consulting for market positioning. CGY's projects include commercial buildings, ski are base development, hotels, resort villages, golf, spa and sports facilities, planned communities and custom homes. This book will highlight some of the finer projects throughout the legacy of the firm. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great architecture, despite the cover!
This is a very famous architecture firm. If you've ever been to Aspen, you will recognize the buildings featured in this book. As a hangout for the rich and famous, know that you couldn't produce mediocre work and get the bids on these jobs. The cover does not do this book justice. ... Read more

Book Description

How a Bangladeshi-born engineer came to design, among other pioneering building schemes, the world's tallest building.

The engineer of Chicago's John Hancock Center and Sears Tower, Fazlur Khan (1929-1982) pioneered structural systems for high-rise buildings that broadened the palette of forms and expressions available to design professionals today. Examining projects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, including previously unpublished material, this study of Khan's career provides insight into architectural and engineering practice. 200 illustrations. ... Read more

Book Description

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of this century's most important and influential architects, has alternately been revered and reviled. The Presence of Mies is an interdisciplinary collection of essays that take a fresh look at the work of this controversial architect. By bringing together a group of authors from a variety of disciplines, unexpected perspectives have been brought to bear on Mies, opening up new ways of thinking about his work and new possibilities for extending its influence into contemporary architecture and cultural theory. The essays discuss Mies's buildings, writings, and teaching in relation to technology, image culture, philosophy, art, and education. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Re-Modernizing Mies
This book is emblemmatic of the recent re-presentation of Mies. It is not the normative reading of his work and significance. Having fallen from grace in the 1980s, Mies was resurrected in the 90s by neo-modernist architects and architectural historians. The recent twin Mies exhibitions in New York (at MoMA and the Whitney) are byproducts of the rebirth of Mies. The essays of this book will make grand claims to position Mies van der Rohe as a misunderstood genius identified with a few seminal buildings and denigrated by association with all the pathetic copies of his work perpetrated around the world by drone architects of the International Style. Gratefully, the resurrection of Mies includes a cold, hard look at his notion of "site" and of "landscape" - however impoverished the sense of the latter might be in his usual glass-box-on-podium formula. The rationalist Mies was an invention of the purveyors of the International Style, Philip Johnson first among culprits, but also of Mies himself. His carefully crafted public persona buried many aspects of his personality and his work that are only now coming to light. It is only now that Mies is able to be seen as a putative poet of form with a troubled, albeit checkered history of surfing trends in the 1910s and 1920s (while in Berlin) till he found his place in formulating the architectural language and image of modern corporate America.

the best of the best
I really want to buy this book! So, it's very easy: it has to be available again at amazon.com ... Read more

Book Description

In a collection of unequalled photography by Marvin Rand, a whole new interpretation of the legendary California brothers and architects Charles and Henry Greene is revealed. Renowned photographer Rand has documented the architectural work of the Greenes since 1959, when he accepted a request from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to photograph sconces and lighting. He has been enamored with the Greenes ever since, building a body of work that is unsurpassed. ... Read more

Book Description

Oscar Niemeyer, one of the most prolific architects of the 20th century, has long been considered a pioneer of modern architecture.This book is an intimate exploration of one man's unique vision, and his commitment to it even as he faced exile from his home country, Brazil.Niemeyer's crowning achievement was the creation of a new capital for Brazil.Named chief architect for Brasilia, Niemeyer used his signature style - a play on the contrast between curves and concrete - to design its major buildings and left his mark on an entire nation.Now 92 years old, Niemeyer remains one of the greatest living architects of our time.With an in-depth interview and photographs by Matthieu Salvaing - who traveled with Niemeyer from Rio to Brasilia, from Sao Paulo to Belo Horizonte, this book is the candid testimony of a living legend. ... Read more