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This book brings together visions of utopia from around the world, from the lowly caravan to grand city plans, and looks at the ideas and aims of the people who created them. For some, the possibilities offered by a technologically advanced future have led to the design of vast megastructures such as Arata Isozaki’s ‘Clusters in the Air’. Others have attempted to combine(...)
Impossible worlds : the architecture of perfection
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This book brings together visions of utopia from around the world, from the lowly caravan to grand city plans, and looks at the ideas and aims of the people who created them. For some, the possibilities offered by a technologically advanced future have led to the design of vast megastructures such as Arata Isozaki’s ‘Clusters in the Air’. Others have attempted to combine innovation and tradition in "planned communities" like the picture-perfect Seaside, in Florida. Some are motivated by money or politics, others by faith or philanthropy, like the factory owners who built houses and schools for their workers in suburban Britain. All share a conviction that a better world is not impossible. "Impossible Worlds" features historical essays, case studies and new photography, as well as contributions by artists, philosophers and architects.
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October 2000, Basel/London
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With nearly a hundred watercolor illustrations and a comprehensive text, this book unveils Tibetan architecture in all its splendor. Fluent in Tibetan, author-illustrator Michel Peissel spent 45 years investigating the remotest regions of Greater Tibet, embarking on 29 expeditions on foot and horseback to reach the lesser-known fortresses, chapels, and monasteries that he(...)
Tibetan pilgrimage : architecture of the sacred land
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With nearly a hundred watercolor illustrations and a comprehensive text, this book unveils Tibetan architecture in all its splendor. Fluent in Tibetan, author-illustrator Michel Peissel spent 45 years investigating the remotest regions of Greater Tibet, embarking on 29 expeditions on foot and horseback to reach the lesser-known fortresses, chapels, and monasteries that he sketched and painted for this volume. As we observe in these pages, the Tibetan nation and culture remain very much alive even though the land has been petitioned and appropriated by China, India, Pakistan, and Nepal. From ancient monasteries and palatial fortresses to the new, elegant buildings that are still being built across occupied Tibet, Michel Peissel's watercolors cannot but foster a heightened appreciation for the subtle beauty and grandeur of Tibetan architecture, confirming the extent of its influence and remarkable originality.
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This young German architect contributes to the current debate in modern architecture with his innovative designs. André Poitiers' adventure in design has been one of experimentation, an experimentation in which he has pursued difficult objectives and pushed himself to the edge of known territory. The expertise is there, acquired in the studio of Norman Foster, but his(...)
André Poitiers : objects in the territory
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This young German architect contributes to the current debate in modern architecture with his innovative designs. André Poitiers' adventure in design has been one of experimentation, an experimentation in which he has pursued difficult objectives and pushed himself to the edge of known territory. The expertise is there, acquired in the studio of Norman Foster, but his dream has invaded the territory of architecture and generated intentionally provocative figures. Poitiers picked his own, original way, driven by futuristic and iconoclastic impetus. Technology and New Pop seem to have been the hardware and software of his path. The most recent goal on Poitiers' journey is Plasma, the liquid, organic and living material, liable to alter in relation to functional and environmental factors. Poitiers' unusual and individual approach to designing is reflected in the graphics and presentation of the book.
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Mayo Bucher : open sign
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This illustrated book explores for the first time the breadth and depth of the work created from 1992 – 2002 by the Swiss artist Mayo Bucher (b. Zurich 1963). Bucher’s significantly abstract, geometrically inflected yet painterly art functions on a refreshing variety of levels. It leads into a complex, and at the same time smooth world of structures, colours, forms and(...)
Mayo Bucher : open sign
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This illustrated book explores for the first time the breadth and depth of the work created from 1992 – 2002 by the Swiss artist Mayo Bucher (b. Zurich 1963). Bucher’s significantly abstract, geometrically inflected yet painterly art functions on a refreshing variety of levels. It leads into a complex, and at the same time smooth world of structures, colours, forms and signs. It addresses painting's productive relationship with design, architecture and music – a link that is central to Mayo Bucher's art. In recent years, his resonant imagery has appeared on the covers of ECM Records. "Open Sign" makes clear and profound statements about our compulsion both to construct and question meaning: about human consciousness and its endless quest for clarity of expression and understanding - and about our saving need for mystery. With essays by Ruedi Baur, designer and Dr. Michael Tucker, Professor in the Faculty of Arts & Architecture, University of Brighton.
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Concrete architecture
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Concrete is now chic, becoming ubiquitous in shops, restaurants, and even homes. The reasons are many, as concrete is a remarkable material that can be used in a huge range of techniques and situations. Its colour and texture vary, it can be very affordable and mass produced, or meticulously crafted and manipulated. New developments and increased understanding of the(...)
Concrete architecture
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Concrete is now chic, becoming ubiquitous in shops, restaurants, and even homes. The reasons are many, as concrete is a remarkable material that can be used in a huge range of techniques and situations. Its colour and texture vary, it can be very affordable and mass produced, or meticulously crafted and manipulated. New developments and increased understanding of the possibilities of concrete architecture are inspiring contemporary architects and designers across the globe. Concrete Architecture looks at recent architectural projects that use concrete for a huge range of projects, and celebrates the intrinsic qualities of concrete in the places where we live, work, and play. This book is an invitation to re-evaluate concrete as a modern material and generator of construction techniques. Includes examples from the United States, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, France, New Zealand, Japan, Argentina, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and more.
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September 2004, Salt Lake City
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A DVD (duration 65'55") and a book introduce a fascinating work of architecture : the Freudenberg High School in Zürich, Switzerland (architect : Jacques Schader, 1959). The outstanding characteristic of the complex is the multifarious communicating structure that connects the individual sections. It is strong and sensitive at one and the same time : a clearly defined(...)
Jacques Schader, architect : Freudenberg 1959 - a masterpiece of European architecture
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A DVD (duration 65'55") and a book introduce a fascinating work of architecture : the Freudenberg High School in Zürich, Switzerland (architect : Jacques Schader, 1959). The outstanding characteristic of the complex is the multifarious communicating structure that connects the individual sections. It is strong and sensitive at one and the same time : a clearly defined square, inserted firmly but gently into the valuable wooded estate of an old villa park, resulting in a feascinating balance of concentration and spaciousness, of strictness and transparency, of a resolute sense of order and lightness. The elements : promenade ramps, layered volumes, interacting spatial sequences. The result : the tectonics of a modern acropolis. The origins of the architecture of the 1960s are articulated in this complex, in a condition in which its elements are not readily available constituents of a repertoire but genuine parts of a new whole. Previously priced at $64.50.
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Leipzig is the perfect example of an east German boomtown. Courageous decisions were made early on, relocating, for instance, the exhibition site out of the inner city and building the most modern fair complex in Europe in just three years. Countless (...)
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January 1900, Basel
Leipzig : buildings 1989-1999
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Leipzig is the perfect example of an east German boomtown. Courageous decisions were made early on, relocating, for instance, the exhibition site out of the inner city and building the most modern fair complex in Europe in just three years. Countless buildings for trade, commerce and the service industry have appeared, and Leipzig is now the largest finance centre in Germany after Frankfurt, with more than 100 bank branches. Leipzig has always profited from its long tradition as a commercial and bourgeois city, home to trade fairs, and at the beginning of this century Saxony's metropolis was the second richest city in Germany. The restoration of prestigious buildings such as the Madlerpassage and Specks Hof became well-known, even industrial monuments found new users and also residential and cultural buildings attracted attention. This book looks critically at the current situation, providing an overview of more than 70 selected buildings.
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January 1900, Basel
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After decades of being banished from residential areas, water is now becoming an increasingly significant feature in urban design. Whether it is the integration of natural water courses into the built environment rainwater management, the incorporation of water elements in urban areas for climatic purposes or the creation of oases of tranquility or drama such as pools or(...)
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December 2005, Basel, Boston, Berlin
New waterscapes : planning, building and designing with water
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After decades of being banished from residential areas, water is now becoming an increasingly significant feature in urban design. Whether it is the integration of natural water courses into the built environment rainwater management, the incorporation of water elements in urban areas for climatic purposes or the creation of oases of tranquility or drama such as pools or fountains – all these aspects are not only encountering renewed interest among architects and urban planners, but they are also greeted with appreciation by the general public. This book reveals the wide variety of possibilities for using water as a creative element in the city, in art, in the landscape and architecture. Amongst the works documented are a large new city park in Portland (Oregon), the botanical gardens in New York Queens, the conversion of a former airport in Oslo, the park for a new residential area in Oulu, near the Polar Circle in Finland, or a project for Hangzhon, China.
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Beyond the Plan is a book about the ways in which we transform our own personal space as an expression of ourselves, whilst still dwelling within structures imposed on us by architects and planners. It centres around a series of interviews carried out by Willats with people living on estates in London, Bath and Berlin between the late 1970s and late 1990s, which led to(...)
Beyond the plan : the transformation of personal space in housing
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Beyond the Plan is a book about the ways in which we transform our own personal space as an expression of ourselves, whilst still dwelling within structures imposed on us by architects and planners. It centres around a series of interviews carried out by Willats with people living on estates in London, Bath and Berlin between the late 1970s and late 1990s, which led to the creation of interactive and participatory artworks that were often presented in the same buildings in which those people lived. They examine the personalisation of the dwelling space itself, the individualisation of the immediate environment, and the ways in which adjacent spaces such as wastelands and allotments are turned into places of escape. In the accompanying essays, Willats explains why, as an artist, he centred his work on the polemics of modern building, and sets out the conclusions he has drawn from the exchanges he has had with residents - the common attitudes he has discovered across boundaries of age, taste and social background.
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In this first English-language edition of Oscar Niemeyer’s memoirs, the architect reveals how his many passions – among them his large family, many friends, the sensuous landscape of Brazil, women, communism, art and literature – have influenced his life and in turn inspired his architecture. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Niemeyer graduated from the National School of Fine Arts(...)
The curves of time : the memoirs of Oscar Niemeyer
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In this first English-language edition of Oscar Niemeyer’s memoirs, the architect reveals how his many passions – among them his large family, many friends, the sensuous landscape of Brazil, women, communism, art and literature – have influenced his life and in turn inspired his architecture. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Niemeyer graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in 1934. As a student he worked in the office of Lucio Costa, and on graduation he began collaborating with Le Corbusier on a new Ministry of Education and Health Building in Rio. Yet in contrast to the International Style, Niemeyer’s curvilinear forms reflected Brazil’s lush, undulating landscape and the emotive style of its music and dance. Here Niemeyer recounts his life in an informal, fluid narrative that moves from his childhood in Rio to friendships with intellectuals and politicians such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Fidel Castro, to tales of adventurous road trips. The book includes forty sketches by Niemeyer executed specially for these memoirs, a chronology of his life and career, notes and an index.
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October 2000, London
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