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Movements & moments
Movements & moments
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In 1930s Bolivia, self-described Anarchist Cholas form a libertarian trade union. In the Northern Highlands of Vietnam, the songs of one girl’s youth lead her to a life of activism. In the Philippines, female elders from Kalinga blaze a trail when pushed into impromptu protest. Equally striking accounts from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Peru and Thailand weave a(...)
$34.95
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In 1930s Bolivia, self-described Anarchist Cholas form a libertarian trade union. In the Northern Highlands of Vietnam, the songs of one girl’s youth lead her to a life of activism. In the Philippines, female elders from Kalinga blaze a trail when pushed into impromptu protest. Equally striking accounts from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Peru and Thailand weave a(...)
Title:
Movements & moments
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$34.95
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In 1930s Bolivia, self-described Anarchist Cholas form a libertarian trade union. In the Northern Highlands of Vietnam, the songs of one girl’s youth lead her to a life of activism. In the Philippines, female elders from Kalinga blaze a trail when pushed into impromptu protest. Equally striking accounts from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Peru and Thailand weave a tapestry of trauma and triumph, shedding light on not-too-distant histories otherwise overlooked. Indigenous Peoples all over the world have always had to stand their ground in the face of colonialism. While the details may differ, what these stories have in common is their commitment to resistance in a world that puts profit before respect, and western notions of progress before their own. Movements and Moments is an introductory glimpse into how Indegenous Peoples tell these stories in their own words. From Southeast Asia to South America, vibrant communities must grapple with colonial realities to assert ownership over their lands and traditions. This project was undertaken in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Indonesien in Jakarta. These stories were selected from an open call across 42 countries to spotlight feminist movements and advocacies in the Global South.
Movements & moments
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$34.95
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Summary:
In 1930s Bolivia, self-described Anarchist Cholas form a libertarian trade union. In the Northern Highlands of Vietnam, the songs of one girl’s youth lead her to a life of activism. In the Philippines, female elders from Kalinga blaze a trail when pushed into impromptu protest. Equally striking accounts from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Peru and Thailand weave a tapestry of trauma and triumph, shedding light on not-too-distant histories otherwise overlooked. Indigenous Peoples all over the world have always had to stand their ground in the face of colonialism. While the details may differ, what these stories have in common is their commitment to resistance in a world that puts profit before respect, and western notions of progress before their own. Movements and Moments is an introductory glimpse into how Indegenous Peoples tell these stories in their own words. From Southeast Asia to South America, vibrant communities must grapple with colonial realities to assert ownership over their lands and traditions. This project was undertaken in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Indonesien in Jakarta. These stories were selected from an open call across 42 countries to spotlight feminist movements and advocacies in the Global South.
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books
books
Publication:
November 2022
November 2022
Subject:
Illustration
Illustration
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books
books
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''Common Treasures'' is a new series of books about the challenges faced by rural communities, written by people who are working on the ground and in the fields. Each volume gathers the very best essays about climate adaptation, food production and land use, and presents them as alternatives to the prevailing political discourse. This anthology, the second in the(...)
$38.00
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Summary:
''Common Treasures'' is a new series of books about the challenges faced by rural communities, written by people who are working on the ground and in the fields. Each volume gathers the very best essays about climate adaptation, food production and land use, and presents them as alternatives to the prevailing political discourse. This anthology, the second in the(...)
Subject:
Architectural Theory
Architectural Theory
Publication:
February 2026
February 2026
Title:
Common treasures. Vol.2: Housing, planning & construction
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''Common Treasures'' is a new series of books about the challenges faced by rural communities, written by people who are working on the ground and in the fields. Each volume gathers the very best essays about climate adaptation, food production and land use, and presents them as alternatives to the prevailing political discourse. This anthology, the second in the ''Common Treasures'' project, developed from a series of conversations between the architecture collective Assemble and the arts organisation Common Ground. It takes as its premise the idea that approaches to housing that are grounded in greater levels of community ownership, management and maintenance have the potential to empower communities, overcome the opposition to local development and create conditions in which skilled rural workers are part of stronger local networks of industry and agriculture. Housing built by, for and with the people who live in it makes characterful neighbourhoods that last well, are able to be maintained by their residents and facilitate investment in local labour, materials and skilled workmanship. The contributors to this anthology share their work to overcome the many obstacles to this way of working, and offer a vision which is grounded, imaginative and hopeful.
Common treasures. Vol.2: Housing, planning & construction
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$38.00
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Summary:
''Common Treasures'' is a new series of books about the challenges faced by rural communities, written by people who are working on the ground and in the fields. Each volume gathers the very best essays about climate adaptation, food production and land use, and presents them as alternatives to the prevailing political discourse. This anthology, the second in the ''Common Treasures'' project, developed from a series of conversations between the architecture collective Assemble and the arts organisation Common Ground. It takes as its premise the idea that approaches to housing that are grounded in greater levels of community ownership, management and maintenance have the potential to empower communities, overcome the opposition to local development and create conditions in which skilled rural workers are part of stronger local networks of industry and agriculture. Housing built by, for and with the people who live in it makes characterful neighbourhoods that last well, are able to be maintained by their residents and facilitate investment in local labour, materials and skilled workmanship. The contributors to this anthology share their work to overcome the many obstacles to this way of working, and offer a vision which is grounded, imaginative and hopeful.
Form:
books
books
Publication:
February 2026
February 2026
Subject:
Architectural Theory
Architectural Theory
Form:
books
books
Price:
$67.50
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Summary:
Architect Charles Moore (1925-1993) was not only celebrated for his designs; he was also an admired writer and teacher. Though he wrote clearly and passionately about places, he was perhaps unique in avoiding the tone and stance of the personal manifesto. Through his buildings, books, and travels, Moore consistently sought insights into the questions that always underlie(...)
$67.50
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Summary:
Architect Charles Moore (1925-1993) was not only celebrated for his designs; he was also an admired writer and teacher. Though he wrote clearly and passionately about places, he was perhaps unique in avoiding the tone and stance of the personal manifesto. Through his buildings, books, and travels, Moore consistently sought insights into the questions that always underlie(...)
Title:
You have to pay for the private life : selected essays by Charles W. Moore
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Architect Charles Moore (1925-1993) was not only celebrated for his designs; he was also an admired writer and teacher. Though he wrote clearly and passionately about places, he was perhaps unique in avoiding the tone and stance of the personal manifesto. Through his buildings, books, and travels, Moore consistently sought insights into the questions that always underlie architecture and design: What does it mean to make a place, and how do we inhabit those places? How do we continue to build upon but respect the landscape? How do we reconcile democracy and private land ownership? What is original? What is taste? What is the relationship between past and present? How do we involve inhabitants in making places? Finally, what is public life? As the world becomes smaller, and the uniqueness of places and landscapes gives way to sameness, Moore's celebration of the vernacular and of the surprising are more relevant than ever. The pieces in this book span the years 1952 to 1993 and engage a myriad of topics and movements, such as contextualism, community participation, collaboration, environmentally sensitive design, and historic preservation. The essays in this book reflect as well Moore's scholarship, humanism, urbanity, and great wit.
You have to pay for the private life : selected essays by Charles W. Moore
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$67.50
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Summary:
Architect Charles Moore (1925-1993) was not only celebrated for his designs; he was also an admired writer and teacher. Though he wrote clearly and passionately about places, he was perhaps unique in avoiding the tone and stance of the personal manifesto. Through his buildings, books, and travels, Moore consistently sought insights into the questions that always underlie architecture and design: What does it mean to make a place, and how do we inhabit those places? How do we continue to build upon but respect the landscape? How do we reconcile democracy and private land ownership? What is original? What is taste? What is the relationship between past and present? How do we involve inhabitants in making places? Finally, what is public life? As the world becomes smaller, and the uniqueness of places and landscapes gives way to sameness, Moore's celebration of the vernacular and of the surprising are more relevant than ever. The pieces in this book span the years 1952 to 1993 and engage a myriad of topics and movements, such as contextualism, community participation, collaboration, environmentally sensitive design, and historic preservation. The essays in this book reflect as well Moore's scholarship, humanism, urbanity, and great wit.
Form:
books
books
Publication:
November 2000, Cambridge, Mass.
November 2000, Cambridge, Mass.
Subject:
Architectural Theory
Architectural Theory
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books
books
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$56.50
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The Housing Divide examines the generational patterns in New York City's housing market and neighborhoods along the lines of race and ethnicity. The book provides an in-depth analysis of many immigrant groups in New York, especially providing an understanding of the opportunities and discriminatory practices at work from one generation to the next. Through a careful read(...)
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The Housing Divide examines the generational patterns in New York City's housing market and neighborhoods along the lines of race and ethnicity. The book provides an in-depth analysis of many immigrant groups in New York, especially providing an understanding of the opportunities and discriminatory practices at work from one generation to the next. Through a careful read(...)
Subject:
Urban Theory
Urban Theory
Publication:
December 2006, New York / London
December 2006, New York / London
Title:
The housing divide : how generations of immigrants fare in New York's housing market
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The Housing Divide examines the generational patterns in New York City's housing market and neighborhoods along the lines of race and ethnicity. The book provides an in-depth analysis of many immigrant groups in New York, especially providing an understanding of the opportunities and discriminatory practices at work from one generation to the next. Through a careful read of such factors as home ownership, housing quality, and neighborhood rates of crime, welfare enrollment, teenage pregnancy, and educational achievement, Emily Rosenbaum and Samantha Friedman provide a detailed portrait of neighborhood life and socio-economic status for the immigrants of New York. The book paints an important, if disturbing, picture. The authors argue that not only are Blacks—regardless of generation—disadvantaged relative to members of other racial/ethnic groups in their ability to obtain housing in high-quality neighborhoods, but that housing and neighborhood conditions actually decline over generations. Rosenbaum and Friedman's findings suggest that the future of racial inequality in this country will increasingly isolate Blacks from all other groups. In other words, the "color line" may be shifting from a line separating Blacks from Whites to one separating Blacks from all non-Blacks.
The housing divide : how generations of immigrants fare in New York's housing market
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$56.50
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Summary:
The Housing Divide examines the generational patterns in New York City's housing market and neighborhoods along the lines of race and ethnicity. The book provides an in-depth analysis of many immigrant groups in New York, especially providing an understanding of the opportunities and discriminatory practices at work from one generation to the next. Through a careful read of such factors as home ownership, housing quality, and neighborhood rates of crime, welfare enrollment, teenage pregnancy, and educational achievement, Emily Rosenbaum and Samantha Friedman provide a detailed portrait of neighborhood life and socio-economic status for the immigrants of New York. The book paints an important, if disturbing, picture. The authors argue that not only are Blacks—regardless of generation—disadvantaged relative to members of other racial/ethnic groups in their ability to obtain housing in high-quality neighborhoods, but that housing and neighborhood conditions actually decline over generations. Rosenbaum and Friedman's findings suggest that the future of racial inequality in this country will increasingly isolate Blacks from all other groups. In other words, the "color line" may be shifting from a line separating Blacks from Whites to one separating Blacks from all non-Blacks.
Form:
books
books
Publication:
December 2006, New York / London
December 2006, New York / London
Subject:
Urban Theory
Urban Theory
Form:
books
books
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$56.00
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Summary:
The last decade has seen an accelerated evolution of typologies. Today’s cities are marked by a growing digital presence and the emergence of a global sharing economy; shared spaces have increased our social and sustainable focus, drastically altered our understanding of ownership and responsibility, and redefined our experience of public and private domains. Such changes(...)
$56.00
(available to order)
Summary:
The last decade has seen an accelerated evolution of typologies. Today’s cities are marked by a growing digital presence and the emergence of a global sharing economy; shared spaces have increased our social and sustainable focus, drastically altered our understanding of ownership and responsibility, and redefined our experience of public and private domains. Such changes(...)
Subject:
Urban Theory
Urban Theory
Publication:
January 2021
January 2021
Title:
Another kind: a survey of the possible city
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$56.00
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The last decade has seen an accelerated evolution of typologies. Today’s cities are marked by a growing digital presence and the emergence of a global sharing economy; shared spaces have increased our social and sustainable focus, drastically altered our understanding of ownership and responsibility, and redefined our experience of public and private domains. Such changes have in turn rewritten the demands on architecture, the role of the designer, and the power of the profession. In 'Another Kind', PLP Architecture presents ten projects as case studies to examine the emergence of a new typological fluidity. These projects serve as anchors to survey the cultural landscape of the past ten years. Projects can no longer be traditionally codified and instead present themselves as assemblages of exterior influences, new cultural interests, and 21st century social habits. In 'Another Kind', projects are intertwined with essays by cultural observers both within and outside of the discipline. Through this multi-layered infrastructure and pluralistic dissection, Another Kind cracks the surface and explores the contents of architecture today. Marking this moment in time, PLP examines how we have evolved and speculates on what we can learn for the years that lie ahead.
Another kind: a survey of the possible city
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$56.00
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Summary:
The last decade has seen an accelerated evolution of typologies. Today’s cities are marked by a growing digital presence and the emergence of a global sharing economy; shared spaces have increased our social and sustainable focus, drastically altered our understanding of ownership and responsibility, and redefined our experience of public and private domains. Such changes have in turn rewritten the demands on architecture, the role of the designer, and the power of the profession. In 'Another Kind', PLP Architecture presents ten projects as case studies to examine the emergence of a new typological fluidity. These projects serve as anchors to survey the cultural landscape of the past ten years. Projects can no longer be traditionally codified and instead present themselves as assemblages of exterior influences, new cultural interests, and 21st century social habits. In 'Another Kind', projects are intertwined with essays by cultural observers both within and outside of the discipline. Through this multi-layered infrastructure and pluralistic dissection, Another Kind cracks the surface and explores the contents of architecture today. Marking this moment in time, PLP examines how we have evolved and speculates on what we can learn for the years that lie ahead.
Form:
books
books
Publication:
January 2021
January 2021
Subject:
Urban Theory
Urban Theory
Form:
books
books
Price:
$74.00
(available in store)
Summary:
Created between 1787 and 1823 by George IV, the ''Royal Pavilion in Brighton'' is perhaps the most daring and enchanting example of a building that expresses the European fascination with what in the early nineteenth century was considered the “Orient,” in particular China and India. The building, with its Indian-inspired exterior, was the work of the renowned architect(...)
$74.00
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Summary:
Created between 1787 and 1823 by George IV, the ''Royal Pavilion in Brighton'' is perhaps the most daring and enchanting example of a building that expresses the European fascination with what in the early nineteenth century was considered the “Orient,” in particular China and India. The building, with its Indian-inspired exterior, was the work of the renowned architect(...)
Title:
The Royal Pavilion, Brighton: A Regency palace of colour and sensation
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Created between 1787 and 1823 by George IV, the ''Royal Pavilion in Brighton'' is perhaps the most daring and enchanting example of a building that expresses the European fascination with what in the early nineteenth century was considered the “Orient,” in particular China and India. The building, with its Indian-inspired exterior, was the work of the renowned architect John Nash, who with the contributions of several other gifted and inventive architects, artists, and designers, created a building that draws you in, takes you on a journey, and plays with your senses. Featuring new photography, this lavishly illustrated book will provide a fresh look at the sumptuous Chinoiserie interiors of the Royal Pavilion and their enduring appeal. Drawing on recent research, conservation projects, and the unprecedented loan exhibition A Prince’s Treasure: From Buckingham Palace to the Royal Pavilion (2019–22), this book celebrates the colours and sensual beauty of these interiors while situating the Royal Pavilion in the context of the time of its creation and development under royal ownership, from its beginning in the wake of the French Revolution, through its transformation and extension during and just after the Napoleonic Wars, to its fate and legacy in the early Victorian era.
The Royal Pavilion, Brighton: A Regency palace of colour and sensation
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$74.00
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Summary:
Created between 1787 and 1823 by George IV, the ''Royal Pavilion in Brighton'' is perhaps the most daring and enchanting example of a building that expresses the European fascination with what in the early nineteenth century was considered the “Orient,” in particular China and India. The building, with its Indian-inspired exterior, was the work of the renowned architect John Nash, who with the contributions of several other gifted and inventive architects, artists, and designers, created a building that draws you in, takes you on a journey, and plays with your senses. Featuring new photography, this lavishly illustrated book will provide a fresh look at the sumptuous Chinoiserie interiors of the Royal Pavilion and their enduring appeal. Drawing on recent research, conservation projects, and the unprecedented loan exhibition A Prince’s Treasure: From Buckingham Palace to the Royal Pavilion (2019–22), this book celebrates the colours and sensual beauty of these interiors while situating the Royal Pavilion in the context of the time of its creation and development under royal ownership, from its beginning in the wake of the French Revolution, through its transformation and extension during and just after the Napoleonic Wars, to its fate and legacy in the early Victorian era.
Form:
books
books
Publication:
July 2025
July 2025
Subject:
History until 1900, Great Britain
History until 1900, Great Britain
Form:
books
books
Price:
$41.95
(available to order)
Summary:
The Urban Spectator is a lively and utterly fascinating exploration of the ways in which technologies have influenced our collective conception of the American city, as well as our relationship with urban space and architecture. Eric Gordon argues that the city, developing late and in conjunction with a range of modern media, produced a particular way of seeing--what he(...)
$41.95
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Summary:
The Urban Spectator is a lively and utterly fascinating exploration of the ways in which technologies have influenced our collective conception of the American city, as well as our relationship with urban space and architecture. Eric Gordon argues that the city, developing late and in conjunction with a range of modern media, produced a particular way of seeing--what he(...)
Title:
The urban spectator: American concept-cities from Kodak to Google
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The Urban Spectator is a lively and utterly fascinating exploration of the ways in which technologies have influenced our collective conception of the American city, as well as our relationship with urban space and architecture. Eric Gordon argues that the city, developing late and in conjunction with a range of modern media, produced a particular way of seeing--what he labels "possessive spectatorship." Lacking the historical rootedness of European cities, the American city was open to individual interpretation, definition, and ownership. Beginning with the White City of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the efforts to commodify the concept city through photography, Gordon shows how the American city has always been a product of the collision between the dominant conceptualization, shaped by contemporary media, and the spectator. From the viewfinder of the Kodak camera, to the public display of early cinema, to the speculative desire of network radio, all the way to machine-age utopianism, nostalgia, and America's "rerun" culture, the city is an amalgam of practice and concept. All of this comes to a head in the "database city" where urban spectatorship takes on the characteristics of a Google search. In new urban developments, the spectator searches, retrieves, and combines urban references to construct each experience of the city.
The urban spectator: American concept-cities from Kodak to Google
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$41.95
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Summary:
The Urban Spectator is a lively and utterly fascinating exploration of the ways in which technologies have influenced our collective conception of the American city, as well as our relationship with urban space and architecture. Eric Gordon argues that the city, developing late and in conjunction with a range of modern media, produced a particular way of seeing--what he labels "possessive spectatorship." Lacking the historical rootedness of European cities, the American city was open to individual interpretation, definition, and ownership. Beginning with the White City of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the efforts to commodify the concept city through photography, Gordon shows how the American city has always been a product of the collision between the dominant conceptualization, shaped by contemporary media, and the spectator. From the viewfinder of the Kodak camera, to the public display of early cinema, to the speculative desire of network radio, all the way to machine-age utopianism, nostalgia, and America's "rerun" culture, the city is an amalgam of practice and concept. All of this comes to a head in the "database city" where urban spectatorship takes on the characteristics of a Google search. In new urban developments, the spectator searches, retrieves, and combines urban references to construct each experience of the city.
Form:
books
books
Publication:
February 2010
February 2010
Subject:
Urban Theory
Urban Theory
Form:
books
books
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$67.00
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Summary:
Jan van Toorn is one of the most significant and influential Dutch graphic designers to have emerged since the early 1960s. While graphic design often does little more than give unthinking visual form to the status quo, Van Toorn focused on meaning rather than smooth stylistic expression and developed critical alternatives to the usual design world conventions. Van(...)
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Summary:
Jan van Toorn is one of the most significant and influential Dutch graphic designers to have emerged since the early 1960s. While graphic design often does little more than give unthinking visual form to the status quo, Van Toorn focused on meaning rather than smooth stylistic expression and developed critical alternatives to the usual design world conventions. Van(...)
Title:
Jan Van Toorn critical practice
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Jan van Toorn is one of the most significant and influential Dutch graphic designers to have emerged since the early 1960s. While graphic design often does little more than give unthinking visual form to the status quo, Van Toorn focused on meaning rather than smooth stylistic expression and developed critical alternatives to the usual design world conventions. Van Toorn aligned himself with the reflexive tradition of art and communication exemplified by Brecht and Godard. His designs persistently call attention to their status as visual contrivances, obliging the viewer to make an effort to process their complexities. Van Toorn wanted the public to measure the motives of both the client and the designer who mediates the client’s message against their own experiences of the world. He hoped in this way to stimulate a more active and sceptical view of art, communication, media ownership and society. Projects such as Van Toorn’s posters and catalogues for the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and his long-running series of calendars for the printing firm Mart.Spruijt are powerful demonstrations of graphic design used as a means of commentary and as a tool of critique. Later, as director of the Jan van Eyck Academy, Van Toorn drew together all the strands of his critical practice into a multi-levelled educational initiative that urged designers to think harder about design’s role in shaping contemporary reality.
Jan Van Toorn critical practice
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$67.00
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Summary:
Jan van Toorn is one of the most significant and influential Dutch graphic designers to have emerged since the early 1960s. While graphic design often does little more than give unthinking visual form to the status quo, Van Toorn focused on meaning rather than smooth stylistic expression and developed critical alternatives to the usual design world conventions. Van Toorn aligned himself with the reflexive tradition of art and communication exemplified by Brecht and Godard. His designs persistently call attention to their status as visual contrivances, obliging the viewer to make an effort to process their complexities. Van Toorn wanted the public to measure the motives of both the client and the designer who mediates the client’s message against their own experiences of the world. He hoped in this way to stimulate a more active and sceptical view of art, communication, media ownership and society. Projects such as Van Toorn’s posters and catalogues for the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and his long-running series of calendars for the printing firm Mart.Spruijt are powerful demonstrations of graphic design used as a means of commentary and as a tool of critique. Later, as director of the Jan van Eyck Academy, Van Toorn drew together all the strands of his critical practice into a multi-levelled educational initiative that urged designers to think harder about design’s role in shaping contemporary reality.
Form:
books
books
Publication:
January 1900, Rotterdam
January 1900, Rotterdam
Subject:
Graphic Designers, Monographs
Graphic Designers, Monographs
Form:
books
books
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$85.95
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Summary:
The fact that there is Gypsy architecture may surprise quite a few people, for Gypsies are regarded as nomads who roam through the world and settle now here, now there, never stay long in one place, and consider everything that normal citizens find important to be an unreasonable restriction of their freedom. Nevertheless, in southeastern Europe, there exists a(...)
$85.95
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Summary:
The fact that there is Gypsy architecture may surprise quite a few people, for Gypsies are regarded as nomads who roam through the world and settle now here, now there, never stay long in one place, and consider everything that normal citizens find important to be an unreasonable restriction of their freedom. Nevertheless, in southeastern Europe, there exists a(...)
Subject:
Architecture since 1900, Europe
Architecture since 1900, Europe
Publication:
July 2007, Stuttgart, London
July 2007, Stuttgart, London
Title:
Gypsy architecture : house of the Roma in Eastern Europe
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The fact that there is Gypsy architecture may surprise quite a few people, for Gypsies are regarded as nomads who roam through the world and settle now here, now there, never stay long in one place, and consider everything that normal citizens find important to be an unreasonable restriction of their freedom. Nevertheless, in southeastern Europe, there exists a remarkable architecture created by Gypsies. It seems to have been created from a dream : unreal, abstruse, and colourful, it is a composition of all the architectural styles of this world. Uninfluenced by any deeper knowledge of architectural culture, each family head chose the style, size and finishings on the basis of his own personal tastes or memories of travels, houses and things seen in other countries. The result has been the creation of bizarre and fantastic jumbles of buildings that it is hard to classify in terms of western stylistic features. Very often the houses are the result of enormous jigsaw puzzles created from an assembly of images or photographs of various different buildings, and their execution precisely follows these crazy guidelines, perhaps because they are incomprehensible to those carrying out the project. Otherwise, how could one possibly explain Indian-style roofs crowning neoclassical buildings, mansard roofs on structures of improbable style, Frenchified Chinese pagodas, heterogeneous assemblies of diverse and contrasting elements. The structures, the villas gradually soften their bizarre and fantastic imagery the closer they are built to European countries. Undoubtedly, the cultural influence of neighbouring countries already immersed in the culture and lifestyle of Europe has helped to "contaminate" the owners and bring their dwellings, the expression of their wishes, more into line with the ruling culture. What, however, remains staggering is the quality of the execution of the complex decorations, of the architectural elements and buildings that are very often contrasting, of widely differing façades surmounted by steepling roofs of no practical use whose only function is to represent, through their lack of proportion and absolute needlessness, the financial and social power of the family. Besides pieces of sculpture that are undoubtedly ritual and symbolic and originating from Indian culture, suns with spiny rays, various forms of pinnacle, geometrical moons, zoomorphic decorations,the tops of the roofs bear metalwork inscriptions giving the date of building and the name of the family or that of the wife, symbolizing a desire for display and the proclamation of ownership.
Gypsy architecture : house of the Roma in Eastern Europe
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$85.95
(available in store)
Summary:
The fact that there is Gypsy architecture may surprise quite a few people, for Gypsies are regarded as nomads who roam through the world and settle now here, now there, never stay long in one place, and consider everything that normal citizens find important to be an unreasonable restriction of their freedom. Nevertheless, in southeastern Europe, there exists a remarkable architecture created by Gypsies. It seems to have been created from a dream : unreal, abstruse, and colourful, it is a composition of all the architectural styles of this world. Uninfluenced by any deeper knowledge of architectural culture, each family head chose the style, size and finishings on the basis of his own personal tastes or memories of travels, houses and things seen in other countries. The result has been the creation of bizarre and fantastic jumbles of buildings that it is hard to classify in terms of western stylistic features. Very often the houses are the result of enormous jigsaw puzzles created from an assembly of images or photographs of various different buildings, and their execution precisely follows these crazy guidelines, perhaps because they are incomprehensible to those carrying out the project. Otherwise, how could one possibly explain Indian-style roofs crowning neoclassical buildings, mansard roofs on structures of improbable style, Frenchified Chinese pagodas, heterogeneous assemblies of diverse and contrasting elements. The structures, the villas gradually soften their bizarre and fantastic imagery the closer they are built to European countries. Undoubtedly, the cultural influence of neighbouring countries already immersed in the culture and lifestyle of Europe has helped to "contaminate" the owners and bring their dwellings, the expression of their wishes, more into line with the ruling culture. What, however, remains staggering is the quality of the execution of the complex decorations, of the architectural elements and buildings that are very often contrasting, of widely differing façades surmounted by steepling roofs of no practical use whose only function is to represent, through their lack of proportion and absolute needlessness, the financial and social power of the family. Besides pieces of sculpture that are undoubtedly ritual and symbolic and originating from Indian culture, suns with spiny rays, various forms of pinnacle, geometrical moons, zoomorphic decorations,the tops of the roofs bear metalwork inscriptions giving the date of building and the name of the family or that of the wife, symbolizing a desire for display and the proclamation of ownership.
Form:
books
books
Publication:
July 2007, Stuttgart, London
July 2007, Stuttgart, London
Subject:
Architecture since 1900, Europe
Architecture since 1900, Europe
