Despite its trademark transparency, the Corum Golden Bridge is a wristwatch full of mystery. This new book describes the iconic linear timepiece’s fascinating history including the innovative mechanical invention conceived by a nonconformist autodidact and the difficult technical breakthroughs by two like-minded personalities needed to achieve the dream wristwatch. This story, chock-full of narrative substance, begins in Switzerland of the late 1970s, at a time when electronic timekeeping was threatening to overtake the magical mastery of mechanical ticks and tocks. The Golden Bridge, spanning the gap between mechanics and art, is an integral part of this era as luxury watchmaking teetered on the brink of extinction. The Golden Bridge additionally helped usher in the era of the independent watchmaker, as its very creation was rooted in shedding light on the work of the watchmaker in a way that no other timepiece before or after it ever would.

“A clearly articulated manifesto for those trying to preserve Tokyo’s emergent properties, Emergent Tokyo helps distil lessons for other cities”

—Benjamin Bansal, Urban Studies Journal

This book examines the urban fabric of contemporary Tokyo as a valuable demonstration of permeable, inclusive, and adaptive urban patterns that required neither extensive master planning nor corporate urbanism to develop. These urban patterns are emergent: that is, they are the combined result of numerous modifications and appropriations of space by small agents interacting within a broader socio-economic ecosystem. Together, they create a degree of urban intensity and liveliness that is the envy of the world’s cities.

This book examines five of these patterns that appear conspicuously throughout Tokyo: yokocho alleyways, multi-tenant zakkyo buildings, undertrack infills, low-rise dense neighbourhoods, and the river-like ankyo streets. Unlike many of the discussions on Tokyo that emphasise cultural uniqueness, this book aims at transcultural validity, with a focus on empirical analysis of the spatial and social conditions that allow these patterns to emerge. The authors of Emergent Tokyo acknowledge the distinct character of Tokyo without essentialising or fetishising it, offering visitors, architects, and urban policy practitioners an unparalleled understanding of Tokyo’s urban landscape.

“It amazes me that after all these years and countless books, the scope of subject matter on The Beatles is so amazingly large that writers always find a new angle. This book does that in a very unique and clever way. It’s a must for every Beatles fan.” —Billy J. Kramer

“…It’s a magical mystery tour through the band’s life and times.”  —Yahoo Entertainment The It-List
“Part biography and part map to the stars, The Beatles: Fab Four Cities is your “Ticket to Ride” and walk in the footsteps of John, Paul, George and Ringo. It’s the next best thing to actually driving their car…”—Nina Violi, Capitol File. and Gotham magazine

“While the book can be used as a handy tour guide filled with addresses, maps and photos, it also makes for great reading.”  —Steve Matteo, The Vinyl District

“But now comes a “magic carpet volume” for Beatles fans that blends travel guide with historical reference in an expanded study of The Beatles’ homes, schools, pubs, venues, and important historic sites…”  —Jude Southerland Kessler, Culture Sonar

John Lennon said: “We were born in Liverpool, but we grew up in Hamburg.”

To paraphrase Lennon, we could say that: “The Beatles were born in Liverpool, grew up in Hamburg, reached maturity in London, and immortality in New York.”

Four cities. Four stars. The Fab Four – the Beatles – are revered the world over, but it is in these urban centres that their legacy shines brightest. Liverpool: where the band graduated from church halls, leaving their initial line-up as ‘The Quarrymen’ far behind. Hamburg: where their raucous stage act was honed; where arrests earned them a more notorious celebrity reputation, but they became a true emblem of rock ‘n’ roll. London: where The Beatles produced Sgt Pepper, and home to the iconic album cover for Abbey Road. And New York: the city that became John Lennon’s home, where their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show announced them to 73 million Americans.

The Beatles: Fab Four Cities invites the reader on a cosmopolitan trek across continents, tracing the Beatles’ rise to fame from one metropolis to the next. Flush with timelines, stories, trivia, the numerous links and connections between the cities and both pop cultural and local history, this is a travel guide like no other.

“Erudite, while still being fun to read.” — Professor Tim Neild, physiologist and medical educator

“A triumph of Social History in the Georgian period.” — Dr Nigel Cooke FRCP, physician and ceramic historian

This is the first biography and reference book dedicated to Samuel Percy, a modeller who produced an impressive oeuvre of wax portraits and tableaux in the mid-to-late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Based in part on the author’s own substantial collection of Percy waxes, this book follows Percy from his beginnings in Dublin, at the Dublin Society Drawing Schools, working with the famed statuary John Van Nost; to England, where he journeyed from town to town, putting advertisements in regional newspapers. These revealing advertisements have been gathered here for the first time, in order to track his travels. Whether taking the likeness of Princess Charlotte of Wales, or falling victim to a highway robber in Birmingham, these fragments of Percy’s history paint a fascinating picture of his life as a wandering artisan. As well as a chronological narrative of Percy’s life, this book commits an entire chapter to an area of his work that has never been studied before: his miniature tableaux. These portray various subjects, both religious and secular, from Christ on the Cross to playing children. They are catalogued in an appendix, and almost thirty are illustrated. Based entirely on original research, Mr. Percy: Portrait Modeller in Coloured Wax features over a hundred illustrations, celebrating both Percy’s accomplishments and the works of other modellers for comparison.

Raphael arrived in Rome in 1508 and remained there until his death in 1520, working as painter and architect for popes Julius II and Leo X and for the most prestigious patrons. Here the artist changed his painting style several times, looking at the works of Michelangelo, Sebastiano del Piombo and the vast repertoire of ancient painting and sculpture. In the Eternal City Raphael practised architecture for the first time, designing buildings that reflected the models of Antiquity such as the Pantheon, the descriptions deriving from written sources such as Vitruvius’ treaty on architecture, and the examples of modern architects like Donato Bramante.

This guide supplies essential and up to date information on all the civil or religious buildings designed or built by Raphael in Rome, and the frescoes and paintings, housed in churches or museums, whether executed in the city or arrived there at a later stage.

Arches to Zigzags introduces its audience (both young and old) to the world of architecture through the alphabet. It challenges young readers with new words and images, while adults will widen their own knowledge of architecture. Captivating images and clever wordplay entertain folks of all ages to explore the built environment. The book begins its journey through architecture with an Arch (for the letter A), then a Balcony, and next on to Column Capitals. Along the way, readers will learn about some less-familiar architectural examples (like Finial, for instance), Keystone, Obelisk, and Quoin. Each letter and its corresponding image are described with light verse, which asks the reader some quick questions about what they see. This colourful, lively, and entertaining book closes with some thoughts about what architecture is, why it’s important, and where you’ll find examples of architecture in the buildings you visit and use every day. There’s also information on the location and history of each of the 26 beautiful images in the book, in case you want to check them out on your own. Created by an architect, writer, photographer, and librarian, Arches to Zigzags connects architecture with the letters of the alphabet, from A to Z.

The genesis, development and life-long occupation of the McIntyre house, built in 1972 as part of a multiple-dwelling subdivision, provides possible answers to some very pressing contemporary design questions. How might one live near the city and be respectful of nature? How might efficiently built dwellings also be spacious and dense site occupation still allow for privacy? This history is recounted through text augmented by photographs and site diagrams, house sections and plans. They reveal a modern architecture on the west coast that resulted from an interplay of both the physicality of the land and a culturally imbued landscape.

The Triangle region of North Carolina is a little-known hotbed of outstanding modern architecture with roots that trace back to the Bauhaus and has helped to shape the history of modern American architecture. While the Triangle has seen a great increased interest in modern architecture, the understanding of this design and the reasons and history behind it, have not been shared in a clear and meaningful way. There is an information gap between what is appreciated by architects and by the general public.

Digital Architecture employs computer modelling, programing, simulation, and imaging to create both virtual forms and physical structures, and it is becoming increasingly popular in today’s architecture landscape the world over.
This book presents the fast-shaping and actively progressing digital architecture scene in China as it discusses the current status and trends in its development, design, and construction, in the different dimensions of digital architecture.
It includes four parts: Theoretical Explorations; Building Practice; Research Projects; and a chronology of digital architecture in China. The first part summarises the understanding and positioning of digital architecture in China from the perspectives of construction, design techniques, and design concepts. The second and third parts provide readers with a wealth of information and resource through many analytical diagrams, technical drawings, and construction and completion images. This book is not only an academic review, but also a lively account of digital architecture in China. This read will feel like a visit to a vivid Chinese digital architecture exhibition, and will be a welcome addition to any architecture reference collection.

Hibino Sekkei has worked on over 560 design projects in Japan as well as overseas; they include kindergartens and nursery schools, primary and secondary schools, and other spaces where children spend long periods of time at. They think of a space as more than a space. They value all the “contents” in the container called space as significant as the container itself. This book is a collection of selected prominent works by Hibino Sekkei Youji no Shiro and KIDS DESIGN LABO, beginning from spaces to key design elements, furniture design, and visual identity design. The book aims to share Hibino Sekkei’s design concepts in the hope that they inspire the readers in crafting their own unique designs for children’s facilities. What’s more, they have interviewed several of the principles of the kindergartens and nurseries,who would provide valuable information on children’s spaces design from an educator’s point of view.

British flower painting has its own unique, if relatively recent, history, but it can only be judged in the light of the wider history of the subject and by comparison with other, particularly European, countries. The first chapter of A History and Dictionary of British Flower Painters, therefore, sets the scene with a brief introduction to floral art world wide before the next four chapters concentrate on British flower painting in the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The dictionary provides the biographical details of almost 1,000 British flower painters, offering information regarding their specialities, awards and exhibitions.

The Designline is a 4.5 metre long illustrated history of design, which can either be used as a booklet, or unfolded as a large poster. It includes examples from important epochs and exemplary forms – be it in the shape of a kidney-shaped table designed by Isamu Noguchi as an example for organic design, or the ground plan of Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin, representative of deconstructionism. Numerous photos and information on historical developments, outstanding works and designers from each epoch accompany the design history, making the Designline important both as an example, and in terms of product language. The Designline is interdisciplinary and synoptic, covering industrial and graphic design and architecture. The documented period begins with the industrial revolution.

Text in English and German.

By turning over the flaps of this clever book, you can put together 1,000 imaginary dinosaurs, like the Stegodocus, the Oviplosaurus, or the Diploraptops. Each dinosaur has fascinating information about its head, body, and tail – so you can make your own Flip-o-saurus and see what it can do!

A model of art-historical writing, Franz Kline is, remarkably, still the only available monograph on its subject. With its detailed yet thoroughly readable text and 170 illustrations (many published here for the first time), this book brings to light much new information about Kline, a leading figure among the Abstract Expressionists, and enriches our appreciation and understanding of his art. This book belongs on the book shelf of everyone with an interest in American painting.

Franz Kline’s energetic black strokes on a white field are as recognizable as Jackson Pollock’s drips or Mark Rothko’s rectangles of glowing colour. He spent years struggling to find a style for himself and then achieved “overnight success” with his dramatic black – and – white abstractions. They were, in fact, so successful that they overwhelmed every other aspect of Kline’s art, and as a result he has been oversimplified and underestimated. Based on nearly 20 years of research, this seminal monograph provides a comprehensive view of Kline’s life and work and reveals how unexpectedly complex they both were.

Using interviews with the artist’s friends and critics, and quoting from his letters, the author, Harry F. Gaugh, has created an evocative portrait of Kline’s evolution from ambitious art student, to penniless Greenwich Village artist painting murals in bars, to, finally, a mature artist in command of his own unique and hard-won style.

Typology, Review No. 2 of the new series Christ & Gantenbein Review, presents more than 150 buildings located in Rome, New York, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires that have been analysed by the chair of Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. This selective and subjective inventory of metropolitan and essentially anonymous 20th-century building production provides a basis for urban project creation. In this new book, the buildings are documented with floor plans, axonometric projections, recent photographs and key information. The theoretical essay by Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein and four texts by other authors explain the interactions between the contexts, especially the governing urban rule sets and the buildings, and show the potential for the design of a contemporary urban architecture.

Text in English and German

Typology 2 follows up on the preceding and successful Typology, published in 2012. Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein together with their teaching staff and students at ETH Zurich expanded their research on building typology to four more metropolises, again in Europe, Latin America, and Asia: Paris, Delhi, Sao Paulo, and Athens. 180 buildings were analysed over the past two years to find inspiration and models that can be adapted for the local context of any given city. Each example is documented with an image, site and floor plans, axonometric projection, key data, and a brief description. An introduction and four essays on the interaction between various protagonists and in particular the effect of governing local building regulation again show the potential for contemporary urban architecture. The result is again a rich sourcebook of great practical value for students, lecturers and practitioners of architecture. Essays by the authors, and Anupam Bansal and Philippe Simon.

Höweler + Yoon Architecture, founded in 2001 and based in Boston, gained early praise for ephemeral and interactive public projects and is recognised today for striking works that combine conceptual speculation and technological sophistication. The firm’s impressive body of work has expanded the scope of design beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries and has won them numerous national and international awards. Verify in Field is Höweler + Yoon Architecture’s second book. Its title derives from a notational convention on architectural drawings to indicate that the information is subject to unknown conditions in the field. The book highlights verification as an intergral part of the design process and demonstrates it as a productive tool to test ideas and act on the world. For both disciplinary and contractual reasons, the instruments of design – drawings, models, and prototypes – operate on the world at a distance. Techniques of prototyping, measurement, feedback, negotiation, and intervention inform the diverse output of the studio. Verify in Field features recent designs by Höweler + Yoon architecture, including such projects as the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia; a floating outdoor classroom in Philadelphia; the MIT Museum; and a pedestrian bridge in Shanghai’s Expo Park. The book also examines the discipline’s pressing questions, as they relate to verification, uncertainty, and design agency, in a series of essays by Eric Höweler and J. Meejin Yoon on topics that include means and methods, the public realm, energy and environments, the construction detail, and social media. These themes are echoed in conversations with collaborators, historians, and theorists: Adam Greenfield, Nader Tehrani, Kate Orff, Daniel Barber, and Ana Miljacki.

Created with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Tales of the People is a series of children’s books celebrating Native American culture with illustrations and stories by Indian artists and writers. In addition to the tales themselves, each book also offers four pages filled with information and photographs exploring various aspects of Native culture, including a glossary of words in different Indian languages.