“Neural networks do not understand what optical illusions are.” – Technologyreview.com

“Some pictures tell a thousand lies.” – hplyrikz.com

An optical illusion confuses the eye by pretending to be something it isn’t. It both misleads and deceives the brain, which is trying to make sense of the information the eye is sending. This book presents a selection of brain-bending optical illusions featuring graphic art and photography by 60 artists, and includes an overview of the history of optical illusions in art.

This book is a complete overview of all thirty Belgian abbey beers. Where is the rich patrimony of Belgian abbey beers rooted? What are the remarkable stories about this authentic, labour-intensive product. In which way are Trappist beers different from the others? In Belgian Trappist and Abbey Beers, Jef Van den Steen unravels the different stages in the production process of the beers and talks very passionately about the origin and development of the various breweries within the walls or under the license of the abbey. Each brewery is presented with practical information, different types of beer, and the author always includes tips for tourists.

(Re)discover Art Nouveau at the heart of Brussels. At the end of the 19th century, the anti-academic movement pushed Brussels’ architects towards Art Nouveau. Both Victor Horta, in an organic style, and Paul Hankar, in a more geometrical tendency, created an architecture that quickly gained an international reputation. In a little more than a decade, from 1893 on, hundreds of Art Nouveau-fashioned buildings appeared in Brussels, elaborated first by the great pioneers and later by their students and imitators who are also influenced by the Vienna Secession and other trends of European Art Nouveau. At first, this style fulfilled industrial bourgeoisie’s dreams, yearning to assert itself in the city’s structure through this new, and sometimes exuberant, architecture. This book offers nine walks to discover – in different districts – the multiple aspects of architectural Art Nouveau in Brussels. Witness the personal style of the most important architects as well as decorative methods such as sgraffito. Through interviews with owners, custodians and restorers of Art Nouveau-styled buildings, Brussels Art Nouveau describes the fundamental guardians of this remarkable heritage.

Phase 3 of digitalisation has started. A phase of artificial intelligence has revolutionised the buying behavior of customers: collecting information, the buying process and customer service have changed dramatically. This book explains the impact of the ‘internet of things’, virtual assistants, bots and client data. But first of all this is a book about customers. In a world of automatisation the most important question remains: how can I be customer-oriented? “Steven is a much asked for keynote speaker for our events, always a highlight. He has a unique and authentic style: with a combination of academic depth and well-built cases he spices up his presentations with a tremendous amount of humor.” – Anthony Belpaire, Google Website: stevenvanbelleghem.com Youtube: StevenVanBelleghem/videos Twitter: @StevenVBe

Belgium is well-known for its delicious chocolate. In Fine Chocolates: Gold Jean-Pierre Wybauw expresses in clear, concise language how to create and shape your own chocolates. How do you make ganache? How can you extend the shelf life of fine chocolates? He also takes a closer look at the different flavourings you can use and combine. Various mouth-watering and original praline recipes are described in detail. The interesting background information and superb photographs will invite anyone to indulge in this sweetness. This book is another must for the kitchens of professional chocolatiers, experienced amateur cooks and chocolate lovers.

Gin & tonic, the drink of the eighties, is more fashionable than ever before. Bars, clubs, gin menus in restaurants – gin is everywhere.

This beautifully compiled book is an essential guide for gin lovers in search of their own original take on this wonderfully complex drink. Richly illustrated, it covers the history of gin, the gin families with their distinct characteristics and distilled flavours, and the exciting, more recent developments in the marketing, the bottling and packaging of gin which is increasingly quirky, artistic and original.  There is an overview of some of the smartest places to drink and discover a world of gin; hip and very cool.

Beyond ‘ice and a slice’, how do you put together the perfect gin and tonic, from the amazing array of new infusions? What are the flavours and textures in food that best accompany this very particular drink? With foodpairing ideas and recipes to create at home… find your favourite glass, crack the ice and indulge!

The perfect accompaniment to the booming “ginterest,” this new edition includes a section on foodpairing (with new recipes!) with gin, and an overview of the most famous gin bars across the globe.

For those willing to go to the edge, for those who love to run close to the sky, here are some of the world’s most challenging and beautiful running trails and races. Twelve trails are covered in depth, and many more are included. From Norway to South Africa, Hong Kong to Colorado, and Switzerland to Columbia, these profiles are accompanied by travel information, as well as stories from those with experience on these trails, whether talking about the music they run to, or the good will shared among fellow runners.

‘Invisible social security’ is a term coined by Jos Berghman in his early work to draw attention to those aspects of social security that easily tend to be neglected in an instrumental perspective that conceives of social security merely as a particular set of instruments that national welfare states deploy to guarantee basic living standards to their citizens. Among others, Berghman emphasised that social security should rather be conceptualised in a situational sense, that is, as a state of being in which citizens feel confident about themselves and about their future lives. This book, Invisible Social Security Revisited, is a collection of essays published at the occasion of the retirement of Jos Berghman as Professor of Social Policy at KU Leuven – University of Leuven. Taking the notion of ‘invisible social security’ as a point of reference, nearly thirty years after it was coined, the authors address a series of contemporary issues in social security research and policy-making. One can read about social protection in the past and in the future, about prevention and activation, about European and local policies, about poverty and social exclusion, about feelings of insecurity and failing protection of informal workers, about social values in relation to social policies, and so on. The wide range of issues that are thus covered goes to show that over the years the concept of ‘invisible social security’ has retained its academic appeal, as well as its significance for the conceptual and empirical understanding of social security policies and realities. Taken together, the essays provide the reader with up-to-date and innovative ideas and information on important questions regarding the social protection of citizens. This Liber Amicorum for Jos Berghman is published at the occasion of his retirement as Professor of Social Policy at the Centre for Sociological Research of the KU Leuven – University of Leuven, 1 October 2014.

Lawyer and forensic auditor Flip de Mey has for years studied the files on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. His research, based on the original documents, led to a startling and ground-breaking theory, which he described in Cold Case Kennedy. In a follow-up to that bestseller, The Lee Harvey Oswald Files, de Mey investigates exactly what part Oswald played in the Kennedy assassination. With the same attention to detail that enabled him to prove Kennedy was the victim of a conspiracy, he examines the files and presents new information derived from unique photographs of Oswald’s rifle and contact with two of Oswald’s friends. De Mey’s conclusion is unambiguous: Oswald could not have killed Kennedy. So who did, and why? Flip de Mey’s answers to these questions are shrewd and supported by a multiplicity of arguments. Also available: Cold Case Kennedy ISBN 9789401413961

This is the first title in a new series, Nature Retreats, which presents the most beautifully designed holiday homes, with stunning mountain views. Travel journalist Sebastiaan Bedaux gathered together 30 of the most stylish hideouts in the world in Mountain View. Despite the great variety of styles, different price tags and the unique geography of each house, they all have one thing in common: they are the stuff of dreams. The series will celebrate architecturally elegant hidden gems, surrounded by nature – deep in the woods, high up in the mountains, or built by the water – and all available for rent! Find some peace and quiet and let the splendour of the building and the unique landscape around it inspire you. Also available in the series: Nature View ISBN 9789401454322.

Whether lakes, deserts or forest, nature is often a holiday destination, but not every nature traveller wants to camp or stay in cheap hotels. This book, in the Nature View series, is for the discerning traveller who wants to stay in style and enjoy nature at the same time. Here are 50 of the most stylish homes, settled in spectacular landscapes from around the world. And each is available for holiday rental.

Negotiating is becoming more and more difficult: negotiations to form a new government, social negotiations, negotiating with your colleagues, teenage kids at home; however not every negotiation needs to transform into a battle of will. How good is your Negotiation Quotient? Have you ever wondered if it is better to withhold as much information as possible or if you should be open when negotiating? Whether you should allow for boundaries to be re-established or whether you should compromise? Written by negotiating and management experts, Negotiations contains four key elements to allow you to transform the process of negotiating, from a stressful power battle to a process of interaction that creates interesting opportunities. Based on the most recent and best practices: the insights that this book provides, are directly linked to the negotiations you might need to have in the near future, be it at home, at work or out in public.

For the nature and adventure enthusiast: Roaming America is a visually stunning, ultimately practical guide to visiting the US National Parks.
Combining breathtaking imagery, useful planning information for each national park, suggested itineraries, best-of recommendations, and more Roaming America will give you all the inspiration you could need to plan your next national park road trip! Featured inside:

Rubens’ Antwerp: A Guide highlights the life and work of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) in a comprehensive and accessible way. The Antwerp museums and churches contain about a hundred paintings, drawings, designs and sketches by Rubens. A large part of those are public. Antwerp is the only city in the world that is so deeply rooted with Peter Paul Rubens and his baroque heritage. Rubens’ Antwerp: A Guide allows you to experience Rubens and the Baroque in an intense way. This multifaceted acquaintance with Rubens goes hand in hand with a dive into the glorious past of the vibrant city of culture, where the master’s life largely took place. A mapped walk takes you to the various places in Antwerp where Rubens’ work can be seen. You can visit his house with the studio, where so many masterpieces came about. You also visit the homes of his friends Balthasar Moretus and Nicolaas Rockox, and you can admire paintings of him in the historic churches in the rooms for which they were made. 2018 is the official Rubens’ year.

“It’s a must-have art collection gathering dust on the coffee table, and it’s just that.” – NY Journal of Books on Street Art Today 1
“One of the best books on Street Art” – Amazon.com “It is a beautiful aggregation, and certainly many of these artists have been interviewed and regularly featured on websites and other free cultural outlets like this one providing depth, context, analysis, information, and exposure. Having a hard copy of this collection of fifty in your hand will help freeze this moment for posterity as the scene/s continue to evolve.” – brooklynstreetart.com on Street Art Today 1
Going beyond the cliché of street art as artistically responsible graffiti, this Who’s Who of the international contemporary street art scene features 50 of the top street artists working today, complete with exclusive interviews. More than a revised edition of Street Art Today (2015), this book offers a completely new and updated roster of artists, and highlights the evolution of street art in all its multi-faceted complexity. Street Art Today is beautifully presented and written, in the main, in straightforward language accessible to all.

From rockers to ravers, The Illustrated Book of Songs is the book every music lover will want. In quick-witted style, Irish writer Colm Boyd navigates us through lists of classic songs for every occasion. Prepare yourself for fascinating facts, cool illustrations and withering commentary on songs presented in lists such as:

       Songs about Getting Dumped
       Songs about Prostitution
       Songs about Environmental Matters
       Songs about Being a Complete and Utter Asshole
       Songs about Gender Identity
       Alternative Christmas Songs
 
The Illustrated Book of Songs features 70 lists, discussing hundreds of songs from different genres and artists – from Adele to Aretha, Jagger to Jarvis, Rufus to Rosalía. Many of the songs are well-known, others are a little more off-radar. Some have amazing musicality, some have lyrics – quite literally – worthy of a Nobel Prize. Some deal with death, others deal with zebras, one song deals with prostitute-frequenting chess players in Bangkok. You get the idea.

Each of the book’s lists is accompanied by a scannable Spotify code, allowing readers to use their smartphones to directly access the songs mentioned. So, time to get reading and get listening.

Check out the book’s website for more information: colmboyd.com/the-illustrated-book-of-songs.

The catalogue presents Christ Carrying the Cross, recently rediscovered by Carlo Falciani in a private collection, which was born out of the intense friendship between the painter and art historian Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) with Bindo Altoviti (1491-1557), important banker and refined art collector and patron. The artwork was painted in 1553, just before Vasari’s return to Florence to take service as court painter of the Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici. The painting shows the extremely high quality reached by Vasari’s production in Rome – where he was working for Pope Julius III and where the Florentine banker Bindo Altoviti had a palace and conducted business – and, at the same time, it shows the experimentations of his manner, characterised by the re-elaboration of modern and contemporary models, in this case works of Michelangelo, Francesco Salviati and Sebastiano del Piombo.

Published to accompany an exhibition at the Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini, Palazzo Corsini, Rome from 24 January-30 June 2019.

Text in English and Italian.

Dayton Eugene Egger: The Paradox of Place in the Line of Sight, showcases the pedagogical sketches of Dayton Eugene Egger, the Patrick and Nancy Lathrop Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design. To Egger, architectural education is a vibrant vehicle for creating and disseminating knowledge across generations. It simultaneously concerns learning from the past and presents possible futures. Egger points to lessons learned from Josef Albers related to the ‘criticality of seeing’ and displaying information. For Egger, these discursive departure points engage both the place of potential discovery and the act of applying knowledge to a given situation and a given context. The book comprises three parts – Gene Egger’s pedagogy as sparked by travels to Europe and North America and its direct impact on students as evidenced through drawing. Essay contributions by Kenneth Frampton, Dayton Eugene Egger, Steven + Cathi House, Mitzi Vernon, Paul Emmons, Mark Blizard, Michael OBrien, Gregory Luhan, and Frank Weiner bridge these three ‘chapters’ and provide critical insights or personal reflections.

Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemic, Futures is exemplary in its mission to combine in one resource reflections on the renewal of feminist thought in architecture (Framing Stories), challenges to practice made possible by activism (Shaping Polemics), and portrayals of inspiring practitioners who pave the way for future women architects (Building Futures). The goal of this book is to increase the visibility and voice of women who everyday challenge the definition and practice of architecture. Women [Re]Build gathers words and projects of leading women thinkers, activists, designers, and builders who have dared to ask, “where are the women?” Where are the women whose architectural work should be celebrated and recognised for its courage and impact; who have cultivated female leadership while challenging the very principles of the discipline they represent; and who ve asked the most difficult and rigorous of questions of those who build their visions? Contributors: Franca Trubiano; Ramona Adlakha; Ramune Bartuskaite; Joan Ockman; Ila Berman; Mary McLeod; Despina Stratigakos; Marion Weiss; Sadie Morgan; Samantha Hardingham; Lori Brown; Julie Moskovitz; Annelise Pitts; Shirley Blumberg; Nicole Dosso; Winka Dubbeldam; Billie Tsien; Jeanne Gang; Margaret Cavenagh; Department of Architecture, Penn DESIGN.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) is undoubtedly one of the most significant and influential architects ever. To the present day, his designs and realised buildings, as well as his thinking and writings, continue to initiate many controversial debates on the achievements and failures of modern architecture. Yet not only architects and urban designers have been inspired or appalled by Mies. This new book demonstrates that his influence reaches far beyond the boundaries of professional architecture. Almost Nothing collects work by 100 painters, sculptors, photographers, film directors, designers, cartoonists, and architects who comment on the buildings, designs, and statements by, or images of, the legendary architect. The works also form a 100-fold re-interpretation of Mies van der Rohe’s life and oeuvre. New York-based architect and writer Christian Bjone in his accompanying text provides rich background information on the individual artists and the depicted art works. The book’s title refers to a statement by Mies himself on one of his celebrated masterpieces, Crown Hall on IIT campus in Chicago, which ingeniously combines simplicity with complexity.

Since the introduction of steel as a building material in the early twentieth century, its superior performance has challenged conventional wisdom about construction, enabling designs of surprising lightness and span. Steel offered the opportunity to significantly expand buildings vertically and thus emerged as a symbol of the conflict between technological progress and the architectural ideal. More recently, the use of exposed steel elements in modern architecture ushered in a rediscovery of buildings’ metamorphoses. Building Additions in Steel looks at the largely ignored topic of steel additions in architecture and engineering, documenting an ambitious, interdisciplinary research project by architects, engineers, teachers, and students at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Constructive Design. The book offers basic theoretical and technical information on a selection of outstanding steel additions alongside more than 100 illustrations, including plans and photographs. With contributions by Jürg Conzett and Roger Diener, Lorenzo De Chiffre, Yves Dreier, Patric Fischli-Boson, Patric Furrer, Matteo Iannello, Daniel Meyer, François Renaud, Astrid Staufer, Daniel Stockhammer, and Martin Tschanz.

Halley VI Research Station is the first fully re-locatable research station in the world. It was commissioned in 2006 and its unique and innovative structure was the result of an international design competition in collaboration with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The research facility is segmented into eight modules, each sitting atop ski-fitted, hydraulic legs that can be individually raised to overcome snow accumulation, allowing the module to be towed independently to a new location. Halley VI is designed by London-based Hugh Broughton Architects and AECOM, a global engineering design firm.

The new book tells the story of this exciting piece of architecture in an essay by Ruth Slavid. Around 100 photographs, mostly in colour, plans and diagrams document the various modules of the re-locatable station and its present site. Captions offering comprehensive technical information about the structure complement the images. Photographs are contributed by British photographer James Morris, who has gained much international recognition for his work in architectural and landscape photography.

Lower Austria is not only the country’s largest federal state, its beautiful and varied landscape also makes it a popular tourist destination. Many of its pretty towns and villages are only a short journey from Austria’s capital Vienna. This new architecture guidebook features a vast selection of significant buildings from the late 19th and early 20th century in this region. Arranged by typology, they are documented with historic and new photographs, plans, brief descriptions and key information. The seven decades between the Austrian revolution in 1848 and the end of the Great War in 1918 were a period of fundamental changes in society, politics, economy and technology that also had a major impact on architecture and construction. Between the accession of Emperor Franz Josef I and the fall of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, manorialism was abolished; public administration on all levels of state was modernised and created a whole new social class of civil servants; the construction of railways and industrialisation brought an unprecedented economic boom; and escaping the crowded metropolis for a summer house in the countryside became fashionable among the aristocrats and the nouveaux-riche. Many of the famous Vienna-based architects of the time were commissioned with designs for all sorts of public and private projects also in provincial towns and villages. Text in English and German.

The new Vienna headquarters of ÖAMTC, Austria’s motorists’ association, emerged out of an interdisciplinary process from choosing a suitable site to completion. Created in close collaboration between the client, architects Pichler & Traupmann, engineers FCP Fritsch, Chiari & Partner, and strategic consultants M.O.O.CON together with Nofrontiere Design agency and SIDE Studio for Information Design, it is a highly innovative structure in terms of design and technology. Moreover, the building sets new standards for corporate culture and working environments.

This new book tells the entire story of the new ÖAMTC complex. It documents the project comprehensively and is lavishly illustrated with images, plans, and diagrams. The essays look at the project’s complex genesis and architectural concept, completed by interviews with the clients, architects, and with users of and visitors to the building. A glance at the history of comparable ‘houses of speed’ and a photo essay on the topic of mobility round out this book on a unique and exemplary multi-functional structure.

Text in English and German.