Zhu Pei’s Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum recalls a time of glory of the once “Millenium Porcelain Capital” city, Jingdezhen, and extends these memories to the present. Inspired by the perception of Jingdezhen’s specific regional culture (porcelain) and the survival wisdom of the locals, the museum is a symbol of the past and future. The contemporary architecture magnificently resonates the ages: the building form is reminiscent of ancient traditional brick kilns, and its landscape — with mirror pools, bamboo groves, kiln ruins, and courtyards — recreates an impression of Jingdezhen’s vibrant porcelain past. As an “Architecture of Nature,” that evokes both contemporaneity and ancient vibes, the museum subverts typical perceptions of modern-day museums. Coloured photos, drawings, essays, and interviews provide detailed insights on the conception of the museum — from design concept to environmental strategies, to construction techniques and construction materials — as well as the architect’s personal perspectives on the overall concept and intention of the museum. The pages also feature commentaries on the museum by well-known architects, including Fan Di’an, Kenneth Frampton, Steven Holl, Arata Isozaki, Rem Koolhaas, Thomas Krens, Mohsen Mostafavi, Wang Mingxian.
The art of HR Giger (1940–2014), Swiss-born creator of the legendary monster in Ridley Scott’s movie Alien, is currently experiencing a renaissance and is featured in exhibitions as well as in magazines around the globe. This lavish large-format volume offers never-before-seen insights into Giger’s private house and garden, both of which are populated by biomechanical sculptures, airbrush paintings, Alien furniture, objects, prints, and self-portraits. French photographer Camille Vivier—best known for her work for Stella McCartney and Cartier—enjoyed exclusive access to the artist’s Zurich home and studio for this book, where she worked on her own as well as with models in a series of photo sessions.
Vivier’s around 200 photographs form an atmospheric tribute to the arguably most distinguished representative of Fantastic Realism. In addition to images of Giger’s studio and his life-size sculptures, Vivier has also documented some hundred objects and artworks, as well as his famous Alien-style garden railroad. An essay by French publicist Farbrice Paineu places HR Giger’s art in the wider context of pop culture and the genre of horror movies.
Text in English and German.
Tom Munz established his St. Gallen office in 2013. Since then, he has produced a number of extremely high-quality buildings that are always developed with a special interest in structural and tectonic expression. For instance Wohnhaus Holzenstein in Romanshorn is a design inspired by Modernism, thriving on the interaction between reserved, beige-stained concrete wall surfaces and wooden window elements to achieve an extremely poetic radiance.
Text in English and German.
Simon Moretti is known for his enigmatic exhibition works, presenting displays that engage with questions of agency, temporality, automatism, desire and masculinity. Incorporating appropriated images and archives as well as curatorial and publishing projects, often made in collaboration with other artists, his work addresses the role of ‘curating as practice’.
Presented as a non-chronological visual essay, this publication surveys 10 years of collage works by Moretti. It includes text contributions from writer Craig Burnett, curator and art historian Yuval Etgar, novelists Deborah Levy and Chloe Aridjis, and a conversation with Andrew Durbin, editor-in-chief of frieze magazine.
Filled with photographs of unpopulated studios, Paul Winstanley’s exploration of British art schools highlights their importance at a time when the art school system’s existence is more fraught than ever.
For this series, Winstanley (b.1954) photographed undergraduate studio spaces in more than 50 art colleges across the United Kingdom over the summers of 2011 and 2012. These rough-and-ready, nearly neutral spaces are photographed as found; empty in the period between school years.
Collectively, the works highlight the abstraction of the interiors with their temporary white walls, paint stains, neutral floors and open spaces. Photographed in this manner, their sterile nature is juxtaposed with their intended purpose of fostering intense creativity for a future generation of artists.
Over 200 full-colour illustrations – which combine images from various schools to form their own abstract space – are accompanied by writings from two professors of fine art: a text by Jon Thompson and an interview with the artist by Maria Fusco.
To commemorate the publication, Winstanley created a limited-edition digital print from the Art School series. Each edition is hand-finished by the artist and contained within a custom-made slipcase containing a signed copy of the book.
“Skins by Gavin Watson has been argued as being ‘the single most important record’ of 1970s skinhead culture in Britain, who have possibly been one of the most reviled yet misunderstood of the nation’s youth subcultures.” — Daily Mail
“Gavin Watson documented his friends as they came of age at the heart of a misunderstood community.” — i-D
“Gavin Watson’s cult documentary photo book Skins chronicles the radical and inclusive spirit which originally animated the emerging skinhead culture of 70s Britain.” — Dazed
Skins by Gavin Watson is arguably the single most important record of ’70s skinhead culture in Britain. Rightly celebrated as a true classic of photobook publishing, the book is now reissued in a high-quality new edition under close supervision from the photographer.
The scores of black and white shots offer a fascinating glimpse into a skinhead community that was multi-cultural, tightly knit and, above all else, fiercely proud of its look. These are classic photographs of historical value.
“What makes Gavin’s photos so special is that when you look at them, there’s clearly trust from the subject towards the photographer, so it feels like you’re in the photo rather than just observing.” – Shane Meadows (Director of award-winning film This Is England).
The book, described by The Times as “a modern classic”, forms an important visual record of its time and has attained cult status in the genre, alongside works by other eminent photographers such as Derek Ridgers and Nick Knight.
“Arguably one of the best and most important books about youth fashion and culture ever published.” – Vice Magazine
“…the panorama of a self-forgotten milieu.” — Monopol
“Toffs behaving badly: 1980s high society in photos.” — The Times
“The pictorial equivalents of Evelyn Waugh’s sentences.” — The New Yorker
“Modest though he is, Dafydd’s photographs will endure for having perfectly captured a society on the brink of decline. Unmissable listening.” — Country & Townhouse podcast
“Wonderfully ironic, every point in the picture ignites and knows how to entertain very well.” — Lovely Books
“Dafydd catches those moments of genuine exhilaration, wealth and youth.” — The Hollywood Reporter
“I wondered if the party guests I’d photographed were just re-enacting a nostalgic fantasy, an imaginary version of England that already no longer existed.” – Dafydd Jones
Throughout the 1980s, award-winning photographer Dafydd Jones was granted access to some of England’s most exclusive upper-class events. Now, the author of Oxford: The Last Hurrah presents this irreverent and intimate portrait of birthday parties and charity balls, Eton picnics and private school celebrations.
With the crack of a hunting rifle and a spray of champagne, these photos give an almost cinematic account of high-society England at its most riotous and its most vulnerable. Against the backdrop of Thatcher’s Britain, globalisation, the Falklands War, rising stocks and dwindling inherited fortunes, Jones reveals the inner lives of the established elite as they party long into the night-time of their fading world.
Praise for Oxford: The Last Hurrah
‘Sublime vintage photographs…’ – Hermione Eyre, The Telegraph
‘In The Last Hurrah…we see familiar faces from British high society poised on the brink of adulthood.’ – Eve Watling, Independent
“In Los Angeles, everyone is a star.” – Denzel Washington
For more than a century, seekers of sun and celebrity from around the world have flocked to this sprawling metropolis on the Pacific, which Dorothy Parker once described as “72 suburbs in search of a city.” But beyond the red-carpet reputation and Tinseltown trappings is a west coast wonderland teeming with unexpected cultural experiences, iconic architecture, gorgeous open spaces, quirky museums, hidden vistas, unconventional art, and obscure stories about the starlets, moguls, personalities, and players who have made Los Angeles their playground. This unusual guidebook explores 111 of the city’s most interesting and unknown places and experiences: wander a serpentine path in a spiritual quest of your own making; channel your inner cowboy at a tried and true honky tonk bar; pay homage to the Dude at the bungalow where the big Lebowski lived; turn your car tires into musical instruments on the country’s only ‘musical’ road; sleep with the ghosts of Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin; view a constellation of stars more vivid than anything Hollywood has to offer. From the San Gabriel Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, Angelenos and visitors will fall in love with the real Los Angeles. Adventures beckon. Surprises await. Just imagine how much more scintillating your dinner-party storytelling will be.
Skins by Gavin Watson is arguably the single most important record of ’70s skinhead culture in Britain. Rightly celebrated as a true classic of photobook publishing, the book is now reissued in a high-quality new edition under close supervision from the photographer.
The scores of black and white shots offer a fascinating glimpse into a skinhead community that was multi-cultural, tightly knit and, above all else, fiercely proud of its look. These are classic photographs of historical value.
“What makes Gavin’s photos so special is that when you look at them, there’s clearly trust from the subject towards the photographer, so it feels like you’re in the photo rather than just observing.” – Shane Meadows (Director of award-winning film This Is England).
The book, described by The Times as “a modern classic”, forms an important visual record of its time and has attained cult status in the genre, alongside works by other eminent photographers such as Derek Ridgers and Nick Knight.
“Arguably one of the best and most important books about youth fashion and culture ever published.” – Vice Magazine
This book aims to help readers rediscover the sacredness of the everyday landscapes around them in order to shed light on the ecological imperatives of our time. Drawn from the union of art, nature, and metaphysics, it presents some of the myths and legends of antiquity as they might be recognised by our modern society of earth-shapers. Through word and image the authors reference the ecological and environmental concepts found at the core of traditional environmental knowledge and provide a new context for environmental engagement that merges the spiritual and phenomenological with the scientific and empirical. Wisdom of Place can be used by anyone — from creatives to spiritual seekers, landscape architects to coders — to call forth the voice of the genius loci — the spirit of place — and reveal the creative forces and hidden currents of nature.
The greatest designer of French lighting, Robert Mathieu, is still little known to the general public today due to the rarity of his pieces on the market, highly sought after by specialised collectors.
Unlike a traditional designer, Robert Mathieu not only designed his lights, but he made them, like an artist, in his studio on rue de Charenton in Paris. Here there is no publisher, but a dropper production close to that of a work of art, sometimes less than eight copies. What is remarkable about Robert Mathieu is on the one hand his unique creativity in France, because he has designed more than 200 models, but also the very high quality of execution of his pieces which are still in perfect condition today. This unpublished monographic work is born after 10 years of preparation.
Between the beautiful art book and the catalogue raisonné, it presents all the known models of this lighting artist, illustrated by studio photographs and period documentation or non-professional photographic testimonials, because a large number of the creations by Robert Mathieu have never been seen before.
Text in English and French.
Jim Dearden’s latest book, A John Ruskin Collection, brings together a lifetime’s worth of articles on the lives of John Ruskin and those around him. In each, Dearden’s vast knowledge of Ruskin and exceptional capacity for recollection deftly and sensitively illuminate his subjects, moving through both their emotional, intellectual and artistic lives and their everyday domestic routines. We are guided through Ruskin’s portraits of Rose La Touche, asked to consider why he sold Turner’s The Slave Ship, invited to investigate how his father, John James Ruskin, travelled to his office, or provided with a window, onto the lives of the Severn family while at Brantwood, using their drawings and sketches. As Tim Hilton describes in his Preface, the result is like reading an incredibly elaborate family history. However, through his sensitive and precise investigations, and his tireless appetite for detail, Dearden not only helps us to understand the lives of Ruskin and his family, friends and servants, but also achieves an impressive evocation of the nature of 19th-century life. This book will captivate readers who enjoy the interweaving of a life well studied, whether they are new to Ruskin or already well immersed.
The impact of artificial intelligence in the discipline of architecture is unavoidable and undeniable. The recent mass adoption of highly accessible machine learning tools including DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney has allowed designers to test their limits and assess their role as an author in the design of the built environment. This book includes speculations on the introduction of artificial intelligence bots/apps into architecture and features a collection of works from 18 architects and designers who are interrogating current AI applications. Within each chapter, authors put forth a position through a framework consisting of theory and application lenses. Additionally, interviews from leading practitioners will offer insights into the current curiosities fuelling investigation.
This book will incite dialogue about the potential of AI as an ideation device and extension of the architect’s authorship. As a part of this work, curation plays an important role as the technology generates content at an incredible pace. Architectural design thinking will have to reconcile the injection of this new tool and this book will speculate on the current state in its infancy.
Bohemian chic is considered the epitome of an unconventional and free-spirited lifestyle: a colourful, playful mix-and-match look meets reduced earth tones, not infrequently combined with unique flea market finds or exotic travel souvenirs. Far removed from any staging, Boho Style exudes real character – and thus casts a spell over interior enthusiasts all over the world. The new coffee table book Boho Style is now dedicated to the cosy statement look and is aimed at all those who want to bring their inner hippie to life.
Other titles in the series include:
Colors: Colorful ISBN 9783961714506
Eco Materials: Decorating with Ecological Materials ISBN 9783961715015
Modern Glam: Glamorous ISBN 9783961714308
Patterns: Patterned ISBN 9783961714292
Scandi Style: Scandinavian ISBN 9783961714490
Text in English and German.
There is a world of letters just waiting to be discovered in the world around us—if we know how to look for it. In this engaging and delightful book, photographer Elliott Kaufman reveals the “secret” life of the alphabet through his photographs, showing how letters can be found in things we encounter everyday. Each letter of the alphabet is represented by multiple images, each unintentionally created by the intersection of architectural details, shadows, light, or natural elements as caught by Kaufman’s keen eye. Some are obvious, while others demand a little more imagination to recognize, inviting the readers to start their own game of hunting for letters! This fun approach also reinforces the notion that learning to see the familiar in new ways encourages visual literacy and creativity.
George Byrne’s photography depicts the gritty urbanism of Los Angeles in sublime otherworldliness. Arriving a decade ago, the Australian artist was immediately enthralled by the sprawling cityscape of L.A., mesmerised by the way the sunlight transformed it, into two-dimensional, almost painterly abstractions. In his Post Truth series (2015–22), Byrne reassembles his photos of the urban landscape into striking, ascetic collages of colour and geometric fragments, creating a postmodernist oasis in the metropolis. By masterfully harnessing the malleability of the photographic medium, the photographer situates his work in the space between real and imagined. Byrne’s compositions evoke associations with Miami Beach’s Art Deco, the Memphis Group’s designs, as well as the painting of David Hockney or Ed Ruscha, and at the same time tap into the aesthetics of today’s visual culture played out on Instagram.
The volume offers an unprecedented reflection on the work of Lucio Fontana, whose art appears to be not so much masculine, volcanic, demiurgic, as much critical literature has already claimed, but alluding to the female generative force, which is active in the mind of the artist as in nature, in the cosmos and in the fertile body of the earth. Through a selection of refined drawings and small sculptures, a new reading of the master’s research is proposed, directed towards a chthonic, original, telluric dimension of a newly generated material: new light can thus be shed on the “cuts”, on the “holes” and on the graphic representations, often performed with a primary, childish gesture, like an instinctual drive, even before being a project and reproduction. The volume includes a series of critical texts and is completed by bio-bibliographical apparatuses.
Texts by: Sergio Risaliti, Paolo Campiglio, Andrea Bruciati, Luca Piero Nicoletti, Maria Grazia Messina, Lauretta Colonnelli, Letizia Fuochi, Marco Fagioli, Eva Francioli
Six women, six stories. They make cartoons and graphic work in the besieged Syrian city of Idlib or unfree Egypt of President al-Sisi, they fight fat shaming and homophobia in Mexico, are on the run from president Putin, criticise Hindu nationalism and misogyny from Indian Prime Minister Modi or defy the powers that be in The Washington Post. Whether they are from Mexico, the USA, Syria, Egypt, India or Russia, they all belong to the absolute world top. But the way to the top was not an easy one for any of them.
The office complex in Karlsruhe is considered as Tadao Ando’s first urban design in Germany. The publication provides exclusive insights into the creation and planning of the building. Architecture photographs and building plans show Ando’s design formula: reduction to the essentials, exposed concrete on the scale of the tatami mats, strict geometries, precision and refined detail give the building its characteristic touch. The architect and client agreed on creating an aesthetic and energy-efficient building that meets the latest technical standards and offers the employees the best working conditions.
Text in English and German.
A pioneer of the Nouvelle Tapisserie (New Tapestry) movement, Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930–2017) revolutionised the practice of weaving in the 1960s. She elevated this craft to the status of sculptural expression, using the possibilities of organic fibers such as wool, sisal, and linen as living, malleable materials to realise her artistic vision based on the observation of nature and man. Her spectacular wall-mounted and spatial woven works made her name internationally and marked several editions of the Biennale of Tapestry, held in the Swiss city of Lausanne between 1962 and 1995.
This French-language book illuminates the crucial role that Lausanne played at the beginning of Abakanowicz’s international career and in her artistic explorations. Her reflections and creative paths are juxtaposed with places and encounters in Lausanne and the rest of Switzerland: the Bienniale of Tapestry and the Alice Pauli Gallery, local patrons and collectors of art, scholars, and friends.
Text in French.
The first monograph on a pivotal figure of postwar American art.
Best known for his monumental sculptures, Ronald Bladen (1918–1988) was regarded as an artistic forerunner by such minimalist artists as Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt, and Carl Andre. But in contrast to the matter-of-fact work of these artists, Bladen’s sculptures are charged with emotional power. They fill entire rooms, pressing outward against the walls and ceiling; their themes include the force of gravity, the dynamism of planar surfaces, the impact of scale, and confrontation with the viewer.
This splendidly illustrated book presents a comprehensive overview of Bladen’s career: his breakthrough works such as Untitled (Three Elements), a standout at the Jewish Museum’s legendary Primary Structures exhibition of 1966; his monumental outdoor commissions of the late 1960s through the 1980s; and his reflective wall reliefs of 1980s. Bladen’s drawings and working models are discussed in detail, and his early career as a painter is considered in the light of his later sculptural oeuvre. Art historian Robert S. Mattison’s thoughtful analysis of Bladen’s art is informed not only by extensive archival research but also by numerous interviews with Bladen’s contemporaries, including fellow artists like Bill Jensen, Alex Katz, and Dorothea Rockburne.
In addition, this volume collects several of the most important critical essays on Bladen, by Irving Sandler, April Kingsley, Bill Berkson, and Naomi Spector. The full scholarly apparatus includes an illustrated chronology of the artist’s life and career.
Today, Bladen’s works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, Storm King Art Center, and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, among many others. His grasp of the expressive power of mass and abstract form continues to influence sculptors from Richard Serra to Ursula von Rydingsvard. Here, finally, is a book that reveals and elucidates the full extent of his achievement.
Van Overstraeten is one of the oldest and most exclusive interior design companies in Belgium, started in 1891 and now with a worldwide reputation working with the best architects, interior designers and decorators for private and public projects. In this stunning debut monograph, beautifully presented with all new photography is a selection of more than 40 projects from recent years.
Text in English, French and Dutch.
Cities of art and culture that captivate. Villages at the top of tightly-knitted roads, or, stretched out across waves of vineyard-covered hills. Monuments, palaces, and cathedrals that chronical centuries past. A place where history is imprinted in every wall and enchantment found in every breath-taking landscape. A journey through Italy is always rich; it is a country with hidden treasures in every corner. This beautiful photographic book takes the real or daydreaming traveller through Italy’s most spectacular itineraries. Taking time to describe not only the landscape and historical sights, but also the culture, traditions, celebrations, and specialities of each territory along the way.
When he discovered that his home country, the Netherlands, was the second largest food exporter in the world after the US, photographer Kadir van Lohuizen was interested to learn more. He wanted to discover the world behind our food production. Where is our food produced? And how is it distributed across our world? Like a fly on the wall, Van Lohuizen follows the entire process, in the Netherlands, in Kenya, the US, the United Arab Emirates and China. The scale and efficiency of most food companies raises as much respect as questions: What are the effects of these production and consumption chains on the planet? And how future-proof is this? Food for thought, indeed. In this book, which was also partly conceived as a food atlas, Van Lohuizen bundles his images, but together with experts he also takes a closer look at the facts and figures behind the global food industry and shows unique infographics.