In The Power of the Avant-Garde, contemporary artists from different art disciplines enter into dialogue with their colleagues from the historical avant-garde movement. Luc Tuymans talks about ‘Le Grand Cheval’ of Raymond Duchamp-Villon; Marlène Dumas describes her passion for Edvard Munch; John Baldessari discusses the genius Marcel Broodthaers,… This book makes surprising links, shedding new light on the power and influence of art before, during and after World War I. Text in English, French, and Dutch.

“Vandekeybus brought into focus a whole new genre of modern dance… Combat rolls, breakneck sprints and savagely wrestled duets became the defining vocabulary of a new generation.” The Guardian
In 2016, Wim Vandekeybus’ company Ultima Vez celebrates its 30th birthday. Never before has his oeuvre been recorded in a book. Until now. This extraordinary book is a visual trip through the most powerful images from his repertoire, a quest for the ideas and themes that inspire him. It also contains unpublished texts, notes and scripts from his shows and films. A number of compagnons de route, such as David Byrne, Mauro Pawlowski, and Peter Verhelst, offer a personal textual contribution. Text in English, French, and Dutch.

This stunning book documents a collection of 66 extraordinary pieces of petrified wood, mainly from Western United States (Arizona, Oregon, Washington). Specially photographed they are shown in their entirety and in magnificent details.

Petrified wood is formed from fallen trees that in the absence of oxygen and microbes, and with water containing minerals, through a replacement process called permineralization, slowly transform into visually spectacular fossils. But Nature often uses a paintbrush in its preservation magic, splashing the wooden canvas with an array of colours and hues before fixing it in a matrix of hard durable quartz, thereby creating splendid works of art. Petrified wood has been found throughout the world, but actual petrified forests are truly noteworthy in the United States, the most famous being the Chinle Formation forest of Arizona.

Mediating Environments examines fundamental and radical environmental conditions in the Arctic and provides a spectrum of innovative design approaches and spatial outcomes. Climate organises and sustains a broad range of activities in the Arctic, and it will dictate the future transformations in northern urban landscapes and their metabolic operations. As such, arctic urbanism must take into account the varied nuances of weather phenomena that are deeply engrained in everyday living practices and biophysical fabrics. By revisiting and reconfiguring the intersections between environmental and design systems, this publication aims to expand conceptual strategies in the arctic beyond the modes of insulation, stabilisation, and optimisation while repositioning the region as a central figure within the global network of exchanges. How can the ‘arctic wall’ as a defining feature of northern architecture be renegotiated? Can design, whether it is pavement assemblies or building foundations built on permafrost, escape the confines of technical precedence aimed to resist instability, and instead work with – take advantage of – dynamic environmental mechanisms, such as thermal cycles of ground, pronounced in the region? This study is not an argument against engineering but for greater synergies between engineering and design as well as between science and design, and for developing climatically responsive and arctic-specific paradigms for the construction and maintenance of arctic cities. The future of sustainable arctic development requires resiliency in urban form and programming that is adaptive to the current and future flux inherent in the region, as well as a repositioning of the arctic environment as a productive, robust, and dynamic foreground through which design and urbanism occur and are contextualised.

Jan Turnovský (1942-95), born and educated in Prague, emigrated to Austria in 1966 and worked for various architectural firms in Vienna. In 1975 he was appointed as a research and teaching assistant at Technische Universität Wien’s Institute for Architecture and Design. During his tenure, and as temporary head of the institute’s department of residential architecture in 1995, he proved to be an equally dedicated and unorthodox assistant and lecturer. His thinking and intellectual legacy has been influential for an entire generation of younger Austrian architects. This new book presents for the first time Turnovský’s previously unpublished The Weltanschauung as an Ersatz Gestalt as a facsimile-reprint of his illustrated and highly original typo-script. Penned as a thesis to obtain his Master’s degree at the AA in London, the text focuses on a philosophy of “open systems”, which Turnovský applies to the architectural design process. He relates the psychological term “gestalt” to the philosophical weltanschauung: A collective, contemporary, etc. “weltanschauung” always affects our perception of a “gestalt”, in this case a work of architecture. Turnovský questions conventional thinking both critically and constructively and presents his strategy of reading architecture and its elements in new contexts. Text in English and German.

Carleton Varney is “Mr. Color,” known for his inventive use of unexpected color combinations and for creating bright, happy interiors. His projects have ranged from some of the world’s most famous resorts, such as the Greenbrier in West Virginia, and the Grand Hotel in Michigan, to the White House, as well as residences from Europe to the South Pacific. As a young man, he trained under the tutelage of design world-icon Dorothy Draper. Now as the head of the venerable Dorothy Draper and Company, Inc., Varney continues the tradition of grand scale and bold contrasts in fabrics, wall coverings, and furniture designs, and yet he gives every room his signature style. For the first time, he gives an “on the set” tour of his popular HSN television show, Live Vividly. “Living with color changes your life,” says Varney, and in Mr. Color, more than three hundred dazzling photographs by Michel Arnaud show you how.

This volume travels through the most important moments and crossroads in the lifetime and career of Christian Boltanski, which have led him into reflecting upon the outcome of some historical events during the twentieth century and on the need to reconsider appropriate representation methods.

History, histories and the statute of the image are the fulcrum of the conversation being proposed. In particular, this conversation deals with some fundamental themes: the difference between collective memory, recollection and oblivion; relations between the individual and the crowd; the entity of absence, intended as proof of a destroyed presence, but also as device for the reactivation of memory; the incidence of an isolated glance, that of the observer, upon whose primacy the history of western art has constructed its foundations.

This catalogue includes Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s realised and unrealised large-scale projects from 1961 to 2016. Besides the famous wrapped monuments, from the Kunsthalle in Bern (1967-1968) to the Reichstag in Berlin (1971-1995), the publication also includes the barriers made with barrels or with fabric, from Wall of Oil Barrels – The Iron Curtain in Paris (1961-62) to Valley Curtain in Rifle, Colorado (1960-62), the great inflatable objects, from 42,390 Cubic Feet Package of Minneapolis (1966) to 5600 Cubicmeter Package, Project for documenta IV in Kassel (1967-1968), and the fabric pathways, such as Wrapped Walk Ways in Kansas City (1977-1978), or doors, such as The Gates in New York (1979-2005). The seven Water Projects – Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s installations sharing a connection with water – are considered in further depth. In these projects, from Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California (1972-1976) to Over the River, a project for the Arkansas River, State of Colorado (1992), the artists worked on establishing a close connection with natural, suburban and urban landscapes that all share a relation with water, be it an ocean, a sea, a lake or a river. The Floating Piers, an installation that allowed visitors to walk across Lake Iseo, is also included here. Among the Water Projects we must mention The Floating Piers, an installation open from June 18 to July 3 2016, which allowed visitors to walk across Lake Iseo and along its shores on a 3-kilometre route. By means of modular floating piers covered in shimmering yellow fabric, the installation linked the town of Sulzano on the lake’s shores, to Monte Isola, also reaching the Island of San Paolo.

Seven years after his first book, Bart Lens and his team Lens°Ass show how the direction they have chosen can lead to fascinating projects. The formulation of a clear and precise concept forms the basis of every single design. A concious choice of materials and elaborated detailing bring forth creations that express tranquility and serenity. The clear line-work emphasises the pure emotions that originate in the union of design and light. The great care that goes into the elaboration of the interior in all its facets is a constant preoccupation for Les°Ass. The book presents a wide variety of projects: new constructions, remodelling assignments, interior designs, even objects such as furniture and lamps. The introduction of a basic idea, a theme, forms the foundation of every project, no matter what its scale might be. This same vision is also the starting point for the recent large-scale architectural projects.

Text in English and Dutch.

The buildings of the past were constructed with readily available and local materials, such as stone, wood, or handmade bricks. Architects in the modern era, however, can choose from an ever increasing number of new materials, each one allowing for different advances in design. And yet the traditional materials have never been entirely supplanted; they still form an important part of the architectural range and are still used by architects the world over. The humble brick, for example, has remained a constant throughout the history of architecture, as has timber with its flexibility and warm tones. But today such elements can be used in conjunction with newer materials to highlight their natural beauty in many different ways: creating a stunning metal facade, wrapping a building with a cool, sleek stone finish, designing a wall with an eye-catching interesting texture, or adding depth or warmth to an internal design. Traditional metals are also finding new use, being employed to coat a structure in a light metal skin that reflects the sunlight, or embedded onto a building to add interest and texture. This book journeys through a curated selection of stunning examples from across the world, showcasing how each material is creatively used over a diverse range of building types and styles, and illustrating the myriad possibilities and forms available to the modern architect who chooses to rework these age-old materials into a brand-new decorative yet functional form.

Based in a historically distinguished town near New York City, the firm of Bentel & Bentel Architects has been led for over 50 years by two generations – men and women – of one family. The interweaving of their experiences, lifestyles, and personal philosophies has produced a uniquely elegant series of works including public buildings, restaurants, and hotels. The buildings are equally notable for their thoughtful relationships to the structures they occupy or adjoin, the communities in which they stand, and the experiences of their intended users. Bentel & Bentel’s accomplishments reflect not only its cumulative design experience but the insights the partners bring to their work from a variety of related activities: painting, sculpture, dance, design of furnishings, architectural history, and education. Reflecting the lives and accomplishments of the firm’s partners, this monograph is composed of three narratives: Who We Are, What We Do, and Who We Were.

This highly anticipated monograph focuses on the architectural output of Enrique Browne, a talented and prolific Chilean architect and co-founder of Browne & Swett Arquitectos, based in Santiago. Over the last 40 years, this South American architect has been trying to reconcile natural and artificial worlds through architecture. They are one indissoluble unity. This book showcases in rich photographic detail how his innovative projects incorporate multiple environmental aspects that result in a complex, layered response to the challenges of place, form and identity in Chile.

Browne’s practice has developed architectural designs in a diverse range of scales, with emphasis on sustainability and energy efficiency. This volume delves into Browne’s processes, such as developing variations of the “grapevinestructure typology” to create a “double green skin” as a green wall (or roof), to protect dwellings from the region’s strong westerly sun; or combining vegetation and its oxygenation benefits with building to counter pollution; or using both artificial and natural light as a material for illuminating spaces or volume. This book also includes commentary on the new zeitgeist surrounding modernity and the impacts of the digital and globalised world on architecture today. Highly regarded, and a prolific writer and designer, Enrique Browne has a unique way of looking at the world. Showcasing the wide range of his design, this title is sure to impress.

Moshe Safdie explains that probably more than half of his lifetime design work is unbuilt, and he considers his unbuilt work to be some of his most significant work. In this richly illustrated book, replete with detailed diagrams, sketches, models and studies, Moshe Safdie explains that for those who design in order to build, not succeeding in building is never a failure (there are many reasons why a project might not be built) because these designs are part of the evolution of an architect’s work. This volume is a fascinating journey through Safdie’s thoughts and career, and also a historical reference of the social and political forces at play at the time. Not only a treatise on Safdie’s unrealised concepts, this book is also a wonderful affirmation that there is valuable heritage in the unbuilt.

Includes a number of significant projects from around the globe, including the following:
Habitat Original Proposal, Montreal, Québec, Canada 1964; Habitat New York II, New York, New York, United States 1967; San Francisco State, College Student Union, San Francisco, California, United States 1967; Pompidou Centre, Paris, France 1971; Western Wall Precinct, Jerusalem, Israel 1972; Supreme Court of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel 1985; Columbus Center, New York, New York, United States 1985; Ballet Opera House, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 1987; Museum of Contemporary Art, Stuttgart, Germany 1990; Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory, Waxahachie, Texas, United States 1993; Incheon Airport, Incheon, Korea 2011; Jumeirah Gateway Mosque, Dubai, UAE 2007; National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China 2012.

The KfW Foundation and the cultural centre Künstlerhaus Bethanien are collaborating on a studio programme offering a twelve-month residency in Berlin to young artists from Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Verlag Kettler presents the artistic work of the grant holders in an ongoing book series. Matheus Rocha Pitta (born 1980 in Tiradentes, Brazil, lives and works in Rio de Janeiro) has created a new group of works entitled For the Winners the Potatoes. At the time of publication, this work an be found at the exhibition room of Künstlerhaus Bethanien, as well as in two of Berlin’s underground stations, Hermannplatz and Gesundbrunnen, and in a showcase at SOX in Berlin’s Oranienstraße. Rocha Pitta’s performative installations at Künstlerhaus Bethanien and in the underground stations allow him to interact with the public. He presents trophies that are made of plastic bags or concrete instead of gold, silver or bronze, and invites visitors to take along potatoes as victory trophies. His work deconstructs the concept of victory and the hierarchy of winners and losers, creating a dense network of historical references going back to Ancient Greece and asking fundamental questions about the meaning of gestures, the community and its value. Rocha Pitta portrays his trophies with a mocking sense of humour. By connecting glory with mundane, everyday objects, he aims to subvert the hierarchy of winners and losers and invites the spectator to rethink the meaning of victory and defeat. Text in English and German.

Nevin Aladag was born in Van, Turkey, in 1973. Between 1993 and 2000, she studied sculpture under Olaf Metzel at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Aladag became renowned particularly for her role in the documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel (2017) and in the 57th edition of the Venice Biennale (2017). This book focuses on two series of works by the artist that explore issues of self-determination, identity, and community in society and culture. For her series Social Fabric (2017-2018), Aladag cut out pieces of different carpets with characteristic patterns representing distinct cultural identities and combined them into new, unifying pictures. Her photo series entitled Best Friends (2012-2018) presents snapshots of friends who Aladag met randomly while walking the streets of Dortmund, Berlin, Basle, Los Angeles, Mons, and Hanover. Remarkably similar in appearance, body language, and manner of dress, the friends portrayed almost seem to merge into one person, contrasting with our desire to set ourselves apart as individuals.

Text in English and German.

In his new book of photographs Tobias Bärmann goes on the search for the hidden sides of Los Angeles, City of Dreams. He traverses the gigantic metropolis, designed to accommodate cars, on a bicycle. By slowing down he discovers the aesthetics of transition and incompletion outside of the city’s glamorous surface. Many of the motifs are evidence of the past acts of unknown protagonists. With a cryptic eye for the poetry of the ephemeral and the supposedly trivial, Bärmann steers our attention to everything that our civilisation seems to evoke accidentally.

Architectural Ceramic Assemblies Workshop: Bioclimatic Ceramic Assemblies IV presents terra cotta design research, conducted under the auspices of the annual Architectural Ceramic Assemblies Workshop (ACAW), between architectural firms and terra cotta manufacturer Boston Valley Terra Cotta. It chronicles the work of architectural firms Kieran Timberlake, Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF), HKS, Payette, Pelli Clarke Pelli, SHoP Architects, Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), Studios Architecture and two academic teams from Alfred University and the University at Buffalo. The book presents a unique model for exploring the state of the art in terra cotta design through the production of experimental prototypes. These include rain screen facade systems, urban sound devices, structures, massive wall systems and furniture. Now in its fifth year, this invitation-only workshop has teams collaborate with the manufacturer to develop a design that engages bioclimatic concerns and pushes material and manufacturing possibilities.

A strong visual identity is hard to miss, instantly catching the eye. In children’s spaces, it is best tailored with their unique outlook in mind as children perceive the world around them differently from the rest of us, responding to specific sets of details.

Design and Visual Identity for Children’s Spaces shares a variety of contemporary creative designs for children’s spaces all over the world; they combine children-friendly visual elements with smart space design to tailor comfortable and conducive environments where they can learn, have fun, flourish, and be themselves.

Over 35 projects that focus on educational institutions, enrichment centres, recreational clubs, play zones, concept stores, and children’s hospitals, among others, share concepts that transform spaces to make them more relatable for children through thoughtfully considered visual identity and interior layouts that resonate specifically with them. Designers dig deep, even consult with children, to create designs that call out to them in fun, inspiring spaces that unleash imaginations, while they foster a sense of connection and belonging.

Discover the rationales and inspirations behind these concepts, which also unify aspects of the business with a cohesive brand identity to promote the desired brand impressions and top-of-the-mind consumer recall. Through the projects in these pages, the reader is offered a host of thoughtful and creative solutions in designing children’s spaces, making this book a handy tool for anyone in the business of managing children’s spaces, or keen on designing children’s spaces.

To be a skateboarder today is a much different experience than it was for much of the 1990s. The photographs, quotes, and anecdotal text in ‘93 til captures a time in skateboarding when making a liveable income as a professional skater was a luxury and public understanding of skateboarding was at an all-time low. It was a time when skateboarding was searching for an identity, a time before Instagram and big corporate influences. Street skating was coming of age, testing its limitations and aligning itself with a new and innovative style of hip-hop culture that was emerging. Looking back, many skaters today feel as though the ’90s were the golden years of skateboarding. ‘93 til is a captivating portal into a decade and a culture that is remembered with warmth and nostalgia. Much of the photography that Pete has unearthed for ‘93 til was buried in boxes for close to two decades and has never been seen or published before. The 250-page book also contains several timeless images from his years shooting for SLAP and Transworld Skateboarding Magazine that will be familiar to the initiated. In addition to his stunning action shots are plenty of portraits and unguarded, candid moments that span from the late ’80s up through 2004. The book reveals a raw, unapologetic perspective of a world that no longer exists.

Also included in the book alongside Pete’s imagery are quotes and anecdotes from legends like Tony Hawk, Arto Saari, Jamie Thomas, Guy Mariano, Nyjah Huston, Geoff Rowley, Stevie Williams and others.