“… Use it for inspiration before ~booking~ your next trip.”— Buzzfeed
Discover the most enchanting libraries around the world in 150 Libraries You Need to Visit Before You Die. This book will take you on a fascinating journey through 150 unique libraries across all continents. Whether you are an avid reader or architecture lover, this richly illustrated book serves as an inspiring travel guide and is the perfect reference for those in search of quiet yet endlessly interesting spaces. From opulent Baroque monasteries to sleek contemporary cultural hubs, each library has its own story – and an engrossing selection of books and media to browse through, of course.
“Golf, more than any other sport, is inextricably tied to the landscape. Mother Nature herself could be considered a golfer’s opponent; her rolling hills, sea breezes, and atmospheric pressure challenge all who face her. This is why golf courses are found in some of the world’s most scenic locations.” — author Stefanie Waldek
This book is a gift for every golfer – expert or novice – who dreams of traveling the world to the most beautiful golf courses. Even non-golfers will enjoy this collection of exceptional courses across the globe. Whereas the original 150 Golf Courses You Need to Visit Before You Die book fits into any golf bag, this updated version is an eye-catching book suited for any coffee table or desk. From the luxurious cover to the decorative world map poster on which you can flag your top courses with the supplied set of sticker tags, this book is a true collector’s item. Picking 150 top courses was no easy task. Author Stefanie Waldek carefully selected and described an array of courses that can be found along coastlines, in the mountains, in deserts, and along lakes. All accessible to and playable by the public.
The newest addition to the elegant 150 series of themed travel guides, this book will submerge you in coffee culture. Discover the most exquisite coffee shops around the world in 150 Coffee shops You Need to Visit Before You Die. This book will take you on a fascinating journey through 150 unique coffee shops across all continents. This richly illustrated book serves as an inspiring travel guide and is the perfect reference for those in search of the ultimate sip of coffee. From opulent century-old coffee houses to artisan coffee roasteries, each coffee shop has its own story – one of passion, craft and exceptional taste.
Discover the grandest opera houses around the world in 150 Opera Houses You Need to Visit Before You Die. This book will take you on a fascinating journey through 150 unique opera houses across all continents. Whether you are an opera-goer or architecture lover, this richly illustrated book serves as an inspiring travel guide and is the perfect reference for those passionate about the performing arts. From opulent Baroque theaters in Germany to sleek contemporary performing arts centers in China, each opera house has its own story – full of drama of course, and worth exploring both on stage and backstage.
Intentional Beauty is the first major book to survey the twenty-five year career of bicoastal designer Tim Campbell, whose sophisticated and cutting-edge work features residential projects in both Los Angeles and New York, as well as the renovation and restoration of several well-known homes in Los Angeles, including Richard Neutra’s Singleton House. The book also illustrates his work as a philanthropist in Africa. Campbell’s notable restorations exemplify his ability to preserve and honor the architecture of a historic home while seamlessly updating it with modern additions to accommodate a more contemporary lifestyle. His boutique design firm, Studio Tim Campbell, has offices in both Los Angeles and New York and specializes in both high-end custom residential design renovations, new construction. and specialty commercial projects.
“An important document that should be included in any library of design and architecture.” – Daniella Ohad
“A masterful blend of émigré biography and architecture and design history, proving that the twentieth century fostered more than one modernism.” – Donald Albrecht
Christopher Long, author of seminal monographs on Adolf Loos, Kem Weber, and Paul T. Frankel, turns his attention to the little-known architect and designer Jock Peters, a largely forgotten figure of early Los Angeles modernism.
This visually rich study is also an intimate portrait of an architect who, like too many, struggled to establish a career during the early decades of the 20th century, years ravished by World War I and the Great Depression. Among Peters’s early works in Germany are designs for the Levantehaus and Karstadt department stores, an innovative design dated 1916 for a magnificent glass pavilion, and his work for Peter Behrens after the war, but the architect’s most accomplished and compelling work came after 1922 when he settled in Southern California. Most notable are the strikingly lavish and elegant commercial interiors Peters designed for the iconic Bullock’s Wilshire store in Los Angeles and the tragically forgotten Hollander department store in New York City; both projects brought him international recognition.
The breathtaking scope of his short-lived career includes modern film sets for Famous Players-Lasky, later Paramount Pictures, while working under the legendary art director Hans Dreier; a dynamic sales office for the trendsetting Maddux Air Lines, which later became TWA; and modern residences, including the still extant homes he built for cinematographer Alfred Gilks, who would later win an Academy Award for An American in Paris, and art gallerist and developer William Lingenbrink for whom Peters also designed stores and a vibrantly colorful sidewalk for the Silver Strand beach development north of Los Angeles. Lingenbrink, a major supporter of the burgeoning modernism, also commissioned Jock Peters, alongside Schindler, to design houses for Park Moderne, the legendary avant-garde modernist retreat for artists in Calabasas. Peters also designed the retreat’s Streamline Moderne pump house, clubhouse, and zigzag fountain, which still stands.
This important study on early modernism includes never before published material from the architect’s personal archive, still in family hands. These remarkable and inspiring images-more than 250 historic photographs, etchings, watercolors, and drawings-alongside Long’s insightful narrative, demonstrate how Peters, despite his early death, managed to leave his mark on the modernist landscape in Southern California at a time when the new style was just emerging.
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., mesmerized 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 color 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.
They Must Fall: Muhammad Ali and the Men He Fought features powerful and often moving images and stories of Muhammad Ali and the men he fought in the ring, by award-winning photographer Michael Brennan.
“Around 1978, I had been in Houston, Texas photographing former Ali opponent George Foreman who had then reinvented himself as a roadside preacher. On the plane back to NYC, I thought, ‘If that’s what George is doing, I wonder what the rest of his opponents are up to?’ I set out to track down as many of the old guys as I could find.”
Brennan spent decades locating Ali’s former opponents to discover what had become of them. This unique book is a look through Brennan’s remarkable archive, containing numerous never-before- seen photos plus poignant stories illuminating the images and contextualizing Ali’s powerful role in the world of sport. Includes a special introductory essay by the late, great Jimmy Breslin.
“Michael Brennan’s iconic 1977 portrait photograph of Muhammad Ali captures something far bigger and deeper than just the beautiful face of a beautiful man. It is a detailed map of the personal journey of one whose incomparable talents and audacity caused literati to swoon, taught a generation to question authority, and ultimately altered the path of a society which had never before seen a man exactly like him. To look at him the way he was then is to remember, with joy and sorrow, who we all once were.” – Jim Lampley, discussing the cover image (Boxing commentator, HBO Sports)
Helena Calmfors is a New York-based artist and performer whose work is inspired by the archetype of the dominant woman. It is a role with which she identifies and yet gently subverts by introducing ‘soft’ elements such as flowers into the typically ‘hard’ aesthetic vocabulary of domination. Central to her work is the feminist belief in the right to own one’s body; she also explores the theme of reclaiming identity through hierarchical power play. The act of creating intimate scenes and experiences is present in all aspects of her art, ranging from performance to watercolor paintings, and digital and Polaroid photography. She uses instant photography as a way of representing the ephemerality of performance and the fleeting intimacy of the dominant/submissive relationship. With an introduction by the Indian-American artist, Ankita Mishra, Forget Me Not is Calmfors’ debut monograph.
Not For A Want Of Trying is an extensive retrospective of the 35-year career of Belgian designer and creative maker Bart Luijten. This comprehensive publication serves as a chronological “picture book” and historical document, tracing Luijten’s profound influence on the Belgian cultural landscape. Spanning 384 pages, the book presents a vibrant explosion of visual material, from iconic music posters for venues like Ancienne Belgique (Brussels, Belgium) and Arenberg & OLT (Antwerp, Belgium) to the avant-garde layout of cult magazines such as Pulp, Plastiks, and Gonzo Circus.
The collection expertly balances Luijten’s high-profile commercial work for clients like Virgin Records, Lannoo Publishers, and M HKA with his deeply personal independent practice, including intricate collages and illustrations. By showcasing design work that bridges the post-punk and pre-internet eras, the book captures a unique evolution in visual communication. While Luijten’s most significant cultural campaigns are front and center, the selection remains idiosyncratic, offering a rare glimpse into the archives and creative mind of a designer who helped shape the aesthetic identity of a generation.
Kifwebe masks are ceremonial objects used by the Songye and Luba societies (Democratic Republic of Congo), where they are worn with costumes consisting of a long robe and a long beard made of plant fibres. As in other central African cultures, the same mask can be used in either magical and religious or festive ceremonies. In order to understand Kifwebe masks, it is essential to consider them within the cosmogony of the python rainbow, metalworking in the forge, and other plant and animal signs. Among the Songye, benevolent female masks reveal what is hidden and balance white and red energy associated with two subsequent initiations, the bukishi. Aggressive male masks were originally involved in social control and had a kind of policing role, carried out in accordance with the instructions of village elders. These two male and female forces acted in a balanced way to reinforce harmony within the village. Among the Luba, the masked figures are also benevolent and appear at the new moon, their role being to enhance fertility. Although the male and female masks fulfil functions that do not wholly overlap, they do have features in common: a frontal crest, round and excessively protruding eyes, flaring nostrils, a cube-shaped mouth and lips, stripes, and colours. Art historians and anthropologists have taken increasing interest in Kifwebe masks in recent years.
Emmy Award-winning designer Kerry Joyce is known for the refined elegance and quiet classicism that unite his varied houses and interiors, as well as his collections of textiles, furniture, and rugs. His debut book spans a fascinating career, celebrating a unique, warm design sense that seeks always to turn houses into homes – to achieve the Intangible through the creation of tranquility and balance. The book covers eight homes in a surprising range of styles, from modern to traditional, urban to rustic, period restorations to entirely newly imagined houses that feel as though they are just as authentic. In addition, a charming introduction describes Joyce’s unusual path to becoming a designer, with thoughtful essays on each part of his work, from houses to interiors to his products. A special view into the creative process of an influential and multi-talented designer.
Contents: Foreword by Whitney Robinson; Beginnings; Interiors; Houses; A Classic Los Angeles Home; New York Panoramic; Manhattan Townhouse; Aspen-Curated Family Home; Legoretta House in Bel-Air; Old World Revisited in Santa Monica; Art Moderne Redux in Los Angeles; Modern Retreat in Aspen; Index; Dedication and Acknowledgments; Biographies and Credits.
Architectural plans generally are beset by problems as the project develops. A prospective architect needs to learn how to critically assess and problem-solve any design issues. And to every problem there is a solution, using the ‘Fifteen Principles’ for solving design problems efficiently.
With nearly 20 projects from well-known architects, this book provides an unmissable opportunity to learn from the experts. Famous architects walk through the design process, with full-color photographs, drawings and sketches of ideas. Each architect examines design problems encountered during the project, and offers examples of critical thinking that resulted in practical solutions. This book will form a valuable reference for architects and students.
From acclaimed Hollywood photographer Firooz Zahedi comes Look at Me, a collection of his most distinguished and intimate celebrity portraits. From editorial commissions from magazines – including Vanity Fair, Glamour, InStyle, GQ, and Entertainment Weekly, to iconic movie posters such as Pulp Fiction, Edward Scissorhands, and The Addams Family – Zahedi has been photographing Hollywood’s biggest stars for over 35 years.
Each photograph is accompanied by a short text offering personal insight into how each shot came together. Also included are never-before-seen photographs as well as special behind-the-scenes snapshots and notes from Zahedi’s appreciative subjects. Look at Me is a celebration of this golden age of celebrity as seen through the lens of one of Hollywood’s most accomplished photographers.
Andrew Holmes is renowned for his hyper-real colored pencil drawings. His subject matter is the fixed and mobile service infrastructure that sustains the city of Los Angeles. The gleaming trucks, automobiles, and motorcycles that traverse the highways, and the industrial armature of storage tanks, service stations and truck stops to be found beyond the city’s edge are, for Holmes, the greatest artifacts of a society based on oil. Over the past 50 years, he has captured scenes from this uniquely American landscape in painstaking detail. Together they evoke a lost civilization. Gas Tank City presents 100 of Holmes’s Los Angeles drawings, along with commentaries by art historian, Thomas E Crow, architects Mark Fisher and Cedric Price, and Holmes himself.
With Road Work, Andrew Holmes continues his pilgrimage through the seductive litter of modern life. Cities are conventionally viewed as static objects, but a third of Los Angeles is on the move; it is a kaleidoscope trapped in a grid, where what you see is what you drive past. Road Work presents 500 of Andrew Holmes’ Los Angeles Polaroids, capturing the machines that deliver people and goods to different parts of the city each day. These vehicles are seen at the airport, at a truck stop, always in a parking bay, set classically against azure skies, frozen like statues in a Renaissance garden. Everything has equal status. Nothing transgresses the grid. The work is even, chrome and rust are its soul. Along with commentaries by David Greene and Holmes himself, Road Work includes lyrics by Chuck Berry and others, and extracts from a variety of road novelists and writers.
1000 piece puzzle featuring the artwork of Sarah Cain.
Sarah Cain brings rooms to life with experiments in color, composition, and non-conformity. Cain modifies canvases by cutting, sewing, and attaching found objects. She also paints floors, walls, and furniture on-site, grounding each space she occupies in the present tense. Her process of creation and destruction is steeped in the history of painting and feminist art practices. and this feeling (2023), incorporates sand and prisms to add a touch of found-object energy to planes of pure color and are typical of Cain’s boundless approach to art.
One of today’s leading conceptual artists, Los Angeles-based Walead Beshty (b. 1976, London) works across photography, sculpture and words. Self-referential, playful and imaginative, Addenda to a Sequence of Appearances documents his exhibitions with Thomas Dane Gallery across Europe and is a guide to the artist’s key bodies of work.
Uncovering processes is central to Beshty’s art. He deliberately incorporated marks made by oxidation and human touch into his FedEx copper works and Copper Surrogate works, as well as photographing the many individuals involved in his exhibitions in Industrial Portraits. The work that has gone into this substantial monograph, which features contributions from publisher Francis Atterbury, book designer Billie Temple and Thomas Dane partner Francois Chantala, is laid bare. Also presented is an insightful essay by leading professor of Juridical Sociology Carlo De Rita.
Adopting a semiotic approach to books as ‘not just a thing you hold, but something held in common’, Addenda to a Sequence of Appearances embraces the archetypal format, tropes and conventions of a traditional – if unorthodox – book, employing printing and publishing practices seldom seen in contemporary bookmaking.
“…bringing together the finest architecture in the city.” — Homes & Interiors Scotland
Discover the versatility of living in one of the largest metropolises in the world: New York City. The pre-war brownstone homes and their grandeur appeal to the imagination, as do the ultra-modern flats in skyscrapers, constructed entirely in glass. This book also shows the inventiveness the city’s inhabitants have to live with limited space available. In this fifth part of the series, we see how 20 New Yorkers live, how they have acquired art, design and applied creativity in their interiors. The texts and images will make you dream of living in The Big Apple.
1000 Piece Puzzle featuring the artwork of Alec Egan.
The pleasures of Alec Egan’s Bouquet with Cupcake (dessert) are pretty simple. Flowers are beautiful and he paints them beautifully. And cupcakes are delicious. There’s really no need to overthink this, even though Alec certainly has – over and over again throughout his floral patterned, Laura Ashley inspired, body of work. This bouquet doesn’t need much in the way of unpacking. It’s just that nice to look at. Also, that cupcake is making us hungry.
1000 piece puzzle featuring the artwork of acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist Pedro Pedro.
Pedro Pedro paints vividly colored still lifes that look as if each object could suddenly spring from the canvas. His subjects -often bountiful clusters of fruit -are exaggerated in their tone, scale, and perspective, recalling the exuberant fantasies of Peter Saul and the bulbous forms of Fernando Botero. Pedro began working in this bright style after moving from New York City to Los Angeles in 2015, influenced by the more relaxed environment. Pedro has exhibited widely, including solo shows at The Hole, where his 2023 exhibition Table, Fruits, Flowers and Cakes explored themes of consumption and restraint. His work has also been featured in group shows including with Anat Ebgi and Nicodim galleries.
1000 piece puzzle featuring the artwork of acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist Kour Pour.
From cars made of carrot to tea-smuggling spies; Popeye’s spinach to the hallucinogenic effects of lettuce, renowned garden expert Chris Beardshaw takes us on a journey though history’s most fascinating plants, flowers, vegetables and herbs: the ones that changed the world, the ones that almost did, and the ones that certainly didn’t! Ranging from Roman times to present day and even covering future plant-inventions, 100 Plants that (almost) changed the World is a fascinating compendium of stories about the plants and vegetables we see, nurture and consume every day. If you have ever wondered why carrots are supposed to help you see in the dark or why we hang fairy lights and decorations on our Christmas trees then this is the book for you a fun and quirky new volume that offers unique exploration of our planets most fascinating plants.