As the pace of urbanization accelerates and population and building densities increase, particularly across larger cities, there’s much less park space available for people to enjoy. With less investment outlay and a smaller area required, ‘pocket parks’ could provide the solution for the creation of highly sought-after spaces for activities in high-density city environments. They can be beautiful, green areas that increase the ecological benefits of the environment, and would help improve and satisfy the local resident’s need to enjoy a space outdoors. This book studies the characteristics of the pocket park and the relationship between the landscape and people, and it is perfect source material for landscape designers and urban planners.
Water as a resource is irreplaceable. Yet heavy rainfall can become an absolute disaster – even in modern cities – if rainwater is not drained out in time. A great deal of effort in water resource management is directed at optimising the use of water and in minimising the environmental impact of water use on the city environment. The term “Sponge City” refers to the idea of a city where its urban underground water system operates like a sponge to absorb, store, leak and purify rainwater, and release it for reuse when necessary.
The book comprises 41 projects of urban landscape architecture, showing the exploration of the role of water management in urban spatial planning. These projects (all based in France) showcase how this notion is not just a response to the system’s functional demands, but also how it should take into account the development of ecological and biological diversity with respect to space and landscape intervention models, and the fusion of how the various elements of the outdoor space can enhance the quality of the environment at the same time.
Text in English and French.
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 This volume is a fascinating journey through Safdie’s thoughts and career, and also a historical reference of the social and political forces at play at the time.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 unrealized 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.
This beautifully designed book is a celebration of one of the world’s most creative, dynamic and fascinating cities: Tokyo. It spans 400 years, with highlights including Kano school paintings; the iconic woodblock prints of Hiroshige; Tokyo Pop Art posters; the photography of Moriyama Daido and Ninagawa Mika; manga; film; and contemporary art by Murakami Takashi and Aida Makoto. Visually bold and richly detailed, this publication looks at a city which has undergone constant destruction and renewal and it tells the stories of the people who have made Tokyo so famous with their insatiable appetite for the new and innovative – from the samurai to avantgarde artists today. Co-edited by Japanese art specialists and curators Lena Fritsch and Clare Pollard from Oxford University, this accessible volume features 28 texts by international experts of Japanese culture, as well as original statements by influential artists.
November 19, 1479: a dynastic alliance, two noble scions, a regal wedding, short-lived and with an unhappy ending. These pages reconstruct the story of the magnificent bas relief in the Acton Collection (Villa La Pietra, Florence), commissioned to celebrate the marriage between Antonio Basso Della Rovere, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, and Caterina Marzano d’Aragona, the niece of King Ferdinand I of Naples. The heraldic symbols of the three coats of arms leave no doubt about the identities of the characters and events surrounding its creation, and lead us to the original location of the work, born as the overdoor to the main portal of the Basso Della Rovere Palace in piazza della Maddalena in Savona. Through close examination of the Della Rovere in Rome, this study highlights some previously unknown facts about the family’s origins and returns to Savona and its role as a political, cultural, and artistic protagonist in late 15th-century Italy.
Full of surprises, fresh and pleasantly familiar at the same time. David Bacher’s photography is a kind of treasure hunt, where viewers can discover and interpret Paris and New York in amusing, yet reflective, ways. The images often mirror each other and just as often it is not immediately clear in which city a photograph was taken. His aesthetics, inheriting the tradition of many great street photographers, who have worked in Paris and New York City, lie somewhere between Louis Stettner’s calm spirituality and William Klein’s post-modernist provocation. Fifteen years ago, this American living in Paris and in Nantes decided to take mirror images of New York and Paris. In doing so, he realized that for him ‘Paris and New York are like two theater sets with thousands of actors without predefined roles’. His fluid gaze reflects the chaos of appearances without staging it. Bacher likes to create optical illusions. He jostles perspectives, giving reflections and shadows a presence as real as that of the bodies and faces which inhabit the theatre of his work, the streets.
Text in English, German and French.
For centuries, monsoon winds brought traders from the Middle East to India, and onward to Malaysia and the Indonesian archipelago. Once the new religion of Islam had been established in the land of Arabia, merchants carried their faith to the many ports of call around the Indian Ocean.
As Islam peacefully spread through the Indian Ocean littoral, the coastal trading cities responded in extraordinary ways. Modifying the form of the local tropical buildings of timber and stone, communities created a stylistic hybrid for their houses of prayer, the ubiquitous village mosque.
An exceptional vernacular ensued, reflecting the unique combination of environment, local materials and building skills, trade and the traders. This volume celebrates a finely curated selection of centuries-old mosques in Kerala, Sumatra, Java and Malaysia. Raised up high by the communities, the mosques are a marvel of timber, soaring spaces and traditional crafts. Since their creation, these local mosques have been kept alive and well as dynamic expressions of place.
But the 20th and 21st centuries have brought numerous threats to their continued existence and vitality. Monsoon Mosques explores the fate of these vibrant symbols of the integration of Islam into local culture.
Madras Then: The Story of Madras is the tale of several small villages that grew to become metropolis. In the sixteenth century, when the Dutch raised the price of pepper by 5 shillings, 24 merchants in London formed the East India Company in 1600 to corner the India trade. This event was to change the course of Indian history and to lead to the formation of several Indian cities, including Madras. A city of myth and historical importance, Madras and the region around the city has served as an important administrative, military and economic center for many centuries. With rare archival photographs from museums and libraries from around the world the book showcases a large number of photographs from private collections and tells a story of a city earlier also known as Blacktown. City of the oldest living language in the world, Chennai is different from the other three metros of India. A city also popularly called the cultural center of South India, Chennai is fast becoming home to some of the major global IT and automobile companies as well as India’s foremost center of medical tourism. A city of politics and films, Chennai has made Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha as popular as Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan. From a lazy, sleepy Madras of the early twentieth century, the city is changing rapidly and this photo journey showcases the different facets of this beautiful city on the harbor.
“This is at one level a book about a part of London and its buildings. At another, it’s a book about learning to savour our lives.” – Alain de Botton
Take a walk around a park trodden by many but known by few. From Lancaster House, venue of famous speeches and summits, to 100 Piccadilly, the stage of an ongoing Soviet-themed reality experience, The Buildings of Green Park captures the unseen history of these well-traveled streets.
Green Park boasts a plethora of London landmarks, including Bridgewater House and the Canada Gates. The Buildings of Green Park gives each of these sites the attention they deserve, while also celebrating a multitude of overlooked buildings: those that are passed every day without comment from the guides. Local history, old photographs, paintings and floorplans offer a tantalizing peek into the backstory behind these backdrops. Moving through the winter and into the spring, Andrew Jones’s crisp photography captures a London shaped by past, present and hopes for the future.
It is often said that you can’t take the same walk twice in New York. Its history may be short compared to that of European cities, but it is also a history marked by lightning-fast change. This pictorial journey into the history of New York City starts from the small town that began as New Amsterdam in the 17th century, tracing the unbridled expansion of the 18th century and waves of mass immigration of the 19th and 20th centuries. The authors, both experienced NYC tour guides, explore iconic districts like Times Square, Harlem, Wall Street, Central Park, Ellis Island and the Bronx, bringing the past and people to life through engaging stories and images. An inspired selection of archival photos, prints, vintage maps, stereographs, and ephemera make this publication, with its elegant, silver-edged finish, a fascinating visual homage to the vibrant city that is New York today.
“I went to Noma and interviewed René (Redzepi). We were talking about art and food but the restaurant was closed. Everybody asked me how was the food, what did you eat – and he basically gave me some marmite. The best marmite I’ve ever had.” – David Shrigley
“This is not a coffee table book….notions of ‘taste’ get a grilling, while there are some fruity artist interviews….that make for entertaining accompaniments.” – Melanie Gerlis, The Financial Times
“This comprehensive and expansive explorations of art restaurants marries the nourishment of senses, both visual and taste, along with the meeting of minds.” – Chris Corbin, Corbin and King group
“A new and unique book.” – Layla Maghribi, The National News
This is the definitive guide to Art Restaurants — a new way to appreciate food. Christina Makris, collector of art and a Patron of The Tate and RA, takes the reader on a tour of 25 of the world’s greatest art restaurants, from New York to Hong Kong and Cairo to London.
Makris traces their stories, details the art highlights, and meets artists, restaurateurs and chefs including Vik Muniz, Julian Schnabel and Tracy Emin. A captivating guide to where great art and memorable food meet.
Restaurants featured include: Abou el Sid, Cairo; Bibo, Hong Kong; Casa Lever, New York; Chateau la Coste, Aix en Provence; Colombe d’Or, St Paul de Vence; Currency Exchange Café, Chicago; del Cambio, Turin; Dooky Chase, New Orleans; Gunton Arms, Norwich; Hix Soh, London; Kronenhalle, Zurich; Langan’s, London; Lucio’s, Sydney; Michael’s, Santa Monica; Mr Chow, London; Osteria Francescana, Modena; Paris Bar, Berlin; Red Rooster, New York; Scott’s, London; Sketch, London; The Ivy, London.
Including interviews with: Ai Weiwei; Antony Gormley; Beatriz Milhazes; Bill Jacklin; Conrad Shawcross; Damien Hirst; David Bailey; David Hockney; David Shrigley; Gary Hume; John Beard; John Olsen; Julian Schnabel; Maggi Hambling; Michael Craig-Martin; Michael Landy; Peter Blake; Polly Morgan; Sanford Biggers; Tracey Emin; Vik Muniz.
Beginning with the 12,000-year-old cave paintings of Bhimbetka, up to the Bah’ai House of Worship, a blinding masterpiece of 20th-century engineering and design, the wealth of creative genius, brilliant skill and endeavor of its people are evident in India’s man-made wonders. Between the soaring medieval temples of the South and dramatically perched Buddhist monasteries of the North; the uniquely ornamented stepwells of the West and the grand Victoria Memorial, a symbol of British supremacy in the East, lie massive forts, fairy-tale palaces, tombs of Sultans, ruined ancient cities, statuesque cathedrals, and of course, the resplendent Taj Mahal. Along with these are the wonders bestowed on India by nature. In a country blessed with astoundingly diverse ecology and terrain, these range from the mighty Himalayan peaks of Nanda Devi and Kanchenjunga to the elephant-inhabited lush tropical forests of Periyar, and from the pristine-white island beaches of Lakshadweep to the tiger-infested delta of two legendary rivers: the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. Showcased in this book, in a feast of lavish colour photographs and lucid text, are 100 fabulous destinations that evoke the wonder that is India.