The Norwegian Torbjørn Kvasbø (b. 1953) is considered a leading figure in the field of contemporary ceramic art. He exhibits regularly in Asia, Europe and the US and achieved a unique status as an artist and pioneer, and also as a teacher with widespread influence having been actively engaged in restructuring the art schools where he taught. The art historian Jorunn Veiteberg analyzes in this publication Kvasbø’s works from 1977 to the present day. Most critics have described his objects as forms inspired by nature, by lava eruptions or landscapes. Veiteberg is critical of this and sees them more as bodily expressions. Kerstin Wickmann, design historian and former professor at Konstfack in Stockholm, discusses Kvasbø’s twelve years as teacher in Stockholm and his influence on his students and the educational system.

Torbjørn Kvasbø’s work is represented in numerous international museums and private collections, such as the National Museum, Stockholm/SE, Designmuseum Danmark, Copenhagen/DK, The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo/NO, Auckland Institute and Museum/NZ, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu Ceramics-Park Mino, Gifu/JP, World Ceramic Exposition/KOR, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia MO/US.

Text in English, Swedish & Norwegian.

Winfried Krüger (born 1944) belongs to that generation of jewelry artists who witnessed the birth of avant-garde jewelry in the 1960s. The skilled goldsmith liberated himself from precision, fineness and other virtues of his craft in order to allow free rein to his creativity. For Krüger, jewelry is ever-present. From the tread of a shoe via the launch pad of a firework to the set of a science fiction film – he finds inspiration in all of these things. Translated into metal, extraordinary artworks are then created, which in the examination of ideas, form, materiality and surface show a modern, innovative understanding of jewelry, which he has imparted to his students over twenty years as lecturer at the technical college for design in Pforzheim. Despite this, Winfried Krüger has, as far as publishing his work is concerned, played hard to get. For the very first time this monograph presents the artist’s work in a comprehensive retrospective, whose focus rests on the work from the last twenty years. Winfried Krüger is represented in numerous prestigious museums and collections, including Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim (DE), Designmuseo, Helsinki (FI), Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (DE), Stedelijk Museum’s-Hertogenbosch (NL), Musée des Beaux Arts de Montréal (CAN), Die Neue Sammlung – The International Design Museum Munich (DE), Galerie Marzee, Nijmegen (NL), Musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains, Lausanne (CH). Text in English and German.

The skilful works of Yasuhisa Kohyama are inspired by ancient Japanese Shigaraki, Jomon and Yayoi ceramics. Using special Shigaraki clay and the fire of an anagama wood kiln, in the fusion of traditional technique and a modern language of form he creates vessels and sculptures that are not only powerful and innovative but also timelessly beautiful. Characteristic for Kohyama’s asymmetric objects is their rough surface – a haptic quality rarely found in contemporary ceramics – as well as an exciting interplay of color, which is created without glaze and solely by the movement of the ash and the position of the object within the kiln.

Contents:
Foreword – Jack Lenor Larsen
Tradition and Innovation in the Work of Yasuhisa Kohyama – Susan Jefferies
Kohyama-san and Japanese Ceramic History: Notes on “Suemono” – Michael R. Cunningham
Yasuhisa Kohyama: The Art of Ceramics – Yoshiaki Inui
Catalog of works
Appendix

Comprehensive Examples of Landscape Classification is an in-depth reference guide to the varying types of landscape architecture and design, offering a complete overview of the subject. The book is divided into 18 chapters: road and street landscape, floor covering landscape, planting landscape, table and chair landscape, stair landscape, trestle and quay landscape, rail and fence, door landscape, artificial waterscape, natural water landscape, swimming pools, wall landscape, roof landscape, landscape construction, landscape architecture, lighting landscape, sculpture piece and professional facilities.

Contemporary office design is evolving, with clients looking for flexible and adaptive spaces, which meet the needs of the twenty-first century workforce. Designers are pushing the boundaries of what it means to work in an office within an ever-connected global network. Intuitive environments are responding to and accommodating the dynamic working styles of the technologically savvy. Approaching office design from an holistic point of view is crucial in order to understand the company and the client; how they currently operate and how they wish to operate in the future. Spatial functionality is an important, if not the most important, aspect of a successful interior space. Establishing the look and feel of an office environment is a balance between function, form and aesthetic appeal. Inside/Outside Office Design V is the latest in this highly successful series, presenting an up-to-date collection of superior office designs from around the world.

Custodians brings together for the first time, in this beautifully compiled collection, images of many of Oxford’s most prestigious buildings along with some rarely seen, but wonderful venues and their ‘Custodians’. Photographer Joanna Vestey set out to explore the extraordinary colleges and buildings of Oxford, behind the closed doors, often beyond the reach of the 9.5 million visitors a year who come here, and to meet the ‘Custodians’ playing a pivotal role in perpetuating these world renowned institutions. Rarely do we get to catch a glimpse behind the closed facades of these iconic structures and to see the spaces that lie within. All the images have been captured in the University City of Oxford, known as the “City of Dreaming Spires” and show its extraordinary breadth of architecture since the arrival of the Saxons. It includes venues such as the 17th Century Divinity School, the mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera continuing through to the most recent award winning RIBA nominated chapel at Ripon College completed last year. Venues such as the Sheldonian Theatre and Christchurch College sit alongside perhaps lesser known venues such as The Real Tennis Courts or the John Martyr Pawsons cricket pavilion portraying the breadth and diversity constituting the city. The ‘Custodians’ and their surroundings enjoy equal status in Joanna’s formal compositions; they seem to belong together, yet do not fuse into one, thereby asking us to question how we are all largely shaped and influenced by the structures around us – how defined we are by them and how much they form us. Full of unexpected venues beautifully photographed, this book will appeal to the his-torian, city visitor, people interested in architecture and interiors as well as to the extensive alumni network of the colleges themselves. It will also appeal to an audience interested in contemporary photography.