Shikumen Lilong residencies were prevalent from the end of the 19th century until 1930. Combining the traits of southern Chinese dwellings and western row houses, it is the most representative of modern Shanghai residential architecture.
The book shows a unique residential kind of building in Shanghai called Shikumen and records its architectural style and the use of space. A travel guide to 40 of Shanghai’s most representative Shikumen lanes is also provided and is compared with the Shanghai block map in the 1940s of the 20th century. The book also collects 120 pictures of the architecture and life of Shikumen Lilong, and the author has compiled 400 Shikumen Lilong directories based on his accumulation of years of visiting Shikumen, which can become a guide for readers to stroll through Shikumen Lilong houses and experience Shikumen City Life.
From 2004 to 2012, using casual photography to specific documentation, the authors have observed over 500 Shikumen Lilong, and will continue to record the heritage of this style of architecture.
Text in English and Chinese.
Curated Living: Elegant Interiors and Artful Homes invites readers to explore some of the world’s most stylish sanctuaries and to find inspiration to create their own elegant, artful home.
This new title from Australian journalist, editor, and stylist Susan Redman features 18 sophisticated, art-filled houses and apartments from across Europe, North America, and Australia. Despite their varied origins, these homes share a commitment to serenity and refinement, offering beautiful interiors characterized by luxurious materials, designer furniture, bespoke joinery, handcrafted decor, and treasured artworks.
Illustrated with glorious full-color imagery, Redman’s evocative narratives offer valuable insight into how the talented designers blend historical elegance and contemporary luxury. Interviews with the principal designers reveal how these beautiful interiors were crafted, and how old and new architectural details have been integrated in harmonious ways. Every element of these unique residences is carefully curated and arranged, telling a story of comfort, grace, and quiet sophistication.
Kengo Kuma’s work masterfully engages experimentation, traditional Japanese design, and advanced technology. This results in highly innovative yet beautifully simple, evocative, and human-scaled structures. Kengo Kuma: Substance explores a selection of the architect’s work through six materials. The thirty-five projects from around the world range from captivating wood pavilions, ethereal metal installations, and sculptural woven structures to experiential stone monuments, intricate bamboo tea houses, and luminous shape-shifting domes. Insightful narratives detail the concept and craftmanship of each structure, and beautiful imagery showcases how Kuma’s architectural designs are conceived and constructed. By experimenting with materials and ideas, Kuma seeks to restore the relationship between people, buildings, and nature, and foster a greater sense of humanity in architecture. Kengo Kuma: Substance will be a prized addition for architects, designers, and fans of Kengo Kuma. It is also a valuable resource for those interested in the fusion of traditional and contemporary architecture, design, craftsmanship, and technology.
The eighth edition of this bestseller celebrates 86 of the most beautiful houses and apartments from all over the world, containing exclusive new projects from renowned architects, interior designers and experienced professionals.
Published to coincide with Contemporary Living Yearbook 2026 is Timeless Living Yearbook 2026 ISBN 9782875501578, which emphasizes classic and more traditional forms.
Both Yearbooks complement each other perfectly and together offer a selection of dozens of recently finished villas, country houses, townhouses and apartments.
Dive into the captivating world of Yves Saint Laurent, one of the most influential fashion houses of the 20th and 21st centuries. This book traces the rich history of the brand, from its inception in 1961 by the legendary Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, to its enduring impact on the fashion industry today.
Explore the evolution of YSL’s iconic designs, including the revolutionary Le Smoking tuxedo, the exquisite Tulip Skirt, and the glamorous YSL bags that have become timeless symbols of luxury and style. Discover how these designs have not only shaped fashion but also empowered women around the globe.
Featuring stunning photographs, this book also highlights the celebrities who have adorned themselves in YSL creations. From the bold and daring Nicki Minaj, the elegant Angelina Jolie, the fashion-forward Dua Lipa, to the chic and sophisticated Margot Robbie, see how YSL has remained a favorite on the red carpet and beyond.
The highly anticipated successor to Rural Retreats (2022) and Countryside Living (2019), showcasing 36 exceptional country houses in idyllic settings around the world. Like the volumes that came before it, Country Retreats builds on a tradition of honoring architectural excellence, regional heritage, and the subtle interplay between place and design. Here, the countryside is not merely a backdrop, it is a living partner in the narrative of each home. From the windswept hills of Hertfordshire to the snow-dusted peaks of Niseko, from the sunlit ranches of Texas to the serene waters of Lake Martin, every project presented here tells its own story. The Junegrass House channels a modern vision of the American heartland; the Georgian Country House Restoration revives the grace of a bygone era; the Aranya Sanya Mountain-View Residence marries contemporary geometry with sweeping natural vistas.
The first biography of Ralph Dutton, collector, connoisseur, writer, philanthropist, who created one of the National Trust’s most popular houses and gardens, Hinton Ampner.
“Ralph Dutton grows on you as John Holden engagingly unpeels the layers of this complicated traveller, connoisseur, philanthropist and friend.” – Dame Rosalind Savill, former Director of the Wallace Collection
“Ralph Dutton is someone most of us have never heard of, yet he created a place of exceptional grace and beauty in Hinton Ampner. John Holden unravels the mystery of the man for us, and gives us a compelling account of why and how it all happened. It’s an enchanting read.” – Lord Smith of Finsbury, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge and Chairman of The Art Fund
“This is a real discovery. The story of a modest gentleman who nonetheless played an important role in 20th-century English culture. He put his life into his house, and his house into his life. Both are an engaging case study in heritage history.” – Professor Robert Hewison, Cultural Historian
An elegant photographic book highlights BFF’s new headquarters. Viale Scarampo, in Milan, saw the inauguration in 2025 of the BFF Banking Group’s new headquarters, a building whose transparent airiness and environmental and social sustainability ensure it provides an entirely original contribution to the city’s skyline. Designed by OBR (Open Building Research), the structure places the accent on the brightness of its interior and does not seek to compete in height with the skyscrapers of the nearby City Life district. The book is organized in a series of alternating photographs and text, drawing attention not only to the architectural features and the building’s functional characteristics, but also to the aim of creating a working environment that is intimately linked to its surroundings, in contrast to the traditional view of corporate architecture.
Casa BFF is not only the headquarters of a B2B bank, it is also a building that embraces the neighborhood and the city as a whole, starting with the museum it houses, which is accessible to all and contains the BFF Collection of post-war Italian art. Here the visitor will find works by Valerio Adami, Franco Angeli, Enrico Baj, Alberto Burri, Lucio Del Pezzo, Lucio Fontana, Gianfranco Pardi, Mario Schifano, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Giò Pomodoro and Emilio Tadini. The Bank inaugurated the museum with an exhibition dedicated to Enrico Baj’s series of 40 etchings inspired by John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The book does full justice to the exhibition spaces, as well as to the works that hang on the building’s walls.
Text in English and Italian.
Following the publication of The Bundi Wall-Paintings in Rajasthan, Hilde Lauwaert photographed hundreds of wall-paintings, across Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. In her new book, she introduces readers to the great stories of Hindu mythology, as depicted in refined artistic wall-paintings found in centuries-old temples, palaces, forts, cenotaphs and wells, as well as more popular examples in the havelis, the wealthy merchant houses from the 18th to the 20th centuries. These richly decorative wall-paintings, a unique form of cultural heritage in India, bring the principal Hindu myths vividly to life in visual form. Taking these paintings as her guide, the author aims to make the stories of Hindu mythology recognizable and understandable to a wide audience. She also explores the ways in which the gods are worshiped today, through rituals at home, in temples, and during festivals.
FMR Issue No. 18: “The Unreachable House of the Olsons” marks the start of a series from Giovanni Mariotti, “A River of Words, a Cascade of Astonishment” narrates the narrative of Niagara Falls, “Tesseract at the Palazzo” tells how staging art in Venice is an art unto itself, while “Paper Lion” traces Rembrandt’s brush with a big cat. “JACK OF FALCONS BEATS FOUR OF DUCKS” presents unfamiliar fauna in playing cards; “THE AEROPAINTRESS AND HER SWIFT MESSENGERS” reminds us that the one notable female Futurist was looking down from her cockpit at a world newly linked by now-old media; in “BUTTERED SPRINGTIME,” Gloria Fossi links art to asparagus. “THE PALACE OF TWELVE-POINTED STARS” tours us through a Moorish revival palace in Tangier. And “RUNAWAY QUEEN” tells the tale of an independent female royal eager to shed the ballast of her birth in the Eternal City.
This cultural history of the great cafés of Europe and beyond will transport you to a world of heated debates, quiet observation, endless games of backgammon and heaps of political intrigue. On the menu are not only strong coffee, whipped cream and delicious cakes, but also the wise words of some of the most renowned café patrons, from Balzac to Hemingway. From the Ottoman coffee houses and London’s penny universities, to Viennese Kaffeehäuser and smoke-filled Parisian terraces, this book features the most important and historic establishments around the world. Chapters such as ‘Brewing Trouble’, ‘Northern Harbours’ and ‘Around the world in 8 cafés’ will trace the history of the café as a creative and intellectual hub; offer a guide to the best addresses to visit today; and zoom in on interesting elements, including the iconic bentwood café chair or the story behind the craze for absinthe, the Green Fairy.
The Classicist is an annual journal dedicated to the classical tradition in architecture and the allied arts. Focused on Chicago, the Classicist No. 16 explores the city’s rich architectural history as well as contemporary examples of classical design through professional and student portfolios as well as academic articles authored by leaders within the field. Contributors include Guest Editors Stuart Cohen and Julie Hacker of Cohen & Hacker Architects; Ann Lorenz Van Zanten, the first Curator of Architecture at the Chicago Historical Society; Jeanne Sylvester, founder of Sylvester Historic Consultants, LLC; Rolf Achilles, architectural historian and member of the board of the Richard H. Driehaus Museum and the Hegeler Carus Mansion; David Van Zanten, professor emeritus at Northerwestern University; Edward Keegan, architect and writer; and Aric Lasher, president and director of design at HBRA Architects.
The young Zurich architects Ralph Blättler and Gilles Dafflon meticulously and intensely pursue a wide range of architectural tasks, be they smaller, rigorously developed conversions, well-conceived residential buildings or larger projects following competition success, in which they implement the experience they have gathered among renowned international architects.
Text in German.
Together, images and conversations portray the underlying motivation, orientation and stances of some of the most prominent young architects, photographers, artists and filmmakers whose body of work gravitates around the world of architecture.
Interviews with: Kersten Geers (Office KGDVS, architect), François Charbonnet (Made In, architect), Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine (filmmakers), Junya Ishigami (architect), Pier Vittorio Aureli and Martino Tattara (DOGMA, architects), Philipp Schaerer (visual artist), Go Hasegawa (architect), Bas Princen (photographer), Yuri Ancarani (visual artist) and Anne Holtrop (architect).
Text in German.
Since 2009, the two Basel architects Fabio Felippi and Thomas Wyssen have completed several fine buildings and conversions. They are precise structures that have been developed with extreme care out of themes such as structural presentation, conscious tectonics, typological clarity and a meticulous materialization that alternates between coarse qualities and elaborate surface treatment.
Text in English and German.
In 2010, the two Lausanne architects Eric Frei and Kaveh Rezakhanlou produced an exceptional school facility in Chermignon, Lower Valais. Like a Greek temple, it has the power to combine the landscape, topography, urban morphology and building type. The architects have also designed further projects with great architectural qualities.
Text in English and German.
Bombay Art Deco Architecture presents a treasury of Art Deco buildings comprising residential, commercial and civic architecture. These monuments were created during the mid ’30s and ’40s, a glamorous and optimistic era that predated the official end of the British Raj. The architects, a small list of first-generation Indian architects and builders, were mostly educated in English schools and trained in western architectural traditionst. Impatient with the British reluctance to shed the Gothic and Indo-Saracenic architectural styles that had dominated Imperial Bombay’s urban landscape, these visionaries were determined to imbue the city with a new modern style. That style shares its provenance with the Art Deco architecture of Miami Beach, termed ‘Tropical Deco’ by author Laura Cerwinske in her seminal 1981 book. Built in the same era, the Art Deco architecture of the two cities exhibits similar scale, geometry, tropical vocabulary, and love of romance.
Centerbrook was conceived in 1975 as a community of architects working together to advance American place-making and the craft of building. Recipients of the AIA Firm Award, they are entering their fifth decade of designing buildings across the country. This stunning new monograph, edited by John Dixon, FAIA, illustrates in full-color the wide range of projects completed throughout the last decade. In typical fashion of their sophisticated style and exercise in clarity, the in-depth texts and richly illustrated images communicate an indomitable focus on the architectural context of their ideas that are accessible to all. There is visual poetry in the work to be sure, but the book provides critical, concise and insightful descriptions of where the design ideas germinate. The reader will be engaged and informed by the way the shapes, materials, and details of these buildings are configured, and have a clear understanding of the works. The book’s title, Centerbrook 4, represents their fourth book on architecture, four decades of practice, and the four current partners – Jeff Riley, Chad Floyd, Mark Simon, Jim Childress – who are each recognized as AIA Fellows, in design. This wonderful new volume also showcases a range of projects currently in development by the firm’s next generation of designers.
The idea of a ‘healing garden’ is well established in many developed countries as a specific form of landscape design method; it meets the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of the people using the garden, as well as their caregivers, family members and friends. Shown through detailed theory and illustrations, the first part of this book focuses on the concept, types, and design considerations. The second part of the book provides insightful design descriptions, detailed plan drawings and photos showing the final, built projects on a wide range of types of healing gardens. This book is a unique and informative text and a useful reference for all landscape architects and designers.
Jewel Changi Airport documents the creation of a remarkable addition to one of the world’s premier airports. The sinuous, faceted glass Jewel serves as Singapore’s new gateway to the world, and redefines what an airport can be. Brimming with terraced plantings, lush valleys, floating bridges, art installations, shops, restaurants, and a central waterfall, Jewel is a new type of destination: part public garden and part shopping and entertainment complex. Through photos, drawings, ephemera, essays, and interviews, the book provides detailed insights on how the project came to be – from its bold vision and concept to the innovative engineering, environmental, and construction strategies employed to make it a reality.
The work of Alejandra Cisneros marks a significant departure from the tropical ‘Bali-style’ villa design popularised in the past two decades and is a refreshing antidote to the anodyne villas invading Bali’s centuries-old rice terraces. In Seen | Unseen, Alej shares her insights on reimagining traditional homes for 21st-century lifestyles in today’s fragile environments. She reveals the thinking behind her designs, and her heart-centred process of co-creation a “conspiracy of client, joglo, land, Balinese craftsmanship, and culture.” She also acknowledges the influence of Tri Hita Karana, the Balinese concept of cosmological balance that governs their relationship with people, the environment and the Creator. This beautifully illustrated book focuses on her whimsical, exciting homes – fanciful yet practical, designed for potters and poets, artists and entrepreneurs alike hailing from North and South America, Europe and Asia. Crafted almost entirely from antique teakwood, traditional materials, and showcasing joyful design ideas, each home merges seamlessly with the landscape. Alej curates unique, mould-breaking homes that create a new way of living that is at one with nature in the tropics. Her canvas is the Bali landscape; her paints are Java’s traditional teakwood joglos and Indonesia’s myriad natural materials; her brushes are the Balinese craftspeople that bring her vision to reality.
In 2000, a group of architects founded their office in Geneva. Since then – partly with changing personnel – they have continuously produced buildings in the Geneva-Lausanne region, often with experimental qualities. They include the 2018 GA building for the EPF Lausanne, and the CI residential tower in Meyrin, with an integrated private clinic.
Text in English and German.
Relationships between architects and clients – built upon expressed values, as well as their import into the final work of architecture – are typically not discussed in architectural education, rarely considered in architectural criticism or theory, and usually missing in most writing about architecture. This monograph seeks to highlight and address this deficiency. The book focuses on the process that the firm uses to help their clients to define values, and to intone them through architectural design. Exquisitely presented throughout, this volume presents a range of built and in-process works at a variety of scales, complexity, and locations, with various clients. Most of these projects have not been previously published. The projects will be documented and discussed within the context of the value proposition and design process that distinguish Pickard Chilton’s approach to architecture.