NEW from ACC Art Books – Limited Edition: Sukita: EternityClick here to order

The Lucerne architects Thomas Lussi and Remo Halter Casagrande competently solve the complex tasks involved in heritage renovation today: the ideal preservation of the substance, discovering and restoring often nuanced, detailed qualities in the original building, the careful static stabilization of the structure and the gentle renewal of individual elements as a result of use in and around the building. The original building was erected in 1951 according to plans by Otto Dreyer – one of the most important Lucerne architects of the time. The library was widely regarded throughout Switzerland. The book documents the original 1951 building using historical plans and photographs, provides insight into the building-historical analysis before the renovation and uses plans and photo material to describe the strategy and measures by the architects in renovating the architecturally important historical building.

Text in English and German.

Features articles by Cony Grünenfelder, Siegfried Moeri, Ulrich Niederer, and Stanislaus von Moos.

Bombay is a city always on the move. Driven by multiple impulses, it has been the site for a Buddhist ethos, a safe haven for refugees from Persia, a hub of maritime trade and a melting pot of European and Eastern influences. Enriched with in-depth historical research and exclusive photographs, Bombay: Then documents the transformation of the once ‘insignificant cluster of islets’ into one of the most exciting spots for cultural exchange in South Asia. Among other views, the book illustrates the Mankeshwar temple and the Rajabai Clock Tower wrapped in scaffolding; the construction of Victoria Dock and the opening of its massive underwater gates; a lush and sparsely populated Malabar Hill; a rare view of the interior of a Parsi fire temple; factory scenes inside the Royal Mint and the Times of India units; what the stock exchange looked like nearly a century ago; and many breathtaking aerial shots of this beautiful island-city. A sheer visual treat through extraordinary historical photographs, Bombay: Then is for keeps. Mumbai has always been a city of dreams – shiny, colorful, nebulous dreams that melt away the moment you try to grasp them. Yet it beckons and the charm of the mirage is too seductive to let pass. Mumbai has moved from being Bombay to Bambai to Mumbai in four centuries and yet it is all three: encompassing all manner of paradoxical realities within its moist borders. Mumbai is restless, transient but the pulse of its past still runs through its streets. The fifteen million souls that inhabit this great island-city belong to all walks of life, numerous ethnic and religious backgrounds, and manage to communicate through the Babel-like confusion of different tongues and diverse histories. Mumbai: Now brings this shape-shifting, elusive city to you – from the stories of the first Goan migrants to the lives of native Koli fishermen; from the tradition of dabbawalas to that of ‘cutting’ chai; and from the potters in Dharavi to the pink flamingos in Sewri – in a series of beautiful, moving pictures that capture the many moods and faces of Mumbai.

India lives in many centuries. Discover the majesty and sweep of India’s rich cultural and historical heritage, replete with the people, events and places that have contributed to the chequered mosaic of India’s past. Featured in this exquisite book are rare and never-seen-before vintage photographs from some of the finest collections across the world – in the section India Then. The vibrant and ever-changing cultural landscape of India is featured in a series of photographs, showcasing the multifaceted, kaleidoscopic present. The timeless past lives amidst fast-paced, cutting-edge change. Modernity and tradition co-exist in the most endearing and surprising of places. India Now is a visual feast of contemporary India.

This catalogue for an exhibition at the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht features paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Younger and his contemporaries that depict the popular religious subject “Christ Carrying the Cross,” and examines these works for covert critiques of power and politics in Flanders during the 16th and 17th centuries. The show explores how artists incorporated both direct and indirect social and political criticisms into paintings on this theme, and brings together a selection of works from Bruegel the Younger, his predecessors, contemporaries, and followers.

Christo (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935–2009) created some of the most breathtaking artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries. Their projects radically questioned traditional conceptions of painting, sculpture, and architecture.

This lavish photo book is the first comprehensive publication on the artists’ oeuvre to be released after Christo’s death in May 2020. It also serves as a curtain-raiser for Christo und Jeanne-Claude’s last major project – the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which will be carried out posthumously in the fall of 2021.

Presenting a wealth of photographs and studio snapshots from 1949 to 2020, some of which are private, this book allows an intimate peek behind the scenes of Christo und Jeanne-Claude’s monumental installations which fascinated the public for decades. In addition to pictures capturing the artists at work, it includes photos documenting all of their major projects.

Matthias Koddenberg (b.1984), art historian and close friend of the artists, spent many years compiling the more than 300 images featured in this volume. Among them are pictures taken by companions and friends and hitherto unpublished photographs from the artists’ estate. Together they tell the extraordinary story not only of the couple’s artistic collaboration, but also of their five-decade-long partnership.

The National Galleries Barberini and Corsini contain paintings and sculptures of exceptional historical and artistic value. Page after page, through the masterpieces of many of the greatest Italian artists from the Middle Ages to the 18th century (Angelico, Raphael, Piero di Cosimo, Bronzino, Lotto, Tintoretto, Cortona, Caravaggio, Bernini, Reni, Guercino, Batoni, Canaletto) the reader can follow the development of art history. The collections also include artwork by Holbein, Murille and Van Dyck, besides a few antique pieces. In addition to the 100 entries, there are descriptions of particularly important elements that are part of the palaces’ architecture, such as Borromini’s spiral staircase, Bernini’s main staircase and the huge ceiling frescoed by Pietro da Cortona.

This elegant exhibition catalog is presented by The San Diego Museum of Art to accompany the 2023 major exhibition O’Keeffe and Moore, which explores the evolution of Modernism through the work of Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore. Featuring essays from prominent scholars, including representatives of both the Henry Moore Foundation and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, the catalog’s richly illustrated text delves into each artist’s motivation and methodology, and the parallels between them, in particular, the inspiration both took from nature and organic forms, such as bones and seashells. The publication serves as an essential companion to the exhibition. In addition to explorations of the artists’ studios that provide further insight into their working methods, the catalog presents drawings, paintings, and sculpture that illustrate the organic roots of Modernism developed independently, yet concurrently, by O’Keeffe and Moore. Thematic sections of the catalogue include the Real and the Surreal; The Artists’ Studios; Bones; Stones; Seashells, Flowers, and Internal/External Forms; and Landscapes of Forms. Essay topics include Henry Moore: Modernism, Nature, and National Identity; “A Revelation of the Perfect Relation”: The Influence of D.H. Lawrence on the work of Henry Moore and Georgia O’Keeffe; and Finding the Form and the publication will also include a comparative chronology of the lives and careers of the two artists.

Architecture Asia, as the official journal of the Architects Regional Council Asia, aims to provide a forum, not only for presenting Asian phenomena and their characteristics to the world, but also for understanding diversity and multiculturalism within Asia from a global perspective.

This issue reveals how old buildings can be updated to realize innovation through renovation, and features three essays and eleven projects that elaborate this perspective. The three essays discuss regenerative architecture in Pakistan that create contemporary examples of traditional architecture, the revitalization of old buildings in Hong Kong, China for heritage conservation—along the concept of updating the “hardware” and “software” of the building—and the sharing and regeneration of historical heritage spaces in old towns in Xiamen, China. The 11 projects, accompanied with full-color photos and text descriptions, highlight architectural works that showcase the theme of renovation and innovation across projects that include a house, library, chapel, and clinic, to reveal how these buildings embody sustainability and innovation, and re-energize cities.

Lancaster and Morecambe are like chalk and Lancashire cheese. So near, yet so far apart in what they offer. Morecambe, the traditional seaside resort, its ‘Bring me Sunshine’ favorite son Eric Morecambe and Victoria Wood’s ‘two soups’ cafe. Plus, its awesome 1930’s Art Deco Midland Hotel, haunt of Coco Chanel and Laurence Olivier.

Lancaster, with its Roman remains, its impregnable ‘John O’Gaunt’ castle and characterful Georgian buildings, built in part from slave-trade profits. Notorious Lancaster, known as the ‘Hanging Town’ for its use of the noose, with its fearsome castle cells that held Quaker maker George Fox.

Leave the crowds behind and embrace the true character of this story-filled region, one special place at a time.

Most people go to Napa and Sonoma in Northern California for the wine, and rightly so. The trove of 111 unexpected treasures in this guidebook, however, vastly broadens the possibilities for exploring and experiencing this region in a whole new way. The area is filled with natural wonders, from giant redwood forests and rolling hills, to cliffs and beaches, and even a secret spot to see 20,000 migrating grey whales. Discover the history of Native people who lived here for millennia. Walk in the footsteps of titans of literature, film, and design. Linger in museums featuring fine art, culinary history, and a hubcap collection. You’ll find a sense of whimsy here, too, as you hunt for fairy doors or stroll through a pygmy forest. Visit restaurants, gardens, music venues, gravesites of people who made an impact here, and more places you never imagined existed – and, yes, a few truly unique wineries too.

Architecture Asia, as the official journal of the Architects Regional Council Asia, aims to provide a forum, not only for presenting Asian phenomena and their characteristics to the world, but also for understanding diversity and multiculturalism within Asia from a global perspective.
This issue focuses on the topic of Architecture Writing and Literature, and features five essays and ten projects that elaborate on this topic. The five essays, separately, introduce Writing Architectural Pedagogies, Indian Architectural Literature in UKs Academe, Architecture of Writing and Criticism, How to Believe in Architecture becoming Author of History and Writing Habitation and Inhabiting Writing. The ten projects, accompanied with full-color photos and text descriptions, highlight various types of architectural works from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, showing how architects show their projects through words, depending on the types of architectural work.

Mixing Roman and medieval roots, Chichester sits at the heart of a storied landscape where South Down hills dotted with idyllic hamlets ripple back from a shoreline mixing wild dune-backed beaches with old-school seaside resorts. Reminders of smuggling and war add spice.

But a thrilling thread of modernity runs through this slice of West Sussex too. Chichester’s modernist Festival Theatre provided the foundation for London’s National Theatre, while masterpieces of contemporary architecture that draw admirers from around the world include Sea Lane House in East Preston and The White Tower in Bognor Regis.

Evocative ancient memorials abound. Chichester is blessed with the only English cathedral visible from the sea, while England’s largest castle rises above the ravishing – and cosmopolitan – riverside town of Arundel. Ancient yew trees mark the burial spots of Viking warriors in an idyllic Downland spot. And it’s a land vibrant with creative imprints: poets, painters, composers, from Blake and Keats to Joyce and Chagall.

This guidebook takes you exploring Chichester and its surroundings to find incomparable natural beauty, hidden secrets, astonishing history, art of all kinds, and much more. 

The Veronese wine regions of Soave and Valpolicella – home to Amarone – are currently producing some of the world’s most drinkable quality wines. But both regions still struggle with a reputation for cheap, poor-quality wines brought about through industrial-scale production during the economic depression following the Second World War. In Amarone and the Fine Wines of Verona, Italian wine specialist Michael Garner traces a shift in focus towards new levels of quality driven by a generation of producers inspired by the area’s outstanding potential for producing fine wine.
Both regions produce versatile wines which, as well as being both deliciously drinkable and relatively affordable, have the flavor and structure to accompany a wide range of foods. In Valpolicella an appassimento wine, the famed Amarone, has gained comparable status to Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino, while Soave overlaps with the tiny denomination of Lessini Durello, where sparkling wine is produced from the rare, local white grape Durella.
Garner begins Amarone and the fine wines of Verona with a summary of the region’s history, before detailing its geography, grape varieties and approach to both viticulture and winemaking, leading into a discussion of each denomination’s character and wine styles. A cross-section of around 100 producers provides a capsule profile of each, along with analysis of some of their best and most distinctive wines.
For students of wine, those in the wine business and wine adventurers alike, Amarone and the Fine Wines of Verona provides a gateway to a sorely misunderstood wine region.

Once brewed throughout Asia, sake has come to be inextricably linked with Japanese culture, tradition and society. In Sake and the Wines of Japan, Anthony Rose argues that, after decades in the doldrums, sake is well on its way to becoming the next big thing. Neither a wine nor a spirit, sake’s purity, centuries-old brewing methods and umami taste have gained it fans among the sort of younger drinkers who sparked the revolution in craft beers and artisan spirits. A return to quality, plus the modern outlook of today’s generation of sake makers is opening up sake, particularly premium sake, to the world. Exports have increased and sake breweries, some artisan, some offshoots of big Japanese names, have sprung up in destinations as far flung as Oregon and Australia, not forgetting England.

To demonstrate how deeply woven into Japanese society this drink is, Rose first takes us through the history of sake production, from offerings to the gods made from rice chewed by priestesses, to the heyday of sake, when master craftsmen – tōjis – were instrumental in a brewery’s success or failure, to sake’s new wave, epitomized by Berlin techno DJ Richie Hawtin, founder of ENTER.Sake. Rose then details sake types, demystifies polishing ratios, explores the issues around ageing sake and discusses how best to enjoy sake. The four basic ingredients – rice, kōji (rice mould), yeast and water – are introduced ahead of a thorough explanation of the brewing process. Rose profiles a personal selection of sake producers and ends the sake section with a chapter on sake producers outside Japan.

Japan’s wine industry is small and young but improving rapidly; here some of the best exponents are profiled alongside a history of wine production in Japan and details of grape varieties used. Sake and the wines of Japan ends with a guide to Japan, making it an essential tool for all those seeking a way into this enigmatic and enticing culture.

Eastern Europe is the last undiscovered gem of the wine world. Over the last thirty years three countries, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova have been working hard to escape the legacy of communism. For all three the regimes that took hold after the Second World War affected their wine industries profoundly, with state farms favoring mechanization and mass production over care and quality. Recent decades have seen a huge switch in attitudes following privatization, with more focus on quality and reconnecting people with the land to rebuild these historic wine industries for today’s wine drinkers.

Bulgarian wine’s fall in sales in the West due to the rising popularity of New World wines, Moldova’s economic crisis at the hands of a Russian ban on Moldovan wine and Romania’s need to counter imports from foreign producers as tastes in wine change have forced wineries to rethink their approaches to viticulture and winemaking. Instead of production lines of anonymous wines, makers now focus on creating authentic regional wines using local and international varieties and modern techniques.

In The wines of Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, Eastern European wine expert Caroline Gilby MW presents the wine stories of these three connected but distinct countries as one who has witnessed the vast changes as they happened. The cultures of the three countries, their complex and troubled histories and their roads to recovery are profiled here along with details of the geography, climate, grapes grown and, most importantly, the producers working to revive and reinvent their respective wine industries.

For those who seek something new beyond the traditional wines of Western Europe or who find New World wines losing their thrill The Wines of Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova is an inspirational introduction to a wine world waiting to be explored.

Chablis has a distinct identity amongst the wines of Burgundy. The gently sloping vineyards of this small, scenic region produce a remarkably diverse range of wines, even though all are made from just one variety – Chardonnay.

As in other parts of France, it was the Romans who introduced vines and the medieval Church which expanded the vineyard. By the twelfth century the wines of Chablis, were already being celebrated in poetry. However, over the centuries a considerable amount of everyday wine also found its way via the river Yonne to the cafés of Paris. In its heyday of production towards the end of the nineteenth century the region encompassed 40,000 hectares of vines. But that was before phylloxera and oidium ravaged the vineyards and the railways brought competition from further south to the capital’s wine drinkers.

From a low point of 500 hectares just after the Second World War, the vineyard has now expanded more than tenfold, and quality has increased too. Wines in the appellation’s four categories – grand cru, premier cru, Chablis and Petit Chablis – are created by vignerons keen to work with the terroir to produce the elegant, mineral, long-lived wines for which the region earned its reputation. To this end, ever greater care is being taken in the vineyards and the routine use of chemicals is becoming increasingly uncommon.

The region’s history, unique soil, geography and climate are all covered in detail, but it is Rosemary George’s lively and insightful profiles of those who make the region’s wines that form the body of The wines of Chablis and the Grand Auxerrois. Through the lives of these vignerons – from the lows of disastrous weather to their love of the land – she paints a unique picture of a much-admired region.

The companion volume to Evans’ The Wines of Northern Spain explores the great variety of wines produced across the rest of Spain. Beginning in the east with Catalunya, the book journeys south down the Mediterranean coast to the Levante. The heart of Spain, including Madrid and La Mancha, is explored before we reach Andalucia in the south and voyage on to the Balearic and Canary Islands. The regions covered could not be more different, separated by language, customs and history as well as by gastronomy and wines. After a chapter on key grape varieties Evans explores each region in turn, relating its history, exploring current trends in winemaking and viticulture and profiling the key producers. There is also a chapter on Spain’s sparkling wines.

Richard Mayson’s award-winning Port and the Douro, first published in 1999, has become a classic over the last 25 years. In this comprehensively updated fifth edition he reminds us why Port is a drink that continues to fascinate wine-lovers and win new fans. The last 50 years, since the end of the dictatorship in 1974, have seen vast transformations in the Port world, from labor-saving technology in field and cellar, to advances in sales reach, especially since Portugal’s formal entry into the EU in 1986, and ongoing changes in the way the industry is managed and regulated. To begin with, Mayson provides a history of Port, from the beginnings of viticulture in Roman times to the present day. The vineyards and their vines as well as the quintas where they are cultivated are thoroughly explored, followed by an explanation of Port production, both traditional and modern. A short introduction to Port types prepares the reader for a detailed assessment of vintages from 1960–2023; notable vintages (both exceptional and poor) dating back as far as 1844 are also included. The structure of the Port trade remains in flux, and so the chapter on the shippers reflects recent changes in fortune and ownership. Douro wine, which pre-dates its fortified cousin and has seen its revival accelerate over the last 20 years, receives an entire chapter to itself. Finally, for those wishing to visit the region, there are some ideas on what to do and where to stay. Peppered throughout with anecdotes, potted biographies of those who shaped the industry and insights into quirks of the trade, this extensive and engaging guide to Port is an essential book for any wine enthusiast’s library.

In 1933, Virginia Woolf wrote a biography of the poet Elisabeth Barret Browning, told in the first person by her cocker spaniel, Flush. In 1936, to write her memoirs, All the dogs of my life, Elisabeth von Arnim chose to tell the story of the 14 dogs that had accompanied her throughout her life. In 1957, the dachshund Lump arrived at the home of Pablo Picasso, whose life he shared until 1973. This book charts Picasso’s intimate family life, with Jacqueline, Claude and Paloma, and with the animals that populate the villa La Californie, as well as his artistic life. Inspired by these references, this collection (whose title is a nod to Picasso and Lump) takes a look at the lives and works of the great artists and art lovers of the 20th and 21st centuries from the perspective of their relationship with the “dogs of their lives”. These lighthearted, erudite books offer a unique approach to the life and work of Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Peggy Guggenheim and Yves Saint Laurent…

The National Holocaust Museum tells the story of the Nazi persecution and murder of the Jews of the Netherlands. Before the Second World War, Jews and non-Jews lived side by side. They had the same rights. But during the war, the Nazis and their collaborators killed around six million Jews in Europe. That was the Holocaust or Shoah. This is the first and only museum to relate the history of the persecution of the Jews of the entire Netherlands. Including the day-to-day life of Jews on the eve of the Second World War, the liberation as Jews experienced it, and how the Holocaust has been treated in our national culture of remembrance: all this is examined in the museum and this book.

Text in English and Dutch.

Hand-woven rugs from Persia are among the most exquisite art works ever created. In this fully revised edition of Persian Rugs, Essie Sakhai reveals recent discoveries that present us with a new understanding of this unique art. With hundreds of stunning new photographs, taken especially for this book, Sakhai takes us on a journey through Iran and beyond.
Beginning with the history and art of creating woven masterpieces, Persian Rugs goes on to present full-page examples of some of the most cherished and valuable rugs and carpets in the world. No two hand-woven carpets are the same, each with its own special property, beauty and quality. Sakhai has handpicked the most important of these and gives detailed explanations of how and why these art forms hold such singular and even mystical appeal. A new demand for original and ancient hand-woven pieces has increased their value greatly, leading to world-record prices being achieved at auction and important examples entering major museum collections around the world. 

Man Ray and Fashion was published in addition to the exhibition at MoMu (Fashion Museum Antwerp) in 2023. Man Ray was a widely versatile artist who worked with a range of different media and did not like to be pigeonholed. The way he portrayed women and their clothing continues to influence fashion photographers today. Man Ray used new and unexpected angles, employed artistic staging, and applied such innovative processes as solarization and multiple exposure to his fashion photography.

In recent decades, fashion designers continue to find inspiration in his Surrealist imagery. This is most notably true for Belgian designers, with their avant-garde mindset. Completely in line with the concept of Surrealism, these references are often subconscious. Part of Man Ray’s extensive history is brought together in this book alongside contemporary works by the likes of Paul Kooiker, Martin Margiela and Céline (among others). 

Design models are an integral part of the design process, as prototypes and providers of ideas for those products that are later launched on the market as serial and mass goods. However, working with models is an interdisciplinary undertaking: The book reflects the design model as the basis for future concepts, as a collector’s item in a museum and in its actual function as a planning and work tool for designers and model builders.

Text in English and German.