No shit: Poetry is so yesterday. The only thing that’s cool nowadays: Pooetry. Thoughts as deep as a beer bottle, sketches as beautiful as a long night out. And true wisdom as ugly as the morning after. Holy Shit is a compilation of the only nonsense that makes sense:  wisdom on toilet walls. Shot all around Berlin, including thought and comments by famous German authors who know what they are drinking about.

All-round artist Kamagurka started his career as a cartoonist for the Belgian magazine HUMO. Soon after, his multi-talented, discernable style, razor-sharp pen and absurdist humour attracted the attention of other media, resulting in worldwide exposure in newspapers and magazines including NRC Handelsblad, Playboy, Esquire| (the Netherlands); Charlie Hebdo, Hara Kiri (France); Squibb, The Spectator, Deadpan (UK); Titanic, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Zitty, Eulenspiegel (Germany); Die Presse (Austria); The New Yorker, National Lampoon, RAW (USA) and many more. Kamagurka wrote and acted in several radio, television and theatre shows, often performing alongside Herr Seele, his lifelong partner in crime. Next to that Kamagurka released more than 25 comic books, from Bert and Bobje to Cowboy Henk. The Holy Kama is a best of, compiling over 1000 cartoons from this master of absurdity. The Holy Kama is an unholy bible, an indispensable on every Kama devotee’s bedside table.

For those willing to go to the edge, for those who love to run close to the sky, here are some of the world’s most challenging and beautiful running trails and races. Twelve trails are covered in depth, and many more are included. From Norway to South Africa, Hong Kong to Colorado, and Switzerland to Columbia, these profiles are accompanied by travel information, as well as stories from those with experience on these trails, whether talking about the music they run to, or the good will shared among fellow runners.

Known for its soaring towers that mark the skylines of the world’s great cities, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects is also a leading designer of performing arts centers, including critically acclaimed venues for opera, dance, plays, and concerts. The firm’s award-winning work in this highly demanding field is vast, with examples ranging from one of largest performing arts centers in the United States to intimate theaters on college campuses. Highlighting the firm’s technically rigorous and aesthetically inspiring designs, Perform features a selection of concert halls and theaters, and cultural centers, including such prominent and distinctive works as the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. Designed with renowned acousticians and theatre planners, these performance halls are both architecturally exciting and technically advanced. This book explores the design of beautiful and uplifting spaces that allow the performing arts to shine while adding life to their surroundings.

Selected Projects: – Hancher, University of Iowa – The George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater – Wintrust Arena – Multi-purpose Auditorium, Hong Kong University – Science and Technology – The Theatre School, DePaul University – St. Katherine Drexel Chapel, Xavier University of Louisiana – BOK Center – Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Samueli Theater – The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County – Overture Center for the Arts – South Coast Repertory Theater – Schuster Performing Arts Center – Dewan Filharmonik at Petronas Towers – Aronoff Center for the Arts – North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center

On Easter, 2014, Britain’s best-loved vicar, the Rev. Richard Coles, led a pilgrimage to all the major historic sites of the Holy Land: from Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee in the North, via Jericho and the Jordan River, to Bethlehem and, finally, Jerusalem. All of the pilgrims in his care were practising Christians, except one: the writer Kevin Jackson, a diffident and sympathetic atheist intrigued by the chance to take part in this modern-day version of an ancient act of piety, and to learn some more about his old friend, the media clergyman.

Coles to Jerusalem is Kevin Jackson’s light-hearted diary of that pilgrimage, and a close-up portrait of Richard Coles both as priest and as man. As the journey proceeds, Coles reminisces at length about his past life as a rock star and radical gay agitator, his new life as a spiritual leader and a popular broadcaster on BBC radio and television, and the strange, unpredictable path that led him from self-destructive debauchery to faith and vocation.

With a lively supporting cast of fellow pilgrims, Coles to Jerusalem ranges among the magnificence of ancient monuments and the banalities of the guided tour, the grim political background of contemporary Israel and the comedy of a group of idiosyncratic English folk abroad, the intensity of worship and the lightness of banter. It will be irresistible to all admirers of Richard Coles, who has contributed a foreword; and a revelation to those who have never encountered his wisdom and warmth.

Stuttgart (southern Germany) has a new trade fair center, which is just the right size and is in the best possible location. Its architecture also reflects this. The lively grouping of tent roofs over the trade fair halls merges into the surrounding landscape while the center’s unusual, plant-covered bridge from the multi-storey car park reaches over the motorway to the natural environment. The new state trade fair centre by Wulf & Partner architects sets new standards when it comes to the functional organization of the center, the technical design aspects of the halls, the ecologically oriented supply systems and the equipment or the infrastructure provided for the exhibitors. The book presents the architecture of the trade fair centre in all its aspects, from its prehistory and the competition to planning and construction, from the preliminary sketch of an idea to the very first event.

From May 1st until August 2012, Brugge Plus vzw and Musea Brugge have organized ‘Kamarama’, an international art project in the city of Bruges. The curator of the exposition is Belgian artist Kamagurka. This multidisciplinary art project will spread throughout the entire city center and will show both works of Kamagurka and other artists he feels related to. It’ll be a true journey jam-packed with exceptional art, intriguing movies, music, comedy, cartoons and, without a doubt, a large dose of humor. The main part of the project is an exhibition of paintings, sculptures and drawings in the Garemynzaal, one of the historical halls of the Bruges belfry, of contemporary artists that have been inspirational to Kamagurka: David Bade, Fred Bervoets, George Condo, René Daniëls, J.J. Grandville, George Grosz, Jeroen Henneman, Capitaine Lonchamps, Lucebert, Yves Obyn, Emile Salkin, Captain Beefheart, Wim T. Schippers, Herr Seele, Roland Topor among others. Artists featured include: David Bade, Fred Bervoets, Capitaine Lonchamps, George Condo, Rene Daniels, Wim Delvoye, Otto Dix, Marcel Duchamp, James Ensor, Max Ernst, Jan Fabre, J.J. Grandville, George Grosz, Kati Heck, Jeroen Henneman, Herr Seele, Paul Joostens, Kamagurka, Lucebert, Markus Lupertz, Rene Magritte, Werner Mannaers, Muzo, Yves Obyn, Jeff Olsson, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, Emile Salkin, Wim T. Schippers, Roland Topor, Stephen Tunney, Luc Tuymans, Rinus Van De Velde, Don Van Vliet. Also available: The Holy Kama ISBN: 9789058563996

To rid the world of the evil, ten-headed Ravana, the Hindu god Vishnu appears on earth as a heroic prince, Rama. The devotion of his brother Lakshman, his marriage to the beautiful Sita, and encounters with demons, giants, sages, and holy men form favorite episodes familiar to any Hindu child. Taken from the holy text, the Ramayana, these stories conclude with Rama’s efforts to rescue the kidnapped Sita, aided by Hanuman, leader of an army of monkeys. These incidents have been retold and lavishly illustrated using original paintings from a 16th-century Mughal manuscript.

This volume compiles the buildings and projects produced by Atelier Scheidegger Keller since 2009. The collection is not a traditional architectural monograph, but is instead comparable to the logbook of a ship’s voyage: it records all the particulars and actions on the journey. Models, diagrams, codes, texts, maps, plans, sketches, mock-ups, building and detail plans, engineering and workshop drawings, building-site images and photo series all document the process, as well as the spatial, typological and constructive research involved. The result is direct insight into the multifaceted working methods and conceptual world of Atelier Scheidegger Keller.
The four constructed buildings include the highly-acclaimed House with two Columns in Wilen (2014) and the Rosengarten student accommodation in Zurich-Wipkingen (2020), with its raw materialisation and double-storey halls and loggias. Text contributions by: Christian Scheidegger, Jürg Keller
With articles from various sources by: Tibor Joanelly, Christian Kerez, Mario Monotti, Christoph Ramisch, Christoph Wieser, Raphael Zuber et al.

Text in English and German.

Hip-hop expert and Backspin publisher Niko Backspin, together with Porsche, has created a new travel guide to Europe’s hip-hop music and culture. Far from promotion tours or concert halls, Hüls meets and talks to rappers, DJs, street performers and breakdancers. Part of Porsche’s ‘Back 2 Tape’ documentary series, this guide sheds a light on the influence of urban hip-hop youth culture in European cities.

With 17 artists from Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Spain and Denmark, it combines portraits of hip-hop stars such as Kool Savas (Berlin), Lord Esperanza (Paris), Edson Sabajo (Amsterdam), Falsalarma (Barcelona), Lars Pedersen (Copenhagen) and the Flying Steps (Berlin) with destinations that every hip-hop and road trip fan in Europe should visit. 

“This book is an invitation to encounter European hip-hop culture with all its diversity in an open and positive way…” Niko Backspin

Where jetliners used to take off every few minutes, nearly everything has ground to a halt. The bright blue sky above the tarmac is serene, the contrails have disappeared, the endless corridors are eerily deserted. In April 2020, at the height of the first lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic, the photographer Marc Krause explored Frankfurt Airport with his analog camera to capture the strange calm of this “non-place.”

Without the hectic hustle and bustle of prepandemic times, he noticed things that are usually drowned out by the rushing crowds: the geometric lines of the constructivist architecture, the changing patterns of light and shade, the junk left behind by travelers in vast halls that would be teeming with thousands of people on a normal day. Offering a fascinating glimpse of a seemingly surreal world, this publication is an unsettling testimony to a historic moment in time and a powerful photo book that leaves viewers torn between melancholy and hopeful longing.

Text in English and German.

How can industrial buildings with long histories and spatial uniqueness be integrated into urban life more actively? How can newly built industrial plots with large-scale industrial and commercial buildings be situated and integrated into urban planning and design?

This book features nearly 40 cases of redevelopment and industrial design by the German architectural firm gmp Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen (mainland China), and some German cities. These designs are for commercial and industrial buildings, cultural and convention centers, exhibition halls and data centres. They apply gmp’s design concept to industrial buildings within the context of the metropolis, work that is characterized by conciseness, diversity, unity, uniqueness, and orderliness. This book provides examples of, and references to, urban industrial building areas and industrial architecture design, and can be used as a reference by teachers and students of urban planning studies, architectural history, architectural heritage conservation, and architectural design.

Text in English and Chinese.

This lavishly presented coffee table book features 60 new residential projects with a focus on the beautiful use of natural stone. The Beauty of Natural Stone in Private Residences includes over 200 photographs of houses and apartments where the use of this timeless organic material has been used to create unique and stunning entrance halls, kitchens, bathrooms, and wellbeing rooms. Packed full of inspiration this is a must buy for those looking to recreate similar spaces in their own homes.

Italian artist Ugo Rondinone was invited by the Musee d’Art et d’Histoire (MAH) in Geneva to curate a show that invites a dialog between his work and the works in the permanent collection. The show he created centers around two emblematic figures of 19th and 20th century Swiss art – Felix Vallotton and Ferdinand Hodler – and considers the importance of love and desire in our relationship with art and creation. This book documents the museum’s halls and the exhibition, which includes works by Rondinone and art from the MAH Collection.

Text in English and French.

The Eighteen Nineties have become legendary: the period of Wilde, Beardsley and the Yellow Book; a decadent twilight at the close of the Victorian century, when young poets weary of life sat about drinking absinthe and talking of strange sins. The provenance of this beguiling picture is peculiar, for the myth of the Decadent Nineties was created during the period itself. It was an age of artistic self-consciousness, during which writers and painters believed that they had to create not only their works but also their personalities. In Passionate Attitudes, Matthew Sturgis examines the varying extents to which ambitious poets, penurious painters, canny publishers and a controversialist press all conspired to promote the notion of decadence. He explores in detail the cataclysmic effect upon English decadence of the spectacular trial and subsequent conviction of Wilde in 1895, a fall which was to cast a blight over the whole generation. As well as the luminaries Wilde, Beardsley and Beerbohm, Sturgis portrays Arthur Symons, the poet of the music halls, who divided his energies between promoting Verlaine and chasing after chorus girls; Ernest Dowson, the demoralized romantic of the Rhymers Club; Count Erik Stenbock, who kept a snake up his sleeve and went mad; and John Gray, who may have been the model for Wilde’s Dorian. John Lane published most of their books; Owen Seaman and Ada Leverson parodied their manners. Elegantly written, Passionate Attitudes provides a hugely informative and richly entertaining account of the zeitgeist behind the glorious decade of excess.

Wabi-sabi, the ancient philosophy that values imperfection, has dominated Japanese art at its highest level.

Today, it is becoming an “endangered species”. Worse still… this aesthetic of the timeless, which feeds on the long term, even enriching itself with the patina of time, has been recuperated by the mass-market decorating industry, and is now used in communications relating to consumer goods that are unfashionable and disposable: a total antimony.

Wabi-sabi cannot be reduced to formulas or ready-made expressions without destroying its essence. Hence, the Wabi-Sabi Lab is an original and demanding event bringing together some 20 players who embody the values of wabi-sabi and/or the creative or even experimental dimension suggested by the suffix “lab.”

Wabi-sabi Lab. What it is: A bias, a selection of brands, galleries, artists, craftsmen, designers, publishers, material suppliers, in phase with our intention, our vision, our affirmed tastes with all the assumed subjectivity that our choices imply.

What it is not: Wabi-sabi Lab is not a classic trade show with stands, exhibitors and brands juxtaposed, sometimes without coherence. There are no colossal exhibition halls, but rather a place of prestige without ostentation.

This publication is a crossbreeding, driven by the selective eye of a pair of insatiably curious bargain hunters. A manifesto that invokes the very foundations of wabi-sabi, far removed from the fad it has become.

Text in English and French.

Christoph Brech has enjoyed a privilege unlikely to be granted to anyone else any time soon. For three years he was allowed to photograph the halls and galleries of the Vatican Museums unhindered by the never-ending throngs of visitors. On his day – and night-time – excursions through the countless exhibition spaces and the Sistine Chapel, he captured images of extraordinary tranquility. His photographs show one of the most famous museums in the world as no one else has seen it: suites of rooms devoid of people, artworks on dignified display, hidden corners. In this superb-quality picture book, Brech’s photographs are presented alongside historical images from the Vatican archives. Arnold Nesselrath, director of the department of Byzantine, medieval, and modern art at the Vatican Museums, provides a stimulating introduction to the history of the institution. A beautifully illustrated publication that offers new perspectives on the many attractions of this magnificent world-class museum.

From illustrious superclubs to intimate venues, London has a great range of glamorous nightspots and exquisite bars on offer. Whether you’re after a hardcore night out, want to pull an all-weekend dance rave or are on the lookout for something more laid back, away from the neonglow and glitterballs, London city will never disappoint. Many of London’s famed party places started out as illegal venues in abandoned warehouses, railway arches, derelict market halls or huge deserted factories which makes them interesting not only from a cultural and sociological, but also from an architectural point of view. After documenting the charms of Parisian brasserie culture last year, photographer Henk van Cauwenbergh now captures the essence of London’s buzzing clubscene and the city’s most iconic nightlife venues.

“It amazes me that after all these years and countless books, the scope of subject matter on The Beatles is so amazingly large that writers always find a new angle. This book does that in a very unique and clever way. It’s a must for every Beatles fan.” – Billy J. Kramer

“…It’s a magical mystery tour through the band’s life and times.”  —Yahoo Entertainment The It-List

“Part biography and part map to the stars, The Beatles: Fab Four Cities is your “Ticket to Ride” and walk in the footsteps of John, Paul, George and Ringo. It’s the next best thing to actually driving their car…”—Nina Violi, Capitol File. and Gotham magazine

“While the book can be used as a handy tour guide filled with addresses, maps and photos, it also makes for great reading.”  —Steve Matteo, The Vinyl District

“But now comes a “magic carpet volume” for Beatles fans that blends travel guide with historical reference in an expanded study of The Beatles’ homes, schools, pubs, venues, and important historic sites…”  —Jude Southerland Kessler, Culture Sonar

John Lennon said: “We were born in Liverpool, but we grew up in Hamburg.”
To paraphrase Lennon, we could say that: “The Beatles were born in Liverpool, grew up in Hamburg, reached maturity in London, and immortality in New York.”
Four cities. Four stars. The Fab Four – the Beatles – are revered the world over, but it is in these urban centres that their legacy shines brightest. Liverpool: where the band graduated from church halls, leaving their initial line-up as ‘The Quarrymen’ far behind. Hamburg: where their raucous stage act was honed; where arrests earned them a more notorious celebrity reputation, but they became a true emblem of rock ‘n’ roll. London: where The Beatles produced Sgt Pepper, and home to the iconic album cover for Abbey Road. And New York: the city that became John Lennon’s home, where their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show announced them to 73 million Americans.
The Beatles: Fab Four Cities invites the reader on a cosmopolitan trek across continents, tracing the Beatles’ rise to fame from one metropolis to the next. Flush with timelines, stories, trivia, the numerous links and connections between the cities and both pop cultural and local history, this is a travel guide like no other.