While legumes, pulses and lentils are used in many parts of the world – North Africa, southern Europe, West Asia, China and the countries of Latin America – it is in the Indian sub-continent that they are cooked not just on a wide scale but also with unmatched culinary skills and imagination. The daal is a staple food of this region, consumed by all economic brackets at all times of the year.

This book is a tribute to the rich and awesome diversity of Indian gastronomic traditions. The recipes in the book – that include not only daal curries but also daal-based snacks, savouries and sweets – cover most regions and communities of India. It also includes several international lentil recipes. A deep knowledge of world cuisine and fine understanding of flavours have immensely helped in raising the bar of one of the simplest fares of the world.

Assembly of the Exalted presents some 50 pieces from the remarkable collection of Alice S. Kandell. The works, dating from the late 13th century to the early 20th, include great masterpieces and emblematic examples of Tibetan Buddhist art. They are all presented here as the constituents of a Tibetan Buddhist shrine. Shrines, both modest and grand, are the primary sites of Tibetan Buddhist practice, whether it be reciting scriptures, performing rituals, saying prayers, or engaging in meditation. The introductory essays thus focus on the Tibetan Buddhist shrine, describing its evolution over the history of Buddhism, its special role in Tibet, and how the pieces in the Kandell Collection came to be assembled and displayed in shrines at institutions across America. Illustrated with vivid photography, forty short essays, each centered on a single work or set of objects, describe the pieces in terms of their importance for the practice of Buddhism, highlighting the many essential functions of Tibetan Buddhist art within the space of a shrine.

Edited by Carl Brandon Strehlke and Machtelt Brüggen Israëls, The Bernard and Mary Berenson Collection of European Paintings at I Tatti surveys the 149 works assembled by the Berensons for their home in Florence from the late 1890s through the first decades of the twentieth century at the time that they were making their mark on the world as connoisseurs. The catalogue presents a privileged window on the Berensons’ intellectual interests through the objects they owned. The entries, written by an international team of art historians, take full advantage of the extensive correspondence from the Berensons’ friends, family, and colleagues at I Tatti as well as the couple’s diaries and notations on the backs of their vast gathering of photographs. All the entries are lavishly illustrated with full scholarly and technical accountings of the objects. There are also 17 illustrated reconstructions of the original contexts of panel paintings. The catalogue includes essays on the progress of the Berensons’ collecting, their love for Siena, the Sienese forger Icilio Federico Joni, the critic Roger Fry, and René Piot’s murals at I Tatti, as well as a listing of 94 pictures that were once at I Tatti including donations made to museums in Europe and America.

Contents:
Preface Lino Pertile; Acknowledgments – Carl Brandon Strehlke and Machtelt Israëls; Note to the Use of the Catalogue; Abbreviations; Glossary of People in the Berenson Circle Mentioned in the Text; Section I: Introductory Essays and Entries 0 to 111; Essay I: “Bernard and Mary Collect: Pictures Come to I Tatti” – Carl Brandon Strehlke; Essay II: “The Berensons and Siena” (working title) – Machtelt Israëls; Essay III: “Passions Intertwined: Art and Photography at I Tatti” – Giovanni Pagliarulo; Entries: Paintings from the 14th to 18th century – Plates 0 to 111; Section II: Fakes; Essay IV: The Berensons and the Sienese Forger Federico Ioni – Gianni Mazzoni; Entries: Fakes – Plates 112 to 116; Section III: Roger Fry; Essay V: “Roger Fry and Bernard Berenson” – Caroline Elam; Entry: Fry – Plate 117; Section IV: René Piot; Essay VI: “A Failure: René Piot and the Berensons” – Claudio Pizzorusso; Entries: Piot – Plates 118 to 131; Section V: The Berensons, Family and Friends; Entries: Portraits – Plates 132 to 138; Entries: Miscellanea – Plates 139 to 148; Appendix: Paintings Formerly Owned by the Berensons – Carl Brandon Strehlke and Machtelt Israëls; Bibliography; Photo Credits; Index.

Derivatives II represents a continuation of the works shown in my first volume of large format black and white photographs. As explained in the first book of this two-volume series, my visual language derives from early twentieth century photographers and thinkers whose works I studied. The images presented in both volumes were made in the years from 1985 to 1990. Whereas the first volume included 30 verses composed during and after these six years, the second volume includes a selective summary of events which occurred during these years. However, these historical events had no direct influence on the photographs presented in this volume: they simply provide a sense of context.

From 1985 to 1990 the world population grew almost 9 per cent, from 4.8 to 5.3 billion, influenced strongly by growth in Asia and Africa; North America grew 5.2 per cent and Europe only 2.2 per cent. A shift of economic power eastwards became inevitable as the middle classes of China, India and Indonesia started to expand at even faster rates. These were critical years because of the number of geopolitical milestones: the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of China. It was also a period of declining leadership in the West after the passing of the Cold War leaders, and a period of increasing sovereign indebtedness (e.g. in the US the Federal Debt level almost doubled in these few years). In addition, the advent of the internet and rapid advances in technology began to shrink the world to today’s claustrophobic dimensions.1985 to 1990 were also critical years for large-format film photography. They were years of fundamental change for photographers because they are associated with the end of analog photography: the bankruptcy of the largest producer of sheet film, Kodak, made the type of film photography presented in this book and the preceding volume rare. These were the years when derivative chemicals and film were replaced by digital technology.

The earliest known portable digital cameras were sold in the US in November 1990. The development of digital technology progressed rapidly with the marketing refrain: “Don t think, just shoot!” As a result, the reduction in the meditative components of picture taking, development and printing changed the nature of art photography and led to an explosion in the number of potential ‘picture takers’ and exposures. – K.C. Korfmann

A premium lifestyle food superstore for people who understand and enjoy the finer nuances and aspects of food, Foodhall presents its first cookbook. Curated by one of the finest food and ingredients stores in India, this book presents 75 recipes from around the world shared by star chefs – from modern European to Asian, contemporary Indian to Mediterranean, and not-to-be-missed dream desserts – as well as the food philosophy of each region. It is a celebration of the never-ending love for food that defines Foodhall’s mission. Contents: Modern European; Asian; Contemporary India; Mediterranean; Desserts; About the Chefs.

NBBJ has been collaborating with the world’s most admired pioneering companies including Microsoft, Samsung, Amazon, Tencent, and Alibaba, as well as designing for institutional leaders. The firm has successfully developed a “trans-disciplinary” culture within their practice as mentioned in Clifford Pearson’s introductory essay.

Included are multiple interviews with their clients to explore why NBBJ continues to be their first choice. Marking their 75th anniversary, this publication is NBBJ’s first monograph and includes 14 noteworthy projects selected from their most recent works. With newly photographed visuals, the issue sets out to provide a behind the scene look at NBBJ’s perspective on the future.

Text in English and Japanese.

Contents:
Introduction: What’s Next – Clifford Pearson; Roundtable: What We Care About – Steve McConnell, Jonathan Ward, Alyson Erwin, Nate Holland, Vivian Ngo. Amazon in the Regrade, The Spheres, Doppler and Meeting Center, Day One. Client Interview: John Schoettler, Interviewer: John Savo, Dale Alberda. REI at the Spring District, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Northside Branch. Client Interview: Alison Circle, Interviewer: Mike Suriano. Meridian Center for Health. Essay: Escaping Good Design – Shannon Nichol. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Samsung America Headquarters. Client Interview: Jim Elliott – Interviewer: Jonathan Ward. Ant Financial Z Space. Essay: They re Alive! Skyscrapers that Breathe, Evolve, and (Maybe Even) Move – Clifford Pearson. Tencent Seafront Towers. Client Interview: Chao (Ivan) Wan – Interviewer: Wei Hu. Rainier Square, The Realm and Great Room, Taikoo Place. Essay: New Methods, New Results – Phil Bernstein. Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center, Seattle City Light, Denny Substation. Essay: The Re-Socialization of Patient Care – Richard Dallam, Ryan Hullinger. Massachusetts General Hospital, Lunder Building. Client Interview: Jean Elrick – Interviewer: Joan Saba, Jay Siebenmorgen. New General Hospital. Essay: The Distance Between a Neuron and a Building – John J. Medina.

Two hundred photographs, culled from among some 40,000 taken over the course of thirty years, are accompanied here by poetic descriptions that reveal Bye’s sensibilities in yet another medium. Both photographs and text spring from the same wells of creativity that have made Bye one of America’s most sophisticated landscape architects.

Accented with detailed maps of renowned interior designer Tom Stringer’s extensive travels, this beautifully compiled monograph takes the reader on an immersive journey around the world and back again through the interiors of his eponymous firm’s finest residential projects. Stringer’s design approach is externally inspired and internally driven, largely informed by his great life passion: travel. His love of adventure resonates throughout this book; on each page, one sees how this remarkable designer’s imagination is simultaneously both rooted in the classics and expanded into innovative layers of colors, textures, cultures, and function.

Revealed through his personal history and influences, Stringer shares how he uses magical discoveries made on his global travels to create the most special living environments that are true to his clients own personalities and passions. He describes the design process as a voyage of discovering the distinctive narrative of each client and home, connecting them with a sense of wonder and the communal spirit of their space. Stringer’s unique approach to visual storytelling is encapsulated in the unique interiors of the residential projects highlighted here.

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.

A Grid and a Conversation presents a survey of work by the New York City based firm Morris Adjmi Architects, well known for the Samsung building along the High Line and the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This firm interprets the complex forces that shape our cities to create buildings that are contextual yet unmistakably contemporary. Deeply embedded in the firm’s practice is a belief in the Renaissance tradition of architecture, wherein buildings are inextricable from their cultural situation and intellectual function. With a rapidly rising profile and projects under construction in major cities across America, Morris Adjmi Architects is building on its previous ten-year partnership with the Italian architect, designer and scholar Aldo Rossi, with an understanding that the built environment is constantly evolving as it both absorbs and reacts to greater historical narratives; and this rich inheritance unfolds through a distinctive formal language and creative use of materials inspired by its urban milieu. From unexpected twists on classic building types like the all-glass interpretation of a cast-iron facade or the ghostly metallic duplicate of a brick warehouse, to the literally twisting steel tower that embodies the collision of Manhattan’s two primary street grids, this text traces the development and distillation of MA’s unique practice through key projects completed during its first 20 years. A Grid and a Conversation is interlaced with reflections from writers, scholars, and collaborators, including Diane Ghirardo, Bill Higgins, and Jimmy Stamp. These essays and conversations offer an insight into the array of influences that shape the work of Morris Adjmi Architects.

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.

Beginning with Habitat ’67, his seminal experimental housing project constructed for Montreal World’s Fair, Safdie has contributed meaningfully to the development of many building types – museums, libraries, performing arts centres, government facilities, airports and houses – and the realisation of entire cities. Volume Two of this new, two-volume monograph features an essay by Safdie presenting his current thoughts on the significant issues facing architecture today. Complementing it are texts by William Mitchell on the theme of a global practice responding to a wide range of varied local conditions, and by Thomas Fisher on Safdie’s books, which, like his buildings, continue to influence the international architecture community. Featured projects from around the world, include from the United States the Salt Lake City Main Public Library, the Peabody Essex Museum and the US Institute of Peace Headquarters; from Israel the Holocaust History Museum at Yad Vashem, the Yitzhak Rabin Center and the new city of Modi’in; from India, the Khalsa Heritage Memorial Complex; and from China, the Guangdong Science Center and the Guangzhou No. 2 Children’s Palace. Previously announced.

This new monograph celebrates the creative accomplishments of one of the world’s most influential architects, Cesar Pelli. The book surveys this extraordinary body of work in terms of the AIA’s Gold Medalist’s design, architecture, and planning, tracing Pelli’s motivation as a leading designer and teacher, and the evolution of his work over the span of half a century. More than 50 projects from around the globe – museums, theaters, offices, laboratories, airports, cultural centers, civic works, master plans – are presented in rich full color with insights from Pelli that delve into the design and construction of these landmarks from a practice that has thrived for nearly 40 years.

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.

Today’s tea aficionado is looking to imbibe tea within a meaningful space, be it at home or in a tea shop. Customers of tea shops enjoy the idea of “tea” as being “an experience”, inclusive of art, cultural themes, and strong design aesthetics. Better still if these motifs are found within a tea-shop that aligns with the shop’s branding and is able to mix modern tea products with new interior design styles, further increasing the customer’s sense of enjoyment of the entire shopping experience. Coupled with tea consumption needs across the world gradually increasing and the tea market expanding at higher rates than previously, the tea industry’s retail environment faces fierce competition. There’s a strong trend toward marrying a better awareness of the importance of effective interior design of a tea shop while striving to express a complete brand image and providing efficient service. In this magnificently illustrated book, a lead designer and tea brand consultant analyses the new design trends and brand management styles of a carefully selected group of tea shops from around the world.

This book explores close to fifty fashionable tea shops that are successful in the experimentation of mixing brand-new products with unique space experiences and providing excellent customer-focused interior designs. An excellent volume for those looking to enrich the retail environment of this diverse and fast-evolving industry.

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.

Elia Nurvista (born 1983 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia) focuses on the intersection between art and research-based community projects in her artistic practice. Many of her works center on food as an issue of political, cultural, social, and gender-specific relevance.

In Berlin, the artist visited a range of initiatives and projects for refugees to learn more about how they see our society, which is foreign from their perspective. The works resulting from this experience address our frequently ambiguous attitude to what is foreign to us: whereas ‘exotic’ luxury items and food such as tropical fruit are regarded as positive and precious, people who come to us as refugees from the same countries are often rejected as being ‘foreign,’ and their ‘exotic’ nature is sometimes even perceived as a threat. Elia Nurvista portrays this ambiguity with subtle irony, for instance by affixing contemporary official quality seals and brand labels to Old Masters still life paintings or historical pictures of the ‘noble savage,’ thus adding a humorous and critical layer of meaning and turning them into new, independent pieces of work.