A new perspective on a beloved cultural icon, its place in our history, and its meaning in the American imagination This elegantly written appreciation of the Empire State Building opens up the building's richness and importance as an icon of America. The book leads us through the facts surrounding the skyscraper's conception and construction, then enters into a provocative theoretical discussion of its function as an icon, its representation in pictures, literature, and film, and the implications of its iconic status as New York's most important architectural monument to ambition and optimism. The Empire State Building literally cannot be seen in its totality, from any perspective. And paradoxically, this building of unmistakable solidity has been made invisible by familiarity and reproduction through imagery. Mark Kingwell encourages us to look beneath the strong physical presence of the building, to become aware of its evolving layers of meaning, and to see how the building lives within a unique imaginative space in the landscape of the American consciousness. He offers new ways of understanding the Empire State Building in all its complexity and surprising insights into its special role as an American icon.

Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) is known as the architect who has guided Western design philosophy for half a millennium, creating forms that have been studied and reproduced from age to age and around the world. For architects and the public alike, his buildings have become enduring testaments to his architectural genius as creator of a timeless classicism. When Abbeville Press first published Andrea Palladio: The Architect in His Time in 1994, it was selected by Choice Magazine as "Outstanding Academic Book 1994", while The World of Interiors called it "undoubtedly one of the most important architectural books to be published for some time". Now Abbeville is pleased to release the revised concise edition of this essential resource. Featuring a newly updated bibliography, this handsome volume spans the entire career of Palladio, illuminating his work in the context of his historical era and his own extraordinary life. It invites us to view Palladio's masterpieces through the lens of Paolo Marton, moving across the thresholds of myriad villas, churches, and public edifices to illustrate the elegant proportions, crisp lines, and integrated geometries that are the hallmarks of Palladio's vision. From the immortal Villa Rotonda to the Venetian churches of the Redentore and San Giorgio Maggiore, from the city halls to the bridges, each masterpiece is described using plans, maps, and contemporary drawings and etchings along with brilliant photography. Combining modern scholarship with intriguing narrative, Palladio will educate and enlighten, helping readers understand the passion, joy, and beauty of one of the world's most fascinating ages of architecture.

Presenting a critical and theoretical dimension to retail design, Boutiques and Other Retail Spaces links the ideas behind it to real practice in this innovative and important contribution to architectural/interior theory literature.

Retail structure has been subject to a dramatic and ongoing transformation over the past thirty years, materializing in the emergence of large-scale out-of-town shopping centres and new specialized shops in city centres. These specialized boutiques are highly designed, involving well-known architectural firms such as OMA/Rem Koolhaas, David Chipperfield, Herzog + de Meuron amongst others.

With case studies and over 100 black and white images, Vernet and de Wit set forth original and well-grounded theory to accompany this popular and lucrative area of work.

How did a Roman waterworks work? How were the aqueducts planned and built? What happened to the water before it arrived in the aqueduct and after it left, in catchment, urban distribution and drainage? What were the hydraulics and drainage involved?In a comprehensive, generously illustrated study ranging through the Roman aqueducts of France, Germany, Spain, North Africa, Turkey and Israel as well as the Roman heartland of Italy, A. Trevor Hodge introduces us to these often neglected aspects of what the Romans themselves regarded as one of the greatest glories of their civilisation. "Roman Aqueducts" is now available for the first time in paperback, brought completely up-to-date with a new Preface and additional Bibliography.

Provides detailed formulas to help calculate the square footage required for every conceivable element of a library building. New to this edition are up-to-date specifications for computer workstations, and visual representations of complex configurations. Designed to be consulted after the decision to build has been made, it answers the critical question, 'How much space do we need?'

The future of public space is uncertain. Although public spaces have become increasingly shabby and crowded, novel alternatives have appeared in the form of fantastic, semi-public pleasure grounds, developed by well-heeled, crowd-pleasing entrepreneurs and devoted to profit, consumption, and self-indulgence. Philosophers and geographers have converged on the topic of public space, fascinated and in many ways alarmed by fundamental changes in the way post-industrial societies produce space for public use, and in the way citizens of these same societies perceive and constitute themselves as a public. The contributors to this volume advance this inquiry, making extensive use of political and social theory. Philosophy and Geography II: The Production of Public Space gives readers an enhanced appreciation of the intimate connections between political principles, social processes, and the commonplaces of our everyday environments.

"From the Ground Up describes Rincon in detail, from the day the brainstorm to bid on the land took shape in the mind of a Perini Co. executive until its champagne-soaked opening party...The book emerges as a helpful primer on what it takes to build a tiny, self-contained city. Engineering problems are cleanly explained, architectural cant is kept to a minimum and a bookshelf of financial detail is boiled down to essentials." (Marshall Kilduff, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review). "This engrossing study, flavored with the appeal of San Francisco and written by Los Angeles Times national correspondent Frantz, examines the combination of dreaming and entrepreneurship required to succeed in the cyclical realty business." (Publishers Weekly). "Frantz...is a business reporter of real skill and sophistication...The genius of [his] book is in the details." (Johnathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times).

Longwood in Natchez, Mississippi, is a celebration of American eccentricity. Dr. Haller Nutt, who made a fortune in cotton during the pre-Civil War boom, wanted a home that would be different, one with "character." His dream was romantic--to evoke past cultures by using the best from any era.

A Philadelphia architect, Samuel Sloan, published a work in 1851 called "The Model Architect" which featured an "Oriental Villa" in octagonal form with a Byzantine-Moorish dome on top. Using this design, Sloan set about to create a magnificent mansion for Nutt. In April 1861, Nutt's dreams were smashed by the Civil War. Construction on the mansion came to a halt as the northern workers abruptly dropped their tools and returned to their homes. Many of the tools are still in the unfinished interior exactly as they were left. Local laborers completed the basement portion of Longwood. It was here the Nutt family lived while the Civil War swirled across the South. Dr. Nutt died in 1864.

Seemingly lost from reality, today Longwood is the picturesque shell of one of America's most bizarre houses--a wonderful example of architectural folly and 19th century mentality.

The new building for the Alfred-Wegener-Institut fur Polar und Meeresforschung, named after Alfred Wegener, the famous geo-scientific pioneer, is near the city centre by the commercial harbor, not far from warehouses and other industrial buildings. What is striking is the unusual facade: a pattern is made with glazed tiles in white, grey and black, seeming more regular than it actually is. The architects--pictorially speaking--have set up poles at the corners of the plot and stretched fabric between them.

Santa Fes Scottish Rite Temple, built in 1912, is a historic landmark and the home of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in New Mexico. The buildingincluding its jewel box theater with original scenery collectionand its artifacts, represent a time capsule of Masonic culture and theatrical history. Essays examine the emergence of Freemasonry, key Masonic figures during New Mexicos territorial period through statehood, and the architectural significance of the iconic pink building and Freemasons use of it to the present. Illustrated with contemporary and historical images, the book reveals the theatrical production of Masonic degrees and the production of the magnificent scenic backdrops. Today, many of the countrys Masonic buildings are being repurposed and their collections are being liquidated. Through the heroic efforts of its members, the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple has been preserved, remaining under the continued stewardship of the Freemasons, who share their building with the community.

Text in English and German. Despite their usually very large volumes, works by Eckhard Gerber's Dortmund practice are structurally light and transparent, precise in their detail, and make an unmistakable impact on the urban space. Presenting the new exhibition centre in Karlsruhe, this Opus volume is devoted to a building complex with all the self-confidence of a city-within-a-city. Admittedly visitors are not aware of that until they have passed a breath-taking exhibition loggia whose daring roof, protruding powerfully along the whole length of the building, attracts attention even from a distance. The basic concept, tailored to the urban landscape, the functional ground-plan arrangement, the unusually subtle use of structures and materials for a large building of this kind, and not least the high design quality of all structural parts will certainly mean a high level of acceptance and a long future for the Neue Messe in Karlsruhe.

Since the end of the 20th century, an unprecedented number of remarkable museums have been built. None have had bigger worldwide implications than Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (199197). Until, that is, the new Musee des Confluences in Lyon was opened to the public, in late 2014. It was created by Wolf D. Prix of the Coop Himmelb(l)au team, which was founded in the 1970s. Many avant-garde groups from those wild years such as Archigram, Superstudio, Archizoom, Haus-Rucker-Co, and the Japanese Metabolists are now consigned to the past, but the Coop Himmelb(l)au architecture firm, whose special aspiration was always to bring into the world buildings that overcome the pull of the earth buildings 'to float on the horizon like clouds' is more in demand than ever. The finest demonstration of this endeavour to date can now be admired in Lyon. Functioning as a museum of human history, this impressive concrete, metal and glass colossus truly does appear to float above the peninsula at the confluence of the Rhone and the Saone. Like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, this new building, so impossible to overlook, is an inspiration for the revita-lisation of disrupted urban areas and the valorisation of derelict industrial areas within the city precincts, but also far beyond Lyon. This Opus volume deals with the origins, construction, function and formal appearance of the Musee des Confluences, and also offers a preliminary theoretically based evaluation of the architecture of the building. Frank R. Werner was professor of history and architecture theory at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Kunste Stuttgart from 1990 until 1994 and director of the Institut fur Architekturgeschichte und Architekturtheorie at the Bergische Universitat in Wuppertal from 1993 until his retirement in 2012. He studied painting, architecture and history of architecture in Mainz, Hanover and Stuttgart. Christian Richters studied communication design at the Folkwang-schule in Essen. He is one of the most sought-after architecture photographers in Europe. To date he has been represented in the Opus series by 14 volumes, including ones about the embassies of the Nordic countries and the Bode Museum in Berlin, the Nieuwe Luxor Theater in Rotterdam and the BMW Welt in Munich. See also: Opus 66. Coop Himmelb(l)au, BMW Welt, Munchen, Edition Axel Menges 2009.

Text in English and German. Linking art and architecture is one of the great Utopias of our century. Art has been released from its traditional bonds and sees itself faced with a world that has made systems independent to the extent that a link between art and building based on the idea of unity is no longer admissible. The collapse of our 'world into pieces' also typifies that situation of the arts looking for new orders. Now artist-architect Johannes Peter Holzinger, in co-operation with artists Eberhard Fiebig, Ottmar Horl/Formalhaut, Leonardo Mosso, Norbert Muller-Everling, Ansgar Nierhoff and Andreas Sobeck, working on the government buildings on the Hardthohe in Bonn, has succeeded in creating 'an avant-garde landmark that shows in the interplay of the arts that the avant-garde can also work positively in a team', as Dieter Ronte, director of the Stadtisches Kunstmuseum Bonn, put it in a contribution to this book. Holzinger links heterogeneous artistic positions in attempting an order of the different. The art in the outer areas of the complex mediates between the surroundings and the buildings. The visual signing system leads further into the centres, which are the same shape, of the existing administrative buildings, and creates some thing that is unmistakable there. The special structures designed by Holzinger, an intermediate form of architecture and landscape developed from the relief, include the earth itself, and in the casino architecture and art combine to form an indissoluble unit.

Air pollution resulting from high energy consumption is a major factor threatening our environment. Heating buildings accounts for about 40 per cent of Germany's total energy consumption.Current heat-insulation regulations for buildings aimed at reducing energy consumption have become considerably more stringent. However, greater heat insulation and energy saving necessarily restrict the exchange of air between outside and inside the building. This means that air quality in the building deteriorates and CO(2) and other pollutant contents increase.

For this reason, when planning the district headquarters for the Berufsgenossenschaft Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspflege (Professional Association for Health and Welfare) in Dresden the aim was to produce an economical, environment-friendly building with a high proportion of solar heating and workplaces designed ergonomically and with an eye to health requirements.

The main architectural features of the building are a glass wall running the full length of the south side, large glazed areas on the east and west sides and solid walls enclosing the building on the east, west and north sides. The curved roof opens to the south, thus establishing the building's relation to the sun. The building is conceived in such a way that the solar energy is used first and foremost passively via the building's outer sheath. Special glass converts light into warmth even when light radiation is diffuse. In this way solar energy meets 50 per cent of the building's total energy needs.

The atmosphere inside the building is determined mainly by the subtropical plants used to improve and condition the air. This creates interesting, pleasant workplaces that make a different impression as the seasons change. The offices are divided up by shelf units, which makes it possible to adapt flexibly to changing needs.

As the signature event of Hong Kong Interior Design Association (HKIDA), APIDA aims to promote professional standards among interior design practices, recognise outstanding interior design projects and invites interior design on a broader social level. Many outstanding submissions have not only grown in number this year, but also completed on a whole new level. Many projects pursue minimalism, adhering to the user-oriented view, reinforcing the intimate relationship among design, nature and man, transcending good interior design to sculpt space, emphasising the balance between architecture and nature with tranquil atmosphere, and pushing the boundaries of design.

The Neue Nationalgalerie on the Berlin Kulturforum is an architectural icon as well as the crowning conclusion of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's life work. An outstandingly successful and sensitive refurbishment and modernization project was carried out for the building's most significant overhaul since its opening in 1968. It complies with the requirements of a contemporary museum exhibition facility, as well as monument-preservation guidelines. David Chipperfield Architects developed the renovation concept under the motto of "As much Mies as possible." This publication provides deep insight into the planning, execution, monument preservation, and restoration from the perspective of those involved. The exemplary handling of the historical fabric is presented in design documents and numerous large-format photographs that impressively illustrate the design stage, the construction site, and the refurbishment results. With articles by David Chipperfield, Bernhard Furrer, Gunny Harboe, Joachim Jager, Dirk Lohan, Fritz Neumeyer, Alexander Schwarz, Gerrit Wegener, and some 30 project managers

As our lives accelerate to keep pace with today's frantic world, the possibility of truly arriving at a destination grows in importance. Interior designers are faced with the challenge of creating rooms that allow an authentic stillness in the most inherently transient of interior spaces. The title showcases a wide variety of takes on the recurring theme of the hotel room. Featured are 101 different design concepts by two spe - cialists in the field of hospitality design. The selection of projects covers the broadest possible spectrum: redesign - ing the interior of historic grand hotels, creative solutions for budget hotels as well as prize wining design hotels. What makes this title a valuable reference is the direct insight into the planning process of two professional and highly successful interior designers.

Made in Taiwan oscillates between the description of a specific place and a broader critical reflection regarding the relationship between space and modes of production. Taiwan stands as an exceptional case of a newly developed country where the disjunction between state and society, along with certain autonomy of economics from politics, favored explosive economic development and wide societal improvement. With the knowledge-based economy setting a new global paradigm of production, Taiwan offers an opportunity to reflect on the spacial implications of such a paradigm.

Pharmacies constitute a special form of commercial architecture. The market for medicines, which is heavily regulated in most countries, has led to a veritable competition of the "atmosphere of space": since where product and price can no longer provide a competitive advantage, customer loyalty must be created with other means. In addition to professional competence and familiarity with the customers, that becomes above all the ambiance. That in turn translates to the modern and hygienic pharmacy, together with a friendly and assuring spatial experience. The selected examples show the design sophistication with which pharmacies today, from a functional as well as atmospheric standpoint, set themselves apart from the historical chemists' shelves - and the competitors.

A critical survey of contemporary museums, as well as a reference in the field of architecture. The book analyzes the design and production of museum complexes all over the world in the last decade, and gives a critical interpretation of one of the most challenging subjects in the recent architectural panorama. The author organizes 89 designed and mostly built museums through a series of critical categories each introduced by a short introduction: "Essential," "Monolith," "Archeology," "Insert," "Overlapping," "Theatre," "Context" . The work of the most important contemporary masters such as Alvaro Siza, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Massimiliano Fuksas, Renzo Piano, Steven Holl, Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind crosses the most recent research and and experiences in the world of museum's. The works of emerging architects such as Tezuka Architects, Mansilla & Tunon, Asymptote, Diller + Scofidio, Delugan Meissle, UN studio, Michael Maltzan, and many others shows clearly how museum design became a fundamental field of research on the changing nature of the public spaces as well as on the relevant relationship between landscape and architecture.