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Books > Arts & Architecture > Architecture > Individual architects
The first history of Frank Lloyd Wright's exhibitions of his own work--a practice central to his career More than one hundred exhibitions of Frank Lloyd Wright's work were mounted between 1894 and his death in 1959. Wright organized the majority of these exhibitions himself and viewed them as crucial to his self-presentation as his extensive writings. He used them to promote his designs, appeal to new viewers, and persuade his detractors. Wright on Exhibit presents the first history of this neglected aspect of the architect's influential career. Drawing extensively from Wright's unpublished correspondence, Kathryn Smith challenges the preconceived notion of Wright as a self-promoter who displayed his work in search of money, clients, and fame. She shows how he was an artist-architect projecting an avant-garde program, an innovator who expanded the palette of installation design as technology evolved, and a social activist driven to revolutionize society through design. While Wright's earliest exhibitions were largely for other architects, by the 1930s he was creating public installations intended to inspire debate and change public perceptions about architecture. The nature of his exhibitions expanded with the times beyond models, drawings, and photographs to include more immersive tools such as slides, film, and even a full-scale structure built especially for his 1953 retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum. Placing Wright's exhibitions side by side with his writings, Smith shows how integral these exhibitions were to his vision and sheds light on the broader discourse concerning architecture and modernism during the first half of the twentieth century. Wright on Exhibit features color renderings, photos, and plans, as well as a checklist of exhibitions and an illustrated catalog of extant and lost models made under Wright's supervision.
Famed for his motto "less is more," Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) was one of the founding fathers of modern architecture and a hotly-debated tastemaker of twentieth-century aesthetics and urban experience. Mies van der Rohe's philosophy was one of underlying truth in pure forms and proportions. With the help of contemporary technological and material developments, he sought a stripped-down purity to architecture, showcased by the likes of the Seagram Building and Farnsworth House. Some spoke out against this stark approach as the precursor to bland, generic cityscapes. Others cite Mies van der Rohe as the ultimate master of an abidingly elegant essence. This book presents more than 20 of Mies van der Rohe's projects from the period 1906-1967 to introduce his groundbreaking practise and influence in both America and Europe. About the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Architecture series features: an introduction to the life and work of the architect the major works in chronological order information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts, and plans)
The church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, also called San Carlino, is an architectural artefact that continues to attract numerous hypotheses and geometric analyses attempting to explain its form and meaning. Numerous investigations have attempted to reveal its underlying geometrical principles, without, however, reaching a consensus. Finding San Carlino presents an edited collection of perspectives on Borromini's famous Baroque church from a range of established and emerging scholars in architectural history and theory, including Werner Oechslin, Karsten Harries, Michael Hill and Lauren Jacobi amongst others. This book offers the reader different means of engaging with, enjoying and articulating San Carlino's complexity, non-consensus and ambiguity. It is precisely such a unique disposition that motivates this book to explore multiple modes of architectural enquiry and delve into a series of theoretical and historiographical questions such as: why was Borromini not able to post-rationalize his architecture with his drawings? What is San Carlino's exemplary value, and why does it continually engender exegetical and hermeneutic desire? What is the role of geometry in architecture, in history and today? Written for researchers, scholars and postgraduate students in architectural history and theory, the book uses San Carlino as an enigmatic centering point for a set of significant contemporary voices to explore new modes of confrontation and comparison.
Few figures in the American arts have stories richer in irony than does architect Minoru Yamasaki. While his twin towers of New York's World Trade Center are internationally iconic, few who know the icon recognize its architect's name or know much about his portfolio of more than 200 buildings. One is tempted to call him America's most famous forgotten architect. He was classed in the top tier of his profession in the 1950s and '60s, as he carried modernism in novel directions, yet today he is best known not for buildings that stand but for two projects that were destroyed under tragic circumstances: the twin towers and the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis. This book undertakes a reinterpretation of Yamasaki's significance that combines architectural history with the study of his intersection with defining moments of American history and culture. The story of the loss and vulnerability of Yamasaki's legacy illustrates the fragility of all architecture in the face of natural and historical forces, yet in Yamasaki's view, fragility is also a positive quality in architecture: the source of its refinement, beauty, and humanity. We learn something essential about architecture when we explore this tension of strength and fragility. In the course of interpreting Yamasaki's architecture through the wide lens of the book we see the mid-century role of Detroit as an industrial power and architectural mecca; we follow a debate over public housing that entailed the creation and eventual destruction of many thousands of units; we examine competing attempts to embody democratic ideals in architecture and to represent those ideals in foreign lands; we ponder the consequences of anti-Japanese prejudice and the masculism of the architectural profession; we see Yamasaki's style criticized for its arid minimalism yet equally for its delicacy and charm; we observe Yamasaki making a great name for himself in the Arab world but his twin towers ultimately destroyed by Islamic militants. As this curious tale of ironies unfolds, it invites reflection on the core of modern architecture's search for meaning and on the creative possibilities its legacy continues to offer. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 color illustrations of Yamasaki's buildings, this book will be of interest to students, academics and professionals in a range of disciplines, including architectural history, architectural theory, architectural preservation, and urban design and planning.
Robert L. Thompson, FAIA, is the founder and lead design principal of the Portland-based firm TVA Architects, a firm that has built a foundation of collaboration, innovation, and conservation through beautiful design. He is responsible for the design of many of the most prominent buildings throughout Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. TVA Architects creatively transforms their clients' needs and aspirations into elegantly understated works of meaningful architecture, meticulously detailed and impeccably crafted. The projects documented in this book coincide with the fortieth anniversary of this celebrated architect and his body of work as a designer and innovator. He founded TVA Architects in 1984 and built an internationally recognised practice, starting in the Pacific Northwest. In 1993, at the age of thirty-nine, Thompson was the youngest architect in America to be inducted into the American Institute of Architects' College of Fellows for his contribution to the profession. Thompson and TVA Architects have been honored with scores of local, national, and international awards for excellence in design. His projects have ranged from major corporate campuses, high-rise office towers and condominium towers, sports and recreational facilities, retail and cultural projects as well as multi- and single-family residences. This lavishly illustrated monograph, filled with full-colour photography and detailed plans, forms a compilation of select work that celebrates Thompson's influence across architecture over several decades.
Kay Fisker (1893-1965) is considered one of the most influential Danish architects of the twentieth century, and yet there has existed until now no in-depth English-language study of his works and writing. Published as part of the Bloomsbury Studies in Modern Architecture series, which brings to light the work of significant yet overlooked modernist architects, this book examines Fisker's key projects - from his early railway stations and innovative housing projects to the Danish Academy in Rome - and analyses his work as a historian and writer. Fisker's output is closely associated with the functional tradition, a hybridization of international modernism and regional architectural typologies, and this book shows how his architectural poetics can be understood as an amalgamation of an ideal order with the contingent conditions of landscapes and urban sites. Hybridization is not only a valuable notion for understanding Fisker, the book argues, it can also be applied to an understanding of modernist architecture as a whole, with its various expressions, agendas and tensions both regionally and internationally.
Architecture as Civil Commitment analyses the many ways in which Lucio Costa shaped the discourse of Brazilian modern architecture, tracing the roots, developments, and counter-marches of a singular form of engagement that programmatically chose to act by cultural means rather than by political ones. Split into five chapters, the book addresses specific case-studies of Costa's professional activity, pointing towards his multiple roles in the Brazilian federal government and focusing on passages of his work that are much less known outside of Brazil, such as his role inside Estado Novo bureaucracy, his leadership at SPHAN, and his participation in UNESCO's headquarters project, all the way to the design of Brasilia. Digging deep into the original documents, the book crafts a powerful historical reconstruction that gives the international readership a detailed picture of one of the most fascinating architects of the 20th century, in all his contradictory geniality. It is an ideal read for those interested in Brazilian modernism, students and scholars of architectural and urban planning history, socio-cultural and political history, and visual arts.
Architect to some of the nation's wealthiest achievers in the first half of the twentieth century, Lilian Rice was given an unprecedented opportunity in 1923 to oversee the design of Rancho Santa Fe, a master-planned community catering to the rich and famous. In recent years, critics have depicted her as deceptive, leading her early clients in Rancho Santa Fe to believe she was a licensed architect to gain their trust and lucrative commissions. Despite the unproven and outlandish controversy, eleven of Lilian Rice's homes are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, scores more are county landmarks, and several garnered her honor awards from the American Institute of Architects. This book, researched by Lilian Rice's biographer Diane Y. Welch, uncovers the truth about the obscure architect, introduces her clients (which include some of Hollywood's brightest stars), and tells of the times in which she lived.
Originally published in 1986 Holford is not just a biography of a major architect, planner and civic designer. In describing the life and times of the man, the authors provide a fascinating analysis of the developments in British architecture and planning from the 1930s to the 1970s. The book explains the story of a wartime policies for post-war reconstruction and examines policies which have had a major influence on the shaping of modern towns and cities. Holford's involvement in planning in the post-war period shows how gradually the concept of 'civic design' has been discarded to the detriment of the urban landscape. His position in the thick of development conflicts, such as that of Piccadilly, have much to tell us about the workings of developers and planning authorities, and the failings of the planning system in the pressures for growth in the 1960s. In this key period of British architectural and planning history, Holford was a leading actor, and describing his role the book provides a very readable account of a little explored area.
Queer Sites in Global Contexts showcases a variety of cross-cultural perspectives that foreground the physical and online experiences of LGBTQ+ people living in the Caribbean, South and North America, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. The individual chapters-a collection of research-based texts by scholars around the world-provide twelve compelling case studies: queer sites that include buildings, digital networks, natural landscapes, urban spaces, and non-normative bodies. By prioritizing divergent histories and practices of queer life in geographies that are often othered by dominant queer studies in the West-female sex workers, people of color, indigenous populations, Latinx communities, trans identities, migrants-the book constructs thoroughly situated, nuanced discussions on queerness through a variety of research methods. The book presents tangible examples of empirical research and practice-based work in the fields of queer and gender studies; geography, architectural, and urban theory; and media and digital culture. Responding to the critical absence surrounding experiences of non-White queer folk in Western academia, Queer Sites in Global Contexts acts as a timely resource for scholars, activists, and thinkers interested in queer placemaking practices-both spatial and digital-of diverse cultures.
This book explores Louis I. Kahn's approach to tradition as revealed in two of his important, unbuilt, projects. Focusing on Kahn's designs for the Dominican Motherhouse of St. Catherine de Ricci, Media, Pennsylvania (1965-1969), and the Hurva Synagogue, Jerusalem, Israel (1967-1974), the book challenges prevailing aesthetic and methodological assessments of Kahn's use of tradition. It reveals how an authentic and critical theoretical-historical and humanistic study of tradition nourished Kahn's designs, enabling him to mediate historical rituals, ideas and beliefs - and to develop innovative designs rooted deep in human culture while addressing real modern concerns. The book evaluates Kahn's works as a creative recreation and re-interpretation of the past, shedding light on the potential value of the meaningful consideration of tradition in modern times.
The volume Nicolas Party | L'Heure Mauve collects a vast visual epic in which Party plays a variety of roles, sometimes impersonating the artist, others the scenographer, the conservator, or the sculptor. His work, and the title of the show, are inspired by L'Heure Mauve, a piece created in 1921 by the Canadian painter Ozlas Leduc that highlights the different interpretations given to the relationship between man and nature throughout the history of art. The result is a constantly changing natural environment: it can be a place full of danger and catastrophe, a territory to be conquered, an expanse disseminated with ancient ruins, or even silences where there are no traces of human presence. Nature finally becomes the theatre for the Anthropocene, its connection with humanity by now inextricable, and the passing of time and the finiteness of existence make way for a feeling of melancholy. Our artist interrogates the world's image, and he does so by dialoguing very concretely with the spaces and the works belonging to the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The present volume reflects this personal evolution by employing a unique graphic framework and a packaging that is as precious as its contents. Text in English and French.
Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) made a unique modernist mark. Influenced by both the landscape and the political independence of his native Finland, he designed warm, curving, compassionate buildings, wholly set apart from the slick, mechanistic, geometric designs that characterized much contemporary European practice. Whether a church, a villa, a sauna, or a public library, Aalto's organic structures tended to replace plaster and steel with brick and wood, often incorporating undulating, wave-like forms, which would also appear in his chair, glassware, and lamp designs. An adherent to detail, Aalto insisted upon the humanity of his work stating: "Modern architecture does not mean using immature new materials; the main thing is to work with materials towards a more human line." Many of Aalto's public buildings such as Saynatsalo Town Hall, the lecture theatre at Otaniemi Technical University, the Helsinki National Pensions Institute and the Helsinki House of Culture may be seen as psychological as well as physical landmarks in the rebuilding of Finland after the ravages of war. About the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Architecture series features: an introduction to the life and work of the architect the major works in chronological order information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts, and plans)
The Academy celebrates the architect John Simpson's newly finished building for the School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana: the Walsh Family Hall. The language of John Simpson's architecture, which derives from the fifth century BC, has been daringly applied to new uses and an instant landmark of exceptional interest has been created. Through a judicious combination of Classical richness and warehouse-like workspace the Walsh Family Hall provides a humane and joyous series of spaces, which elevates the spirits of those entering and passing through it. This book describes not only the architecture of the Walsh Family Hall but the process whereby it came into existence, with written contributions from the generous donors, Matt and Joyce Walsh; Dean Michael Lykoudis, who commissioned the building; and some of the students who work in these uplifting surroundings. Further educational works by John Simpson such as his new 'yard' for Eton College and major new improvements to the Royal College of Music in London are described, with an essay by Simpson describing his approach. All these works are presented and explored with full colour commissioned photography, drawn plans and original sketches throughout. John Simpson Architects believes that Classicism can enhance life in the twenty-first century by creating inspirational spaces that relate to the proportions of the human body - a view of architecture that is triumphantly demonstrated in the Academy that is the Walsh Family Hall.
Zaha Hadid was a revolutionary architect, who for many years built almost nothing, despite winning critical acclaim. Some even said her audacious, futuristic designs were unbuildable. During the latter years of her life, Hadid's daring visions became a reality, bringing a unique new architectural language to cities and structures as varied as the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, hailed by The New York Times as "the most important new building in America since the Cold War"; the MAXXI Museum in Rome; the Guangzhou Opera House in China; and the London 2012 Olympics Aquatics Centre. At the time of her unexpected death in 2016, Hadid was firmly established among the elite of world architecture, recognized as the first woman to win both the Pritzker Prize for architecture and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, but above all as a giver of new forms, the first great architect of the noughties. From her early sharply angled buildings to later more fluid architecture that made floors, ceilings, walls, and furniture part of an overall design, this essential introduction presents key examples of Hadid's pioneering practice. She was an artist, as much as an architect, who fought to break the old rules and crafted her own 21st-century universe. About the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Architecture series features: an introduction to the life and work of the architect the major works in chronological order information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts, and plans)
Dynamic Cartography analyses the works of Rudolf Laban, Lawrence Halprin, Anne Bogart, Adolphe Appia, Cedric Price, Joan Littlewood, and Helio Oiticica. They are practitioners who have worked on different areas of enquiry from the existing relations between body and space through movement, events, or actions but whose work has never been presented from this perspective or in this context. The work and methodologies set up by these practitioners enable us to develop a practice-based exploration. Some of the experiments in the book - Micro-actions I and II - explore the presence of the body in the space. In Kinetography I and II, Laban's dance notation system - kinetography - is used to create these dynamic cartographies. Kinetography III proposes the analysis of an urban public space through the transcription of the body movement contained on it. The series Dynamic Cartographies I, II, and III analyses movement in geometrically controlled spaces through the Viewpoints techniques by Anne Bogart. Finally, Wooosh! and Trellick Tales present two projects in which performance is applied in order to analyse and understand urban and architectural space.
Architecture is a challenging profession. The education is rigorous and the licensing process lengthy; the industry is volatile and compensation lags behind other professions. All architects make a huge investment to be able to practice, but additional obstacles are placed in the way of women and people of color. Structural Inequality relates this disparity through the stories of twenty black architects from around the United States and examines the sociological context of architectural practice. Through these experiences, research, and observation, Victoria Kaplan explores the role systemic racism plays in an occupation commonly referred to as the "white gentlemen's profession." Given the shifting demographics of the United States, Kaplan demonstrates that it is incumbent on the profession to act now to create a multicultural field of practitioners who mirror the changing client base. Structural Inequality provides the context to inform and facilitate the necessary conversation on increasing diversity in architecture.
Since launching his practice in 2001 with The Lawns, which was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize, Nick Eldridge has become renowned for his beautiful bespoke houses. This book provides a wide-ranging survey of his key projects up to the present day including the Manser Medal-winning house, Greenways in Coombe Park. Eldridge is an architectural storyteller: thoughtfully responding to different landscapes, settings, histories and clients, each house explores fresh narratives, while at the same time, being connected by strong threads to a cohesive body of work. Throughout the book, from earliest projects to new work, including a beach house in Shoreham, a barn conversion in Cornwall and an innovative modern modular house in Devon, Eldridge's work explores and experiments: his houses feel fresh and different, lifted by an innovative approach to tectonic engineering and form fused with a passion for artisanal interiors, fine detailing and characterful materials. They show the architect's varied influences: from Arts & Crafts and mid-century modern through to hi-tech design - Eldridge spent six years with Norman Foster. The projects analysed in the book are broadly divided into two main sections: new build projects, and highly imaginative, responsive adaptations, extensions and reinventions of existing buildings.
National Parks are Britain's breathing spaces - protected areas enjoyed by the millions of visitors attracted every year by their tranquillity, beauty and landscape. Fifteen National Parks cover a significant share of Britain's total land area - 10 per cent of England, 20 per cent of Wales, and 7 per cent of Scotland. Yet despite their importance, few people today are aware of the campaign in the 1930s and 1940s to establish National Parks. And fewer still know the name of the man who was its principal driving force. John Dower was an architect, a planner, a prodigious walker, an accomplished writer and, above all, a fighter. Fight for It Now is the first biography to be written about him, and the title reflects his one great objective and the increasing urgency of attaining it as his health declined. Drawing on extensive national archives and his private papers and letters, the book describes Dower's early work with pressure groups like the Friends of the Lake District and the Council for the Protection of Rural England, and then his subsequent move during the Second World War to an influential position inside government, focusing on post-war reconstruction. While German bombs were falling on British cities, it was part of Dower's job to quarter the English countryside and identify potential areas for National Parks. Dower's most influential contribution was his 'one-man White Paper' National Parks in England and Wales published at the end of the war in 1945. The 'Dower Report' addressed key questions on the criteria for selecting National Parks, where they should be located, who they were for, and how they should be administered, and it paved the way at last for the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. While overcoming opponents both outside and inside government, Dower wrote continuously as though his project could only be hammered out at white heat. And all the while, the one struggle he knew he could not win was the tuberculosis that eventually killed him, at the tragically early age of forty-seven.
The urban research projects of Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman made the Tijuana-San Diego border region a global laboratory for engaging the central challenges of urbanization. The projects engage urban and political confl ict as a creative tool, and demonstrate the capacity of architecture and design to confront exclusion and homogenization in the city, and propose alternative strategies for more inclusive urban development.
J. Irwin Miller:The Shaping of An American Town tells the life story of this remarkable man who led Cummins Engine Company from its roots as a small, family business to an international Fortune 500 company and transformed Columbus, Indiana, into a gem of midcentury modern architecture. As president and then chairman of Cummins, Miller emphasized a corporation's responsibility to the community in which it was located and its other stakeholders. Miller's commitment to Columbus architecture inspired such legends as I. M. Pei, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Kevin Roche, and others to contribute their designs to what has become one of the most artistically revolutionary towns in the country. Columbus's unique public art and architecture continue to inspire young architects and attract visitors from around the world. Miller has also played a significant role in the American civil rights movement, securing cosponsorship for the March on Washington and working with presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to help pass the Civil Rights Act. Martin Luther King Jr., once called Miller "the most socially responsible businessman in the country."
Renaissance master Andrea Palladio's architectural DNA can be seen on modern-day icons from Buckingham Palace to the White House, from numerous English stately homes to Virginian plantation houses. In THE PERFECT HOUSE Witold Rybczynski travels along the Brenta River in north-eastern Italy to experience the surviving original Palladian villas for himself. He sets out to discover how a rustic sixteenth-century stonemason, born Andrea di Pietro, first had to become 'cultured' before he could be one of the most respected architects of all time, and how Palladio managed to bring the elegance of Ancient Rome to the Venetian countryside. Out of the chaos of hired cars and cheap flights, towns packed with 'Ristoranti Palladio' and herds of tourists, Rybczynski savours moments of epiphany as he contemplates Palladio's perfect houses. Part travelogue, part historical biography, part architectural guide, THE PERFECT HOUSE is a delightful and enlightening exploration of the birth of domestic architecture and the man who spawned it.
This book traces the ideal of total environmental control through the intellectual and geographic journey of Knud Loenberg- Holm, a forgotten Danish architect who promoted a unique systemic, cybernetic, and ecological vision of architecture in the 1930s. A pioneering figure of the new objectivity and international constructivism in Germany in 1922 and a celebrated peer of radical figures in De Stijl, the Bauhaus, and Russian constructivism, when he emigrated to Detroit in 1923 he introduced the vanguard theory of productivism through his photography, essays, designs, and pedagogy. By following Loenberg- Holm's ongoing matrix of relations until the postwar era with the European vanguards in CIAM and former members of the Structural Study Associates (SSA), especially Fuller, Frederick Kiesler, and C. Theodore Larson, this study shows how their definition of building as a form of environmental control anticipated the contemporary disciplines of industrial ecology, industrial metabolism, and energy accounting. |
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