Warm, inviting, embracing the indoor-outdoor lifestyle with a touch of the exotic, tropical modern homes are a dream of paradise realized. Contemporary tropical residential architecture has risen from a geographically specific homegrown aesthetic to a source of inspiration for the world s great modern architects and designers. Set in exotic locales, with pools, lush foliage, colorful gardens, these homes define a way of life. Frequently elegant and uncluttered, the houses serve as models of smart and beautiful design with lots of ideas for homeowners who do not necessarily live in a tropical or subtropical climate, but who wish to have something of that appeal and sensitivity in their own home. This book presents some of the most innovative interpretations of the genre from the past five years by internationally recognized architects and interior decorators, such as Tadao Ando, as well the work of young up-and-comers of great talent, including German-born, Bali-based Alexis Dornier, and Mexico s Roof

The Case Study House program (1945 1966) was an exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture and remains to this day unique. The program, which concentrated on the Los Angeles area and oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed during the postwar building boom. Highly experimental, the program generated houses that were designed to redefine the modern home, and thus had a pronounced influence on architecture American and international both during the program's existence and even to this day. This compact guide includes all projects featured in our XL version, with over 150 photos and plans and a map of where all houses are (or were) located.

This book aspires to create a wide perspective on the various trends in current Finnish office architecture, from traditional brick buildings to the imaginative glazed towers and glass facades today. Featuring 14 contemporary buildings -- a selection of the very best of Finnish office architecture from the present century -- these buildings show that modern Finnish office architecture represents cutting-edge high-technology with a humane and caring aspect.

Growing numbers of us work not only from home, but from anywhere; job flexibility has become a key requirement for employers and workers alike. This, in turn, has created new challenges for architects and designers many of whom themselves start out working from home who are tackling demand head on with innovative solutions that allow clients to transform their spaces to suit a wide range of needs, from multifunctional studios to homes that seamlessly combine work and family life. Divided into five thematic sections, this book explores the exciting variety of ways that the workplace can be integrated into the domestic environment. From stand-alone multifunctional furniture to mobile room dividers and dynamic solutions that fold out or pop up to create new work areas, each design addresses the unique needs of the space, client and working practices for which it was required, and tackles new questions about the rapidly evolving relationship between work and domestic life in the 21st century. This es

A temptation to dream This book explores contemporary interiors in the sun-soaked land that stretches from the Sahara to the Mediterranean: Morocco. The diversity is breathtaking: the rural pis? architecture of the south is a far cry from the Hispano-Mooresque ornamental beauty of the imperial cities. Moroccan Interiors are as endlessly varied as the country itself, from the restored palaces in the medina of Marrakesh (where aesthetes of the international set now live) to humble troglodyte fishermen's homes at Sidi Moussa d?Aglou. The colorful palette of this country and the light there themselves suffuse these very different homes with a vitality that is as distinctive to modern Morocco as it is a reflection of contemporary trends in d?cor worldwide. The author: Lisa Lovatt-Smith was born in 1967 in Barcelona of British parents. She has since lived in London, Madrid and Milan. At eighteen she began a meteoric career at the various international editions of Vogue. She has since decided to concentrate on writi

show up to 2 reviews by default Wherever they go, anyone who visits Barcelona today will come across the works of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926), the architect who has attracted art-lovers from all over the world to Spain. It was there, in the capital of Catalonia, that the famous master of architecture produced nearly all of his works. Raised during the Industrial Revolution, Gaudi strove to distinguish and reaffirm the identity of his native Catalonia as Spain and the rest of Europe modernized. Early neo-Gothic designs were the stepping-stone to the mature, original style that came to be synonymous with his name. Incorporating bold colors and odd bits of material into his designs, Gaudi created inspiring, visionary buildings and helped establish Barcelona (most notably with the still-unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral) as a city of the world.

With a complete statistical record since the 1896 founding of the modern Games—including medals won and times, distances, or scores recorded by the top eight competitors in all events (from staples such as the marathon to long-discontinued competitions such as the tug of war), this encyclopedic tome contains anything anyone could ever need or want to know about the modern Olympic Games. Far from a dry compendium of names, numbers, and scoring systems, this book also contains a summary history of every event at each of the 26 modern Games, enriched with an extraordinary wealth of Olympic lore and anecdote. The authors provide thought-provoking analysis of issues and controversies from shamateurism to drug-taking and corruption, and they have sieved through more than a century of Olympic history to assemble a mind-boggling collection of stories that range from the inspiring, through the comic, to the bizarre. Such long-forgotten characters are included as the boy who was plucked from the streets of Paris

Antonio Gaud (1852-1926) is one of the best-known architects of the 20th century. Even today, some 75 years after Gaud 's death, his playful, exuberant buildings continue to influence architects, sculptors, and designers. Perhaps most identified with the dynamic, sculptural facades found on his structures, Gaud is respected as much for his technological innovations as for his daring style. In this enlightening, portable volume, a concise, knowledgeable text by the director of the C tedra Gaud at the University of Barcelona is brilliantly illustrated with 200 images by a gifted architectural photographer to provide a new perspective on Gaud 's remarkable career. The author traces all the influences that led to the architect's definitive style, from his fascination with the Orient and Neogothicism to his love of naturalism and geometric forms. Here is the full range of his oeuvre, from the innovative residences for the G ell family to his unfinished masterpiece, the Church of the Sagrada Familia, which occu

TASCHEN's Great Adventure began back in 1980, when eighteen-year-old Benedikt Taschen opened a shop in his native Cologne,Germany, to market his massive comics collection. Within a year he began publishing catalogs promoting his wares, but it wasn't until 1984 that his first art-book breakthrough occurred: he purchased 40,000 remainder copies of a Magritte book printed in English,reselling them for a fraction of their original price. From a young age, Taschen had been interested in art but found that art books were too expensive and hard to obtain, and the success of this daring move proved that Taschen was not alone in thinking that the art-book market should be democratized. Soon he began reprinting books under his own name for budget prices and the next year he published his first original title and the first book in the Basic Artseries: Picasso. Before long, high-quality-yet-still-inexpensive hard-cover books were added to the lineup and in 1989 the landmark double-jumbo Van Gogh: The Complete Painting

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