London is swinging again. The latest design trends, the best musicals, the most innovative plays and films are born in the capital of Cool Britannia. What catches on in Notting Hill, Soho and Hoxton now influences taste as far away as the North Cape and Tierra del Fuego. At the same time, the city on the Thames, one of the most cosmopolitan on the planet, is home to people from every corner of the world and has assimilated many of their traditions and tastes. With over 300 pages of rich color photographs, London Interiors takes an intimate look at more than 40 private residences, among others the Indian-inspired hideaway of musician Talvin Singh and an amusing houseboat moored in Kew. From a 1930s penthouse at Highpoint Two, landmark of British Modernism, via the eccentric home of a Royalist living among Lady Di memorabilia to a loft crammed with sexy kitsch.

Large-format hardcover edition at a new low price. The sights, smells and sounds of India draw legions of travellers every year in awe of the changing terrain and countryside, but to truly experience the range and diversity of this huge country one needs to gaze into the many spectacular residences, as rich and eclectic as the landscape that surrounds them. Indian Interiors provides a longing glimpse into these exotic abodes. India's visual culture is ruled by bright colours, religious decoration and the unrelenting heat of the sun, and designers have responded to this challenge in many ways over the centuries. With this book as guide, you can wander into the restored splendour of ancient Maharajas' palaces, enjoy living in houseboats on the lotus-covered lakes of Kashmir, or cool off in imposing colonial buildings built for British rulers wilting in the tropical heat. This is truly a world of contrasts, as we move from simple but beautifully hand-painted tribal huts to the L.A. influenced h

Born and raised in Vienna, Richard Neutra (1872-1970) came to America early in his career, settling in California. His influence on post-war architecture is undisputed, the sunny climate and rich landscape being particularly suited to his cool, sleek modern style. Neutra had a keen appreciation for the relationship between people and nature; his trademark plate glass walls and ceilings which turn into deep overhangs have the effect of connecting the indoors with the outdoors. Neutra's ability to incorporate technology, aesthetics, science, and nature into his designs him recognition as one of Modernist architecture`s greatest talents.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886 1969) was one of the founding fathers of modern architecture. The creator of the Barcelona Pavilion (1929), the Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois (1945 1951) and the Seagram Building in New York (1954 1958), Mies was one of the founders of a new architectural style. Well known for his motto "less is more," he sought a kind of refined purity in architectural expression that was not seen in the reduced vocabulary of other Bauhaus members. His goal was not simply building for those of modest income but building economically in terms of sustainability, both in a technical and aesthetical way; the use of industrial materials such as steel and glass were the foundation of this approach. Though the extreme reduction of form and material in his work garnered some criticism, over the years many have tried mostly unsuccessfully to copy his original and elegant style.

Born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, Le Corbusier (1887-1965) adopted his famous pseudonym after publishing his ideas in the review L`Esprit Nouveau in 1920. The few buildings he was able to design during the 1920s, when he also spent much of his time painting and writing, brought him to the forefront of modern architecture, though it wasn`t until after World War II that his epoch-making buildings were constructed, such as the Unit d`Habitation in Marseilles and the Church of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp.

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.

Eero Saarinen (1910-1961) was one of the 20th century's great visionaries, both in the fields of furniture design (he created the ubiquitous Knoll "Tulip" chairs and tables, for example) and in architecture. Among his greatest accomplishments are monuments that shaped architecture in postwar America and became icons in themselves: Washington D.C.'s Dulles International Airport, the very sculptural and fluid TWA terminal at JFK Airport in New York, and the 630-foot high "Gateway to the West," the Arch of St. Louis. Marrying curves and dynamic forms with a Modernist aesthetic, he brought a whole new dimension to architecture.

This volume features different styles of kitchens and baths, up-to-date materials, colors, and the most recent technology-in short: a broad variety of inspiring ideas.

From the Ferris wheel to the integrated circuit, feats ofengineering have changed our environment in countless ways, big andsmall. In Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering, DukeUniversity's Henry Petroski focuses on the big: Malaysia's1,482-foot Petronas Towers as well as the Panama Canal, a cutthrough the continental divide that required the excavation of 311million cubic yards of earth. Remaking the World tells the stories behind the man-made wondersof the world, from squabbles over the naming of the Hoover Dam tothe effects the Titanic disaster had on the engineering communityof 1912. Here, too, are the stories of the personalities behind the wonders, from the jaunty IsambardKingdom Brunel, designer of nineteenth-century transatlanticsteamships, to Charles Steinmetz, oddball genius of the GeneralElectric Company, whose office of preference was a batteredtwelve-foot canoe. Spirited and absorbing, Remaking the World is acelebration of the creative instinct and of the men and women

Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898 1976) was not only influenced by the landscape of his native country, but by the political struggle over Finland's place within European culture. After early neoclassical buildings, Alvar Aalto turned to ideas based on Functionalism, subsequently moving toward more organic structures, with brick and wood replacing plaster and steel. In addition to designing buildings, furniture, lamps, and glass objects with his wife Aino, he painted and was an avid traveler. A firm believer that buildings have a crucial role in shaping society, Aalto once said;The duty of the architect is to give life a more sensitive structure.

The national park system ranks among our most magnificentachievements and the story of its creation reveals how the Americanlandscape shaped our history and character and continues to do soalmost 175 years after painter George Catlin first proposed “anation’s Park.” In these lavishly illustrated pages, award-winning author KimHeacox chronicles our changing visions of wildness from the 17thcentury, when the first settlers built towns around shared commons,to 1916, when the National Park Service initiated a new kind ofcommon–unspoiled parkland held in trust for Americanseverywhere. Here are explorers like Daniel Boone, Kit Carson, and John WesleyPowell, who reported wonders so amazing they were met withdisbelief. Here too are farsighted leaders like Thomas Jefferson,Theodore Roosevelt, and other sponsors of such parks as Yosemiteand Yellowstone. In spectacular counterpoint, 100 illustrations unveil a pristinenew world that awed the artists and photographers from EadweardMuybridge to Ansel Adams. An

Filled cover-to-cover with gorgeous full-color photographs of inspirational home ideas from around the world, Houses DesignSource showcases myriad examples of wonderful design solutions. This beautiful volume considers the many factors, which impact the design of a home, including location, climate, and space. Also featured are green homes, prefab houses, renovated residences, and more.