This book is a mouthwatering tour of 20 of Italys mostbeautiful and finely appointed country villas and palazzos,captured by the lens of renowned architecture photographer MassimoListri. Italy attracts visitors from all over the world thanks toits sun-drenched landscape, rich history, enticing traditions andwelcoming lifestyles. Listri's stunning photographs vary betweensweeping panoramas of the houses in their glorious settings toclose-ups of specific rooms, furniture and design details. Thesehouses provide glorious fodder for dreaming as well as a concretesource of inspiration for creating one's own personal style.

To Alvar Aalto life, art, architecture, and creativity were inseparable from everyday work. When developing ideas or researching a design challenge he moved as easily in the world of natural sciences as he did in the world of art. This remarkable book celebrates the 1998 centenary of Alvar Aalto's birth. It is not the most comprehensive book on his work, but it is without question the most sumptuous and poetic. 23 projects from different decades are featured, ranging from private houses to public buildings. The text, written by Marku Lahtti, director of the Alvar Alto Museum, intelligently complements the photographic genius of Maija Holma, whose bold images capture the finest details of Aalto's structures and interiors. Works include Finland Hall, Helsinki; Art Museum, Aalborg, Denmark; Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki; House of Culture, Helsinki; Villa Mairea, Noormarkku; and Aalto's own house in Helsinki. Alvar Aalto - A Gentler Structure for Life is a visual feast and featur

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

JeanProuv 的经济优雅 法国出生的让 普鲁维（JeanProuv ，1901-1984）是二十世纪的领先建筑设计师，是一位自称 建筑师 ，负责监督巴黎蓬皮杜艺术中心的设计的陪审团成员。作为设计师，他抓住了创新、扩张和成长的中世纪精神，开发出将简单、引人注目的美学与实用、具有成本效益的材料和装配相结合的技术。 从庞大的临时展览馆到手持式开信刀，模块化建筑系统到室内照明，普鲁维的设计都以简单和低调的优雅高效地装配了他们的功能。普鲁维被世界各地的设计师、建筑师和工程师们所感染，留下了丰富而充满灵感的遗产，与这本小册子完美地契合，巧妙地总结了他的生活和作品。 French architect and designer Jean Prouve (1901-1984) was one of the most important constructors of the 20th century. Prouve's design innovations included cleverly-shaped metal parts for building prefabricated structures; he designed buil

Today it is no longer a matter of taste as to how and whichcoffee we drink, as it is even more important where we enjoy it. Amultitude of new cafés, coffee shops and coffee houses around theworld honor a centuries old tradition, setting thereby new designtrends. The task is to create communicative and inspiring locationsand spaces, which at the same time measure up to the functionaldemands. The design solutions are as varied as the concepts, thetransitions to lounge, club or restaurant are flowing. After aninformative introduction, Coffee Time presents current projectsthat show the exciting conceptual and stylistic breadth of cafédesigns today.

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

In this engaging and thought-provoking book, Colin Davies subjects the canonical architecture of the twentieth century to a thorough reassessment. Rather than repeating the standard wisdom, Davies questions the values and judgements that are so often the mainstay of architectural surveys, and in doing so asks: what is the importance of the style we know as Modernism? Combining a fascinating, well-researched, and, above all, readable text with photographs and drawings, this history is a must for students and lovers of modern architecture alike.,

This book guides you systematically through the whole processof designing and building your own house. It offers practicalassistance from the moment you begin thinking about the kind ofhouse you want. It helps you focus your ideas and translate theminto working plans. It shows you how to estimate costs. Then, stepby step, it shows you how to construct the house -- explaining andillustrating every step systematically so that you can proceedconfidently from beginning to end. Here are complete, clear instructions on everything you need toknow, including: -- How to decide what you want the house to be like -- inside andoutside, and in relation to the environment and neighborhood -- How to translate your ideas and decisions into workingdrawings -- How to deal with all the components of a house: structural(roof, floor, walls, columns, foundations), mechanical (plumbingand heating), electrical, interior and exterior finishingmaterials -- How to establish the exact dimensions of e