New York, Medieval Architecture & Lake Shore Drive

Modern Architecture by Alan Colquhoun

This new account of international modernism explores the complex motivations behind this revolutionary movement and assesses its triumphs and failures. The work of the main architects of the movement such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Adolf Loos, Le Corbusier, and Mies van der Rohe is re-examined shedding new light on their roles as acknowledged masters. Alan Colquhoun explores the evolution of the movement from Art Nouveau in the 1890s to the mega structures of the 1960s, revealing the often contradictory demands of form, function, social engagement, modernity and tradition.
Modern Architecture by Alan Colquhoun
Oxford, ISBN 0192842269

New York: One Thousand Buildings

From skyscrapers to parking structures, from the Stock Exchange to the historic townhouses of Harlem, the buildings of New York are as diverse as its culture. The City estimates that there are 90,000 buildings within the five boroughs, ranging from single-story warehouses to mighty skyscrapers. Now, for the first time, 1,000 of these buildings, widely varied in style-from landmarks to architectural oddities to humble utilitarian structures-are artfully photographed and beautifully celebrated. Photographer Jorg Brockmann has captured the power and personal essence of each building, providing a fresh, close-up view of New York unlike any other.
Essential information about each building, along with neighborhood maps and useful sidebars, make this the last word on New York structures large and small. It's a feast for lovers of architecture and of great photography, as well as devotees of the most vibrant and resilient city in the world.
Author Biography: Jorg Brockmann is a photographer living in New York City whose clients include newspapers, magazines and websites worldwide. His photographs have been exhibited in group and solo shows in the United States, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark and France. He holds degrees from the Rochester Institute of Technology and College Calvin, Geneva, Switzerland. This is his first book.
Bill Harris has lived in the New York area for more than 50 years and hasn't had a dull day yet. He worked at The New York Times for 25 of those years and has been a licensed New York City tour guide since 1976. He has written 17 books about New York City, including a history of the Plaza Hotel and two histories of the city itself, which were produced for the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
One Thousand New York Buildings by Jorg Brockman, Judith Dupre, Bill Harris and Jorg Brockmann
ISBN: 157912237X

Medieval Architecture by Nicola Coldstream

Medieval architecture comprises more than the traditional image of Gothic cathedrals and the castles of chivalry. A great variety of buildings - synagogues, halls, and barns - testify to the diverse communities and interests in western Europe in the centuries between 1150 and 1550. This book looks at their architecture from an entirely fresh perspective. It shifts the emphasis away from such areas as France towards the creativity of other regions, including central Europe and Spain. It treats the subject thematically, seeking what all buildings, both religious and secular, have in common, and how they reflect the material and spiritual concerns of the people who built and used them. It considers how and why, after four centuries of shaping the landscapes and urban patterns of Europe, medieval styles were superseded by classicism.
Medieval Architecture by Nicola Coldstream
Oxford, ISBN 0192842765

Lake Shore Drive Apartments

At number 860 Lake Shore Drive, in a prime location beside Lake Michigan, Mies van der Rohe built two apartment towers in 1948-50. The steel and glass towers, standing perpendicular to each other, have skeletal frames and are 26 stories high. The exterior consists of floor-to-ceiling windows. The Lake Shore Drive Apartments are amongst the first modern residential skyscrapers and are as such an important landmark in the history of architecture.
Similar to the publication on Farnsworth House, this volume documents the development of these skyscrapers over a long period of time with informative texts by Werner Blaser and copious photographs. Texts from Mies van der Rohe himself and an essay by a resident, Masami Takayama, conveying impressions of what it is like to live there, complete this publication.
Lake Shore Drive Apartments by Werner Blaser
ISBN: 3764360909

Landscape and Western Art

What is landscape? How does it differ from "land"? Does landscape always imply something to be pictured, a scene? When and why did we begin to cherish images of nature? What is "nature"? Is it everything that isn't art, or artifact? By addressing these and many other questions, Landscape and Western Art explores the myriad ideas and images of the natural world in Western art since the Renaissance.
Implying that land is the raw material, and that art is created by turning land into landscape, which then becomes art, author Malcolm Andrews takes the reader on a thematic tour of the fascinating and challenging issues of landscape as art. The books broad sweep covers the full, rich spectrum of landscape art, including painting, gardening, panorama, poetry, photography, and art. Artistic issues are investigated in connection with Western cultural movements, and within a full international and historical context.
Clear explanations and beautiful illustrations convey to the reader the idea of landscape as an experience in which everyone is creatively involved. It is an enlightening and comprehensive critical overview of landscape art.
Landscape and Western Art by Malcolm Andrews
Oxford, ISBN 0192842331

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