Cubism by Philip Cooper @ Art & Architecture book

Cubism by Philip Cooper
Cubism was one of the most influential movements in Western art this century. Beginning with the revolutionary experiments of Picasso and Braque in Paris between 1906 and 1908, Cubism gathered momentum and soon spread to the rest of Europe and America. The movement`s rejection of illusionistic representation in favour of an autonomous pictorial language opened the way to abstraction. The Cubists also invented papier colle and collage and pioneered a new approach to sculpture, innovations that are still being explored today.

AUTHOR: Philip Cooper
PUBLISHER: Phaidon Press, Incorporated
FORMAT: Paperback
CATEGORY: Art & Architecture

Measure for Measure by J. W. Lever, William Shakespeare
Written in 1604 when James I--a king particularly concerned with the religious aspects of his leadership--was fresh on the throne, MEASURE FOR MEASURE is a reflection of its time. In it, a sovereign's role in the legislation of morality is explored, as two extreme poles of government are navigated--the Duke's over-leniency as the play opens, and his deputy's rigid judgement that precipitates the tragicomedy. When the Duke realizes that his rule is too lax, he appoints his deputy Angelo to reinforce authority. However, forgiveness, a Christian virtue and therefore an implied virtue of the play's Christian government, is not a characteristic of Angelo, who, reviving an old morality law, condemns Claudio to death for impregnating Juliet. The dilemma of the drama is presented when Claudio's sister Isabella leaves the cloister of the convent to plead for Claudio's freedom. Scandalously, Angelo agrees to free Claudio if Isabella will sleep with him. An estranged wife, a bed trick, and a subplot concerning a pimp present further complications, but ultimately lighten the atmosphere to lead a tragic drama toward a comic resolution. Shakespeare drew on many sources that were themselves inspired by a real 16th-century event in which an Italian man who was condemned to death was promised freedom after his wife accepted a sexual proposition from the judge in exchange. The first records of performance point to December 26, 1604. The next documentation recalls a performance one hundred years later. Though records certainly get destroyed, such scant evidence indeed suggests poor public reception of the play. MEASURE FOR MEASURE was the last of Shakespeare's comedies, and intense tragic material surfaces in it that is fully developed in the plays to come, including OTHELLO, KING LEAR, and MACBETH.

AUTHOR: J. W. Lever, William Shakespeare
PUBLISHER: Arden Shakespeare
FORMAT: Paperback
CATEGORY: Art & Architecture

Story of Gardening by Penelope Hobhouse
Description not available.The award-winning author of Gardening Through the Ages traces the history of garden and landscape design through the ages, combining magnificent full-color, captioned photographs, helpful timelines, and informative narrative while chronicling the history of individual plants and design features.

AUTHOR: Penelope Hobhouse
PUBLISHER: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Incorporated
FORMAT: Hardcover
CATEGORY: Art & Architecture

Postmodern Urbanism by Nan Ellin
While architecture has figured centrally in discussions of postmodernism, urban design has been largely overlooked. This engaging and important work by Nan Ellin fills that void by presenting a lucid account of what postmodernism means for the design of large-scale environments and for those who design and inhabit them. The book begins with the most thorough survey to date of recent Western urban design theory from the townscape movement to participatory architecture, regionalism, contextualism, neo-rationalism, neo-classicism, historical eclecticism, critical regionalism, and neo-traditionalism. Combining insights from anthropology, history, political economy, and literary criticism, Ellin proceeds to cast light upon the contemporary crises beleaguering the built environment and the architectural and planning professions. Both an intellectual history of urban design trends and an agenda for future interventions, Postmodern Urbanism offers an indispensable guide to deciphering the changing physical and social landscapes of the late twentieth century.

AUTHOR: Nan Ellin
PUBLISHER: Princeton Architectural Press
FORMAT: Paperback
CATEGORY: Art & Architecture

Reflections and Shadows by Aldo Buzzi, John Shepley, Saul Steinberg
In a series of conversations with his old friend Aldo Buzzi, Saul Steinberg (1914-99) ranges over the episodes in his long and fascinating life: his childhood in Romania, his imprisonment in Mussolini's Italy where he was studying architecture, his work at the Smithsonian, and his position as one of The New Yorker magazine's chief artists. En route, he also provides his thoughts about many peripheral matters, from riding the bus to American eating habits.

AUTHOR: Aldo Buzzi, John Shepley, Saul Steinberg
PUBLISHER: Random House, Incorporated
FORMAT: Hardcover
CATEGORY: Art & Architecture

S, M, L, XL (Small, Medium, Large, Extra-Large) by Bruce Mau, Rem Koolhaas
This seminal book is a graphic overture that weaves together architectural projects, photos and sketches, diary excerpts, personal travelogues, fairy tales, fables, and poetry produced over the past 20 years by Rem Koolhaas and his firm, O. M. A. This gigantic accumulation of words and images illuminates the state of architecture today.

AUTHOR: Bruce Mau, Rem Koolhaas
PUBLISHER: Monacelli Press, Incorporated
FORMAT: Hardcover
CATEGORY: Art & Architecture