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A comprehensive reference work on vernacular architecture

Traditional building methods – such as those used in pueblos, timbered houses, or the Japanese minka – exist in fascinating diversity and create the face of a region. However, as a result of globalization they have been marginalized in many places. In the fastest developing countries in particular, a wealth of experience that goes back hundreds of years is being irretrievably lost, even though valuable insights can be gained for modern building.

Using the examples of selected domestic buildings from all continents, 30 international experts demonstrate why we can still learn from vernacular architecture; they analyze the cultural context and the adaptation to topographic/climactic conditions, and focus on the local materials used as well as on the construction, the building process, and the necessary maintenance.

• A comprehensive reference work covering traditional building methods
• Numerous examples of vernacular domestic architecture from all five continents
• More than 1000 impressive color photographs and detailed drawings
• Also available in German

Combining typefaces is one of the great challenges and, at the same time, a continuing allure for typographers and designers: is it meant to be extravagant or should it only be carried out to a limited degree or, ideally, not at all? Which fonts harmonize with each other, and which don’t? Which ones complement each other or even enhance each other? There are few answers to be found in the professional literature.

This handbook demonstrates that it is possible to determine criteria for the combining of typefaces. By looking at the shape of typefaces in detail and creating a revised classification of fonts, it conveys a deeper understanding of the diversity of typefaces and, based on a systematic analysis of analogy and contrast, it establishes the urgently necessary findings required for combining typefaces. An indispensable standard work for typographers and graphic designers.

Das Buch erkundet das Atmen und die Atmosphäre als Leitmotive für die Gestaltung einer inklusiven Zukunft in einem neuen Klimaregime. Dabei werden die atmosphärischen Verknüpfungen künftiger gesellschaftlicher Aktivitäten aufgespürt.

Mit diesem verflochtenen Bewusstsein rücken die performativen Eigenschaften von Luft, Atmosphäre und Klima in den Vordergrund, um sie als maßgebende Akteure für die Konzeption und Gestaltung unseres planetaren Daseins neu zu entdecken.

Das sorgfältig editierte Buch versammelt namhafte Autoren verschiedener Disziplinen, die mit ihren Ideen, Beobachtungen und Beispielen dazu anregen, unser gesellschaftliches Handeln und Gestalten neu zu denken.

What was it like to grow up in a Modernist residence? Did these radical environments shape the way that children looked at architecture later in life? The oral history in this book paint a uniquely intimate portrait of Modernism.
The authors conducted interviews with people, who spent their childhood in radical Modernist domestic spaces, uncovering both serene and poignant memories. The recollections range from the ambivalence of philosopher Ernst Tugendhat, now 90 years old, who lived in the famous Mies van der Rohe house in Brno (1930) to the fond reminiscing of the youngest daughter of the Schminke family, who still dreams of her Scharoun-designed ship-like villa in Löbau (1933). The book offers a unique, private and often refreshing perspective on these icons of the avant-garde.

Der Pritzker-Preisträger Renzo Piano gilt weltweit als einer der renommiertesten Architekten unserer Zeit. Zentrale Elemente seiner Ästhetik bilden das Spiel mit natürlichem Licht, die Transparenz seiner Bauten, aber auch die Qualität ihrer Details. Museumsbauten gehören zu seinen wesentlichen Bauaufgaben.

Die Publikation dokumentiert neun Museumsbauten des Büros Renzo Piano Building Workshop, unter ihnen die Fondation Beyeler in Basel, das Kulturzentrum Jean-Marie Tjibaou in Neukaledonien sowie das Broad Contemporary Art Museum in Los Angeles. Besonderes Augenmerk legt die Darstellung auf deren Räumlichkeit und Detaillierung. In einem zweiten Teil wird der Umgang mit natürlichem Licht in diesen Museen systematisch analysiert. Sämtliche Zeichnungen wurden in einheitlicher Darstellung eigens neu angefertigt.

Network of superlatives

Frederick Kiesler was a committed networker and communicated regularly with the who’s who of the avant-garde. He was an important intermediary between the visionary ideas of the European Moderne movement and the up-and-coming New York art scene.

About 20 contributions portray his colorful life and his multifaceted oeuvre in various contexts, and place Kiesler in a dialog with the most important artists and architects of his time.

The publication on the occasion of the 20 year anniversary of the Friedrich Kiesler Foundation deals with his relationship with the Bauhaus, surrealism, and the New York School, as well as with personalities such as Richard Buckminster Fuller, Marcel Duchamp, Arshile Gorky, Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian, Hans Arp, Sigfried Giedion, and others.

• An interwoven analysis of his life and work
• Contributions on individual and case studies
• Kiesler and Bauhaus, Mondrian, Buckminster Fuller, Duchamp, and many others