A photographic survey of the innovative structures coming out of the new cradle of modern architecture.

This handsome tome documents the most recent and forthcoming architectural developments in the Arabian Peninsula. More than 300 archival photographs spotlight structures designed by the world`s foremost architects, designers, and engineers in the region of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Yemen. In addition to photographs of recently completed structures, the superb graphics in this book include renderings, sections, and floor plans provided by architectural and design studios of buildings currently under construction. Supplementing the images, the text provides detailed technical descriptions of each of the buildings featured in the book. From the Al Shaqab Equestrian Academy in Qatar, with its state of the art facilities, to the sustainable architecture of the British Embassy in Sana’a to the Arcapita Bank Headquarters on Bahrain Bay, accessible both by land or by water, this volume encompasses a vast array of projects recreational, commercial and residential in a pivotal area of interest to architects.

This book offers an extraordinary journey to the centers of Islam, taking the paths followed by the diffusion of Persian art. The rich illustrative materials – views, plans, drawings, ancient engravings and reconstructions of the most important monuments – enable the book to lift the veil from a subtle art and explain the works of a culture that ranged from Persia to the heart of India, from the West to China. Turquoise domes and dazzling marbles, arches adorned with flowers and arabesques, slender elegant minarets, miniatures of lovers and galloping horsemen, and scintillating enamels of floral bouquets: across the spectrum of the arts and across the continents, the genius of this advanced civilization shines through, resplendent and unmatched.

This sumptuous volume showcases the Islamic monuments and art that elevated early Mediterranean civilization to new heights in the renaissance of the 7th and 8th centuries. Its unique oversized format allows for exceptional detail in a body of work known for its complexity. From great architectural design to painstaking calligraphy, this book presents the treasures that bear witness to the revolutionary force and creativity of early Islamic artists. Madrasa, palace, fort, public bath, mausoleum, and garden designs are explored and placed into a historic and cultural context. Author Henri Stierlin, one of the foremost art historians specializing in early Islamic art and architecture, presents unique insights into the Islamic aesthetics of abstract decoration, formed by the interweaving of geometric mosaics, colors, and arabesques that expresses a feverish creativity inherent in the period.

L`occasione giusta per unire un rilassante passatempo con fotografie di grande bellezza. I puzzle da 1000 pezzi sono ideali per gli appassionati del genere.
 

Modern Italy is the direct successor of the medieval Italy of the Communes: no other country in the world has split and divided its territory in such a way as to create so many independent realities. Large or small, they mirror the country. The scattered cities, so often once independent, share not only the dimensions but also the history and the spirit of a capital, kept alive throughout the centuries. All of them have dealt with the past, or are now dealing with it, and are adapting to the challenges modernity. Italy’s many historic cities are not merely businesslike political, economic and trade centers: they are unashamedly artistic and cultural capitals. The smaller towns are as dynamic as their larger cousins, but successfully preserve (as is so clearly seen from the sky) a more striking and compact architectural identity. This most often derives from an ancient Greek or Roman ground plan, modified during the Middle Ages and dramatically enhanced during the Renaissance era. More than any other entities or locations, Italy’s towns and cities strikingly capture and reflect the specific genius and vision of the successive historical eras and the political and economic revolutions the nation experienced. Cities and towns have always been the leading players of changes in society and institutions; thus it is exciting and rewarding to investigate them from a new and entirely different perspective. Seeing cities and towns from the sky allows us to refocus, to see them through different eyes. Amid the clouds there is no chaotic traffic, no pollution or social tensions, no daily problems. The view from the sky is one of a tapestry of roofs, sectioned by streets, anchored by proud monuments, and traversed by silvery rivers. A view from above give us pause, allowing us to savor the soul of Italy’s noble cities and towns and perceive the scale, the rigor, the creativity that has hallmarked their history. This is the spirit embracing this highly original and magnificently illustrated volume, which portrays Italy through the myriad facets of its urban fabric, with the unbelievable and spectacular clarity that only an aerial photography can offer.

Escape into these spectacular color photographs of more than 50 of the world’s most beautiful lighthouses. They hail from North American shores such as the Outer Banks, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, and the California and Oregon coasts, as well as throughout the Mediterranean, the North Sea, the South Pacific, Asian waters, and the Caribbean. This book is dedicated to the lighthouses of history, legends, films, novels, and personal reveries. Spectacular Atlantic storms rage just outside the cozy interiors, which often contain the most unusual furniture. The text covers the individual characteristics, location, and history of these extraordinary coastal monuments, together with their technical development and the complex psychology of the modern-day hermits who live in them. This book is for all who love the seacoast and its architecture.

The result of a series of radical engineering innovations and built to meet pressing economic and cultural needs, the skyscraper represents the modern city better than any other monument. From the Flatiron Building in New York to Tomorrow Square in Shanghai, these pages present the history of the giants of concrete, steel, and glass. They demonstrate the continual evolution of skyscraper design and technology, from brick high-rise buildings to the 20th-century giants and on to the sleek modern concepts of today. Written by a famous expert and critic of city living, illustrated by eye-catching photographs, the book also examines the most recent design and technological developments and suggests how the skyscraper may evolve in the third millennium.

Architecture faithfully reflects a society’s most important transformations. This is especially true in regard to modern architecture. It must adhere to no models and it has a wealth of new technical solutions available to it, and is therefore able to express the human spirit and technological progress in new ways. This review of modern architecture takes us through four continents and includes spectacular photographs and reproductions of the original preparatory sketches drawn by master architects for the design of 44 masterpieces – museums, airports, multi-purpose structures, futuristic libraries, luxurious resorts and unique auditoriums – selected among the most important structures in the world and built between the second half of the 20th century and the present.