Overview
Art/Invention/House is an authoritative and handsomely illustrated presentation of forty new houses-many published here for the first time-exploring the creativity of top architects around the world, ranging from firms that specialize in residential work to those for whom a house is a rare indulgence. The houses shown here are understated or audacious, but never conventional. Each of these cutting-edge projects, whether built in town or country, represents a world apart from its surroundings. Some have only trees for neighbors; others are shoehorned into tight urban sites, perch on precipitous slopes, or cling like limpets to the coastline. But every house is one of a kind, the product of dialogue between demanding clients and creative designers around the globe.The book includes the world-renowned firms of Archi-Tectonics/Winka Dubbeldam, Will Bruder, Wallace Cunningham, Gwathmey Siegel, Steven Holl, Rick Joy, Thomas Phifer, and Richard Meier in the US; TEN Arquitectos, Alberto Kalach, and Michel Rojkind in Mexico; Marcos Acayaba and Marcio Kogan in Brazil; Seth Stein in the UK; Alberto Campo Baeza in Spain; Herzog & de Meuron in Switzerland; Georg Driendl and Hugo Dworzak in Austria; Jyrki Tasa in Finland; Alvaro Siza in Portugal; Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ban, Hitoshi Abe, and Kengo Kuma in Japan; and Glenn Murcutt and Harry Seidler in Australia.Synopsis
In a lavish, oversize format (12.25x12.25"), this book features 40 extraordinary houses on five continents selected by veteran architecture writer Webb for their courageous and innovative design and their site integration. Plans, drawings, and full page color photos take center stage; the text supports the visuals, describing the houses in terms of their distinctive features and architectural challenges. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Library Journal
Basbanes (A Splendor of Letters: The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World) borrows the title and theme of his new book, inspired by a 1963 exhibition at the British Museum documenting five centuries of the printed word, from one of S.R. Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science ("Every book his reader"). Taking "prevailing fashion into account," he focuses on peoples' reading habits and on the books they have read, both obscure and renowned, as well as on the importance of particular books in specific contexts. Basbanes begins by interviewing some of the best-read people alive, among them David McCullough, Harold Bloom, Helen Vendler, and Elaine Pagels; he also mentions a wide variety of contemporary and historical personages. The loosely related stories are often inspirational, making this an engrossing read. Recommended for all bibliophiles and libraries. (With 26 pages of endnotes; index not seen.) [See Prepub Alert, LJ 8/05.]-Martha Stephenson, Univ. of Wisconsin Lib., Whitewater Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.