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 New and notable books on architecture, culture, and design. June 2001
Edited by Carlos Mustienes Taschen, 768 pp., $30.00 The "1000 extra/ordinary objects" pictured in this book are exactly what one would expect from Colors, Oliviero Toscani and Tibor Kalman's funky multiculti Benetton magalog. They range from the familiar to the truly odd; come from all parts of the globe; and reflect such fundamental human experiences as eating, sex, religion, play, and sleep. The Architecture of R. M. Schindler Edited by Elizabeth A. T. Smith and Michael Darling The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in association with Harry N. Abrams, 284 pp., $65.00 This exhibition catalog covers Rudolph Schindler's career from his early days in Vienna and Chicago to his work in Southern California from the 1920s through the '40s. Heavily illustrated by detailed architectural plans and building photographs, the five essays reveal Schindler as the missing link between the fin-de-siècle architecture of Otto Wagner and the suburban California ranch house. Robin and Lucienne Day: Pioneers of Modern Design By Lesley Jackson Princeton Architectural Press, 192 pp., $50.00 This is the first comprehensive monograph about the celebrated Modernist designer couple from England. Married in 1942, the Days worked independently, creating innovative work in a diverse array of design fields. Lucienne revolutionized British textile design with her bold abstract patterns. Robin developed a radically new style of furniture in the fifties and sixties; his polypropylene stacking chair is still a best-seller. Mutations By Rem Koolhaas, Stefano Boeri, Sanford Kwinter, Nadia Tazi, and Hans Ulrich Obrist Designed by Ramon Prat Actar/D.A.P., 720 pp., $45.00 If you can't wait until the publication of the Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping, this should hold you over. Koolhaas teams up with an international group of architects and theorists to look at the profound transformation of the twentieth-century city. Introduced by a vivid portrait of global urbanization and a compilation of critical essays, the book is a highly illustrated atlas of contemporary cityscapes. Sustainable Architecture White Papers Edited by David E. Brown, Mindy Fox, and Mary Rickel Pelletier The Earth Pledge Foundation, 324 pp., $17.00 If you're looking for a who's who in American sustainable architecture today, you'll find it in this handy paperback book. Don't look for pictures, just useful thinking from such green-movement luminaries as William McDonough, Emilio Ambasz, and Pliny Fisk III. The publication is part of the Earth Pledge Foundation's series on sustainable development. |
