Architectural Visions

From the Chicago Tribune Competition and the Chrysler Building to the United Nation headquarters and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the drawings of Hugh Ferriss record a period of time in the history of architecture which has seen remarkable change in our conception of cities and buildings. Trained as an architect in the Beaux Arts tradition, Ferriss chose instead to devote the greater part of his career to giving shape and life to the dreams and visions in his own mind and in the minds of other, now famous, architects for whom he worked. In one broad sweep, we see, through one man's eyes, an astonishing record of 20th-century ideas and designs in architecture. -- from book jacket.

This book presents outstanding hand drawings of German architects from various areas of architecture and design conveying an emphasis on the human dimension of architecture.The book presents outstanding hand drawings of German architects from various areas of architecture and design. The focus of the presentation is on the individual manuscripts of the architects and designers. For some time now, many architects and designers have been returning to manually drawn depictions of their designs - despite the fact that the latest computer-aided visualization techniques allow the creation of almost perfect illusions of planned buildings. However, they often lack in conveying life and atmosphere to the building resulting in a feeling of coldness and distance from the observer. Beyond the pure conveying of information through a mechanical drawing, the various techniques of manual drawing can convey individual sentiments and impressions. The result is a larger degree of authenticity coupled with an emphasis of the human dimension of architecture.

"Architecture is a social art. If the practice of architecture is the art of what you can make happen, then I believe that you are only as good as your bullpenthe builders, the engineers, the artisans, the colleagues, the staffwho collaborate with you; those who become possessed by the same urge to build, by the same belief that we are working on something exceptional together." Brian MacKay-Lyons For two weeks each summer, architect Brian MacKay-Lyons uses his family farm on the east coast of Nova Scotia for aspecial event. Among the stone ruins of a village almost four hundred years old, he assembles a community of architects,professors, and students for a design-build internship and educational initiative called Ghost Research Lab. The twoweek projectone week of design and one week of constructionrests on the idea that architecture is not only about building but also about the landscape, its history, and the community. Based on the apprenticeship environment of ancient guilds, where architectural knowledge was transferred through direct experience, Ghost redefines the architectas a builder who cultivates and contributes to the quality of the native landscape. Published to celebrate the event's tenth anniversary, Ghost offers a thorough documentation of the past decade's design-build events including drawings, models, and final photographs of completed structures. Organized chronologically and interwoven with MacKay-Lyons's simple and accessible personal narratives, Ghost also features essays by some of the most eminent figures in architectural criticism, including Christine Macy, Brian Carter, Karl Habermann, Robert Ivy, Kenneth Frampton, Thomas Fisher, Juhani Pallasmaa, Peter Buchanan, and Robert McCarter. In an architectural climatefull of trends and egos, Ghost is the rare manifesto that does not preach but rather inspires quietly with simple ideas that unexpectedly unsettle and arouse.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS BOOK IS ONLY THE 1ST HALF OF ONE SINGLE BOOK. IN ORDER TO HAVE A COMPLETE TEXT, READERS ARE SUGGESTED TO CONSIDER ALSO VOLUME II, AVAILABLE HERE http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-0114664017/default.aspx AFTER YEARS OF FIELD RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, THIS IS A SECOND BOOK OF WHAT SEEMS TO BECOME A SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS. THE INTENT IS TO RECONSTRUCT THE ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPES DESCRIBED IN THE HYPNEROTOMACHIA POLIPHILI WITH THE AID OF DIGITAL MEDIUMS. THIS ENIGMATIC INCUNABULUM WITH ITS 172 WOODCUTS, FIRST PUBLISHED IN VENICE IN 1499 BY THE VENETIAN PRESS OF ALDUS MANUTIUS, HAS FASCINATED HISTORIANS, PATRONS, AND ESPECIALLY ARCHITECTS EVER SINCE ITS ANONYMOUS PUBLICATION. A RENEWED INTEREST FOR THIS LEGENDARY RENAISSANCE TEXT HAS EMERGED WITH MODERN TRANSLATIONS READILY NOW AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN, ENGLISH, AND SPANISH, NOT TO MENTION ITS USE AS THE CENTRAL THEME FOR CALDWELL AND THOMASON’S BESTSELLER, THE RULE OF FOUR, NOW TO BECOME A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE. THE STORY BEGINS WITH POLIPHILUS, WHO FALLS ASLEEP AND DREAMS THAT HE IS SEARCHING FOR HIS LOST LOVE, POLIA. WHILE UNDER HER BELOVED SPELL, HE ENGAGES ON AN EROTIC PILGRAMAGE THROUGH ANTIQUITY, DISCOVERING INCREDIBLE ARCHITECTURE, GARDENS AND LANDSCAPES ALL ENVISIONED AND DESCRIBED IN MINUTE, TECHNICAL, AND ARTISTIC DESCRIPTION. PART TREATISE, PART NARRATIVE, THIS BOOK INTRODUCES A VAST ARRAY OF ARCHITECTURAL EXAMPLES AND LANDSCAPE DESIGNS WHICH WERE TOO VISIONARY FOR ITS TIME. WITH MORE THAN 160 ORIGINAL ARTWORK ILLUSTRATIONS, THIS WORK IS PRESENTED HERE AS AN ATTEMPT TO SHARE A NEW DECIPHERING OF THIS LABYRINTHINE TEXT AFTER YEARS OF OBSCURITY, BRINGING TO LIFE AND GIVING SIGNIFICANCE TO ITS FANTASTIC ARCHITECTURE AND ALLEGORICAL VISIONS. FOR MORE INFORMATION: LOG ON TO WWW.HP1499.COM

"This is a significant contribution to the field of critical `orientalist' studies as applied to architecture. . . . This text breaks new scholarly ground by examining a topic that has never been proposed before: the construction of an ideological landscape involving Pan-Americanism." STEPHEN FOX, Fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas and Adjunct Lecturer in Architecture, University of Houston and Rice University --

Text by Kelvin Browne.

This book presents the radical architectural strategies and poetic cultural projects developed by OPEN Architecture, and the opportunities and challenges that arise from redefining built forms. Drawing on a series of conversations and site visits to six recent groundbreaking projects, architecture writer Catherine Shaw describes how Beijing-based OPEN Architecture is reinventing and responding to China’s complex and fast-changing cultural landscape with projects that mark a new era for contemporary Chinese cultural architecture. OPEN Architecture was founded in New York in 2003 by Li Hu and Huang Wenjing, while their Beijing office opened in 2008. From a contemporary art gallery buried beneath a sand dune to a sculptural open-air theatre in a remote mountain valley near the Great Wall, co-founders Li Hu and Huang Wenjing re-evaluate conventional Western assumptions about culture and design as they base each pioneering project on the needs and plea-sures of humanity within the context of diverse terrains and climates. In doing so, they not only consider how cultural architecture looks, but how it works. Projects are presented with commentary and contextual information as well as new analyses and archival material, including outstanding color photography, plans and drawings, and exploratory sketches. This book provides a fresh perspective on contemporary cultural architecture and place making, hig-lighting the architects’ sources of inspiration, their challenges, and their construction methods, showing how each impactful project responds to China’s distinctive context.

Visual Delight in Architecture examines the many ways that our lives are enriched by the presence of natural daylight and window views within our buildings. It makes a compelling case that daily exposure to the rhythms of daylight is essential to our health and well-being, tied to the very genetic foundations of our physiology and cognitive function. It describes all the subtlety, beauty, and pleasures of well-daylit spaces and attractive window views, and explains how these are woven into the fabric of both our everyday sensory experience and enduring cultural perspectives. All types of environmental designers, along with anyone interested in human health and well- being, will fi nd new insights offered by Visual Delight in Architecture. The book is both accessible and provocative, full of personal stories and persuasive research, helping designers to gain a deeper understanding of the scientific basis of their designs, scientists to better grasp the real-world implications of their work, and everyone to more fully appreciate the role of windows in their lives.