Pure Luxury

Pure Luxury: World's Best Houses features houses on every continent, from Costa Rica to South Africa, Korea to Cyprus, as well as extensive coverage of the USA and Australia. The book showcases projects by leading architects including Lake-Flato, Griffin Enright Architects, Iredale Pedersen Hook, Mojo Sturmer Architects and many more... This publication is the latest in IMAGES' landmark series of 100 Houses titles Pure Luxury: World's Best Houses is a celebration of residential living at its finest, and best. Satisfying our natural and abiding curiosity about how other people live, and our endless quest to add a special something to our own homes, this latest volume in IMAGES' 100 Houses series showcases contemporary architectural trends. The beauty of residential architecture lies in its infinite scope for innovation and the comfort of its inhabitants, be they at rest, at play, or hosting guests. Among the awe-inspiring projects in this book are an opulent villa set in the Hollywood Hills with an infinity pool projecting over LA, an idyllic rural retreat set in luxurious valleys and stunning beach houses around the coast. The diversity of the locations extend from Mexico and Brazil to Thailand and Italy. Featured architects include: Damien Murtagh, Lockyer Architects, ISJ Architects, Saucier + Perrotte, SAOTA, Okada Architects, Original Vision, Koutsoftides Architects, Drozdov Partners and Carlos Bratke Architect.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 If you want to market luxury, you have to understand what luxury is. Aristotle believed that the natural aim of human life is to know. The word ‘know’ in Greek has a double meaning: άνάγκη means something like ‘to obtain’ and also ‘pleasure’; the object of our knowledge is therefore the good we desire, which we obtain by understanding it. In other words, we need knowledge to be able to choose wisely. This is why knowledge is so important in aristocratic culture: it is the basis of taste, which is therefore born from a certain type of knowledge. Indeed, for the ancients, the basis of taste was usually something that was acquired through experience and not some innate quality. What enabled humans to distinguish between good and bad actions was not some innate instinct but rather a wisdom born from experience. The ancients therefore believed that the human capacity for enjoying was an acquired one and not something inherent in the human species. In other words, it is not the case that humans are born with the capacity for enjoying or being affected by certain things; rather, it is their experience that makes them capable of identifying with certain things. #2 The history of luxury starts with our species’ desire for knowledge. #3 The history of luxury starts with our species’ desire for knowledge. #4 The history of luxury starts with our species’ desire for knowledge. The most sophisticated techniques were developed and then applied to ensure the pomp and splendour of the afterlife.

The studies collected in this volume embody the results of research conducted in the mid 1950s into various theoretical problems in international economics. They fall into three groups – comparative cost theory, trade and growth and balance of payments theory. This volume consolidates the work of previous theorists and applies mathematically-based logical analysis to theoretical problems of economic policy.

Supervised by Maurice Dobb, Harry Johnson was particularly impressed by the breadth and the ideas of Joseph Schumpeter, which greatly influenced his writings in later years. Johnson made many contributions to the development of Heckscher-Ohlin theory and also helped to found the monetary approach to the balance of payments. He wrote many surveys of monetary economics that helped to clarify the issues in question.

In a world that is obsessed with luxury, critical luxury studies is a rapidly emerging field. This is the first book to explore the interplay between the real and imaginary realms of luxury, considering the most significant developments in the theories and practices of luxurious places and spaces over the last fifty years. Providing a critical approach to contemporary interpretations of luxury, the book interrogates the distinction between real places and imaginary spaces. Bringing together an interdisciplinary group of leading scholars, it features a range of case studies which take the reader from the Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge to expressions of sensuality in the 1970s domestic interior, and global conceptions of fine wine and art. The Third Realm of Luxury considers the interplay between luxury and space in both the past and the present, examining the abstract conception of excess and exoticism, as well as the real locations of the home, hotel, apartment, and palace. Full of original research, it is a key contribution to the study of consumption, design, fashion, and architecture.

This book is your passport to a smoother, more grandiloquent travel.' Tired of travelling to boring destinations the non-luxurious way? This book takes you through a portico of charismatic luxury, thereon soaking you into world-class extravagance and dazzling experiences. Reading through, you would leave your conventional holiday itinerary aside and leap forward into the glitz and glam of the travel world. Chartered planes, luxe adventures, cutting-edge destinations, gourmet meals and top-notch possibilities will replace your someday with now. This contemporary book is meant for voyagers who feel an adrenaline surge each time they hear the words ‘luxury travel’. Use this handbook as your one-stop guide for planning the trip of a lifetime by making it your most essential resource. So mark your transition now!

Painting a panoramic view of conspicuous consumption in the Netherlands and Flanders from 1500 to the present, this collection of essays explores the economic forces that produce a boom in luxury goods. Working from disciplines such as archaeology, art history, historical ethnology, linguistics, and media studies, these scholarly contributors explore both the wealth and the social display that fuels the search for rare commodities.