The Iconic House

Now available in an updated edition and attractive new format, this essential book on modern architecture presents over one hundred of the most significant houses of the past hundred years. The Iconic House features over one hundred of the most important and influential houses designed and built since 1900. With seminal works by Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Mies van der Rohe, as well as modern-day greats like Tadao Ando, Rem Koolhaas, and Herzog & de Meuron, this book brings to life a stunning array of architectural masterpieces. Wide-ranging in both geographical scope and artistic style, the houses share an appreciation of local materials and building traditions and a careful understanding of clients’ needs. Each house, however, is the result of a unique approach that makes it groundbreaking for its time. Now, fully updated, the book features iconic houses recently constructed, as well as concise, informative texts, specially commissioned photographs, floor plans, and drawings. The Iconic House remains an ideal overview of contemporary architects and architecture, for design-lovers and professionals alike.

This title presents an up-to-the-minute collection of residential work from much-lauded practitioners, proving that architecture can always be re-imagined.

Karen McCartney's Iconic Australian Houses books are re-imagined so cleverly in this freshly redesigned, encyclopaedic book, which brings together in one volume the best of 50 years of Australian residential architecture.' Lucy Feagins - The Design Files Iconic: Modern Australian Houses 1950--2000 showcases, in a fresh, new and collectible edition, the best residential projects from the previously published works 50/60/70 and 70/80/90 and which formed successful exhibitions shown at the Museum of Sydney. Completely redesigned in a new format, with revised introduction, this classic will find audiences both new to and familiar with the gems of Australian modernist architecture. Featuring houses from: Harry Seidler, Peter Muller, Roy Grounds, Peter McIntyre, Russell Jack, Robin Boyd, McGlashan Everist, Enrico Taglietti, Neville Gruzman, Bruce Rickard, Hugh Buhrich, Ian McKay, Iwan Iwanoff, Ian Collins, Richard Leplastrier, Glenn Murcott, Barrie Marshall, Ken Woolley, Lovell Chen, Wood Marsh, Andresen O'Gorman, Durbach Block, Sean Godsell, Stutchbury and Harper, Donovan Hill.

This richly illustrated entry in the stylish series tells the story of groundbreaking designer Christian Dior and the fashion house he founded. Christian Dior's spectacular rise to the upper echelons of Parisian haute couture is one of the most compelling stories of twentieth-century fashion. An art gallerist with a contemporary vision, Dior’s debut collection invented the “new look” silhouette and revolutionized the way women dressed, shopped, and saw themselves. The House of Dior’s unique style blended the traditional, artisanal skills of the French fashion house—tailoring and intricate embellishment—with a modern sensibility. Dior himself helmed the company for only a decade, but it has flourished under the creative direction of some of the most storied names in fashion. Currently, Maria Grazia Chiuri steers the brand as it stays true to its identity—of opulence, femininity, drama, and what Christian Dior called “the complete look,” from garments to perfume and shoes. Little Book of Dior tells the story of Christian Dior’s early life, the brand’s inception, the triumphs of the couture collections on the catwalk and the red carpet, and the brand’s journey after the death of its founder.

One of the oldest Italian fashion brands in existence today, Gucci was founded in Florence in 1921. Guccio Gucci established his company with the goal of creating opulent luggage for Italy's wealthy and fashionable upper-classes. With the signature Gucci print of dark brown diamonds on a tan background, interlocking G logo and red and green stripe, the brand has gone on to become the last word in Italian luxury. Gucci's signature items - the belt, the bag, the loafer - transcend fleeting fashion trends, and have remained central to the house's identity into the twenty-first century. Under the stewardship of Tom Ford, Gucci epitomized the louche and mischievous 1990s aesthetic. Today, under Alessandro Michele, the brand's combination of romance and toughness is in hot demand. The Little Book of Guccitells the story of this historic yet flourishing house, and the visionary looks that have cemented its place in fashion history.

Celebrating this family brand and representing a summary of Miuccia Prada's key collections and pieces, including the launch of the Miu Miu line, the brand's emphasis on understated elegance and luxury, technologically advanced fabrics and originality of design. We follow a biographical chronology leaping from the pages of the origins of the brand as a leather-goods manufacturer, the life and career of Miuccia Prada, and the collections, collaborations and themes, such as art influences and the perfume and beauty lines. Beautiful photography of her finished designs, along with close-up details, portray the innovation of this influential fashion house and the woman behind it.

"A new type of achitecture has emerged in the last decade : the iconic landmark building, which challenges the traditional architectural monument. In the past, public buildings expressed shared meaning through well-known conventions. Today those conventions are superceded by commercial forces and the quest for instant fame. Public architecture is now required to be an amazing piece of surreal sculpture as well as something that appeals to a diverse audience - at once provocative and practical yet without the context that religion and ideaology once provided. Such contrary demands drive the architect toward a new convention : the enigmatic signifier. This curious sign suggests many meanings without naming of them. The most publized version of the genre, Frank Gehry's New Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, 1997, became an instant media event that forces other architects to design event buildings routinely. This 'Bilbao effect' has led to a series of landmark buildings by architects such as Norman Foster, Peter Eisenman, Enric Miralles, Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Renzo Piano, Will Alsop, and Rem Koolhaas. Some of these buildings are successful creations, while others make us wince." -- book jacket.

This substantial book features one hundred of the most spectacular interiors across the world, spanning the entire 20th century to the present day. It includes interiors assembled by artists and fashion designers, architects, interior and set-designers, bringing together diverse design talents from Piero Fornasetti and Coco Chanel to Alvar Aalto, Marc Newson and Matthew Williamson. Twenty short profiles are presented in the introduction, with a single iconic photograph and a concise, informative text; eighty are profiled at length, in chronological order, with superb colour photography and texts recounting the stories of these remarkable designs. Representing every style from minimalism, Art Nouveau and Neo-traditional to Gesamtkunstwerk creations that defy definition, these iconic interiors are elegant compositions that endure as lasting creations.