Страны мира

With photographer Michael Freeman and author Sharon Leece, visit formal, more traditional metropolitan apartments featuring priceless antique furniture, see examples of Shanghai Art Deco and the unique Peranakan shop house, as well as modern manifestations of China Style-clubs sumptuously furnished with glittering fabrics and Chinese design motifs, minimalist glass houses, restaurants with a cultural-revolution flair, the China doll interior, and many more. The images were photographed in locations as diverse as Shanghai and Anhui in China, New York and Minneapolis in the USA, in Hong Kong, Singapore and other Southeast Asian destinations.

A traditional Chinese temple mingles with a minimalist Shigeru Ban villa, a Shanghai hotel that holds the world record for the tallest hotel, and a luxurious Beijing club in this compact tour of China’s most exceptional interiors. Proposing a refreshing blend of antiquity and modernity, these images exude feelings of simplicity, Zen, and wellbeing.

This is a sweeping portrait of China, its people, and its history since 1949. It is presented as seen by China's most prominent photographers and edited by Pulitzer-winning photojournalist Liu Heung Shing. This book brings together a vast selection of images by Chinese photographers since 1949, giving readers a visual journey across the great People's Republic; edited by esteemed photojournalist Liu Heung Shing, longtime "Associated Press" correspondent and "Time" magazine contributor. In post-Mao China, late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping urged his one billion countrymen to "seek truth from facts." Taking its cue from Deng's overture, China today is the leading economic story of the 21st century. The process by which China navigated the path from periphery to a central position in world affairs dominates the debate about Asia and China's relationship to the western world. Pulitzer-winning photojournalist Liu Heung Shing charts the visual history of sixty years of the People's Republic (1949 to 2008), and along the way aims to illustrate its humanistic course. Via work by 88 Chinese photographers, this collection of images shows how the Chinese people have blossomed in spite of enduring previous decades of extraordinary hardship. When China opened the curtain at the summer Olympics in 2008 and the world's focus fell upon Beijing, these photographs served to map out the remarkable road the Chinese had travelled to rejoin the rest of the world. To help place the images in context, also included is a chronology listing all the major political events in China.

Classic English Interiors is a sumptuous showcase for a distinctive style that is now as popular in Manhattan as in the country houses of England.

Written by The Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, the book is divided into two parts. The first half reveals the private and the pubic side of Blenheim Palace, her ancestral home, explores the country houses of Oxfordshire from which Lady Henrietta drew much of her inspiration and features selections from Woodstock Designs portfolio. Her fascinating text reveals life behind the scenes in some of Britain's most beautiful country houses. Hundreds of specially commissioned photographs show she translated the confident sweep of classic English style to produce homes of great elegance; comfortable family spaces; fresh, simple schemes and smart, stylish ones.

Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill is the elder daughter of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, whose family home is Blenheim Palace. Her interest in interior design began when at the age of 16 she travelled to study fine art and languages in Florence and Paris. Later she returned to England to finish her formal studies at the world-famous Inchbald School of Design.

China is fast becoming an economic power and with that comes fast development and changes in the people’s lifestyles, living standards and contemporary culture. This rapid development in a country with rich history and culture has brought about a unique evolution in Chinese design trends and styles. Traditions provide a strong background to new designs, bringing about a harmonisation of the old and the new, with the exploration of contemporary design concepts. Such contemporary Chinese designs that showcase a unique palette of textures, colours, and elements is representative of Chinese roots and at the same time presents a set of aesthetics that is appealing to the modern world. In recent years, contemporary Chinese designs have not only become popular in Asia, they have also gained a strong following in the western world. This book features a collection of projects from the Asian region including China, Hong Kong and Singapore which will hopefully inspire designers the world over to continue to bring this design phenomenon to a higher level. Turn the page and indulge yourself in a where acid jazz plays against traditional Chinese lanterns and antique furniture.

For many years, Belgium has occupied a leading role in the field of contemporary architecture and design. Belgian architects, designers and interior specialists enjoy worldwide fame for their creations.

This book presents recent projects by trend-setting Belgian architects and interior designers: Vincent Van Duysen, Pascal Van Der Kelen, Instore, Jean-Marie Gillet, Obumex, Nathalie Van Reeth, Christine von der Becke and Hendrik Vermoortel (Buro I & II).

It includes both new construction projects and restorations, all of which are characterised by the quality of the workmanship and the serene, elegant atmosphere that they radiate.

In spite of the differences between the houses that are presented here, there is a leitmotif that runs through all the accounts: the pursuit of a pure aesthetic, (interior) architecture that finds its essence in clean forms and warm materials.

The beauty of Soviet brutalism. A photographic record of 90 weird and wonderful buildings from the last decades of the USSR

Photographer Frédéric Chaubin reveals 90 buildings sited in fourteen former Soviet Republics which express what he considers to be the fourth age of Soviet architecture. His poetic pictures reveal an unexpected rebirth of imagination, an unknown burgeoning that took place from 1970 until 1990. Contrary to the 1920s and 1950s, no “school” or main trend emerges here. These buildings represent a chaotic impulse brought about by a decaying system. Their diversity announced the end of the Soviet Union.

Taking advantage of the collapsing monolithic structure, the holes in the widening net, architects went far beyond modernism, going back to the roots or freely innovating. Some of the daring ones completed projects that the Constructivists would have dreamt of (Druzhba Sanatorium, Yalta), others expressed their imagination in an expressionist way (Palace of Weddings, Tbilisi). A summer camp, inspired by sketches of a prototype lunar base, lays claim to Suprematist influence (Prometheus youth camp, Bogatyr). Then comes the "speaking architecture" widespread in the last years of the USSR: a crematorium adorned with concrete flames (Crematorium, Kiev), a technological institute with a flying saucer crashed on the roof (Institute of Scientific Research, Kiev), a political center watching you like Big Brother (House of Soviets, Kaliningrad). This puzzle of styles testifies to all the ideological dreams of the period, from the obsession with the cosmos to the rebirth of identity. It also outlines the geography of the USSR, showing how local influences made their exotic twists before the country was brought to its end.

Frédéric Chaubin's Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed is elected best book on architecture of the year by the International Artbook and Film Festival in Perpignan/France (Festival International du Livre d'Art & du Film Perpignan).

The photographer:

Frédéric Chaubin has been, for the last fifteen years, editor-in-chief of the French lifestyle magazine Citizen K. Since 2000 he has regularly featured works combining text and photography. The CCCP collection research was carried out from 2003 to 2010, through an intuitive and creative travel process. This project has been shown throughout the world, from Japan to the United States.

_____________

Посмотреть книгу Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed - Frédéric Chaubin. CCCP в бюджетной серии Bibliotheca Universalis

Brutalist Beauties. Architectural remnants of the USSR

An unrivalled photographic journey through time and geography, Frédéric Chaubin’s Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed gathers 90 buildings in 14 former Soviet Republics, each built between 1970 and 1990. In their local exoticism, outlandish ideologies, and puzzle of styles, these vast, weird, and wonderful buildings are extraordinary remnants of a fallen system and state.

Elected the architectural book of the year by the International Artbook and Film Festival in Perpignan, France, Frédéric Chaubin’s Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed explores 90 buildings in 14 former Soviet Republics. Each of these structures expresses what Chaubin considers the fourth age of Soviet architecture, an unknown burgeoning that took place from 1970 until 1990.

Contrary to the 1920s and 1950s, no “school” or main trend emerges here. These buildings represent a chaotic impulse brought about by a decaying system. Taking advantage of the collapsing monolithic structure, architects went far beyond modernism, going back to the roots or freely innovating. Some of the daring ones completed projects that the Constructivists would have dreamt of (Druzhba Sanatorium, Yalta), others expressed their imagination in an expressionist way (Palace of Weddings, Tbilisi). A summer camp, inspired by sketches of a prototype lunar base, lays claim to Suprematist influence (Prometheus youth camp, Bogatyr). Then comes the “speaking architecture” widespread in the last years of the USSR: a crematorium adorned with concrete flames (Crematorium, Kiev), a technological institute with a flying saucer crashed on the roof (Institute of Scientific Research, Kiev), a political centre watching you like Big Brother (House of Soviets, Kaliningrad).

In their puzzle of styles, their outlandish strategies, these buildings are extraordinary remnants of a collapsing system. In their diversity and local exoticism, they testify both to the vast geography of the USSR and its encroaching end of the Soviet Union, the holes in a widening net. At the same time, they immortalize many of the ideological dreams of the country and its time, from an obsession with the cosmos to the rebirth of identity.

About the series:

Bibliotheca Universalis — Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!

Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together more than 100 of our all-time favourite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.

Bookworm’s delight — never bore, always excite!

____________

Посмотреть полноформатное издание книги Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed - Frédéric Chaubin. CCCP

Dreaming of Tuscany. Where to Find the Best There Is: Perfect Hilltowns; Splendid Palazzos; Rustic Farmhouses; Glorious Gardens; Authentic Cuisine; Great Wines

No country inspires as much fascination as Italy, and no region in Italy inspires as much adoration as Tuscany - for its interior design, art and architecture, fashion, artisans and crafts, food and wine. In Dreaming of Tuscany, you'll experience the essence of a place that dreams are made of, ensuring you'll get the most out of your experience. Sharing her recommendations of favourite insider places and word-of-mouth gems, best-selling lifestyle author Barbara Milo Ohrbach acts as a guide to food markets, exquisite shops, overflowing antique markets, not to mention cooking courses, outdoor painting classes, ancient palazzos and small museums. And you can live like a Tuscan once you return home, with this book providing sources for everything from luscious bed linens to peppery olive oil.

Dreaming of Tuscany is illustrated with three hundred sumptuous images by photographer Simon Upton. Don't dream of visiting Tuscany without first reading this book.

TASCHEN's 25th anniversary - Special edition! What do we really know about our ancestors? Not about the rulers and generals, but about laborers, farmers, soldiers and families. Egypt is a perfect case in point, almost a blank slate for most of us as it regards details of their everyday life. This useful and informative book attempts to set the record straight by offering a distinctive take on that most mythologized of epochs. Who would have guessed, for example, that the first strike in recorded history took place in 1152 BC during work on the necropolis in the Valley of the Kings, a protest by construction workers against delayed deliveries of oil and flour? Two fairly banal commodities maybe, but essential: oil protected the skin against the savage desert climate, whilst flour was the base ingredient for thirty different kinds of nutritional cake. It is this detailed examination of the evidence that distinguishes this volume, with chapters on everything from relationships to leisure activities, the role of women to the manufacture of mummies. And just like the mummies, “fragile as eggshell but solid as a statue” and magically able to transcend death, both people and country are brought alive for us again.

Roman emperors, Arab scholars, and early travellers were already drawn to and enchanted by the fascination of the land along the Nile. The pyramids of Giza, the temple-city of Karnak, or the Valley of the Kings with the grave of Tutankhamen even today maintain their extraordinary force of attraction.Across the centuries, the high culture of the ancient Egyptians has pertained its allure. This can certainly be attributed to their astounding architectural, artistic, and technological achievements as well as their high level of writing and literature. The unified world view of old Egypt, in which science and religion are an indissoluble unity, impresses us deeply, as well.

Egypt’s romantic allure does not end with the age of the pharaohs. This lavishly illustrated book offers an unprecedented look inside the opulent estates of the pashas, khedives, and great ladies of 19th-century Egypt, and the princes and kings of the early 20th century. Here in all its cosmopolitan splendor is the world of unparalleled prosperity that attracted adventurers the world over, from the Belle Époque through the Roaring Twenties. The stories of the families and architects behind 41 spectacular villas and palaces make this volume as fascinating to read as it is to look at. Sumptuously illustrated with 174 original color photographs, Egyptian Palaces and Villas will entrance and delight anyone interested in this proud land and its dramatic history.

This all-embracing and well-illustrated survey provides an even-handed, straightforward history of English architecture from Anglo-Saxon times to the end of the 20th century. Concentrating on buildings that can still be seen today, David Watkin discusses all the styles and periods of English architecture, including Norman, early Gothic, Perpendicular, Jacobean, Baroque, Classical Revival and Victorian.

The emphasis is on the high points of English creative genius as expressed in the art of architecture by Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren, John Soane, Edwin Lutyens, Richard Rogers and a host of others. This updated edition includes a new preface, a revised bibliography, and an expanded chapter on the Modern Movement and more recent styles that brings the story up to the present.