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Explore the medina and the dusty, narrow streets, whose high walls conceal splendid riads; profuse souks, redolent with the perfume of exotic spices’ and the lovely Palmeraie, where luxury villas offer shelter from the sun and inquisitive eyes.

In this enchanting volume, the owners of nineteen private homes have thrown open their doors to Barbara and René Stoeltie. They invite you discover with them the city’s most sumptuous, original and surprising interiors.

A host of glorious photographs make this a book to relish, and the detailed commentary of Marrakesh’s houses and interiors make it a valuable resource for anyone involved in interiors or design, as well as anyone who loves Marrakesh and Morocco.

After a century dominated largely by discussions of space and form there is now renewed interest in the material aspects of architecture.

Backlashing against the digital and virtual wave, there is a fresh emphasis on the material qualities of buildings while, ironically, it is the information technologies that allow the architect direct control over what happens on the building site once more. The early chapters of the book survey the field historically and explore the theory of materials and form. These are followed by seven thematic chapters and a well-illustrated discussion of the future of materials, with examples chosen from contemporary architecture.

The book aims to encourage students and architects to take more interest in this often neglected aspect of architecture. It counters the tendency to think of materials as a technical issue by addressing the subject historically and critically, linking cultural ideas to technical means.

Cet ouvrage a pour ambition d’explorer les matières dans ce qu’elles ont de plus beau et de plus original. Précieuse, une matière peut l’être à de nombreux égards, par sa rareté, sa noblesse, sa pureté. Dans les mains d’un artisan, artiste et créateur, il arrive qu’elle devienne exceptionnelle. C’est à cette rencontre que nous convie l’auteur.
Avec plus de 1 000 photographies, ce livre compose une source inédite d’inspiration, comme autant d’invitations à découvrir des matériaux méconnus, des ateliers d’art, des créateurs passionnés. Ces images, en grande partie des gros plans, cherchent à capturer l’essence esthétique des matières, à mettre en lumière la beauté d’un détail, leur éclat.

Sommaire :
albâtre, béton, bois gougé, bronze, cristal de roche, écaille, galuchat, marqueterie de paille, mosaïque, nacre parchemin, verre…

The volume explores the contemporary reinterpretations of age-old materials in a variety of exceptional new projects which are grouped into houses, buildings and landscapes. the projects have little in common other than the fact that they take inspiration from stone, brick, concrete or rammed earth. they include of course, many free-standing houses, as well as museums, bridges, churches, industrial buildings, landscape instalations and even cemeteries.

These age-old material are today being use in the most modern and advanced designs, inspiring a new generation of architects. Doubtlessly they will continue to be critically important to construction for age more in the future.

Plastics are high-performance materials of wide use in the built environment. Their versatile technical properties are particularly fascinating. A broad range of form-giving and finishing processes makes plastic especially interesting for complex geometries in combination with digital planning processes. Following the pioneering plastic structures of the 1970s, a number of spectacular buildings have in recent years highlighted the outstanding technical and aesthetic potential of the material.

Until now, however, there has been no systematic treatment of the use of plastic in architecture. This book seeks to fill that gap by providing an introduction to the structural and design possibilities of plastic. It introduces the material and its specific characteristics, describes various types of plastic in terms of their relevance for building, explains processing technologies and presents typical products and components. A concise presentation of twenty-five international built projects – organized by the type of application and the plastic involved – documents the broad range of plastic in architecture. Finally, a look ahead at the future describes the current state of the art in materials research.

Plastic has moved from a supporting role to being a new star among construction materials. It is versatile, light-weight, flexible and moisture resistant. Plastics are easy to handle, durable and attractive at the same time – they are used for whole construction units as well as for selected decorative elements. The recent innovations in this field have inspired designers and architects to experiment with the wondrous properties of plastics. Pure Plastic is a richly illustrated volume that features about 60 some of the most impressive projects presenting a creative use of plastic and synthetic composites in latest architecture from all over the world.

From the content:

_Bizarre Boutique in Omaha, USA (Randy Brwon Architects)
_Extension Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spanien (Foster + Partners)
_Urban Structure Museum in Tokyo, Japan (Makoto Sei Watanabe)
_Museum Kunsthaus Graz, Austria (Spacelab)
_Loft in PLUS5 in Zürich, Switzerland (Daniele Claudio Taddei Architect)

One of the essential effects of the sustainability, not only in architecture, is the consideration to the objects' life span. From the moment when a building is required to be highly efficient, it used to be an unknown dimension for architecture; the service life. However, for various reasons currently this new dimension became a part of the project variables: the buildings and their components actually live, with their own biorhythm. The progress has not only seen one direction but it's a cocktail of solutions, in which from the most progressive sorts to the most traditional ones are blended. Ceramics symbolize this historical blend embracing unlimited possible futures in one material. Ceramics represent the millennial past of the inert material. On the other hand their soft nature, hardened by subsequent processes, allows any possibility to the form and technology. That makes ceramics as competitive as any other constructive material by their durability and low maintenance.

This timeless material is creating new milestones in international architecture. Stone is strong, fascinating and multifaceted; and it continues to inspire established and upcoming architects. Set in Stone impressively demonstrate the lightness and modernity of natural stone, brick and ceramic.

With the aid of photographs, plans and texts, this volume unique contemporary buildings and interiors that use stone. Architects today place stone upon stone, as people have done for centuries, though seldom has the effect been as sleekly elegant as now in the 21st century.

* Prado Museum extension in Madrid, Spain (Rafael Moneo)
* Reconstruction of the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany (IPRO Dresden)
* Mausoleum of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, Palestine (Jafar Tukan)
* Stone Museum in Nasu, Japan (Kengo Kuma & Associates)
* Gateway building Southern Metropolitan Park, Panamericana in Chile (Antonio Polidura + Pablo Talhouk)

1300 colour and 700 b/w illustrations

The underlying aim of Stone Architecture is not to redefine the universal language of the “lithic style” based on the age-old traditions of Classical expression—which I have also examined—or the formal articulations of contemporary works, but to search for a single place of convergence that offers practical help in reconsidering and re-enabling one of the most ancient and representative types of architecture.

Although assembled through processes of association to create a single corpus, the contents of this book are presented in a manner that allows them to be dealt with separately. They cover three general themes: the foundations (i.e., the design culture, the sedimentation of the concepts and ideas that underlie stone architecture), the constructive methods and practices that together define the technological style with their prescriptive and essential attributes, and finally the contemporary works that, in their bringing of the “lithic style” up to date, enhance, shift and modify the balance achieved by the design culture to date.

This three-part breakdown of the book is matched by a symmetrically structured presentation of the text, photographs and drawings in the innovative graphical layout with its differentiated composition and paging.

We have thus returned to the medium, the narrative device that I searched for right from the start (and in the end found thanks to the creative talent of Massimo Pucci) to enhance the contents of Stone Architecture. It is my belief that “thinking” and “communicating architecture”—on a level with “designing architecture”—means associating and connecting elements of different origins, character and importance; it means creating hierarchies and constructing conceptual structures able to bring to mind a memory consisting of images that can calmly be “consulted” and “explored” from different perspectives.

Alfonso Acocella (1954, Calitri, Avellino), is the Professor at the Architecture Department at the University of Ferrara. He currently teaches the Technological Culture of Design.

Featuring stunning color photography, Stone Designs for the Home explores the work of one of the finest stonemasons practicing today, John T. Morris, who employs the traditional art form of hand-chiseled masonry. Journey through eight properties where Morris's exceptional work abounds while exploring his approach, thought processes, and philosophy behind the stunning art he creates in stone. Filled with a variety of native stones in exterior and interior projects, Stone Artistry for the Home Focuses on utilizing raw stone, masonry, and environmental elements.

There's nothing quite as functional - or as beautiful - as nature's own building blocks. Often shaped and weathered by natural forces, each stone has its own unique look and feel.

Used as elements in a carefully planned landscape design, stonework can add an artful organization to your outdoor spaces. Creating sturdy walls, private patios, graceful gardens, and offering unlimited opportunities for your imagination to soar - with features like ponds, streams and waterfalls that can transform your property into a sylvan sanctuary.

From cover to cover, this delightful book offers hundreds of practical design ideas illustrated with colorful photographs and drawings, all divided into six sections.

Chapter 1: Paths and Steps

Chapter 2: Terraces, Patios and Garden Spaces

Chapter 3: Walls

Chapter 4: Benches, Landscaping Features & Sculpture

Chapter 5: Pools, Ponds and Fountains

Chapter 6: Finishing Touches