12.04.2011

About art - architecture, bulldings and desing

Luînd în consideraţie că în colecţiile Bibliotecii Municipale "B.P. Hasdeu" au intrat documente din domeniul artelor în limba engleză, am decis să organizăm o expoziţie virtuală în acest sens. Astfel, vă propunem să nişte cărţi aflate în biblioteca noastră:

Stairs: architectural details / M. S. Braun, J. Goltz, A. Schulz; translation: A. Bayandin. – S. l. : Broun, 2008. – 160 p.

Every building taller than one story has a very important common element - the stairs.
They are an essential structure for crossing height differences. Having fulfilled this functional requirement, the architect has a lot of elbowroom in designing and constructing. As a preferred meeting place or a setting for public events, step for step, the stairs ensure communication and movement. Symbolically connecting Heaven and Earth, they invariably embody transition and variation.
The volume examines the architectural plurality of the urban stairwell. From pared-down treads, to refined steps leading to breathtaking heights and to commanding open-air perrons - the richly illustrated volume takes the reader on a foray through Europe. You are invited to join the discovery tour examining the differences and similarities in stairs found from city to city.

Superb Shops / Work Conception: Carles Broto; Publisher: Carles Broto; Editorial Coordinator: Jacobo Krauel. – Barcelona: LINKS INTERNATIONAL, 2007. – 239 p.

When designing commercial spaces it is necessary to consider not just the types of activities that will be carried out in them, but also the different locations, functions and environments that they will require. All commercial premises, however, need a basic infrastructure that creates an efficient working environment and facilities that ensure excellent customer service. There have been considerable developments in the area of commercial spaces in recent years, mainly caused by the trend towards increasing numbers of shopping centers appearing in cities, following the influence of the American model. The proliferation of these centers has gone hand in hand with developments in new ways of understanding commercial premises. These include changes in the way internal spatial divisions are conceived (they were far more schematic and conventional in the past), the systematic use of light and color as integral elements of the architecture, the use of prefabricated materials and the widespread tendency to use transparent spaces, with few visible separate.
In order to provide a representative vision of the most innovative recent designs, we have tried as far as possible to show the great diversity of commercial spaces and their almost infinite decorative possibilities, as a kind of graphic guide to current and future trends in interior design for customer service spaces.
We have also made a considerable effort to show not just the overall design of each project, but also the most significant construction details, which in some cases are an essential part of the character of the finished space. For this reason we have included all kinds of graphic material, such as photographs, plans, elevations and axonometric views and sketches, together with a description of the work as it was conceived by the architect.

On Tour Renzo Piano / Designer by Franco Origoni and Anna Steiner. – London; N.York : Phaidon Press Limited, 2004. – 336 p.

Renzo Piano is an architect whose work is increasingly relevant to our times. Intimately involved in each stage of every building`s development, from its concept and masterplan to its construction and detailing, Renzo Piano`s insights into his own projects are revealing and informative. Each new design never fails to be innovative and exciting.
On Tour with Renzo Piano offers the rare opportunity to join Piano himself on a journey around 22 of his key buildings, each presented though personal text and a photographic tour, which takes the reader from the external to the internal and to the detail. The selection includes the impressive Centre Georges Pompidou, the Beyeler Foundation and Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center. Also presenting the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, this book offers an intimate guide to the work of one of the most respected and visionary architects of our time.

Cumberlidge, Clare. Design and landscape for people / Lucy Musgrave. – London: Thames & Hudson, 2007. – 224 p.

Can architects, designers, landscapers and artists make a real difference to people`s quality of life? And if so, what are the best ways to the problems of today`s societies – their lack of infrastructure, good-quality housing, resources and community spirit?
Through over case studies arranged into five sections – Utility, Citizenship, Rural, Identity and Urban – this book constructs a picture of worldwide interdisciplinary attempts to address these problems. These are projects that often use minimal resources to the maximum possible change in people`s lives, with the precious resource being imagination. Indeed, some of the ideas are breathtakingly simple: the mobile farm in Chicago that turns vacant lots a source of food and employment; the reinvention of a remote Japanese mountain village to make a profitable virtue out of snow; the water pump in South African villages operated by a child`s roundabout. Others rely on more subtle interventions, working over years to rebuild the broken ties of society and encouraging communities to take responsibility for their own environments.
Full of ideas, inspiring stories and the conviction that design professionals can make a difference to the lives of ordinary people, wherever they live, this book will galvanize, comfort and challenge all those working in architecture, landscape and design, but also all those who care about the future of our societies.

19-th Century Art / R. Rosenblum, H. W. Janson; painting by Robert Rosenblum; sculpture by Jonson H.W. – New-York : Abrams, 1984. – 527 p.

In their text, Rosendlum and Janson draw from the historical documentation of the period the dynamics the making and viewing of art, examining the reciprocal influences of art and technology, art and politics, art and literature, art and music.
Ordered in terms of four broad historical divisions, the text begins in 1776 and ends
with the dawn of the new century at the Paris World`s Fair of 1900. And in contrast to most Francocentric views of the period, the fullest international representation is offered, randing from Australia to the United States, from Mexico to Russia. Moreover, the revisionist attitudes that have been drastically altering our conceptions of nineteenth-century art are reflected here, so that in addition to an ample treatment of the usual honor roll of geniuses – David, Canova, Goya, Ingres, Courbet, Manet, Carpeaux, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Seurat, Munch, Rodin, among others – there is full coverage of countless lesser masters – Victorian eccentrics, French academics, Belgian Social Realists – who provide a rich context for the century`s familiar masters.
A lively, beautifully written story as well as a major scholarly contribution, this is a book that will richly reward its readers. 502 illustrations, including 89 plates in full color.

Benjamin, Per. Bouquets: Creativity with flowers / Max van de Sluis, Tomas De Brune. – Oostkamp: Stiching kunstboek, 2006. - 96 p.

Life3 allows florists around the world to share in their expertise and ideas. They introduce the expressiveness of flower design, each from his own recognizable and individual style. Since 2002, Per Benjamin, World Champion, Max van de Sluis, second runner up, and Tomas De Brune, fifth place, have been working together around the world.
This book shares ideas and philosophies for the future as well as the history of flower design. They give you all the tricks and techniques to make it on your own, in extensive series of step-by-step photos, with comments and personal thoughts on design, technique and the emotional aspect of the work.

Boch, Brigitte von. Flower design. – Kempen : teNeues, 2007. – 168 p.

Brigitte von Boch understands the art of flower arrangements, and her Flower Designs carry her own trademark. She appreciates familiar combinations, but also loves to play with opposites. Such tensions liven up her art.
This book provides an insight into the lifestyle world of the interior design expert Brigitte von Boch, throughout the seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. Nearly 100 favourite creations, chosen by the editor of the lifestyle magazine “Brigitte von Boch Living” herself, are assembled. They show how colours, forms and textures can result in the ideal desired effect. It is a journey though the year: from the first snowdrops, via Easter arrangements, and airy summer bouquets, up to autumnal compositions that skillfully capture this season`s blaze of colours. Even winter`s floral scantiness can be used effectively. This book invites you to wallow, admire, and be inspired.

Lam, Benson. Shop Window Design. – Barcelona : Designer Books, 2008. – 501 p.

Following the industrial revolution and the recent economic boom, marked by consumerism the visual display of shop either though window or interior has becoming more and more important in the 21 st century.
The consumer behavior has been changed significantly unlike in the past where shopping was merely purchasing merchandise as a necessity. Nowadays, shopping has become part of the lifestyle of consumers.
Both manufacturers and shopkeepers have the primary aim – to attract and sell more! The effective way to employ is to strengthen the visual display to attract and catch the attention of the vast consumers. Throughout 500 pages with over 1000 photographs collected around the world, Shop Windows is definitively a pictorial reference guide to every visual merchandiser.

McLeod, Virginia. Detail in Contemporary Kitchen Design. – London : Laurence King Publishing Ltd, 2008. – 192 p.

The book features over 30 kitchen designs from around the world, each created by a notable architect for a specific residence. Arranged intro chapters according to the dominant material used in its construction – stone, timber and steel – each design in accompanied by an image of the whole house, placing it in context and providing a flavour of the general design style, clear photographs of the kitchen itself, and a floor plan showing its relation to the ofter spaces within the house.
Detailed photographs and architectural drawings show the arrangement and construction of the kitchens, and sections and elevation reveal the construction details of fitted units and joinery. These drawings have been specially created to a consistent style and to a set number of scales for easy comparison. Dimensions are included as well as model details of all the units and appliances, with suppliers` information so that these can easily be sourced.

Larisa Nosaci,
bibliotecar
Departamentul organizarea colecţiilor