Architecture

This survey in 14 essays of Fatimid art between the 10th and 12th centuries showcases the pottery, rock crystal, metalwork, textile, architectural, wood, and calligraphic creations of one of the most artistically inventive periods in Islamic culture, with special attention paid to the art of Christian and Jewish communities under the Fatimids.

The German architect Rudolf Schwarz (1897–1961) numbers among the leading masters of church architecture in the 20th century. Inspired by the Catholic Youth Movement, he has designed over 40 religious buildings since 1924. His oeuvre includes numerous new buildings as well as alterations and renovations. In addition, he has made a name for himself as the author of fundamental texts on sacred architecture.  

The Bavarian architect Hans Döllgast (1891–1974) was accepted into the international canon of modern architecture quite late, but then remained a part of it all the longer. His most important achievements after 1945 were the “creative restorations” of buildings in Munich that had been destroyed by war: the Alte Pinakothek, the Basilica of St. Boniface, and the major municipal cemeteries.

Assembling buildings designed by modern star architects from Tadao Andō to Peter Zumthor, this photography book is a total-work-of-art: its felicitous interplay of brilliant architectural photography, exquisite book design, and texts approaching the subject from the angle of the history of thought places Marcel Chassot’s imagery within European cultural history.

How do we want to live? How shall we build? Where can we find ideas for the houses and cities of the future? Niklas Maak and Johanna Diehl focus their attention on these highly topical questions in their joint project “Eurotopians”. In times of change this volume casts its backward gaze on the work of European utopians in order to find visions for the present.  

The past decade was characterised by a real museum boom which persists today. Throughout the world museums have been built that are as unique as the art they contain, and the process continues. This volume assembles approximately 15 of these museums, designed and realised by the who’s who of the architect scene.

Natural disasters and their consequences dominate the news almost on a daily basis. Quick-impact preventive and aid measures are essential for the victims to survive. This volume presents a selection of projects which demonstrate impressively how both cutting-edge technology and locally available materials and resources can be used for this purpose.  

Werner Graeff – painter, graphic artist, typographer, photographer and sculptor – is an important Bauhaus artist and a significant representative of Constructivism in Germany. Prompted by his friend Mies van der Rohe he wrote his moving autobiography “Hürdenlauf durch das 20. Jahrhundert” (The Obstacle Race of the 20th century), which this volume publishes for the first time with a representative selection of texts.

The Venetian artist Carlo Scarpa (1906‒1978) was one of the outstanding architects of the twentieth century – and at the same time a convinced lone wolf who saw his discipline as a form of art based on craftsmanship. In addition to buildings for museums in Venice, Florence and Verona his principal works also include the tomb of the businessman Giuseppe Brion in San Vito d’Altivole (Treviso).  

In the 1990s the landscape architect Peter Latz and his team  developed a park beyond all fashions and trends. This volume provides insights into twelve years of planning and realisation through photographs, sketches, plans and explanations, and reveals to the reader  the fascinating world that follows the industry.