Award-winning illustrator Lin Hai reimagines China’s oldest mythological encyclopaedia dating from the Zhou dynasty, the Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), through 100 vibrant, playful artworks accompanied by notes and cultural stories. Blending traditional aesthetics with modern charm, Lin Hai has transformed the original ancient legends into amusing, visually stunning characters – from fluffy mountain guardians to mischievous sea spirits.
With chapters covering the mountains, seas and distant lands described in the Shan Hai Jing, a picture begins to emerge of a magical world where trees, plants, minerals and creatures hold great medicinal and supernatural value. While such things that have long held importance over millennia in China have lost much of their significance today, Lin Hai’s Mystical Creatures of Ancient China brings them alive once more, inspiring an appreciation for our vast and diverse world, and all that lives in it.
In 2016, ‘The Crystal Ship’ docked in the Belgian coastal city of Ostend. The street art festival quickly grew to become the largest in Europe. Eleven years on, the list of participating artists is long and impressive. ROA, Jaune, David Shrigley, Broken Fingaz, Aryz, Escif – almost every big name in the world of public art now adorns a façade or wall in Ostend. This book provides a chronological overview of all the artworks still on display (almost 100!) and features interviews with eleven artists, one for each year: 2016: Guido van Helten; 2017: Strook; 2018: Erin Holly; 2019: Escif; 2020: Helen Bur; 2021: Medianeras; 2022: Broken Fingaz; 2023: Jaune; 2024: Marina Capdevila; 2025: Megan; 2026: Zenith.
Text in English and Dutch.
Ryan Korban is one of the youngest designers to be featured on the prestigious Architectural Digest AD100 list and to receive an International Property Award for his work. With a growing Instagram following of over 100,000, Korban connects with both seasoned design aficionados and a new generation of enthusiasts. After graduating from The New School in New York, Korban pursued a career in interior design. Despite lacking formal training, he developed a signature style that blends timeless luxury, old-world charm, and a contemporary edge. His spaces captivate with their allure and innovation, offering a modern reinterpretation of traditional design. Widely regarded as a transformative figure in the design industry, Korban is celebrated for his fusion of classic and contemporary aesthetics. His portfolio includes collaborations with top fashion brands such as Balenciaga and Alexander Wang, as well as high-profile clients like James Franco, Jessica Stam, and Kanye West.
As the founder of Korban Studio, he has led a range of notable projects—from luxury hotels and flagship stores to exquisite private residences. His work has been featured in leading publications including Architectural Digest, Vogue, and Elle Decor. Ryan Korban’s innovative approach and distinctive vision have redefined modern interior design. Whether creating spaces for elite clients or globally recognised brands, his work consistently exudes sophistication and boldness. The design world eagerly awaits his next creative endeavour. This monograph showcases Ryan Korban’s favourite recent interior and design projects.
In 2026, Ducati celebrates a historic milestone: 100 years of innovation, passion, and racing spirit. This book looks back on a century of history through one hundred defining moments that have shaped the Ducati we know today. From unforgettable achievements on the track and on roads around the world, to groundbreaking innovations that changed the way motorcycles are designed and built, and the unmistakable design that has made Ducati an icon.
Alongside these stories are the voices of the people who have been part of the Ducati world—riders, engineers, designers, enthusiasts, and many others. Each brings a unique perspective, creating a rich collection of memories and experiences that captures the true spirit of the brand.
For 100 years, Ducati has stood for the courage to push beyond limits, the ingenuity to find new solutions, and a passion that knows no boundaries. These pages celebrate not only the first hundred years of an extraordinary journey, but also the energy that continues to drive Ducati toward the future.
Chanel N°5: More than a Perfume from the Icons of Style series is a suitably elegant homage to the world’s most famous fragrance. Coco Chanel’s N°5 is more than a perfume. At its inception, it was a silent revolution. Throughout its history, it has been revered, celebrated in art and pop-culture, hotly desired, loved, obsessed over and, most of all, worn by women everywhere. This compelling volume features such celebrity wearers as Nicole Kidman, Lily-Rose Depp and Marilyn Monroe, as well as artworks by Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí.
Icons of Style is a new series celebrating the objects that changed the way we live, dream and desire. Each compact, elegant volume tells the story of a timeless icon through engaging texts and more than 100 evocative images. From the revolutionary allure of Chanel N°5, the perfume that defined modern femininity, to the legendary Hermès Birkin Bag, the world’s ultimate symbol of luxury and status, these books reveal the origins, secrets and cultural impact of fashion’s most coveted creations. Perfect for collectors, fashion lovers and design enthusiasts.
For more than eight hundred years, the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina was tended by the Āghawāt: a secretive fraternity of eunuchs entrusted with the key to the Prophet’s burial chamber. Today only one remains.
In The Tale of Two Keys, Adel Alquraishi, the only photographer ever permitted to document these guardians, sets out to answer the question their existence poses: why were the keepers of Islam’s holiest places required to be eunuchs? His investigation turns on two keys, one to the Prophet’s Noble Chamber in Medina, one to the Ka’ba in Mecca. Through more than 100 photographs of places, objects and rituals rarely seen by any outsider, Alquraishi uncovers a hidden symmetry between the two sanctuaries, of male and female, one and many, that has shaped Islam’s sacred geography for centuries. A landmark of access and artistry, and a companion to his acclaimed The Guardians and Al Astar.
For more than eight hundred years, the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina was tended by the Āghawāt: a secretive fraternity of eunuchs entrusted with the key to the Prophet’s burial chamber. Today only one remains.
In The Tale of Two Keys, Adel Alquraishi, the only photographer ever permitted to document these guardians, sets out to answer the question their existence poses: why were the keepers of Islam’s holiest places required to be eunuchs? His investigation turns on two keys, one to the Prophet’s Noble Chamber in Medina, one to the Ka’ba in Mecca. Through more than 100 photographs of places, objects and rituals rarely seen by any outsider, Alquraishi uncovers a hidden symmetry between the two sanctuaries, of male and female, one and many, that has shaped Islam’s sacred geography for centuries. A landmark of access and artistry, and a companion to his acclaimed The Guardians and Al Astar.
Text in Arabic.
Hermès – The Birkin: The Epitome of Style from the Icons of Style series tells the story of a handbag that began life as an accessory and became a near-mythical luxury. Born in a chance encounter between the Hermès CEO and the actress Jane Birkin, the Hermès Birkin Bag always carried a trace of destiny. This book features details of the production process, collectors’ guides and the privileged few whose patronage of the Hermès brand affords access to the ultimate status symbol, including Victoria Beckham, Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, Heidi Klum and more.
Icons of Style is a new series celebrating the objects that changed the way we live, dream and desire. Each compact, elegant volume tells the story of a timeless icon through engaging texts and more than 100 evocative images. From the revolutionary allure of Chanel N°5, the perfume that defined modern femininity, to the legendary Hermès Birkin Bag, the world’s ultimate symbol of luxury and status, these books reveal the origins, secrets and cultural impact of fashion’s most coveted creations. Perfect for collectors, fashion lovers and design enthusiasts.
Louis Vuitton Bags: The symbol of luxury from the Icons of Style series is the definitive homage to Louis Vuitton’s most legendary product.
Emblazoned with the French brand’s famous monogram, the Louis Vuitton bag is unmistakable yet ever evolving. Lavishly illustrated throughout, this compelling volume features the most famous advertising campaigns and celebrity wearers, the rich history of the product, design collaborations, reinterpretations and more.
Icons of Style is a new series celebrating the objects that changed the way we live, dream and desire. Each compact, elegant volume tells the story of a timeless icon through engaging texts and more than 100 evocative images. From the revolutionary allure of Chanel N°5, the perfume that defined modern femininity, to the legendary Hermès Birkin Bag, the world’s ultimate symbol of luxury and status, these books reveal the origins, secrets and cultural impact of fashion’s most coveted creations. Perfect for collectors, fashion lovers and design enthusiasts.
It has long been a dream of art director Iris Rombouts to produce an art book that sheds new light on our familiar surroundings and our daily food in particular. And what better way to do that than with the bee, the most important creature to humans on earth? Not only is this small insect indispensible to our food chain – it pollinates over 80% of all flowering plants and 70 of the top human food crops – but it is also a source of inspiration for architects, writers, artists and even whole cities. This book celebrates the bee in all its humble glory, and does so in a completely original way. With a preface by author Jeroen Olyslaegers.
We see the bee represented by old masters and contemporary artists, by insectobsessed Renaissance man Jan Fabre, by Joseph Beuys and his Honey Pump and by Tomás Libertiny with his beeswax sculptures. There is the ceramic piece of art ‘The Wall’ by Carla Arocha and Stéphane Schraenen, with its repetitive structure that reminds of a honeycomb. Fashion, too, is represented: designer Harm Van Zwolle chose the bee as his muse, proving that the beekeeper s outfit can become a covetable piece of clothing.
The book is as multi-faceted as the eye of the bee. It pays homage to Maurice Maeterlinck, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, who tells the most inspiring tales about the life and death of the bee. It explores the mythical powers of the Apis Mellifera, and invites passionate beekeepers from all over the world to share their vision and show that there is much more to the bee than honey. The book also explains how the beehive inspired architects Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright to create stunning buildings that will impress many generations to come. As readers, we explore the feather-light steel building ‘The Hive’ by Wolfgang Buttress, and travel to Manchester, the city that chose the bee as its symbol and has shown to be every bit as courageous and resilient as the insect itself. All these weird and wonderful stories are accompanied by the work of talented photographers such as Stephen Mattues, Diego Franssens, studioEAST, Mark Haddon, Stephen Goodenough, Joao Sousa, Filip Van Roe, Wout Hendrickx and Iris herself. With this book, Iris Rombouts has created a joyful, brilliant mix of stories, photography and art, with the bee as the well-deserved star of the show.
European fashion was profoundly influenced in the early decades of the 20th century by the style, textiles, patterns and colour combinations of Asian clothing. The discovery of the kimono, in particular, with its loose cut, fluid lines and broad range of decorations, captivated the great couturiers of the period. It enabled adventurous women in the Roaring Twenties to cast out their corsets and social straightjackets, while offering a new, daring kind of elegance with exotic overtones. From the meeting of these two sartorial cultures has sprung an exhibition and this catalogue, in which the drawings of Paris fashion designers are compared with examples of contemporary East-Asian textiles from the Baur Foundation in Geneva. The wonderful garments discussed include the collections of kimonos and other Japanese clothes gifted by Sato Mariko (2008) and Sugawara Keiko (2015), as well as Chinese textiles that are the pride of the Foundation.
The demand for agile organisations has never been higher than in today’s fast-moving economy. This book puts forward the framework and techniques that will allow your organisation to withstand turbulence and adapt to such a volatile environment. The Agile Leader’s Scrapbook is an inspiration in finding the logics of management that suit the particular needs of your organisation perfectly. By laying out the basics of what it means to create an ‘agile’ working environment, it provides clues to a better approach to co-creation, and to letting self-sufficient teams make better decisions, among other practical insights. This book is a radical plea to abandon the mantra of hierarchic management and embrace co-creation.
His photographs are of an old-fashioned beauty and at the same time radically contemporary. Flower by flower Bas Meeuws composes his floral still lifes, but digitally: the basis for Meeuws’ monumental works are digital photographs of individual flowers. They allude to the Dutch masters of the seventeenth century with their sense of luxury and their eye for the ephemeral. Meeuws strikes a chord in the art world with his flower still lifes. He is represented by Dutch, American, Taiwanese and Indian galleries and exhibits from Amsterdam to New Delhi.
“Flowers represent the circle of life for me as well as the short time of real beauty – Carpe Diem” – Bas Meeuws.
“Meeuws’ assortment of flowers, seem to emerge yet elapse into their inky black backdrops, reveling in sharpness, flaunting texture, pore and vein.” – Newspaper The Hindu.
Text in English and Chinese.
We are living in an age of accelerated change. The internet has washed away all limitations on time and space. Entrepreneurship has been democratised, and economies have globalised. Innovation has rendered entire sectors irrelevant in the blink of an eye. This is the reality any manager has to take into account in order to keep his company viable. Disruption@WORK taps into the roots of disruptive change, and offers a guide in recognising disruption, defining the ways in which it has already had an effect, and what awaits us in tomorrow’s board rooms. In doing this, Disruption@WORK provides a view on the factors we have to deal with in bridging the gap between the individual, his work and corporate strategy, in order to face the future of our companies.
‘Invisible social security’ is a term coined by Jos Berghman in his early work to draw attention to those aspects of social security that easily tend to be neglected in an instrumental perspective that conceives of social security merely as a particular set of instruments that national welfare states deploy to guarantee basic living standards to their citizens. Among others, Berghman emphasised that social security should rather be conceptualised in a situational sense, that is, as a state of being in which citizens feel confident about themselves and about their future lives. This book, Invisible Social Security Revisited, is a collection of essays published at the occasion of the retirement of Jos Berghman as Professor of Social Policy at KU Leuven – University of Leuven. Taking the notion of ‘invisible social security’ as a point of reference, nearly thirty years after it was coined, the authors address a series of contemporary issues in social security research and policy-making. One can read about social protection in the past and in the future, about prevention and activation, about European and local policies, about poverty and social exclusion, about feelings of insecurity and failing protection of informal workers, about social values in relation to social policies, and so on. The wide range of issues that are thus covered goes to show that over the years the concept of ‘invisible social security’ has retained its academic appeal, as well as its significance for the conceptual and empirical understanding of social security policies and realities. Taken together, the essays provide the reader with up-to-date and innovative ideas and information on important questions regarding the social protection of citizens. This Liber Amicorum for Jos Berghman is published at the occasion of his retirement as Professor of Social Policy at the Centre for Sociological Research of the KU Leuven – University of Leuven, 1 October 2014.
The digital revolution has made customers more demanding than ever. Speed, transparency and hyper-personalisation are the new norm. More and more brand manufacturers are now selling in their own stores and webshops are selling directly to consumers in increasing quantities. In the meantime, new technologies are heralding the next phase of seismic change. In this book, Gino Van Ossel introduces the concept of optichannel, which will guide retailers, brand manufacturers and service companies through and beyond the current wave of digital hysteria. Using recognisable examples, he offers a realistic view of the retail landscape of the future and sets out a practical framework for a successful strategy that combines profit, competitiveness and customer focus.
Apart from a handful of art historians no one has ever heard of the Brussels painter Hendrick De Clerck (1560-1630). Nevertheless, De Clerck was a contemporary of Peter Paul Rubens, the latter having gone down in history as an artistic trailblazer and painting powerhouse, while Hendrick De Clerck has quietly faded into oblivion. Yet the subtly coded, vibrantly coloured pictures that De Clerck painted for Archduke Albert of Austria and his wife Isabella are political propaganda of the highest order. In creating a mode of archducal representation that could help to gain an empire, the sky is quite literally the limit. De Clerck represents Isabella as wise Minerva, chaste Diana, the Virgin Mary. And that’s nothing compared to her husband, for in De Clerck’s paintings Albert is transformed into the sun god Apollo or even into Jesus Christ himself. Hendrick De Clerck’s mastery of ingenious pictorial strategy made him a leading player in one of the most ambitious projects history has ever seen. For those who know how to read them, his paintings tell a story of power, political promises, and grandiose ambition. Most of all, they are supreme examples of image-building; for as the Archdukes were well aware, even as a monarch you’re only as important as you make yourself. Text in English and Dutch.
Every stakeholder has his own objectives, interests and sensitivities. Trying to align all these things with your own agenda is no easy matter. The difference between success and failure is often to be found in your use of diplomatic skills. Searching with respect for solutions that can benefit everyone involved is the key. Stakeholdering shows you how to play this game to maximum effect. Based on the series of practical examples, questionnaires and checklists contained in the book, you can learn how best to understand and influence your relations with stakeholders. In this way, you can allow people’s competence and expertise – including your own – to be used to their full potential.
“It’s a must-have art collection gathering dust on the coffee table, and it’s just that.” – NY Journal of Books on Street Art Today 1
“One of the best books on Street Art” – Amazon.com “It is a beautiful aggregation, and certainly many of these artists have been interviewed and regularly featured on websites and other free cultural outlets like this one providing depth, context, analysis, information, and exposure. Having a hard copy of this collection of fifty in your hand will help freeze this moment for posterity as the scene/s continue to evolve.” – brooklynstreetart.com on Street Art Today 1
Going beyond the cliché of street art as artistically responsible graffiti, this Who’s Who of the international contemporary street art scene features 50 of the top street artists working today, complete with exclusive interviews. More than a revised edition of Street Art Today (2015), this book offers a completely new and updated roster of artists, and highlights the evolution of street art in all its multi-faceted complexity. Street Art Today is beautifully presented and written, in the main, in straightforward language accessible to all.
“Because of her long experience with the East, both in travel and in study, the eastern element is much stronger and more authentic in her work than it is in the works of other artists. The East is not merely a touch of varnish, it is something that defines her art.” – Prof. Dr. Willy Vande Walle. In her first monograph, Nicole Halsberghe provides an extensive overview of her oeuvre of the past 50 years. During her many travels to the East she always had a sketchbook and camera at hand. She captures everything she sees, everything that inspires her, and transforms it into acrylic paintings, drawings and lithographs. Traces on the Way shows how she ‘abstracts’ subjects, interprets them and makes them come to life. She portrays mankind and their surroundings in an impressive and unique way, from intimate rooms and train compartments to the immense, vast Japanese landscape. Text in English and Dutch.
“… pieces are beautifully crafted” – Net-a-porter.com
Birds of paradise, exotic flowers, the Garden of Eden, Gustav Klimt, Art Nouveau and Les Ballets Russes are sources of inspiration for the fantastic and exclusive oeuvre of Belgian lingerie and nightwear designer Carine Gilson. She transforms Calais lace and silk from Lyon into ‘haute lingerie’ with masterly finesse, and her designs catapult the imagination into a dream world of sensuality and elegance. This book explores her philosophy and work, focusing on her designs, the luxurious material she sources, and the craftsmanship of the atelier that has been transforming lace and silk into exquisite and luxurious lingerie, robes, and nightgowns for nearly 30 years. Carine Gilson’s couture lingerie is sold in her own stores in Paris, London, Taipei and Brussels and in famous couture houses around the world.
Beauty and drama come together in a true and compelling story set in the colourful, turbulent world of late-15th-century Florence. The talented son of a successful banker and the beautiful daughter of an influential patrician: their marriage seemed made in heaven, but they were both to meet untimely and tragic ends. This book tells the story of two forgotten protagonists of the Florentine Renaissance: Lorenzo Tornabuoni (1468-97) and his wife, Giovanna degli Albizzi (1468-88). Unpublished documents from family archives allow us to glimpse their daily lives, while poems and works of art offer insight into their notions of love, marriage, birth, death and hopes of eternal life. The contradictions of Italian Renaissance culture clearly emerge, such as the tendency to combine a highly principled intellectual life and aesthetic refinement with self-glorification and political ruthlessness. The author shows how life and art were completely interwoven in this period, and explains the significance of works of art by the likes of Botticelli and Ghirlandaio and their place in the lives of Lorenzo and Giovanna.
South of Geneva, Switzerland, the River Aire runs across a plain that for centuries has been agricultural land. From the late 19th century, the waterway has been embanked for flood protection, also causing the gradual loss of habitat for a large variety of plants and animals. In 2001, decisions were taken to re-naturalise the river. Yet rather than to merely reconstruct its former natural bed, Superpositions, the association of firms commissioned with the project, applied ‘topographic imagination’, a method termed by American landscape designer Elissa Rosenberg. It combines the embanked channel with a newly designed pasture landscape. The channel indicates a work in progress and serves as a reference line that makes ‘before’ and ‘after’ traceable.
This new book documents this much recognised, award-winning re-naturalisation project with drawings, images of construction work and of the new waterway. Essays and comments by international contributors Jean-Marc Besse, Lorette Coen, Gerorges Descombes, G. Mathias Kondolf, Elissa Rosenberg, Gilles A. Tiberghien, and Marc Treib demonstrate how the restored River Aire has been upgraded to become again a characteristic feature of this landscape on the fringe of the city.
Text in English, French and German.