This is not another treatise on the heroic nature of the Jeffersonian imagination. Rather, it offers another reading generated by Joseph Campbell’s reluctant hero in The Hero of A Thousand Faces as offered by Jeffrey Hildner in his prescient Epilogue Labyrinth R.U.N. It is rather weaving fictions, constructing dialogues, (Rashomon) again and again on Jefferson as boy/man, as adolescent, as dreamer and instrumental explorer of here and there, close at hand and worlds long, long ago and far, far away. This is a collection of meanders, speculations, fog-bound as well as iridescent.

The fact may be that Jefferson was a farmer and politician, but highlighted here was that at thirteen he was an adolescent first, orphaned sooner than later as was common at the edge of the Arcadian Wild, as were Romulus and Remus, but custodian of terrains, knowledge and human energy. He was a Surveyor, Nomad and given his penchant for oculi and mirrors, a certifiable Lunatic.

This is a book on American Pragmaticism and self-evident truths in a new culture of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness rooted in the promise of Eden and the enduring resistance of Jerusalem, articulated by William McClung in The Literary Legacy of An Architecture of Paradise. We aligned ourselves with contemporary philosophical debates benchmarked by Andre Gide and Bruno Latour which posit that previously called Ancient if not Archaic belief systems might hold self-evident truths coincidental with contemporary survival systems of sustainability once called common sense, grounded in the recurrent dualities of Architecture.

This is a philosophical work framed on epistemological and ethical questions, sustained by Joseph Campbell in The Hero of a Thousand Faces. It also seeks to identify the contemporary vitality of American cultural history and contemporary topographic landscapes.

Translations examines the architecture and artwork of Sigrid Miller Pollin. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a professor of architecture at the University of Massachusetts, Miller Pollin has created a rich body of work, from residential and academic buildings to furniture and artwork inspired by the natural world. Her design sense and deep understanding of space and colour combine to present an oeuvre worthy of study. As a book about a practicing female architect who has successfully woven family, work, and art into a creative life, it offers inspiration, anecdotes and examples for women entering the professional world of architecture.

Richard Manion Architecture creates distinctive residences and estates with a respect for traditional forms and historic imagery adapted to modern living. The curated selection of rarely published projects in this second volume of RMA’s work, Streamlined, demonstrates the firm’s signature classicist style, which draws upon traditional and streamlined classical, regional, and contemporary influences to reflect authentic details, proportions, and a sophisticated sense of place for the 21st century.

In this book, the firm’s focus is on the integration of modernism within an overall framework of simplicity and restraint, discretion and harmony. Academic studies of European modernism, with its visionary approach and embodiment of the machine age, have come back to inspire, but with the understanding that many of its roots can be traced back to the heritage of classical design principles. This exquisite, fully illustrated volume showcases RMA’s goal to unite ideas about tradition, history, and modernity in a synergy and explores the meaning of shared architectural imagery and heritage for our time.

“Moonwatch Only is certainly one of the best books ever written about a single watch model.” – William Massena – Timezone.com “It is an indescribable reference work and a true must-have for every Speedmaster collector.” – Forbes “This book sets a new standard. Not only for books on the Omega Speedmaster, but for watch books in general. I’ve never seen anything like it, and believe me when I tell you that I could fill an impressive sized wall with books on watches. Authors of other books or publishers should take a look at Moonwatch Only as well to see how it should be done.” – Robert Jan Broer – FratelloWatches “The OMEGA Speedmaster Professional – the Moonwatch – has done things that no other timepiece has done and it’s been worn in places that only a few human beings have been.” – Captain Eugene Cernan, ‘Last man on the moon’ There are very few timepieces in the world that deserve a definitive and comprehensive book such as this one. The OMEGA Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch is one of them. Initially designed for automobile racing teams and engineers, the Omega Speedmaster embarked on a very different trajectory when NASA chose it to accompany astronauts heading for the Moon in 1965. Its involvement in the space adventure has propelled the Moonwatch to the top of the list of celebrated timepieces. After years of research and observation, the authors present a complete panorama of the Moonwatch in a systematic work that is both technical and attractive, making it the inescapable reference book for this legendary watch. This third edition has been enriched with numerous new features including a 16-page gallery of astronauts and their Speedmaster, QR codes to extend your exploration and a detailed story of a vintage Speedmaster.

Temporality and age are inherent in every object and creature and, depending on one’s outlook, may transcend to infinity. How can this be imagined? What goes beyond it? Swiss filmmaker Christoph Schaub sets out for a personal journey through time and space. He starts in his childhood, when his fascination with sacred buildings began, and also his wondering about beginnings and ends. In dialogue with architects Peter Zumthor, Peter Märkli, and Alvaro Siza, artists James Turell and Cristina Iglesias, and musician Jojo Mayer, Schaub explores the magic of sacred spaces, a term that for him represents much more than just churches.

Architecture of Infinity traces spirituality in architecture and fine arts as well as in nature, and even over and above the limits of thought. The lightly floating camera immerses the viewer in somnambulistic images, taking him on a sensual and sensing journey through vast spaces, guiding his eye towards the star-spangled sky’s infinity and the depths of the ocean. Past and present, primeval times and light years, it is all there.

The running time of the film is 85 minutes, and the DVD is accompanied by a 32-page booklet with text in English and German.

Beth Moon’s fourteen-year quest to photograph ancient trees has taken her across the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Some of her subjects grow in isolation, on remote mountainsides, private estates, or nature preserves; others maintain a proud, though often precarious, existence in the midst of civilization. All, however, share a mysterious beauty perfected by age and the power to connect us to a sense of time and nature much greater than ourselves. It is this beauty, and this power, that Moon captures in her remarkable photographs.

This handsome volume presents nearly seventy of Moon’s finest tree portraits as full-page duotone plates. The pictured trees include the tangled, hollow-trunked yews – some more than a thousand years old – that grow in English churchyards; the baobabs of Madagascar, called ‘upside-down trees’ because of the curious disproportion of their giant trunks and modest branches; and the fantastical dragon’s-blood trees, red-sapped and umbrella-shaped, that grow only on the island of Socotra, off the Horn of Africa.

Moon’s narrative captions describe the natural and cultural history of each individual tree, while Todd Forrest, vice president for horticulture and living collections at The New York Botanical Garden, provides a concise introduction to the biology and preservation of ancient trees. An essay by the critic Steven Brown defines Moon’s unique place in a tradition of tree photography extending from William Henry Fox Talbot to Sally Mann, and explores the challenges and potential of the tree as a subject for art.

“Jean-Pierre was himself a musician, but his choice of instrument was a camera, which he never put away.” – Michel Legrand

“I am so happy to see Leloir’s work published, because behind each image is a story – one that needs to be told and appreciated. Leloir was not just a photographer; instead he was a preserver of history. As a result, this book holds hundreds of stories that shine a light onto the lives of those who live in these pages. Leloir had a unique ability to preserve an entire atmosphere and its surrounding emotions. between the four corners of a picture, but beyond his talent as a photographers, he presented himself not as paparazzi, but a friend. He and my other brother Herman Leonard were two of a kind; they had the same passion for photography and an endless supply of vision.” – Quincy Jones

This book gives ample proof of Jean-Pierre Leloir’s amazing ability to immortalise performers and to capture candid moments at the airport, backstage, and in the dressing rooms of the most legendary Paris jazz and concert venues: “I loved the people I photographed, so I made myself as available, yet as discreet as possible”, he used to say. “I never wanted to be a paparazzi. I wanted them to forget my presence so I could catch those little unexpected moments.” The selection of photographs showcased here has been carefully selected from Leloir’s immense catalogue. Many of the images have never been previously published before, and can be easily catalogued as ‘atypical’ shots, as the musicians were captured primarily in spontaneous situations, away from the fanfare of the stage.

Text in English with an introduction in English, French and Spanish.

It was a time of unimagined new freedoms. From the cafés of Paris to Hollywood’s silver screen, women were exploring new modes of expression and new lifestyles. In countless aspects of life, they dared to challenge accepted notions of a “fairer sex,” and opened new doors for the generations to come. What’s more, they did it with joy, humour, and unapologetic charm. Exploring the lives of 17 artists, writers, designers, dancers, adventurers, and athletes, this splendidly illustrated book brings together dozens of photographs with an engaging text. In these pages, readers will meet such iconoclastic women as the lively satirist Dorothy Parker, the avant-garde muse and artist Kiki de Montparnasse, and aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, whose stories continue to offer inspiration for our time. Women of the 1920s is a daring and stylish addition to any bookshelf of women’s history.

The intention of Reinhold Ziegler’s jewellery objects is to move the attention of the wearer or onlooker from themselves onto something greater – a radical strategy within a field that is strongly occupied with emphasising the individuality of the wearer. Ziegler’s art is influenced by the French philosopher Georges Bataille, who in his work Eroticism identifies a strong dilemma in humanity in which, on one hand, we want to fight for our individuality yet, at the same time, have a strong desire to be united with what he calls ‘everything that is’. In this book, Ziegler deals with this topic from many angles – gravitation, vibration, meteorites, fossils, and general aspects of humanity such as tools (from the Stone Age), talismans, spirituality, and consciousness.

Our contemporary condition, governed by the abstract apparatus of the capitalist market, demands a critical reading of the distribution, ownership, and use of common resources such as land. This is especially true in Britain with its long history of privatisation stemming from land enclosure. The latest research campaign of Laboratory Basel (laba), a satellite studio of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, investigated the English manor house and how it can serve as a testing ground to reassess Britain’s complex and ongoing relationship with the countryside.

The south-west of England, the most rural region of one of the more densely populated countries in Europe, reflects all the absurdities of a globalised country under pressure to develop economically, physically and environmentally. Highly protected landscapes, both natural and composed, form the backdrop to historic seats of political power and wealth, whilst sites of intense modern productivity are neatly concealed behind natural veils.

Manor Lessons: Commons Revisited, the concluding volume of laba’s Teaching and Research in Architecture series, explores the lessons that can be learned from the compound history of the Manorial System, whose forgotten feudalistic origins were once rooted in the idea of the land, not as private property but as common ground.

Today one of Australia’s leading architects, Angelo Candalepas’s career lifted off in 1994, when, at the age of twenty-six, he gained wide recognition for his winning project in the international competition for housing in Sydney’s Pyrmont neighbourhood. Over the course of twenty-five years, the designs of Sydney-based firm Candalepas Associates have won numerous awards and have been widely published internationally in magazines and journals. They show a development of architectural considerations drawing upon the heritage of past masters such as Louis I. Kahn, Carlo Scarpa, or Le Corbusier, and that of eminent Australian architects Glenn M. Murcutt, Richard Johnson and Colin Madigan. This has evolved into a body of work of a quality rarely found in Australia’s contemporary architectural environment.

This first full-scale monograph features a selection of on Angelo Candalepas’s key designs through photographs, plans and elevations as well as his hand-drawings and sketches. Completed buildings feature alongside unrealised projects that mark milestones in the firm’s development, and other not yet built ones, also offering an insight into the firm’s future trajectory.

Together with topical essays by Alberto Campo Baeza and Laura Harding as well as an insightful text by the architect it offers a comprehensive, lavishly illustrated survey of the outstanding achievements of Candalepas Associates to date.

The bamboo: tall, strong and flexible. This fast-growing shoot has been used as a construction material, a foodstuff and fuel for millennia, from India to Japan. Tanabe Chikuunsai IV’s art elevates bamboo to new heights. By weaving together small pieces of fibrous stalk, he creates vast, detailed sculptures without the use of rivets or adhesives. Under Chikuunsai IV’s skilled craftsmanship, bamboo is more than a functional tool: it is modern art, a unifying symbol of Japanese culture. His sculptures revere traditional workmanship, while conveying important contemporary messages – the codependence of nature and man, and the importance of protecting our environment.

Part autobiography, part introduction to the craft, this monograph follows Chikuunsai IV’s growth from a child marvelling at his grandfather’s mastery of bamboo, to a maestro in his own right. Bamboo weaves his past to his present, providing a sturdy foundation on which his art continues to build.

“Love bamboos, live with bamboos,” says Chikuunsai IV. As this book demonstrates, he has done precisely that.

American Industry is as much a celebration as it is documentation. Through his unique vision and privileged access, photographer Kim Steele has achieved a spectacular distillation of a variety of icons of power. Some of these places of power are literal: sources of hydro-electric energy, such as dams or atomic and accelerators. Other places of power are more metaphorical: the might of massive construction as only heavy industry can achieve, whether in architecture or ships; or the romance of aviation and the exploration of space.  

The photographic images are as iconic as their subjects. Formally pure and powerful in their scale and clarity, they mirror the ambitious and inspirational quality of what are now understood to be quintessential and classic symbols of American ingenuity and drive. Together, the seven chapters, Hydro Power, Aviation, Heavy Industry, Energy, Space, Atomic Energy, and The Future, create a visual tapestry of American industrial power in the 20th century. A testimony of a gilded age of American Industrial might. 

Within the human-machine collaborations cultivated in the digital age, crafts and materials are playing an increasingly important role in forming various ways of matter aggregation for architecture. Based on the pedagogical exploration of the design studio—Matter Aggregation at UVA, the book seeks new values of wood craft for contemporary architectural design, by introducing digital design and robotic fabrication techniques into the design process for timber building. The book integrates explorations of traditional crafts with digital fabrication technique, establishing a digital crafting as a new field for contemporary practice. The book explores the computational mechanisms and diagrammatic grammar within these craft-based aggregation systems, paying close attention to geometrical configurations, material effects and fabrication details and take advantage of these qualities to produce a unique spatiality.

It comes as a surprise to many that the elemental human impulse to tell stories, far from being the exclusive realm of children’s bedtime, long-forgotten civilizations and remote cultures, is also a burgeoning creative art form here, now, in twenty-first century, postindustrial societies. Storytelling in the Moment is a wide-ranging, multidisciplinary yet accessible exploration of contemporary verbal storytelling in Britain and Ireland. Primary research focuses attention on the working practices of today’s storytellers, the role of the listener/participant in a storytelling event, the informal groups and established organizations that sustain its development, the multifaceted roles that storytelling now plays in our society and the complex network interconnections that link its component parts. It also seeks to reveal how an emergent, grassroots, socio-cultural movement can become ubiquitous in society but pass largely unnoticed by a wider public in an age of global mass-media.