The tropics have hot and humid climatic conditions that are inexorable against any building design. Enclosed spaces without air-conditioning and cross ventilation hold the heat, and become stuffy and moldy environments. Algae grow within days on plastered and painted surfaces due to the heavy tropical rains. The introduction of industrial mechanical building systems comes with high costs for both man and nature. Architects fight a continuous battle with climatic conditions and unsuitable material in an effort to offer more comfort and better design. Faced with climate conditions, the traditional art of building ceases to exist. Yet, architects like Kerry Hill and Kevin Mark Low create added value to a tropical design by combining both traditional methods of building while employing cross ventilation as a design feature. Traditionally, ventilation blocks have been used to make living in hot and humid regions more comfortable. Mass-produced modular blocks can take over construction loads, permit cross ventilation and protect the building’s interior from intense tropical rainfall. Ventilation blocks, as modular-building systems, using carefully executed designs, create richly ornamented sculptural façades. Unfortunately, with air-conditioning and the current preference for steel-glass façades, ventilation blocks are no longer fashionable. Casting Architecture rediscovers the spirit of traditional forms of buildings. This publication shows the ventilation block as an unique tropical building element. Precast concrete pieces form not only walls, but also create wonderfully fluent forms. By combining traditional principles with new, advanced building technologies, this studio generates excitement from old ideas and new products. The results are lightweight concrete screens with minimal materials, rich with tectonic reliefs, including fascinating forms and patterns. As homogeneous façades, they create a dramatic interplay of contrast with light. With each wall, the architect shows a unique construction expression. Casting architecture is a unique process of creating the vision of architecture in a concrete structure. Casting architecture inspires design enthusiasts toward erecting futuristic ideas in cement and concrete, and enables the further exploration and creative liberation of ideas beyond the limits of classical building methods. It also adds some excitement to those who want to learn more about how things stack together. An almost forgotten art, the Ventilation block provides climatic comfort, protection and architectonic a continuous application of modules. This book rediscovers the formwork’s beauty in a continuous application of modules, designed by Florian Schätz and the Year 02 architecture students from the department of Architecture at National University of Singapore.

About ten years ago, Professor Stanford Anderson from MIT initiated the joint-workshop program with Tongji University in Shanghai and has continued his decade-long collaborations with us since then. The Robotic Force Printing Workshop this year can be seen as a respectful tribute and continuity to such tradition.

Philip F. Yuan, a professor of Tongji University and the founder of Fab-Union Technology was in collaboration with Professor Philippe Block of ETH throughout the 23-day workshop. In addition to the design-fabrication studios, the workshop also consists of three field trips in association with one academic forum, four public lectures and a series of teaching modules on fundamental concepts of COMPAS and FURobotic to explore the integration between novel structural designs and the advances in additive manufacturing and robotic fabrication.

Contents:
Introduction – Form Following Robotic Force: Philip F. Yuan
Preface- Digital Master Builders: Exploring Strength Through Geometry: Philippe Block
Precedents – Computation & Digital Fabrication-Enabled Geometrical: Gene Ting-Chun Kao, Mark Kam-Ming Tam
– Bending-Active Formwork For Shell Structures Based On 3D-Printing Technology: A Pre-Research: Xiang Wang
– Programming Of Robotic Fabrication: Liming Zhang
Methodology – Preliminary Groups: – Snake Rock Pavilion – Shell O – Fractal Shell – Folded Bridge – Eight-Legged Shell – White Hill – The Ribbon
Final Fabrication Works – Bending Shell – Fu Bridge

The painting The Golfers by the Scottish artist Charles Lees is one of the greatest icons of the game of golf. It was painted in the 1840s when the game of golf was still predominantly Scottish and all but two of the twenty-three active British golf clubs were in Scotland. This book examines in detail the historical background to the painting and places it in context with other great sporting pictures of the time. It also discusses the original commission for the work and the importance that photography played, particularly the work of Hill and Adamson, in the realisation of the project.

Athens can be noisy and crowded and confusing, but it’s spontaneous and always surprising. A cable ride up Lykavittos rewards with an incredible panorama but veer off the track to discover the hill’s secret links to Parnitha. The beauty of Kaisariani Monastery’s architecture is matched by the ‘organised wilderness’ of its incredible gardens.

Ancient relics, great and small, mirror a glorious past that remains an example to the world, but they are only the start of what’s great about Athens today. There are the mountains that surround it, busy with climbers, runners and picnic-lovers during the weekends. The ubiquitous graffiti, some admirable, some abhorrent, that reveal what’s bugging the Athenians’ psyche. Bars, cafés and restaurants thronged with broke Greeks who refuse to stay inside. Stores where you can find vendors as venerable as their antiques and others that are up to date with the edgiest demands. And many surprising, sometimes downright dark, dank and mysterious pockets. Athens is changing day by day. This book will take you to places that are beyond touristy or trendy; whether hundreds of years old or contemporary, their tales are timeless.

In this new, ground-breaking work, Woven Masterpieces of Sikh Heritage, Frank Ames’ unique passion for the subject reveals the events and ideas that transpired within this Khalsa (Sikh Brotherhood) movement, transforming the Kashmir shawl to one of powerful ethnic proportions. During this era of Punjab’s colourful history a variety of complex and enigmatic patterns emerged, some purely geometric, others symbolic, which have long eluded textiles experts. Maharaja Runjit Singh’s takeover of Kashmir in 1819 had an extraordinary impact on the fashion of the legendary Kashmir shawl, giving rise to “a major artistic expression in the subcontinent”. Through the exploration of miniature painting of Northern India and the hill states, Kashmiri manuscripts, the Sikh Holy Scriptures of the Sri Adi Granth and Janam Sakhis, and illustrations of unique shawls from world collections, Ames describes with his usual penchant for exacting detail the nature and source of these enigmatic patterns that define the Sikh period. In addition, textile enthusiasts will discover new material in chapters devoted to the Mughal period, lacquer painting and Indo-Persian shawl influences and trade.

Where’s the best place to go out on a Saturday night in Barcelona? What off-beat museums can be discovered after Sunday brunch (and where to have it)? Which locations offer the best viewpoints of the Catalan capital? What Gaudí buildings are essential? Where does Barcelona’s modernism reach its zenith? Where to take the children? What’s the best place to buy wine? And where do the locals hang out? The 500 Hidden Secrets of Barcelona reveals hundreds of good-to-know addresses, avoiding the touristy places and pointing out the urban details you are likely to miss. Mark Cloostermans, a Belgian journalist living in Barcelona, unlocks the various districts, pointing out historical details in the streets of the old town, taking you from green Montjuïc hill to the beach and back. The best places to eat halal, the must-visits for Barça fans and the various festivals you can plan your visit around: The 500 Hidden Secrets of Barcelona reveals it all.

A longing for togetherness – for love – shows insistently in this 17th edition of MOMENTA Biennale de l’image. The artists and authors invite us to forge intimate kinships with nonhuman life-worlds. They propose that we listen to – and observe, smell, touch, speak to – the land, the water, the air not with the aim of distantly understanding, grasping, or exploiting, but to resonate, to vibrate, to be together. Or, perhaps, with no aim at all. They make room for stories that dwell in the blurred boundaries between technology and ancestral wisdoms, weaving in both human and nonhuman modes of knowing. They celebrate that we are in relation with nature, that we are of nature.

Artists: Frances Adair Mckenzie, Abbas Akhavan, alaska B, BUSH Gallery (Jeneen Frei Njootli, Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Peter Morin, and Tania Willard), Scott Benesiinaabandan, Jen Bervin, Anna Binta Diallo, Charlotte Brathwaite, Carolina Caycedo, Julien Creuzet, Léuli Eshrāghi, Maryse Goudreau, Ayesha Hameed, Taloi Havini, Ts̱ēmā Igharas, Lisa Jackson, Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Hamedine Kane, Kama La Mackerel, Candice Lin, Ange Loft, Chloë Lum and Yannick Desranleau, Malik McKoy, Alex McLeod, Caroline Monnet, Sandra Mujinga, Faye Mullen, New Red Order (Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil, Kite, and Jackson Polys), Thao Nguyen Phan, Laura Ortman, Sabrina Ratté, Tabita Rezaire, Jamilah Sabur, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Susan Schuppli, Tejal Shah, Erin Siddall, Miriam Simun, P. Staff, Eve Tagny, Joce Two-Crows Tremblay, Susanne M. Winterling, T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss.

The Civil War takes readers on a chronological journey of the most important events of the conflict with action-packed illustrations by Mort Künstler-the most collected Civil War artist in the world-and inquiry-based text award winning historian and author James I. Robertson, Jr. With close readings of Künstler’s paintings, young readers can parse the details of key moments of the war, including the Battle of Bull Run, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address, to learn how it really felt to be there. A timeline and short biographies of notable figures in the war, such as generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, provide excellent supplements to each narrative chapter.

In the South of France, sited on a hill of olive trees, pinus pinea, and a vineyard, a family retreat was designed with a key mission of maintaining the vitality of the site. A small agricultural plot, the site offered the possibility of amplification. With the introduction of a garden and many outdoor living spaces, the family had the intention of cultivating the landscape as part of their stewardship. In part a response to a programmatic brief, but moreover, a discursive response to architectural predicaments of geometry, typology, and anomaly, the house is also a response to Preston Scott Cohen’s pedagogies on architecture.

The Triangle region of North Carolina is a little-known hotbed of outstanding modern architecture with roots that trace back to the Bauhaus and has helped to shape the history of modern American architecture. While the Triangle has seen a great increased interest in modern architecture, the understanding of this design and the reasons and history behind it, have not been shared in a clear and meaningful way. There is an information gap between what is appreciated by architects and by the general public.

Tibetan Buddhist art is not only rich in figural icons but also extremely diverse in its symbols and ritual objects. This first systematic review is an abundantly illustrated reference book on Tibetan ritual art that aids our understanding of its different types and forms, its sacred meanings and ceremonial functions. Eighteen chapters, several hundred different implements are documented in detail, in many cases for the first time and often in their various styles and iconographic forms: altar utensils and amulets, masks and mirrors, magic daggers and mandalas, torma sculptures and prayer objects, vajras and votive tablets, sacrificial vessels and oracle crowns, stupas and spirit traps, ritual vases, textiles, furniture, and symbolic emblems. These are accompanied by many historical and modern text sources, as well as rare recorded oral material from high-ranking Tibetan masters. This long-awaited handbook is a must-have for all those with an interest in Buddhist art and religion.

‘Oishii!’ – ‘Delicious!’ is the most common word in Japan to describe food. Expressing culinary taste goes hand in hand with the social and cultural identity of those eating it. Hence food is much more than nutrition; rather it is tied to all areas of human life and illustrates the various aspects of a society and its culture. Against this backdrop renowned authors devote themselves to Japanese food and drink culture. How is rice cultivated? How do you catch bonitos? What is the secret to good sake and how did green tea become a lifestyle product? Hitherto partly undisclosed treasures from the Linden-Museum Stuttgart and valuable examples from home and abroad draw attention to the rich material culture of food and drink in Japan.

Text in German.

The Jewish Journey tells the history of the Jewish people from antiquity to modern times through 22 objects from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, brought together here for the first time. Many of the objects are little-known treasures and all 22 have remarkable stories. Spanning 4000 years of history and covering 14 different countries, the objects trace the evolution of Jewish life and culture from its earliest beginnings in Ancient Mesopotamia through time and space to the modern day.

The collection of drawings in the Ashmolean is one of the greatest treasures of the University of Oxford. It began spectacularly in 1843 when a group of drawings by Raphael and Michelangelo that had previously belonged to the portrait painter, Sir Thomas Lawrence, was bought by subscription. Lawrence’s collection was one of the greatest collections of Old Master drawings ever assembled and its dispersal was much regretted. The Raphaels and Michelangelos, however, were the jewels in its crown. Following their arrival in Oxford, their fame attracted a number of gifts and bequests of drawings and watercolours by Dürer, Claude Lorraine, Brueghel, J. M. W Turner, Henry Moore and many others.

This is a story not only of Old Masters but of benefactors – Francis Douce, Chambers Hall, John Ruskin and their successors – whose different tastes account for the variety of the drawings in the modern Print Room. It is a story also of the curators who bought them. In particular, it is the story of Sir Karl Parker who arrived at the museum in 1934 and left a collection when he retired in 1962 that comprehensively covered the history of the art of drawing in Europe from its origins to the present day. The exhibition, Master Drawings: Michelangelo to Moore, celebrates this history. It includes many of the finest drawings in Oxford, representing the work of many different artists: Raphael and Michelangelo; Dürer and the artists of the Northern Renaissance; Guercino and Rubens; Boucher and Tiepolo; German Romantics; J. M. W. Turner; Degas and Pissarro; the artists of the Ballets Russes; British twentieth-century artists from Gwen John to Hockney; and much else.

The magnificent historic city of Bath – home to sweeping crescents in honeyed stone, restorative thermal waters, and beautiful boutiques – is no stranger to those who seek to explore its manifold charms. Most are only intrigued by the obvious: the Roman Baths, the Pulteney Bridge, the Royal Crescent, the Circus. But for the more inquisitive there are countless hidden gems to discover.

Pick up this book and explore Bath’s best-kept secrets – stories, locations, and unique personalities from the past and present, who have been neglected by the conventional tourist routes. In these pages you’ll take a bespoke detour off the well-beaten path to unearth unexpected treasures: from secret statues and characterful pubs to artists’ studios and Georgian ballrooms, from memorials paying homage to lesser-known figures who left their indelible mark on the city to treats for foodies and fashionistas. Make your own gin, weave a scarf, tell the time with a stylish personal sundial, play ‘shove ha’penny’, bind your own book – or head beyond the city fringes, just a short hop by bike, punt, barge, or steam train, for a fresh perspective on this picture-perfect metropolis. The possibilities are endless. Whether you’re a first-timer, a frequent visitor or a native who has ‘seen it all’, here are 111 things you never thought you’d see in Bath.

What’s it like to sit on a bench made for someone 32 feet tall? Why are cardoons hunchback? Where will you find a masterpiece of early Spanish painting, envied by the Prado Museum? Which food is precious enough to merit an auction? Langhe, Roero and Monferrato, treasures of the Piemonte region, have been included by UNESCO on their World Heritage List for their wine landscape. These are territories profoundly different from one another, where ancient agricultural traditions are combined with continual research and innovation. Along with top quality wine and food, you will find small villages and historic castles on top of hills, caressed by fog and fecundity, and also painters, writers and sport champions who have become legends. This is an uncommon tour through 111 and more places, stories and secrets of one of most extraordinary and unknown areas of Italy.

You think you know Paris inside out? Then let yourself be surprised by this book! Written by three true connoisseurs, it tells you the secrets of the city. Curiosities, secret gardens, unknown museums, arts centres or very special hotels – with this book you discover Paris off the beaten path, its hidden treasures, its legends, its stories.

‘Keep Portland Weird’ is just the tip of this delightfully bizarre city’s iceberg. Though the City of Roses has experienced its fair share of changes in recent years, the spirit of ‘Old Portland’ lives in the shadow of gourmet donut shops and farm-to-table restaurants, and that’s where the real adventure begins. Summon spirits at a haunted pizzeria. Let it all hang out at a nude beach on the Columbia River. Get your kicks at the world’s only vegan strip club, and visit the world’s smallest park (blink and you might miss it).

Throughout these pages, you’ll learn about Portland’s (at times sordid) past; relive the pioneers’ grueling trek to Oregon; discover the strangest museums you’ve ever heard of, and get the scoop on the restaurants, bars, and coffee shops that don’t come with an hour-long wait. Whether you’re a frequent visitor or first timer; recent transplant or Portland native, you will discover 111 hidden places that prove Portland is weirder than you could have ever imagined.

Beyond the crowded star-paved boulevards of Hollywood and famously posh boutiques of Rodeo Drive, is another Los Angeles; a hidden shopper’s paradise, brimming with hundreds of charming, eclectic, curious, nostalgic, glamorous and quirky neighbourhood stores, restaurants, and bars that are practically unknown to tourists. From Pasadena to the Pacific Coast Highway, discover the secret haunts and favourite local speciality shops of starlets and mere mortals alike. Wear the hottest designers before they get famous; get your knit on at a yarn-filled emporium; satisfy your sweet tooth at the world’s first “cupcake ATM”; indulge your devotion to handmade American craftsmanship with a pair of custom-designed kicks; score some cast-off celebrity bling at a Beverly Hills pawn shop; navigate a two-block alley crammed with 150 discount shops. It’s all yours for the taking in the City of Angels.