artifice april 2013 (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: New. Originally published by the Architecture Press in 1963, The Italian Townscape was written by Hubert de Cronin Hastings (1902-1986), under his pseudonym of Ivor de Wolfe, with photographs taken by him and his wife Hazel (alias Ivy de Wolfe). He claimed to have invented the word Townscape, and used his position as proprietor/editor of the Architectural Review to promote it as a technique to inspire the creation of historically layered, visually stimulating, dense cities in the period of reconstruction and new towns. The theory of Townscape was originally developed by Hastings in collaboration with the architect, planner and illustrator Gordon Cullen, whose book of this name, published in 1961, remains a standard work. In The Italian Townscape, Hastings made his own statement, sharing his worries about the blandness of modern consumer society and celebrating Italian towns and cities as theatrical background for everyday life. Writing at a time when English people were migrating to the suburbs and cars were destroying the conviviality of cities, Hastings anticipated the return in recent decades to an ideal of public space, where 'the only true happiness lies at the centre.' Hastings/De Wolfe rekindles our appreciation for individual urban elements: articulating his analysis through disparate themes: from the more obvious: 'streets,' 'advertising' and 'pedestrian network,' to typically idiosyncratic ones: 'Defensive armour,' 'constipation,' 'toughies' and 'sissies' and 'all creeping things.' The photographs evoke the Italy of Fellini's films, making it a forgotten classic of travel and photographic publishing whose lessons remain relevant today. Professor of Architecture and Cultural History at the University of Greenwich, Alan Powers, and Professor Erdem Erten of the University of Izmir in Turkey, contribute a new introduction to this reprint, restoring the identity of Hastings as an author and his role in architecture and planning debates from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Hardcover. Condition: New. Michael Wilford: Buildings and Projects 1992-2012 is written by Robert Maxwell, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Princeton University, and author and academic Professor Anthony Vidler, Dean of Cooper Union School of Architecture. Original writing by Michael Wilford is also included, presenting the architect's work, together with his partners Laurence Bain, Russell Bevington, and Manuel Schupp, in detail from both a historical and theoretical perspective. Michael Wilford: Buildings and Projects 1992-2012 features well-known projects including The Lowry and British Embassy in Berlin alongside hitherto largely unpublished projects such as The Singapore National Arts Center and Abando Transport Interchange in Bilbao. In 1960 Michael Wilford joined the practice created by James Stirling and James Gowan in 1956. The Stirling/Wilford partnership was established in 1971 and continued until James Stirling's death in 1992, after which Michael Wilford continued the trajectory of the earlier work, whilst creating a clear identity post-Stirling. Michael Wilford's work has gained international renown and includes significant public buildings such as performing art centres, art galleries, business headquarters, museums and libraries located around the world. Continuing in the tradition of the 'Black' and 'White' books (James Stirling Buildings and Projects 1950-1974, and James Stirling Michael Wilford Buildings and Projects 1975-1992), produced by James Stirling and Michael Wilford in 1975 and 1994, Michael Wilford: Buildings and Projects 1992-2012 brings up to date Wilford's legacy with respect to contemporary British and international architecture.