Modernity for the Masses by
Throughout the early twentieth century, waves of migration brought working-class people to the outskirts of Buenos Aires. This prompted a dilemma: Where should these restive populations be situated relative to the city's spatial politics? Might housing serve as a tool to discipline their behavior? Enter Antonio Bonet, a Catalan architect inspired by the transatlantic modernist and surrealist movements. Ana María León follows Bonet's decades-long, state-backed quest to house Buenos Aires's diverse and fractious population. Working with totalitarian and populist regimes, Bonet developed three large-scale housing plans, each scuttled as a new government took over. Yet these incomplete plans--Bonet's dreams--teach us much about the relationship between modernism and state power. Modernity for the Masses finds in Bonet's projects the disconnect between modern architecture's discourse of emancipation and the reality of its rationalizing control. Although he and his patrons constantly glorified the people and depicted them in housing plans, Bonet never consulted them. Instead he succumbed to official and elite fears of the people's latent political power. In careful readings of Bonet's work, León discovers the progressive erasure of surrealism's psychological sensitivity, replaced with an impulse, realized in modernist design, to contain the increasingly empowered population.
Mok Wei Wei: Works by W Architects by
During a career spanning over three decades, award-winning architect Mok Wei Wei has designed numerous large- and small-scale projects in Singapore with his practice W Architects. From apartment complexes and museums to houses and community centres, each project reveals the architect's key inspirations and ingenious solutions to the challenges of building in the tropical city-stage. The works are presented in three themed chapters - Refract, Respond, Reflect - and move through Mok Wei Wei's career from the early 1980s to the present. In our increasingly urban world, W Architects illustrates a unique approach to designing buildings for a dense city environment, working in the context of a diverse multicultural society facing up to the challenges of climate, heritage preservation, globalism and national identity. With 594 illustrations, 296 in colour
Building Green Futures. Ediz. Inglese by
* Mario Cucinella curated the Italian Pavilion 'Archipelago Italia' at the 16th Architectural Biennale of Venice in 2018* Mario Cucinella Architects was founded in 1992, and is a world leader in crafting sustainable architectural solutions for a wide variety of building usesThis book brings together a collection of recent projects and classic architectural designs by Mario Cucinella Architects, and explores the sensitive, creative, and sustainable solutions that architecture and nature can provide in answer to global challenges. The way forward is approached via constructive strategies of the past and from the plant world, looking at how man has adapted in every latitude, climate, and culture. Buildings of the past considered resources like wind, sun, rain, and local materials, sustainable strategies that are increasingly important today. Research in the plant world inspires buildings that can adapt to the climate and resonate with the environment. Each project featured here is accompanied by a wealth of illustrations and drawings, and an in-depth analysis that interprets all aspects of construction.
Women in Architecture by
The voices of thirty-six internationally active women architects are heard through their own projects. This diverse panorama is supplemented by essays on pioneering female architects, and analyses that get to the bottom of the structural discrimination against women architects. With Mona Bayr, Odile Decq, Elke Delugan-Meissl, Julie Eizenberg, Manuelle Gautrand, Annette Gigon, Silvia Gmür, Cristina Guedes, Melkan Gürsel, Itsuko Hasegawa, Anna Heringer, Fabienne Hoelzel, Helle Juul, Karla Kowalski, Anupama Kundoo, Anne Lacaton, Regine Leibinger, Dorte Mandrup, Rozana Montiel, Kathrin Moore, Farshid Moussavi, Carme Pinós, Nili Portugali, Paula Santos, Kazuyo Sejima, Annabelle Selldorf, Pavitra Sriprakash, Siv Helene Stangeland, Brigitte Sunder-Plassmann, Lene Tranberg, Billie Tsien, Elisa Valero, Natalie de Vries, Andrea Wandel, Helena Weber, and Lu Wenyu.
The Artist and the Eternal City by
This brilliant vignette of seventeenth-century Rome, its Baroque architecture, and its relationship to the Catholic Church brings to life the friendship between a genius and his patron with an ease of writing that is rare in art history. By 1650, the spiritual and political power of the Catholic Church was shattered. Thanks to the twin blows of the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years War, Rome--celebrated both as the Eternal City and Caput Mundi (the head of the world)--had lost its preeminent place in Europe. Then a new Pope, Alexander VII, fired with religious zeal, political guile, and a mania for creating new architecture, determined to restore the prestige of his church by making Rome the key destination for Europe's intellectual, political, and cultural elite. To help him do so, he enlisted the talents of Gianlorenzo Bernini, already celebrated as the most important living artist--no mean feat in the age of Rubens, Rembrandt, and Velazquez.
Reference books such as biographical dictionaries or encyclopedias may provide short articles about an architect's life and works. To find these go to the NA40-NA60 call number area of the Reference section.
Books and videos from the library's circulating collection dedicated solely to the discussion of a single architect or designer will offer the most detailed coverage of their life, influences, impact, and the historical context in which they worked. To find books on an individual architect or firm, search the WU Library Catalog. Go to advanced search, select subject search, then enter the architect's name or firm name (last name, first name for personal names).
Example:
To browse the shelves for books about individual architects based in the U.S., go to the NA737 call number section of the library main stacks and overs section.
To browse the shelves for books about interiors, including firms and architects specializing in interiors, go to the NK1700-2195 call number section of the library main stacks and overs section.
AIA Historical Directory of American Architects includes names and biographical information for all national-level members of the American Institute of Architects who joined prior to 1978, along with names of their associates and links to archival collections when possible.
Biography in Context: this database offers biographical articles from a variety of reference and periodical sources such as The International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture and Contemporary Designers.
Credo Reference: search for biographical articles from a variety of online reference books simultaneously, including The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Design Since 1900 and The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of 20th Century Architecture.
Great Buildings Collection is searchable by architect, building name, or geographic location. Includes basic bibliographic information on each architect along with images, a list of works, and suggested sources for further reading.
International Archive of Women in Architecture: searchable by name or geographic region, this database offers key information for notable female architects, including specializations, awards, education, employment history, licenses, and publications.
Oxford Art Online features detailed biographical articles on major architects and designers from ancient to modern times.
Pacific Coast Architecture Database contains information on buildings and designers of California, Oregon, and Washington. Includes architects, landscape architects, interior designers, developers, and building contractors. Features biographical information, building records, images, maps, and more.
See also: Articles and Databases section of this guide for for resources that will provide you with access to journal & magazine articles about individual architects/firms who specialize in interiors.