World Architecture

Helps readers to create their own patterns, based on compositions from across the Islamic world. This book opens up the world of intricate Islamic patterns, allowing artists, designers and doodlers alike to learn about these works of art as they produce their own.

Japanese houses today have to contend with unique factors that condition their design, from tiny plots in crowded urban contexts to ever-present seismic threats. This book presents an overview of 50 recent houses that powerfully demonstrates Japan's enduring commitment to design innovation.

Documents fifty of the most important buildings of the last decade through architectural photographs that highlight their exceptional detail, attention to context and material experimentation.

The first survey of China's leading female architects, featuring 20 established and emerging talents making an impact on the national scene.

In the years between 1919 and 1939, Paris experienced a cultural and intellectual boom. This book explores the various aspects of the city during the interwar years, when Paris truly was the City of Light. It offers coverage ranging from architecture and technology, to fashion, cafe culture and the gay scene.

Islamic geometric designs are admired worldwide for their beauty and intricacy, yet in truth they are seldom understood. In this volume, the author analyses and explains these complex designs in their historical and physical context.

This text examines the city of Peking during the Ming and Qing periods. Using Peking's temples as a starting point, the book excavates the city's varied public arenas, its transformation over five centuries, its human engagements, and its rich cultural imprint.

Offers an account of dacha life and how Russians experience this deeply rooted tradition of the summer cottage amid the changing cultural, economic, and political landscape of postsocialist Russia. This book captures the dacha's abiding traditions and demonstrates why Russians insist that these dwellings are key to understanding Russian life.