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Architecture
Art and Architecture in Mexico by James Oles
"A lucid--at times, even poetic--summary of five hundred years of Mexican art. The illustrated works of art are well-chosen and beautifully integrated into Oles's text. Indeed, it feels as if his words emanate from the art itself." -Donna Pierce, Denver Art Museum This new interpretive history of Mexican art from the Spanish Conquest to the early decades of the twenty-first century is the most comprehensive introduction to the subject in fifty years. James Oles ranges widely across media and genres, offering new readings of painting, sculpture, architecture, prints, and photographs. He interprets major works by such famous artists as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, but also discusses less familiar figures in history and landscape painting, muralism, and conceptual art. The story of Mexican art is set in its rich historical context by the book's treatment of political and social change. The author draws on recent scholarship to examine crucial issues of race, class, and gender, including the work of indigenous artists during the colonial period, and of women artists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Throughout, Oles shows how Mexican artists participated in local and international developments. He considers both native and foreign-born artists, from Baroque architects to kinetic sculptors, and highlights the important role played by Mexicans in the global art scene of the last five centuries.
Call Number: 709.72 O
ISBN: 9780500204061
Publication Date: 2013-09-09
The Art and Architecture of Ancient America by George Kubler
This book examines the development of the principal styles of ancient American architecture, sculpture, and painting until the end of the Aztec and Inca empires in the 16th century. The book tries to explain works of art as such, rather than dwelling upon those ideas about civilization which art is often made to illustrate in books of a more archaeological character.
Call Number: N6501 K951
ISBN: 0300053258
Publication Date: 1984
Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands by Edward E. Crain
"For those who are explorers and are curious to know more about the culture of the Caribbean, this book is a useful guide to the significant structures on each island."--Thomas S. Marvel, architect, Puerto Rico "A comprehensive, panoramic vision of architecture in this important geographic region."--Efrain E. P#65533;rez-Chanis, architect and former dean, School of Architecture, University of Puerto Rico In this abundantly illustrated book, Edward Crain records the rich architectural heritage of the sixteen Caribbean islands. Hundreds of black-and-white and color photographs, most taken by the author, show in detail structures with arresting visual appeal and lasting historic value. Crain explores the physical, cultural, and political factors that influenced design evolution in the region, including climate, geography, the cultures of early occupants, colonial exploration, military control, immigration, and slavery. He observes that colonial influence dominated architectural development and concludes that designs from the mother countries (Spain, England, France, Denmark, and the Netherlands), while often elegant or delightful, were just as often inappropriate for the tropics. The Schoelcher Museum in Guadeloupe, for example, embodies the values of French classicism; the Catholic church in Kingston, Jamaica, recalls the Byzantine revival sty≤ the Fox Delicias Theater in Ponce, Puerto Rico, is an example of Art Deco design. Urban design in the Spanish colonies reflects the dictates of the Law of the Indies, which mandated a grid pattern for all streets (even those through hilly terrain) and a central plaza in each town. With its gabled, red-tiled roofs, the capital of Curacao--named Willemstad for Dutch King Willem--is nicknamed "Amsterdam in Miniature." "Architecture succeeded when nostalgia was replaced by logic, when a recognition of tropical demands was reflected in the buildings," Crain writes. When designers realized that the basic function of a Caribbean structure was to offer protection from rain and sun, they introduced such elements as verandas, porches, fretwork, and louvered shutters. Following architectural development from the time of early Amerindian habitation of the islands up to World War II, Crain groups buildings by type: large and small residences, military facilities, public and institutional structures, and places of worship. Edward E. Crain works as an architectural educator. When he retired as professor of architecture at the University of Florida, he served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Jamaica, where he helped set up the Caribbean School of Architecture. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects.
Call Number: 720.9729 C
ISBN: 0813012937
Publication Date: 1994-09-01
Latin American Architecture by Malcolm William Quantrill (Editor)
The countries of Latin America exist within a framework of individuality supported by a unity based on the similar factors of urban population, rural morale, and ethnic conformation. The area is isolated even as it is centrally located in geographical terms, almost in a time warp of culture that mixes the modern with the arcane, the elite with the poor, and the primitive with the sophisticated. The common history, common destiny, and common role in the world inherent to the major countries of Latin America--Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela--justify the efforts of regional architects to create a continental identity. Latin American Architecture: Six Voices is a compilation of profiles of architects, one from each of the six major countries. The essays capture the political and social changes that altered the face of Latin American countries and how the architects who work there continually attempt to balance the old with the new, intimating at the same time the continuity and cultivation of a tradition so persistent in Latin American architecture. In doing so, the artists reveal the two major schools of development: minimalist and tectonic tradition. Michael L. Tribe and Pablo J. Rodriguez P., along with editors Malcolm Quantrill and Kenneth Frampton, focus on prominent figures in Latin American architecture such as Colombia's Rogelio Salmona, Mexico's Ricardo Legoretta, and Venezuela's Jesús Tenreiro-Degwitz. Their intent is to correct an imbalanced treatment of the region's architecture at the hands of international critics, who lauded Latin America as the proving ground of modernism in the late 1940s but then quickly lost interest. A refreshing look at some less-famous architects, whose skill is equal to if not greater than that of some stars of the "developed world," Latin American Architecture provides an ideal introduction for the architecture student or anyone interested in architecture as a reflection of culture.
Call Number: 720.98 L
ISBN: 0890969019
Publication Date: 2000-07-01
Oscar Niemeyer Buildings by Alan Weintraub (Photographer); Alan Hess (Text by)
At age 100, Oscar Niemeyer is universally acknowledged as a master of form, color, and light--the last living Modern master. Niemeyer is known primarily for his large-scale institutional and civic designs throughout Brazil and Europe--daringly conceptual works that challenged twentieth-century orthodoxy about Modernism, materials, and structure. This comprehensive book, a companion to Rizzoli's Oscar Niemeyer Houses, presents a reevaluation of his greatest buildings, in all new color photography specially commissioned for this book. Featured are the architect's most seminal work, including: Ministry of Education and Health, Rio de Janeiro; Brasilia; New Pampulha Yacht Club, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Mondadori Headquarters, Milan; Le Havre Central Cultural Center, France; Niteroi Museum of Contemporary Art, Brazil; and the Oscar Niemeyer Museum. A periodic resident of Rio de Janeiro, photographer Alan Weintraub has been granted unprecedented access to these remarkable structures--from Brazil to North Africa to Italy. As a result, Oscar Niemeyer Buildings reveals the master's brilliant artistry, and his eloquent, sinuous, utterly livable Modernism.
Call Number: 720.98 L
ISBN: 9780847831906
Publication Date: 2009-05-05
