Icon Buzz - Designs & Arts

Sculpture Today is a hefty tome on contemporary sculpture over the past fifty years by Judith Collins. The chapters are arranged thematically and a lot is said about inspiration in the form of the body, light, colour, nature and architecture. Over 500 illustrations highlight the variety of materials and techniques used in this genre of contemporary art that engages by occupying actual space. It is this use of space that allows sculpture to be so diverse in its many forms and to escape set boundaries.
Hardcover, 464 pages. Phaidon, 2007. $44.07 at Amazon.

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Simon Henley’s new book, The Architecture of Parking, casts an objective eye over car parks, one of the most important but most neglected building types of the modern era, and finds a strange and haunting beauty.

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If you follow design blogs you may know that Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, the blogger behind the Apartment Therapy network of sites, is now the author of a second book on design; Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Design Solutions. A natural progression from his first book The Eight-Step Home Cure, a guide to de-cluttering your home and life, Design Solutions shows how real people have found solutions for their homes. 40 very personal, very real homes to be precise, from a South Beach Florida studio to an East Village walk up in New York City. Says Maxwell, “Nothing you do for your home is wasted. More than just a physical shelter, the home is both a second skin that protects us from the world outside and an emotional center that nourishes us and supports our innermost dreams.”. Search Inside at Amazon to see more. Hardcover, 264 pages, more than 400 color images, $18.15 at Amazon.

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