Imaginar a Evidência
Author: Alvaro Siza
Edições 70
IS BN: 9727085210
From his early projects in Porguese Matosinhos to his later work across the length and breadth of Europe (from Berlin to Lisbon and from Den Haag to Barcelona), Alvaro Siza created some of the most important structures of the 20th Century. Many of them feature in this deeply reflective and sometimes poetically written autobiography.
The origin of the book is a highly complex one: Imaginar a Evidência is a translation back into Portuguese from a transcription in Italian by the architect Guideo Giangregorio of three tapes originally recorded by Siza in his studio in Porto.
O Engenheiro do Tempo Perdido
Author: Pierre Cabanne
Assírio & Alvim (Arte e Produção, 4)
IS BN: 9723702576
English edition:
Dialogues with Marcel Duchamp
Da Capo Press
IS BN: 0306803038
One of the most radical movers in the art world of the 20th Century, Marcel revolutionised the perception of art: his objet trouvé, the urinal in the museum, was the forerunner for a countless stream of other everyday objects and items of garbage which he pronounced works of art.
In 1966, two years before his death, Duchamp granted the author Pierre Cabanne the interview transcribed in this book. It goes some way towards unravelling the myth surrounding Duchamp’s non-art. The reader is quickly made aware of how little respect Duchamp had for the art establishment (although he used it to his advantage) and how little he valued art that appealed to the eye. Dialogues with Marcel Duchamp is a frank and honest book that requires no interpretation by art critics.
O elogio da sombra
Author: Junichiro Tanizaki
Relógio d’Água
IS BN: 9727085210
English edition: In Praise of Shadows
Vintage; New Ed edition
IS BN: 0099283573
The essence of this comparative view by Japanese author Junichiro Tanizaki of western and traditional Japanese concepts of beauty is perhaps best illuminated by its subtitle, The Concept of Japanese Aesthetics.
In Praise of Shadows was published in 1934, at a time when traditional Japanese architecture and with it the cult for the considered deployment of shadow and imperfection was on the decline in the Japanese culture. Particularly for western readers, Tanizaki focuses the view of differences between the two cultures in their treatment of light, colour and materials – and even of the human, in particular the female physique.
Thinking Architecture
Author: Peter Zumthor
Baden, Lars Müller
IS BN: 3764361018
Architecture whose purpose is to design buildings with a sensuous connection to life calls for precision of thought transcending the boundaries of form and construction. The writings of Swiss architect Peter Zumthor express his motivation in designing buildings that speak equally to our feelings and understanding. The new 2006 edition includes three new essays: Does Beauty Have a Form?, The Magic of the Real, and Light in the Landscape.