Reconnecting Cultures: The Architecture of Rocco Design
From the Publisher. Reconnecting Cultures considers Rocco Design Architects’ approach to the different contexts in which the practice works, by showcasing projects developed both in mainland China and Hong Kong, where different aesthetic and architectural strategies are employed to respond to disparate cultural and physical landscapes.
As a Chinese architectural practice based in Hong Kong, where oriental and Western, modern and traditional cultures are merging, Rocco Design’s work is grounded in the belief that architecture is the embodiment of culture--embracing and reinterpreting the past, heritage and tradition, as well as addressing modernity--and the requirements of contemporary living, spatial relationships, materials, and the balance between the public and private realms. As such, Rocco Design is sensitive to the cultural context in which the practice works--their architecture is both an expression of form, and an interpretation of the culture at its hear
This beautifully illustrated volume documents major projects such as the Distorted Courtyard House, which responds sensitively to its surrounding topography while remaining striking and provocative in terms of its contemporary architectural devices, the Jiu Jian Tang, Shanghai, and the Guangdong Museum, Guangzhou. At One Peking Road, Rocco Design’s use of photovoltaic panels seamlessly integrates sustainability within iconic architecture. Other projects, such as the HKSAR Government Headquarters, Hong Kong, exemplify the practice's creation of significant and recognisable buildings that contribute to the development of place and history.
Reconnecting Cultures offers the most substantial exploration of Rocco Design's work to date. Interviews with Rocco as well as contributions from eminent architectural commentators take the reader through the underlying theoretical and aesthetic preoccupations that shape the practice’s work and make it resonate within both a Chinese and an increasingly global context.
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Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister
Now is Better
By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023
Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future
By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022
Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People
By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022
Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.
Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Milton Glaser: POP
By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023
This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall
By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022
Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)
By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023
This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.
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