Bøger udgivet af Nai010 Publishers

As people make considered choices about their own lives and deaths, cremation has become an increasingly popular option in Europe, representing a recent but accelerating change in funerary practices. What do these spaces actually look like? What role does architecture play in these rituals? Considering precisely these questions, the authors of Goodbye Architecture embarked on a unique tour of European architecture. For the first time, the spaces and practices of cremation--the sites of some of our deepest desires and fears about life and death--receive serious architectural consideration. A wide range of facilities are documented in this volume with extensive illustrations and analyses, providing a glimpse of an essential architecture often hidden in plain sight.

Tracing the history and meaning of the 17th-century auricular styleThe 17th-century auricular or lobate style--Kwabstijl, in Dutch--is one of the most important and remarkable Dutch contributions to the decorative arts in Europe.Soft, smooth, undulating masses that resemble the curvature of the cartilage of the human ear give this curious style its name. Its forms, rendered in delicately hammered silver and gold, are strikingly modern, suspended between human anatomy and the materiality of slugs or mollusks. The "Kwab" of this fascinating book's title refers to the quivering, blubbery mass of animal tissue and aquatic plants.Kwab: Ornament as Art in the Age of Rembrandt traces the history and meaning of the auricular style, with its fabulous, organic shapes, from the work of the goldsmith Paulus van Vianen at the court of Rudolf II in Prague to that of his brother Adam in Utrecht and Johannes Lutma in Amsterdam. Their masterpieces were admired as high art by Rembrandt and his pupils, who produced auricular designs themselves. The style migrated from silver and goldsmithing to architectural ornament, interior decoration and the decorative arts.Designed by Irma Boom and written by Reinier Baarsen, Senior Curator of European Furniture at the Rijksmuseum, Kwab tells the fascinating story of this unique abstract decorative form through silver and gold masterworks, design drawings and prints, paintings by Rembrandt, furnishings and Cuir de Cordoue gold leather wall coverings.

The 17th century was a period of unprecedented blossoming in Dutch art and culture. Rembrandt developed his innovative techniques and Vermeer captured life in silent tableaus while trade flourished and supplied the Netherlands with goods from all over the world. The decorative arts responded, and the canal-side houses inhabited by a burgeoning merchant class came to resemble royal palaces, filled with art, luxury items from the Far East, porcelain and silk.A newly updated companion guide to the Rijksmuseum's unparalleled collection of art from this period, 1600-1700 features more than 150 highlights from the Amsterdam institution. Painting a spectacular picture of the glory of the Dutch Golden Age through its art and material culture, this volume features illustrated entries on beloved masterpieces such as Rembrandt's "Night Watch," Vermeer's "Milkmaid" and Frans Hals' "The Merry Drinker," among many others.

After the large-scale production of new buildings in the late 20th century and the economic crisis, architects must find ways to reuse and transform existing structures. Presenting examples from The Albany in London to the Klushuizen in Amsterdam, this volume brings the current challenge into international perspective.