Category Archives: Books

Travel & Hotel Books: ‘Great Escapes Greece’

Greece is the land of gods and scholars as well as the birthplace of democracy and Western philosophy. Completely surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, it is also one of the most popular vacation destinations—and has much more to offer than just the blue and white islands of the Cyclades.

A voyage to the most beautiful hotels in Greece

Greece’s ancient art and culture form the cradle of Western civilization—numerous monuments and museums tell to this day of the country’s rich history. Greece is unique also by virtue of its breathtaking landscapes, the hospitality of its inhabitants, and its fabulous hotels, making it the dream destination of many travelers. The fresh and healthy cuisine, the crystal clear sea, and the canvas-worthy sunsets do the rest—a trip to Greece is pure delight.

Angelika Taschen travels from the mountains of Macedonia in the north to the Peloponnese with its mythical places like Corinth, Sparta, and Olympia, and to the larger and smaller groups of islands in the south. She opens the doors to some of the country’s most extraordinary hotels, including Imaret in Kavala, located in a former Ottoman complex; Tainaron Blue Retreat in a secluded former defense tower in the Mani; and The Windmill, a converted windmill on the island of Kimolos in the Cyclades. She invites readers to discover legendary luxury hotels, like Eagles Palace in Halkidiki or Poseidonion Grand Hotel on Spetses, and takes them to enchanting B&Bs like Guesthouse Mazaraki in Mystras or Mèlisses on Andros, run by food blogger Allegra Pomilio.

Along her itinerary, she visits hotels on well-known picturesque islands—such as the Mystique on Santorini and the Soho Roc House on Mykonos—but also accommodations in remote places like the Mediterraneo on the island of Kastelorizo, which lies in the very southeast of Greece off the Turkish coast. In addition she shows interesting architectural and design concepts, such as The Rou Estate hotel village, a historic, carefully restored hamlet on Corfu; the minimalist Olea All Suite Hotel on Zakynthos; and Ammos on Crete, where no two pieces of furniture are alike and new eccentric pieces are added every year.

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Literature: ‘Printing And Binding A Book’ (Video)

Discover the stages involved in creating a hand-printed and hand-bound book. This is an example of octavo size, meaning it’s made up of pages that were printed eight to a sheet of paper.

Video timeline: Process at the printers: Arranging metal letters: 00:09​ Preparing type: 00:25​ Applying ink to the type: 00:32​ Pressing paper onto the inked type: 00:40​ Process at the binders: Sheets folded and cut: 01:07​ Folds hammered: 01:24​ Sheets sewn onto bands: 01:28​ Rounding the spine: 01:43​ Attaching cover boards: 01:56​ Clamping the book and trimming pages: 02:20​ Endbands sewn: 02:29​ Leather cover stuck on: 02:41​ Decoration added with hot metal tools: 03:11

Books: ‘The Notebooks And Drawings Of Louis I. Kahn’ To Be Republished

Originally published in 1962 and out of print for almost 50 years, The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn was the first book on influential 20th-century American architect Louis Kahn to feature his own images and words— and the first to capture the modern master’s powerful and unique spirit.  

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Science & Film: Physicist Brian Greene Reviews ‘Time Travel Movies’ (Video)

Theoretical Physicist, String Theorist and Professor, Brian Greene looks at how time travel is portrayed in popular films. You can get his new book, Until the End of Time, here: https://amzn.to/3pTGyVx

Until the End of Time is Brian Greene’s breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos and our quest to understand it. Greene takes us on a journey across time, from our most refined understanding of the universe’s beginning, to the closest science can take us to the very end. He explores how life and mind emerged from the initial chaos, and how our minds, in coming to understand their own impermanence, seek in different ways to give meaning to experience: in story, myth, religion, creative expression, science, the quest for truth, and our longing for the timeless, or eternal.

Through a series of nested stories that explain distinct but interwoven layers of reality-from the quantum mechanics to consciousness to black holes-Greene provides us with a clearer sense of how we came to be, a finer picture of where we are now, and a firmer understanding of where we are headed. Yet all this understanding, which arose with the emergence of life, will dissolve with its conclusion. Which leaves us with one realisation: during our brief moment in the sun, we are tasked with the charge of finding our own meaning. Let us embark.

Profiles: ‘Marbled Paper’ Makers Of Florence, Italy

In the Italian city of Florence, high-quality colored paper and gift wrap have a long tradition. In fact, some of it is still made by hand. These papers are famous for their delightful patterns, shiny colors, and their Italian Renaissance-era motifs. We went to visit paper manufacturers in Florence to find out more about this age-old tradition!

Books: ‘Pre-Fab Living’ – A “Golden Age Of Housing”

From net-zero houses to plug-and-play dwellings and converted shipping containers, each chapter explores the varied and exciting ways that architects and designers are using pre-fabricated technology to address today’s living and world challenges.

This survey of the world’s most innovative and successful examples of pre-fabricated homes explores the full range of possibilities, open to anyone seeking to find clever and up-to-date solutions for building their own home.

A reference section includes in-depth essays, which explore the latest manufacturing methods, trends and technologies, presenting a wide range of possibilities to suit every need, taste and desire.

Richly illustrated with photography and drawings, with projects selected by a long-time expert in pre-fab architecture, this fresh take on new solutions presents the factory-made house in a new light. Whether designing on a tight budget, crafting something self-sustaining or simply looking for new spatial ideas, this is an essential and future source of inspiration for architects, designers and home-builders.

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2021 Books: ‘Radical Architecture Of The Future’ – (Phaidon)

This remarkable book features projects — surprising, beautiful, outrageous, and sometimes even frightening — that break rules and shatter boundaries. In this timely book, the work of award-winning architects, designers, artists, photographers, writers, filmmakers, and researchers — all of whom synthesize and reflect our spatial environments — comes together for the first time.

An important and fascinating collection of original projects by unique thinkers in the world of architecture and spatial design

Architectural practice today goes far beyond the design and construction of buildings — the most exciting, forward-thinking architecture is also found in digital landscapes, art, apps, films, installations, and virtual reality.

About The Author:

How does tomrrow look from your doorstep? For the author, curator, critic and cultural consultant Beatrice Galilee tomorrow’s buildings, building plans, or ways of thinking about our built environment, are already out there.

In her new book, Radical Architecture of the Future, she quotes the American scholar Donna Haraway who asserted, way back in 1985, that “The boundary between science fiction and social reality is an optical illusion.”

Galilee patrols that boundary within the pages of her new book, in which she details works by 79 architects, designers, artists, photographers, writers, filmmakers, and researchers, each of whom are working at the most radical edges of architecture and spatial design today.

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Architecture Books: ‘Vertical Living’ (2021)

Vertical Living is an introduction to the architecture and interior masterminds using skillful, clever design to conquer compact living wherever there is space. As we continue to expect more of our flats and houses, unexpected approaches are necessary for the future of our urban spaces.

The era of moving to the suburbs is coming to an end. Instead, a growing movement of city dwellers are looking for grand architectural solutions in the smallest of spaces. Slender, slim, and tall structures are soaring in the limited land available, offering innovative solutions to a world with ever-growing urbanization.

The book looks at ingenious architectural solutions: impossibly skinny houses wedged into narrow plots, spacious homes built into neglected infill sites and comfortable homes created in tiny spaces. By combining inspirational projects, in-depth features and engaging profiles of architects around the world, Vertical Living will offer a new way of looking at how we live in the built environment.

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2021 Public Domain: F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ (Podcast)

NPR’s Scott Simon reflects on the legacy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The literary classic’s copyright expired on the first day of 2021.

The copyright on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby expired on the first stroke of 2021 and the book entered the public domain.

The classic 1925 novel of love foiled, ambitions foisted, class and betrayal sold fewer than 25,000 copies before Fitzgerald died. It has since sold nearly 30 million. I gave our daughter the copy I had in high school when she read it last year. The Great Gatsby has been turned into stage productions, an opera, five film versions, a Taylor Swift song and inspired innumerable prequels, spinoffs and variations.

In the public domain, Gatsby may now become even more familiar. Two new editions are about to come out and who knows what kind of projects — a Gatsby rom-com? Gatsby joins The Avengers? — might now get a green light, which recalls the imperishably eloquent last passage of the book: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.”

Gatsby’s Jazz Age Long Island may not look like a microcosm of contemporary America. Neither does Don QuixoteThe Scarlet LetterMacbeth or Their Eyes Were Watching God. We want young readers to be able to see themselves in stories; but literature can also show us that people we don’t think are much like us at all turn out to have some of the same heart, blood and dreams. That can be the power of empathy in art.

Cook Books: ‘Family Meal’ By Designers/Illustrators (Support NYC Restaurants)

We were a website, and now we’re a cookbook. We’re a project by illustrators and designers to help raise money for New York restaurants and their employees. We’re 38 recipes from 38 restaurants for you to cook at home. And we’re a $20 donation for every book sold to New York City restaurants, through ROAR’s employee relief fund. 

You can read more here.