BELLAS ARTES

So rich and unique is traditional Japanese architecture that it’s nearly impossible to improve upon. Yet contemporary Japanese designers and architects keep finding fresh approaches to refurbish and take inspiration from the ways of old. Whether it’s a pristinely preserved traditional house or a sleek modern apartment, the best Japanese homes share a love of cleverly designed spaces and warm materials like wood, brick, and bamboo. From a thatched roof farmhouse occupied by a Zen priest to Tadao Ando’s experimental 4x4 House, from Shigeru Ban’s conceptual Shutter House to a beautiful domestic homage to bamboo, this elegant compendium traverses the multifaceted landscape of Japanese living today. Enriched by 170 brand new, unpublished photographs, this edition takes you on breathtaking journey through the Land of the Rising Sun―complete with a list of addresses, should you wish to undertake this journey to Japan’s most fascinating inns and homes yourself. An insightful glossary of key terms, such as tatami, shoji, and noren, will also help you come to grips with all elements of Japan’s unique aesthetic of Eastern minimalism.

Though it lies just across the Mediterranean from Europe, barely a stone’s throw from Spain’s southernmost tip, Morocco couldn’t possibly be farther away.With its mountainous and desert landscapes, labyrinthine souks, delectable cuisine, exquisite rugs and textiles, vibrant mosaics, fragrant odors, mesmerizing music, and welcoming people, Morocco is a most alluring and tantalizingly exotic destination. Digging a little deeper into the myth of Morocco, Barbara and René Stoeltie bring us this eclectic selection of homes to demonstrate all that is most wonderful about the Moroccan style: from tiled, turquoise swimming pools and lavish gardens to carved wooden furniture and jade-colored marble fountains.With more than 500 pages featuring stunning, inspiring photographs, flipping through these fairy tale-like visions of exotic havens (ideally while sipping a steaming cup of sweet, fragrant mint tea) will instantly whisk you away.

Visite una tierra de plazas adoquinadas, cerámica rústica y campos de lavanda, y descubra el encanto rural que sedujo a artistas de la talla de van Gogh y Picasso con esta monografía dedicada a las casas e interiores de la Provenza, ya sean espléndidos castillos o retiros campestres, a través de textos reveladores y preciosas fotografías.

Adéntrese en algunas de las viviendas más bonitas de la Toscana. Grandes casas patricias y ermitas rurales abren sus puertas para revelar la cerámica de los Medici, salones bañados por el sol y coloridos suelos de baldosas. Con detalladas explicaciones y magníficas fotografías, este volumen nos ofrece una hermosa imagen del estilo de vida toscano.

By the late 19th century, trademarks began to replace traditional emblems, like coats of arms, as identifying symbols for companies. At first, logos tended to be figurative, but over time they morphed into the abstract marks that we see everywhere today. Yet many iconic brands—like Rolex, BMW, Louis Vuitton, and the New York Yankees—still use logos designed 100 years ago. Bringing together two previous volumes—Logo Beginnings and Logo Modernism—into one compendium, design expert Jens Müller (dubbed “the logo detective” by Wired magazine) has trawled historical trademark archives and design publications to unearth 1000s of logos from as far back as 1870, including many forgotten designs and early versions of today’s brand identifiers.