344 pages, hardback, 300 x 240 mm, 290 colour illustrations
PRICE: £40.00
ISBN: 978 1 907372 19 3
The Unesco World Heritage site of Lalibela in Ethiopia is one of the most extraordinary places in the world. It contains eleven churches, all of them hewn from the native rock in imitation of buildings. However, Lalibela and the Ethiopian kingdom remained unknown in the West until the account of the first Portugese embassy to Ethiopia was published in the 16th century. Read more
The architectural writings, recordings and films of the poet Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984) are here celebrated in this catalogue accompanying a major exhibition at Sir John Soane's Museum. Marking the centenary of Betjeman's birth, the catalogue and exhibitions will bring together rare archive material, both photographic and textual, in celebration of his life-long passion for architecture. More
This book presents an overview of the restoration Venice has undergone in the last two hundred years. It is a mistake to think that Venice has been preserved in aspic. A great deal changed after the Fall of the Republic in 1797, and continues to change. Having read this book, you will never look upon Venice’s streets, houses and canals in the same way again. More
“I am not a modernist but ... I agree with the modernists in every way except that I think their brand of modernism is not very good.” Raymond Erith looked to achieve what he called the true “economy of means”, using traditional means to create original buildings with progressive ideas behind them. More
Lucca's location has meant the city has always been able to adapt itself to the various historical cycles. Though undoubtedly affected by the spirit of each age, Lucca's culture and institutions remain deeply rooted in the traditions and character of its people. More
The lagoon in which the city of Venice rises is no more than a few thousand years old - not much older than the city itself. And it may not last another hundred, such is the damage that not only the city but also the lagoon have suffered during the twentieth century. This book succinctly examines the severe threat from human intervention and incursions on the one hand and on the other from climate change and natural erosion, and the oprions for the future. More
The necropolis of Shah-e Zende at Samarkand represents a summit in the art of ceramic wall coverings in the Islamic world. Few studies have focused on the funerary ensemble of the Shah-e Zende and this is the first to describe these monuments in all the details of their decoration and its techniques and motifs, as well as the different types of ceramics used and their composition. Perched on a steep cliff overlooking the ancient city of Samarkand, today the ghost town of Afrasiyab, the necropolis remains largely unknown to art historians and certainly to the public. More
Vartan of Nazareth: Missionary and Medical Pioneer in the Nineteenth-century Middle East, is the little-known story of a medical pioneer and missionary who founded a hospital in Nazareth 150 years ago. This book traces the remarkable life of Pacradooni Kaloost Vartan, the son of a poor Armenian tailor in Constatinople (modern day Istanbul). Born in 1835 at a time of great change in the Ottoman Empire, the young Vartan attended the first American missionary school in the imperial city. He left school to join the British Army as an interpreter in the Crimea and, having witnessed the rigours of battlefield medicine, he was drawn to a career as a surgeon and physician. More
The city of Venice holds a special place in the global imagination. This book explores the creation of one of its largest surviving depictions, which has remained almost unknown to the wider public since its creation exactly four centuries ago. Signed and dated 1611, the painting is the work of a notable early seventeenth- century Bolognese artist, Edoardo Fialetti. His huge bird’s-eye view of the watery townscape is enlivened by first-hand observation of tiny vignettes of Venetian life. Eight square metres in size, this remarkable painting is a tour-de-force among depictions of cities. More
A haunting evocation of the ruined country estates of the Russian aristocracy of the 18th and 19th centuries. Revolution, civil war, invasion, anarchy and casual indifference have conspired against many of the grand buildings of Russia’s rich and complex past. While the architectural riches of Moscow and St Petersburg still exist for everyone to see, when the photographer Simon Marsden and author Duncan McLaren entered the Russian countryside, away from the obvious tourist trails, they encountered a very different world... More