Books about Modernist from Amazon.com

In this dizzyingly rich novel of ideas, Mann uses a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps--a community devoted exclusively to sickness--as a microcosm for Europe, which in the years before 1914 was already exhibiting the first symptoms of its own terminal irrationality. The Magic Mountain is a monumental work of erudition and irony, sexual tension and intellectual ferment, a book that pulses with life in the midst of death..
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John Heskett wants to transform the way we think about design by showing how integral it is to our daily lives, from the spoon we use to eat our breakfast cereal, and the car we drive to work in, to the medical equipment used to save lives. Design combines "need" and "desire" in the form of a practical object that can also reflect the user's identity and aspirations through its form and decoration. This concise guide to contemporary design goes beyond style and taste to look at how different cultures and individuals personalize objects. Heskett also reveals how simple objects, such as a toothpick, can have their design modified to suit the specific cultural behavior in different countries. There are also fascinating insights into how major companies such as Nokia, Ford, and Sony approach design. Finally, Heskett gives us an exciting vision of what design can offer us in the future, showing in particular how it can humanize new technology..
Price: $5.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Modernism in architecture and urban design has failed the American city. This is the decisive conclusion that renowned public intellectual Nathan Glazer has drawn from two decades of writing and thinking about what this architectural movement will bequeath to future generations. In From a Cause to a Style, he proclaims his disappointment with modernism and its impact on the American city.

Writing in the tradition of legendary American architectural critics Lewis Mumford and Jane Jacobs, Glazer contends that modernism, this new urban form that signaled not just a radical revolution in style but a social ambition to enhance the conditions under which ordinary people lived, has fallen short on all counts. The articles and essays collected here--some never published before, all updated--reflect his ideas on subjects ranging from the livable city and public housing to building design, public memorials, and the uses of public space. Glazer, an undisputed giant among public intellectuals, is perhaps best known for his writings on ethnicity and social policy, where the unflinching honesty and independence of thought that he brought to bear on tough social questions has earned him respect from both the Left and the Right. Here, he challenges us to face some difficult truths about the public places that, for better or worse, define who we are as a society.

From a Cause to a Style is an exhilarating and thought-provoking book that raises important questions about modernist architecture and the larger social aims it was supposed to have addressed-and those it has abandoned.

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Price: $14.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Interior Design magazine says that The ABC's of the Bauhaus is, "a collection of visually and intellectually stimulating essays about basic design courses at the Bauhaus, Froebel toys, inflation in the Weimar Republic, the typography of Herbert Bayer, Psychoanalysis, and fractal geometry. A fascinating fantasia on an elementary theme."

And Elysabeth Yates Burns McKee, from Design Book Review says that "perhaps the most successful aspect of The ABC's is its ability to elucidate complex and fundamental theroetical aspects of the Bauhaus program.".
Price: $15.38 [Notify me when price goes down.]

When we think of the gardens of Southern California, we tend to think of the enormous semiarid landscapes of the Huntington and Rancho Los Alamitos, often built on the sprawling grounds of former ranches. But there is another garden tradition in Southern California: the modest, rectangular suburban plots designed by the most famous architects of mid-century modernism: Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Gregory Ain, Raphael Soriano, Harwell Hamilton Harris, A. Quincy Jones, and John Lautner. These architects saw the garden as an outdoor extension of the space of the houses they designed, rather than a neo-Spanish fantasy to be added later by a "landscapist." Their modern gardens made use of low-maintenance, drought-resistant plants, and made room for informal outdoor living by children and adults with an emphasis on recreation and exercise.

The first book of its kind, Private Landscapes profiles twenty significant gardens-and their accompanying houses-by these celebrated architects. Using contemporary photographs by Julius Shulman and newly commissioned color images, along with plans and plant lists, Private Landscapes provides a never-before-seen look at these gardens. As beautiful and practical now as they were 50 years ago, these designs continue to provide inspiration for gardeners and designers everywhere.

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Price: $18.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Twenty years ago, a noted art writer lobbed a hand grenade at the smug world of contemporary art. In Has Modernism Failed?, Suzi Gablik castigated a culture in which total submission to "the big, powerful machine" of the art market replaced the artist's independent moral authority. Modern art broke the old rules, creating subversive work intended to shock the viewer into a new way of seeing. But consumer culture eventually co-opted shock value. In Gablik's view, successful artists of the 1970s and early '80s traded their autonomy for the money and security of "institutionalized individuality" offered by aggressive art dealers and museums increasingly reliant on corporate support. Gablik argued that by losing its last vestige of belief in spiritual values, art also lost touch with society as a whole. While praising the "spiritual dignity" of work by Anselm Kiefer and Josef Beuys, she viewed spiritual imagery in neo-expressionist paintings with suspicion. How could artists who didn't actively believe in this imagery invest it with mythical power? In the revised edition of her book---which includes two new chapters---Gablik revisits the issue of moral vision in art. She divides the post-9/11 art world into artists whose work promotes the materialism of Western culture and those few who have found a "socially redeeming purpose" for art. Most controversially, she proposes that "the truly significant product of an artist is his life." Her highest praise goes to artists whose work consists of social service projects, whether attempting to feed the hungry or restore damaged ecosystems. Worthy as these projects may be, Gablik's failure to address the aesthetic component of art undermines her views. Her writing can be repetitive, and her arguments, too narrowly focused. But her passion, fearlessness and inclusion of the diverse viewpoints of artists, critics, dealers and others make her book compelling reading. —-Cathy Curtis.
Price: $11.28 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Modernism is simply the result of the extremely progressive evolution of the American pastry industry. With the use of all ethnic influences, creative flavor combinations enhanced by incredibly visual designs is truly the global trend-setter for the millennium." Norman Love Corporate Pastry Chef, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Milk Chocolate-Ginger Mousse with Liquid Chocolate Center Norman Love Corporate Pastry Chef, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Naples, Florida. Mont Blanc Michael Hu Executive Pastry Chef, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York Midnight Macadamia Torte Kim O'Flaherty Pastry Cook, Essex House Hotel, New York. Chocolate and Pear Mousse Ensemble Eric Perez Executive Pastry Chef, Ritz-Carlton Tyson's Corners, Virginia. Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with Specky Vanilla Ice Cream and Caramel Marshall Rosenthal Executive Pastry Chef, Trump Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey Butter Pecan Custard Cake Wayne Brachman Executive Pastry Chef, Mesa Grill and Bolo, both in New York..
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