Considered the world leader in designing iconic public architecture, Curtis Fentress is redefining the art of civic buildings. In Touchstones of Design: Redefining Public Architecture, Fentress features many of his most innovative and inspiring works. This includes a new vision for LAX that embodies a design philosophy learned through time and experience. Best known for flipping the design of Denver International Airport upside down, Fentress introduces drama and beauty to the spaces communities use everyday. North-Carolina born Fentress left his position with I.M. Pei and Kohn Pedersen Fox to found his own firm in 1980 in Denver and began designing major projects.

The houses we dwell in, the cities surrounding our houses, even the clothes we wear—these are all shelters we erect against the elements. They are also the embodiment of intuitive rituals, individual and cultural responses to nature’s rhythms. Life in the 21st century has separated us from those traditions—now, Ritual House reawakens us to our lost natural heritage. Celebrated architect Ralph Knowles, Distinguished Emeritus at USC’s School of Architecture, has carefully crafted a book for architects, designers, planners—anyone who yearns to reconnect to the natural world through the built environment. He shows us how to re-examine a shadow, a wall, a window, a landscape, as they respond to the natural cycles of heat, light, wind, and rain. Analyzing methods of sheltering that range from a Berber tent to a Spanish courtyard to the cityscape of contemporary Los Angeles, Knowles shows us the future: by coining the concept of solar access zoning, he introduces a radical yet increasingly viable solution for tomorrow’s mega-cities. Understanding how the elements affect our lives is more vital than ever. High-energy enclosed building systems have cut us off from nature, but we can re-connect to our landscapes and to humanity through buildings that honor ecological balance, personal choice, and creativity. By engaging nature in our designs, we can create shelters that are unique to their climate, their region, and their relationship to the sun. Ritual House will take its rightful place among those classic works that become touchstones for the culture.

One of Latin America's most garlanded novelists—and the recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature—Mario Vargas Llosa is also an acute and wide-ranging cultural critic and an acerbic political commentator. Touchstones collects Vargas Llosa's brilliant readings of seminal twentieth-century novels, from Heart of Darkness to The Tin Drum; incisive essays on political and social thinkers; and contemporary pieces on 9/11 and the immediate aftermath of the war in Iraq. Fantastically intelligent, inspired, and surprising, Touchstones is a landmark collection of essays from one of the world's leading writers and intellectuals.

Touchstones a Survivor's Story chronicles the life of one man's journey through his "Touchstones", the people who guided him on a fantastic odyssey. The author takes us on a journey from his socialist upbringing in San Francisco to the Summer of Love, the fight for Free Speech, the pitched, teargas battles in the streets with the TACT Squad, the author's resistance and continuous participation in the demonstrations which led to the end of the Vietnam War. From the exotic casbahs of Fez and Marrakesh the author's search led him on the adventure of a lifetime. Beyond the minarets of Istanbul in 1972, at the tender age of 23, he came of age along the Silk Road. Overland through the ancient cities of Iran and Afghanistan, across the Khyber Pass to India and the Himalayas, the author lived an indigenous life for a time with the Tibetan and Sherpa peoples in a small village in the Valley of Kathmandu. From the early days of the Haight-Ashbury, later hitchhiking through Europe behind the Iron Curtain, he was a witness to the global changes of the period. From camel caravans and the atmosphere of pre-Taliban Afghanistan, to the villages of Nepal and the fishing villages and beaches of Goa, India; he captures a time when the world was open to those who would experience the freedom of the time. The author weaves his way through adventures taking us along for the ride. The reader of Touchstones will go on this fascinating journey with him as he discovers the world, what is important to him, how to be a survivor; and, most importantly his true self. Throughout this wonderfully written book, we learn the importance of not only going on a search for truth, but the importance of fully embracing all that is discovered along the way - truly a lesson for us all. But the book is so much more - fast-paced, riveting and totally alive. From the Runways of New York, the author found his passion both for photography and romance, meeting some of the most exciting personalities in the world; from Mick Jagger and Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Julie Christie, famous models like Lauren Hutton, and designers like Calvin Klein. From Bombay to Fire Island (the gay Mecca of New York), the author's story reads like a roller-coaster ride, compelling, a thriller through one man's tenacious desire to be free. "Michael Rossum's book is phenomenal. I have known a great deal about his life, but I was riveted to each page and every chapter. The way he writes takes me to every moment he mentions, every person I knew, every color and feeling and painful experience he recants or that he spoke about with me previously. He is a masterful writer about his truth. His book must be read, because it is a rare insight into a man who never gives in or gives up. He has outlived everyone and keeps me going, too." Betty Judah, Dyslexia Consultant "From the early days of the Haight-Ashbury, later hitchhiking through Europe, behind the iron curtain, and following the Hippie route through Iran, Afghanistan, India, and the Middle East, he was a witness to global changes of the period. From camel caravans and the atmosphere of pre-Taliban Afghanistan to the villages of Nepal and the beaches of Goa, he captures the time where the world was open to those who experienced the freedom of that time. Jump to the glory days of the gay scene in New York and San Francisco and the devastation and loss during the AIDS epidemic - Michael has seen it all." Anne Ross, Editor "v

The Touch is a new collaboration between Nathan Williams of Kinfolk and Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen of Norm Architects that welcome readers into over 25 inspiring spaces where interior design is not only visually appealing but engages all of the human senses. Through beautiful homes, hotels, museums, and retail stores--from contemporary designs by Ilse Crawford and Bijoy Jain to classic cases by Arne Jacobsen--readers are invited to explore how experiencing elements such as light, nature, materiality, color, and community can deliberately bring us back to our senses and imbue every day with a richer quality. In addition to stunning photography and interviews with design industry leaders as John Pawson and David Thulstrup, the book also details philosophical and art history references that reflect the tradition of design and color theory. For a deeper understanding of the concepts explored, The Touch includes an appendix which profiles architects such as Lina Bo Bardi and Richard Neutra. Heritage design pieces that helped influence this movement are also listed in the book. The Touch--Spaces Designed for the Senses by Kinfolk & Norm Architects. Published by gestalten.

Gage, Yale theorist, architect, and pioneer of the digital avant-garde in architecture and design, presents here a phantasmagoria of ideas and built work in his first monograph. Architect to Lady Gaga and Nicola Formichetti, Mark Foster Gage has spent 20 years leading the digital architectural avant-garde, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in architecture and design and exploding expectations. This volume features built and unbuilt work from around the globe, from a penthouse in downtown Manhattan to retail stores in Hong Kong. The work shown goes beyond traditional architecture to the realm of fashion and fine art, and includes Gage’s celebrated Valentine’s Sculpture for Times Square, a 3-D-printed outfit for Lady Gaga, as well as designs for Google Glass, Solar Flowers, and robotic tulips. Mark Foster Gage, whose work Harper’s Bazaar has called “effortlessly chic” and who has been labeled a “boundary breaker,” is a visionary for today. Filled with surprises and creations of wonder, such as a tower for New York’s 57th Street with mouthlike balconies on giant wings or a retail space bedecked with a hundred-faceted mirror, Gage’s work at once challenges expectations of what architecture might be and, as well, frequently fills one with a sense of excitement. Gage’s work is further elucidated in the book by the critical musings of eminent architects and cultural touchstones Peter Eisenman and Robert A.M. Stern.