Kirjahaku

In the world of modern art, the idea of appropriation, or the conscious manipulation of the recognised world of another artist, has long been accepted as a legitimate strategy in criticism of the tradition of art authorship, challenging the context of viewing contemporary work and the manipulation of omnipresent media images. The world of art itself is fair game to be pillaged or mined in the production of new art, but there is almost no recognised equivalent aesthetic in architecture. Philip Johnson consistently dealt with the concept of appropriation and used it as a design strategy from the very beginning of his illustrious career. A singular taste-maker, Philip Johnson influenced art, architecture and design during the second half of the 20th century. Philip Johnson and His Mischief: Appropriation in Art and Architecture looks at the concept of appropriation and how Johnson's style was influenced first by his mentor, Mies van der Rohe, and then by post-modern ideas and artists. This title serves to review Johnson's body of work and show that, far from being a weakness, his use of appropriation was a major part of his innovative success.

The book is not a typical guidebook, nor a generic history tale and not even a disguised autobiography. It is a listing of select pairs of buildings that each articulates a formal and abstract concept that is part of the culture of architecture, spelled with a capital a. The main idea of the book is to hide the bitter pill of academic formal analysis in a dollop of sugary personal anecdotes and humour. Hopefully, this will be creating unexpected juxtapositions that might elicit shock and new perceptions, cancelling the sleepy accepted dogma we all live under. The essays will be paring the famous and the infamous, the profound and the absurd, the beloved and the forgotten, the monstrous and the miniscule.

ATTENTION THESE ARE THE TALL TALES.THESE ARE THE TWISTED TALES.THESE ARE THE NOT TOO TRUE TALESOF TWO WANDERING MAGIC TOYS THATVENTURE FORTH TO SAVE A TROUBLED LAND.CHRISTOPHE: TOY SOLDIER - FIRST LIEUTENANTAND HIS FRIEND GRISWOLD - THEODORE BEAR.WITH ALL THE WONDERFUL AND AMAZINGCHARACTERS THEY MEET ALONG THE WAY.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) is undoubtedly one of the most significant and influential architects ever. To the present day, his designs and realised buildings, as well as his thinking and writings, continue to initiate many controversial debates on the achievements and failures of modern architecture. Yet not only architects and urban designers have been inspired or appalled by Mies. This new book demonstrates that his influence reaches far beyond the boundaries of professional architecture. Almost Nothing collects work by 100 painters, sculptors, photographers, film directors, designers, cartoonists, and architects who comment on the buildings, designs, and statements by, or images of, the legendary architect. The works also form a 100-fold re-interpretation of Mies van der Rohe's life and oeuvre. New York-based architect and writer Christian Bjone in his accompanying text provides rich background information on the individual artists and the depicted art works. The book's title refers to a statement by Mies himself on one of his celebrated masterpieces, Crown Hall on IIT campus in Chicago, which ingeniously combines simplicity with complexity.