Wednesday Book Review / Promotion

Two New Books on Palladio

 

 Palladio and His Legacy: A Transatlantic Journey 

Irena Murray & Charles Hind, editors

 This catalogue of the Palladio and His Legacy exhibition, centred on original drawings and books by the most significant and influential architect in the western world, Andrea Palladio (1508-80), examines his personal development and architecture, his influence on others achieved through his I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, the subsequent dissemination of his teachings through translations and pattern books in Britain and America, and the influence of Palladianism on architecture in the New World. The promulgation of Palladian principles resulted in new and original interpretations that took firm hold in America, influencing both grand formal buildings and smaller utilitarian structures. The drawings are supported by numerous architectural models. Three large examples--the Pantheon, Villa Rotunda, and Jefferson's unrealized design for the White House--programmatically illustrate the journey from Rome to America. Smaller models along with rare architectural texts and pattern books, through which Palladio's ideas were primarily transmitted, reinforce the themes of the book.

About the Authors

Irena Murray is Sir Banister Fletcher Director of the Royal Institute of British Architects British Architectural Library. Charles Hind is Associate Director and H.J. Heinz Curator of Drawings of the Royal Institute of British Architects British Architectural Library. Calder Loth has been Senior Architectural Historian at the Virginia Department of Historical Resources. Significant additional scientific and historical advice has been provided by the other members of the scientific committee, such as Guido Beltramini, Howard Burns and Pierre Gros. 

180 pages
Publisher: Marsilio (June 29, 2010)
 $45.00 Retail / $ 29.70 Amazon.com

 New Palladians: Modernity and Sustainabilty for 21st Century Architecture
by Alireza Sagharchi and Lucien Steil

In his foreword for this new book, HRH The Prince of Wales states: ‘The New Palladians show the relevance of classical and vernacular traditions to establishing a harmony between man and Nature’. This new book highlights the work of traditional and classical architects, who at the outset of the 21st century are committed to ecological building and sustainable urbanism. The lavish illustrations feature projects from around the world, designed by forty-eight of today’s most outstanding classical architects including: Allan Greenberg, Robert Stern, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Léon Krier, Quinlan Terry and Jaquelin T Robertson. A discussion on this new culture for building sustainably is provided by the editors, Alireza Sagharchi and Lucien Steil, while leading academics and architects: David Watkin, Léon Krier, Samir Younés, Michael Mehaffy and Brian Hanson and Matthew Hardy have contributed essays on Palladio, his principles and the role of New Palladians. Lucien Steil said: ‘Andrea Palladio’s work exemplifies the contextual adaptability of the principles of classical architecture and urbanism for town and countryside. Today, 500 years later, Palladio is regarded as one of the most infl uential architects in the history of Western architecture. Alireza Sagharchi said: ‘New Palladians recognise environmental stewardship as their greatest architectural challenge in the 21st century and are dedicated to the paradigm of a modernity that infuses sustainability with tradition, design and craftsmanship.

About the Authors

Alireza Sagharchi RIBA, FRSA is an internationally renowned architect and exponent of classical architecture and traditional urban design. He is Principal of Stanhope Gate Architecture + Urban Design, based in London. He has taught at the Prince of Wales’ Institute of Architecture, is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, Chairman of the Traditional Architecture Group at the RIBA, and a member of the College of Practitioners of the International Network for Traditional Building Architecture and Urbanism (INTBAU), the Prince’s Foundation, the Casework Panel of the Georgian Group and the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America.

Lucien Steil taught as a visiting professor with the Prince of Wales’ Urban Design Task Force in Potsdam and Berlin, and at universities in the USA and Europe. Currently he is a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame, Rome.

240 pages
Publisher: ArtMedia (July 16, 2010) 
$45.00 Retail / $32.85 Amazon.com