Bloom by Ron Van Dongen

$35.00 NZD

Category: Photography | Reading Level: very good

Photographer Ron van Dongen, long celebrated for his stunning duotone floral photography, has created his first work in rich color. This gorgeous edition of detailed and dramatic images captures the sculptural essence of flowersexotic orchids and common daisies alike. Exhibited in galleries in the Unite d States, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan, van Dongen's work is often compared to Mapplethorpe and O'Keeffe for its exceptional beauty. ...Show more

Ugo Di Pace - Interiors by Ugo Di Pace

$40.00 NZD

Category: Interior design | Reading Level: very good

A master of light, a genius with details and materials, and a connoisseur of art, Ugo di Pace established his reputation as one of the leading architects and interior designers in Brazil with a stunning series of homes. In addition to designing breathtakingly elegant interiors, di Pace is a furniture de signer, art and design collector, and a student of contemporary Brazilian culture. He has developed a unique Brazilian style, blending modern design and Brazilian materials with French, English, and Venetian elements. His career began in Italy and matured when he moved to S o Paulo in 1951 to open an art and antiques gallery. Richly illustrated with new color photography, Ugo di Pace: Interiors brings this modern master and the distinctive design sensibility of Brazil to a wider audience and inspires all to infuse their homes with the style of Brazil. ...Show more

New Technologies: Products from Phaidon Design Classics Volume Three

$50.00 NZD

Category: Design | Reading Level: very good

A 'design classic' is an industrially manufactured object with timeless aesthetic value. It serves as a standard of its kind and, despite the year in which it was designed, is still up to date. The collection presented in these three volumes has been put together by a group of experts following the abov e criteria. The objects are presented chronologically, beginning with an elegant pair of Chinese bonsai scissors from the early 1800s, still in production today, and ending with Jasper Morrison's recent 'brunch set', which is destined to become a 'classic'. Glancing through the volumes, the reader will gain an understanding not only of the history of design, but a history of taste and culture. The book is an extraordinary journey through the objects that have shaped our society, from the first attempts to combine function and beauty in the nineteenth century, through the machine aesthetics of the thirties, the advent of plastic and other new materials in the fifties and sixties, up to the 'classics'-to-be of the last ten years. The book includes not only classic objects created by great and internationally renowned designers, such as Breuer, Le Corbusier, Dreyfuss, Eames, Yanagi and Castiglioni, to name but a few, but also anonymously designed pieces, such as the clothes peg, the deck chair, the corkscrew and the chopstick, which, in spite of lacking a specific designer, have achieved such perfection in design and functionality that they have eliminated the possibility of improvement. From the paper clip, to the Alvar Aalto Savoy vase, to the Jaguar E Type, all of the objects featured in the book fill our desks, cupboards, kitchens, purses, dreams and pockets. Each product is presented on two, four or six pages and accompanied by a text, written by one of over fifty experts in the field of design. The texts provide a historical context, with key information about the development of the design, and an explanation as to why that particular design is important an ...Show more

Acid for the Children: A Mem oir by Flea

$18.00 NZD

Category: Music | Reading Level: very good

Michael Peter Balzary was born in Melbourne, Australia, on October 16, 1962. His more famous stage name, Flea, and his wild ride as the renowned bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers was in a far and distant future. Little Michael from Oz moved with his very conservative, very normal family to Westc hester, New York, where life as he knew it was soon turned upside down. His parents split up and he and his sister moved into the home of his mother's free-wheeling, jazz musician boyfriend - trading in rules, stability, and barbecues for bohemian values, wildness, and Sunday afternoon jazz parties where booze, weed, and music flowed in equal measure. There began Michael's life-long journey to channel all the frustration, loneliness, love, and joy he felt into incredible rhythm. When Michael's family moved to Los Angeles in 1972, his home situation was rockier than ever. He sought out a sense of belonging elsewhere, spending most of his days partying, playing basketball, and committing petty crimes. At Fairfax High School, he met another social outcast, Anthony Kiedis, who quickly became his soul brother, the yin to his yang, his partner in mischief. Michael joined some bands, fell in love with performing, and honed his skills. But it wasn't until the night when Anthony, excited after catching a Grandmaster Flash concert, suggested they start their own band that he is handed the magic key to the cosmic kingdom. Acid for the Children is as raw, entertaining and wildly unpredictable as its author. It's both a tenderly evocative coming of age story and a raucous love letter to the power of music and creativity. ...Show more

The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund de Waal

$14.00 NZD

Category: Biography | Reading Level: very good

"264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox- potter Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in the Tokyo apartment of his great uncle Iggie. Later, when Edmund inherited the netsuke, they unlocked a story far larger than he could ever have imagined The Ephrussis came from Odessa, and at one time were the largest grain exporters in the world; in the 1870s, Charles Ephrussi was part of a wealthy new generation settling in Paris. Charles s passion was collecting; the netsuke, bought when Japanese objects were all the rage in the salons, were sent as a wedding present to his banker cousin in Vienna. Later, three children including a young Ignace would play with the netsuke as history reverberated around them. The Anschluss and Second World War swept the Ephrussis to the brink of oblivion. Almost all that remained of their vast empire was the netsuke collection, dramatically saved by a loyal maid when their huge Viennese palace was occupied. In this stunningly original memoir, Edmund de Waal travels the world to stand in the great buildings his forebears once inhabited. He traces the network of a remarkable family against the ...Show more

Good-Bye Maoriland: The Songs & Sounds of New Zealand's Great War by Chris Bourke

$35.00 NZD

Category: Music | Reading Level: very good

Be it `Tipperary' or `Pokarekare', the morning reveille or the bugle's last post, concert parties at the front or patriotic songs at home, music was central to New Zealand's experience of the First World War. In Good-Bye Maoriland, the acclaimed author of Blue Smoke: The Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music introduces us to the songs and sounds of World War I in order to take us deep inside the human experience of war. ...Show more

Unmasked: A Memoir by Andrew Lloyd Webber

$16.00 NZD

Category: Music | Reading Level: very good

"You have the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have said) if you've had the sort of career, ups and downs, warts and all that I have in that wondrous little corner of show business called musical theatre."   One of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over the musical theatre world for nearly five decades. The winner of numerous awards, including multiple Tonys and an Oscar, Lloyd Webber has enchanted millions worldwide with his music and numerous hit shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera--Broadway's longest running show--and most recently, School of Rock. In Unmasked, written in his own inimitable, quirky voice, the revered, award-winning composer takes stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance which brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions that inspire and sustain him. The son of a music professor and a piano teacher, Lloyd Webber reveals his artistic influences, from his idols Rodgers and Hammerstein and the perfection of South Pacific's "Some Enchanted Evening," to the pop and rock music of the 1960s and Puccini's Tosca, to P. G. Wodehouse and T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber recalls his bohemian London youth, reminiscing about the happiest place of his childhood, his homemade Harrington Pavilion--a make-believe world of musical theatre in which he created his earliest entertainments. A record of several exciting and turbulent decades of British and American musical theatre and the transformation of popular music itself, Unmasked is ultimately a chronicle of artistic creation. Lloyd Webber looks back at the development of some of his most famous works and illuminates his collaborations with luminaries such as Tim Rice, Robert Stigwood, Harold Prince, Cameron Mackintosh, and Trevor Nunn. Taking us behind the scenes of his productions, Lloyd Webber reveals fascinating details about each show, including the rich cast of characters involved with making them, and the creative and logistical challenges and artistic political battles that ensued. Lloyd Webber shares his recollections of the works that have become cultural touchstones for generations of fans: writings songs for a school production that would become his first hit, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; finding the coterie of performers for his classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar; developing his first megahit, Evita, which would win seven Tonys Awards, including Best Musical; staking his reputation and fortune on the groundbreaking Cats; and making history with the dazzling The Phantom of the Opera. Reflecting a life that included many passions (from architecture to Turkish Swimming Cats), full of witty and revealing anecdotes, and featuring cameo appearances by numerous celebrities--Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, David Frost, Julie Covington, Judi Dench, Richard Branson, A.R. Rahman, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Richard Rodgers, Norman Jewison, Milos Forman, Pl cido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Michael Crawford, Gillian Lynne, Betty Buckley, and more--Unmasked at last reveals the true face of the extraordinary man beneath the storied legend. ...Show more

Contemporary Painting In New Zealand by Michael Dunn

$65.00 NZD

Category: New Zealand | Reading Level: very good

A.Mag 07 - Buchner Brundler Architects, Fuhrimann Hachler Architects

$40.00 NZD

Category: Architecture | Reading Level: very good

This edition features the work of two Swiss offices, Buchner Bründler Architekten and AFGH (Andreas Fuhrimann and Gabrielle Hächler). Addressing the idea of Swiss architecture as synonymous with accuracy, quality, functional clarity, and having a strong formal identity, it goes a step further to examine its balance between the exceptional quality of craft, manufacturing techniques, and the use of state-of-the-art technology. The architecture is thus imbued with a huge technical rigour and pure formal and sensory awareness. With ten projects by Buchner Bründler and six by AFGH, ranging from small- to large-scale, plus an essay by José Manuel Pedreirinho. ...Show more

Reporting from the Front - The official catalogue of the 15th Venice Biennale Architecture Exhibition by Alejandro Aravena

$95.00 NZD

Category: Architecture | Reading Level: very good

More and more people on the planet are looking for a decent place to live even though that is becoming harder and harder to achieve. In an increasingly complex world, attempts to create good architecture while overcoming material realities and difficult circumstances are always challenging. But many arc hitects and communities the world over are rising to these challenges and are going beyond business as usual. The 15th International Architecture Exhibition will be all about these success stories and exemplary cases where architecture has made, is making, and will make a difference in the lives of everyday people by achieving what has previously seemed impossible. Reporting from the Front aims to explain to a broad audience what it means to improve the quality of life while working on the margins of society, often under adverse conditions, while facing pressing challenges, all while producing significant work. If we can learn from architectural practices that despite the scarcity of means intensify what is available instead of highlighting what is missing, we can understand what design tools are needed to overcome and subvert the forces that favour individual gain over collective benefit, that reduce We to just Me. We can come to an architecture that introduces a broader notion of gain: design as added value instead of an extra cost. Reporting from the Front will not be just a chronicle of passive witness but a testimony to work that balances hope and rigor in the quest for an architecture of the public good. ...Show more

Peter Paul Rubens - Man and Artist by Christopher White

$45.00 NZD

Category: Artists | Reading Level: very good

Michelangelo, A Biography by George Bull

$12.00 NZD

Category: Artists | Reading Level: very good