Livres et revue : Sélection de la librairie du CCA

En parcourant Les actualités de la librairie du CCA j’ai relevé ces trois titres qui me semblent intéressants pour vous.

Public space: cultural, political theory, street photography. George Baird. Sun, 2011. 164 pages, 59.95$ CAN (br.)

This book examines and promotes the significance of public space in a turbulent era, its place in political theory and in the image-dominated media world. Beginning his analysis with fundamental questions around the definition and characteristics of public space, Baird provides much insight into its use, identity and representation. In the tradition of thinkers like Walter Benjamin, Baird advocates the important role public space must play in architecture and design, while stressing that, in turn, design must contribute to the quality and identity of public space. A former dean of Toronto University’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, Baird also confronts controversial issues around public space, like its political uses, and the private and social ambitions that often underlie its creation.

Light color sound : Sensory Effects in Contemporary Architecture. Alejandro Bahamon, Ana Maria Alvarez. Norton, 2011. 336 pages, 93.50$ CAN (rel.)

Light, color, and sound are the three elements capable of generating great sensory impact, transforming buildings into veritable mechanisms of interaction with their context and the passers-by, and this book puts these effects center-stage, covering the conceptual, aesthetic and technical implications of their applicationand integration into the structures. It focuses on thirty projects around the world in which sensory effects are the central theme.

New geographies 3, 2011 : Urbanisms of color. Gareth Doherty (dir.) 184 pages, 22.95$ CAN (br.)

Colors have a presence over and beyond the objects – buildinggs, spaces, bilboards, artefacts and people – that make up the city. Not only does color give meaning to cities, cities give meaning to color. Whether carefully coordinated, clashing or an expression of materials, color is a powerful cultural, economic and political force in cities. Yet discussions on the city do not usually focus much on color, perhaps because urban colors are too often understood as being beyond any authority or taste or simply dismissed as cosmetic, naive or intangible. Volume 3 of New Geographies brings together artists and designers, anthropologists, historians, planners, and philosophers within the aim of exploring the potency, the interaction, and neglected design possibilities of color at the scale of the city.

Françoise Acquier

Chargée de ressources documentaires Equipe Cresson - UMR Ambiances Architectures Urbanités - Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Grenoble.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: