Symphony: Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Frank Gehry has called Walt Disney Concert Hall a "living room" for the city of Los Angeles. Opened in Fall 2003 to rapturous praise, the hall beckons all comers with a billowing steel facade gleaming in the sunlight. Nearly 100 stunning color photographs and four concise, engaging essays by notable, mostly L.A.-based contributors make Symphony: Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall the ideal overview of this major civic and cultural landmark. Significant architectural, acoustical, urban design and civic leadership angles are all covered, including the checkered history of the project, stalled for years due to a ballooning budget, a complex decision-making process and a misguided attempt to relegate Gehry to a consulting role. In the end, as Michael Webb points out, the lag time proved valuable to Gehry, coinciding with his mastery of a new architectural language that he first explored in the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The book is full of intriguing details. For example, the acoustical scheme developed by Dr. Minoru Nagata relies in part on a surprising discovery he made—-that the quality of sound in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, long attributed to the resonant wood walls, was really due to the four inches of plaster underneath. The most ambitious chapter is Carol McMichael Reese's discussion of the hall's role in the long-term rehabilitation of downtown Los Angeles. For all its scrupulous detail and balanced assessments, however, she fails to give an eye-level view of the gritty texture of downtown Los Angeles and how alien it still is to the average symphony patron. The book concludes with an essay by Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who notes the appropriateness of visionary design to the modern symphonic repertoire he champions. —Cathy Curtis

Book Description

From the stainless steel curves of its striking exterior to the state-of-the-art acoustics of the hardwood-paneled main auditorium, Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall, new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will be one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world. Opening in fall 2003, the hall is destined to be a new architectural landmark, generating as much excitement as Gehry's Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which its design predates.

This book, which includes an introduction by Gehry, traces the history of the hall from its inception through the architect selection process, construction, and completion of the building, which is recorded in acclaimed architectural photographer Grant Mudford's stunning images. Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, recounts his first impressions of Gehry and the models for the new building in an essay that also defines what makes a great orchestra and a great concert hall.

Sure to make headlines and attract visitors from around the world, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is one of the most important and innovative buildings of recent years. This book brings its story to all those interested in modern architecture.

Customer Reviews:

A Chamber for Music Continues to Unveil Its Secrets.......2005-10-07

It is the beginning of the Third Season of the Walt Disney Concert Hall as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a reminder to again study the conceptual emergence of Frank Gehry's architectural masterpiece. SYMPHONY: FRANK GEHRY'S WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL is as fine a way to understand why all the magic happens as any book on his work and about this building in particular.

Beautifully illustrated, this takes us from the origin of Gehry's idea, the various sketches, renderings and models, the ground breaking ceremonies, then the gradual rising of the skeleton of the support system to the wrapping of the sculpture in various glazes of steel and glass, to the finished product. Each stage is extraordinary, mesmerizing, detailed and edifying.

Accompanying the work in progress are essays and commentary by acoustician Minoru Nagata, urban specialist Carol McMichael Reese, Frank Gehry, Deborah Borda and Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and enhance the majestic photography by Grant Mudford.

But as with all descriptive books, all written and photographic comments, the truth is in the final result: the quality of sound and spiritual experience of live orchestral and choral music in the hall is paramount. And it is now, after two seasons and beginning its third that the proof is in the hearing. This is one of the most acoustically perfect places to experience music in the world. Composers (including Salonen in 'Wing on Wing') continue to be inspired to write commissioned works that reveal ever more extensive attributes of the space. The third season opened with Magnus Lindberg's 'Sculpture - The LA Project', a work for huge orchestra minus first violins but including two pianos, the great organ, extensive percussion section, and expanded deep voices in all the sections, and the effect was dazzling.

This book is a must for music lovers, architecture admirers, and for both those who are still wondering how this miracle happened as well as those planning to visit Los Angeles to hear and see for themselves. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, October 05

SYMPHONY: FRANK GEHRY'S WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

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SYMPHONY: FRANK GEHRY'S WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
Deborah Borda
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OEX22K

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SYMPHONY: FRANK GEHRY'S WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

Manufacturer: HARRY N. ABRAMS, INC.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Product Description

LARGE SOFCOVER, 9 1/2"X 101/2".173 PAGES + 2. 97 COLOR PHOTOGRAPGHS.with essays by Richard Koshalek, and Dana Hutt, Carol McMichael Reese, Michael Webb, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. photography by Grant Mudford.

Customer Reviews:

The body as play........2000-06-01

Ruben Toledo's work in fashion is suberbly enhanced by his illustration. The sketches are loaded with wonderful forms, complex ideas and metaphor. Style Dictionary is one of the most engaging and imaginative art books I have read, and pushes the idea of fashion beyond the body and into the realm of architecture, theater and pure play. After looking at this book, the body is seen in a whole new way.

Forgotten English: A Merry Guide to Antiquated Words, Packed with History, Fun Facts, Literary Excerpts, and Charming Drawings

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Unforgettable...
Fun, but does NOT contain words that you can use every day
Perfection
A Very Enjoyable Read....
Interesting and amusing

Forgotten English: A Merry Guide to Antiquated Words, Packed with History, Fun Facts, Literary Excerpts, and Charming Drawings
Jeffrey Kacirk
Manufacturer: William Morrow and Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0688150187

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Some think that the obsolescing of words from the English language is a sorry indication of its constant decline. Not so, argues Jeffrey Kacirk, the author of this charming collection of quirky antiquated words and the stories behind them. "In fact," he writes in his introduction, "the richness and maturity of a language may be gauged by the volume and quality of words it can afford to lose." The wonderful sounds these forgotten words make--nimgimmer, tup-running, mocteroof, frubbish, grog-blossom, wayzgoose, galligaskin, sockdolager--are half the fun. Their fabulous meanings, particularly those that seem inevitable once you learn them, make up the rest. And as the history of the words unfolds, so does history itself. Among the many strange and outmoded folk Kacirk introduces are the bird-swindler, a 19th-century "purveyor of expensive, exotic-looking birds that, upon closer inspection, were found to be one of several common varieties of local birds that had been trimmed and dyed"; the eye-servant, "a devious domestic or other employee ... who was too lazy to efficiently perform duties except when 'within eyeshot' of his or her master"; the prickmedainty, a 16th-century "man-about-town who coifed himself in an overly careful manner, frequently seeking the services of his barber"; and the dog-flogger, "a minor church official ... whose duty it was to supervise and discipline the unruly canines that traditionally accompanied their owners to English church services."

Book Description

Have you ever sent a message via scandaroon, needed a nimgimmer, or fallen victim to bowelhive? Never heard of these terms? That's because they are a thing of the past. These words are alive and well, however, in Forgotten English, a charming collection of hundreds of archaic words, their definitions, and old-fashioned line drawings.

For readers of Bill Bryson, Henry Beard, and Richard Lederer, Forgotten English is an eye-opening trip down a delightful etymological path. Readers learn that an ale connor sat in a puddle of ale to judge its quality, that a beemaster informed bees of any important household events, and that our ancestors had a saint for hangover sufferers, St. Bibiana, a fact pertinent to the word bibulous. Each selection is accompanied by literary excerpts demonstrating the word's usage, from sources such as Shakespeare, Dickens, Chaucer, and Benjamin Franklin. Entertaining as well as educational, Forgotten English is a fascinating addition to word lovers' books.

Customer Reviews:

Unforgettable..........2006-01-05

The English language has great diversity, perhaps nowhere as strong and colourful as across the spread of North America, the largest geographic landmass of English-speaking predominance in the world. Like any living language, the 'standard' is not always the one used in everyday speech and communication. The written language itself has differing standards, all at variance in one form or another from the spoken word. Because of this, much of the language gets lost over time. One of the things that makes novelists like Mark Twain memorable is that they captured elements of the informal language, the spoken language, in their text pages - something fairly rarely done, but something that can resonate with the readers.

Jeffrey Kacirk states in his introduction that it is this lost and vanishing element of the language that he concentrates upon for this book - not a surprise, really, given that the title of this book is 'Forgotten English'. Part of Kacirk's interest came from his upbringing, in which he lived in several different regions of the country, each geographically and linguistically distinct. Kacirk's introduction traces the development of the language in certain ways, including the fact that what are often considered 'Americanisms' often originated in the British Isles, falling out of use there but thriving in North America. With the advent of modern media (talking motion pictures, radio and television), the re-introduction of American speech patterns as both commonplace and acceptable has occurred, with occasional bumps.

The phrases Kacirk has accumulated here include pieces that contain the flavour of life in North America. 'Often containing an abundance of metaphor, simile, and common sense, these distillations of practical experience are easily bandied about by those whose education has not displaced their native intelligence.' These have a tendency to be blended over time into the mainstream, if they survive at all, particularly in an ever more homogeneous media environment. However, language as a living entity continues to grow in wild patches here and there, and Kacirk's collection helps to show some of the more interesting patches in the garden of the English language.

This book is one of several Kacirk has written (another good one is 'Informal English'), all of which illustrate the diversity and vitality of the English language.

Fun, but does NOT contain words that you can use every day.......2003-11-15

I actually purchased the day calendar that was produced from this book by Jeffrey Kacirk. The information he provides about each word is fascinating and wonderful! However, this is a book full of words that are forgotten for a reason...they are no longer of much use to those living in our times! Some could be used, but most refer to things that are no longer in use, or to issues or items that we no longer have knowledge of. For instance, there are many words that refer to horses as a means of transportation--since we rarely use them in this manner, the words are not functional for our society.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history or etymology, but not to those who, like me, are looking for words to add to their current vocabulary. I enjoy the information, but that enjoyment is soured by my dissapointment in not finding words that I can actually use from day to day.

Perfection.......2002-10-13

Not one to read in large portions, this
unique book is absolutely recommended to anyone
who loves the English language.
Mr. Kacirk has done a wonderful service
to Anglophiles and 's virtues
are many. He takes each word separately; gives
a brief historical description; adds a few excerpts
from where the word was used; and polishes it off
with a lovely line illustration (printed in green ink which
makes for a perfect contrast to the black ink of
the text) to give a visual referent to sharpen the
reader's focus. I've seen other books similar
to this ( is an example) but
they usually give you long lists or unnecessary
variations and such, that frankly are tiresome
to read. Not so with , which has
been delivered with perfection. Another
strong point about Kacirk is that
he is a humble man who doesn't
try to wow you with clever anecdotes and provocative
statements, a tendency which mars the work
of Bill Bryson, in his book.
This one is superbly laid out, and a joy to
thumb through (but do it slowly -- quality before quantity)
and should provide no end of joy and satisfaction.

A Very Enjoyable Read...........2002-02-01

Received my copy yesterday and am very impressed with the uncommon wealth of ancestral language! After only 30 minutes of reading I purchased a 2nd copy for a family member --didn't want to keep this treasure a secret! Entertaining and educational. Highly recommended!!!

Interesting and amusing.......2000-01-11

"Forgotten English" is a delightful look at archaic words, expressions, and the societies that spawned them. The author does not simply define terms, but explains how they arose and what societal customs or beliefs they reflect. If you enjoy this book, you might also like the "Forgotten English" desk calendar.

Drawing Out: Second Language Acquisition Through Student-Created Images : A Classroom Activity Guidebook (American English)

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Drawing Out: Second Language Acquisition Through Student-Created Images : A Classroom Activity Guidebook (American English)
Sharron Bassano
Manufacturer: Alemany Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0880840064

DICTIONARY OF DRAWING: terms & techniques concisely defined. Over 450 subjects from acrobat to Zebra in easy to draw black and

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DICTIONARY OF DRAWING: terms & techniques concisely defined. Over 450 subjects from acrobat to Zebra in easy to draw black and

Manufacturer: Bonanza Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ICUUGY

Looking at Prints, Drawings, and Watercolours: A Guide to Technical Terms

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Review of Looking at Prints, Drawings and Watercolours
OK, but hardly complete
more, and less, than I expected

Looking at Prints, Drawings, and Watercolours: A Guide to Technical Terms
Paul Goldman
Manufacturer: Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0892361484

Customer Reviews:

Review of Looking at Prints, Drawings and Watercolours.......2007-08-26

This is an informative glossary containing terms pertinent to works of art on paper but as the author Paul Goldman notes the book only briefly treats photomechanical processes and contemporary trends in printmaking. The illustrations are all drawn from the Getty Museum or the British Museum collections so readers can go directly to the online digital sites at those institutions for more information. This make the book valuable as an introductory text for a course on the History of Prints and Drawings. It is also a "must read" for emerging collectors and for art lovers who desire a deeper appreciation of the complexities of the graphic arts. Used in conjunction with Linda C. Hults, The Print in the Western World (U. of Wisconsin Press) and Ursula Weekes, Techniques of Drawing (Woodstocker Books) it provides a sound overview. Unfortunately the book omits some important terms and slights the history of paper making, but again it is a handy reference and not a definitive one. While the bibliography will point readers to many valuable printed resources, a list of relevant web sites would be a useful addition. The book is printed on quality paper and the binding appears sturdy. The second edition contains basic information on conservation issues. Those seeking more information on prints should consult the website at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (N.Y.) which gives extensive technical information and many digital examples. Lynne N. Reno, Assistant Professor, Edinboro University, Edinboro, Pa.

OK, but hardly complete.......2007-08-04

What's here is good material. It lists a fair range of terms used in art on paper, with many reproductions of art showing the effects of different tools or materials. The book itself if well printed, on heavy paper that shows the sample artworks very clearly. And, as a parting benefit, it offers a helpful bibliography.

It's what's not here that's the problem. A book twice this size might have been adequate for either drawing or watercolor, and a printmaking would have needed a lot more than that by itself. What's here is good, but possibly not enough to justify this book for most collections.

-- wiredweird

more, and less, than I expected.......2002-01-02

I had hoped this book would incorporate aesthetics with art history, but that is not quite the author's intent. Instead, it is similar to a dictionary, being a 63-page volume of alphabetically arranged technical definitions, from aquatint to wood-engraving. It is also more than a dictionary, having more than 60 examples to illustrate techniques and methods.

Customer Reviews:

IT IS A GOOD BOOK.......1999-02-07

As a 10year old learning to draw, I found this book very helpful and easy to follow.Good for adults and children alike.

The Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana A Universal Dictionary of Sherlock Holmes and His Biographer John H Watson, M.D.

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The Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana A Universal Dictionary of Sherlock Holmes and His Biographer John H Watson, M.D.
Jack Tracy
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KKBDT2

Silhouettes: A History and Dictionary of Artists

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Silhouettes: A History and Dictionary of Artists
E. Nevill Jackson
Manufacturer: Dover Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486242102

Understanding & Encouraging Your Child's Art: How to Enhance Confidence in Drawing Ages 2 to 12

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Understanding & Encouraging Your Child's Art: How to Enhance Confidence in Drawing Ages 2 to 12
Mia Johnson
Manufacturer: Lowell House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 1565650999

Traces Of Dance: Choreographers' Drawings And Notations

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Traces Of Dance: Choreographers' Drawings And Notations
Paul Virilio
Manufacturer: Dis Voir
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 2906571288
Release Date: 1994-03-02

Book Description

In this unique critical volume, the authors turn the semiotic spotlight on an obscure area of art: the drawings and notations choreographers use to think about the human body in motion.

Book Description

with text by Thomas Janzon

Albert Renger-Patzsch, together with August Sander and Karl Blossfeldt, was one of the undisputed pioneers of twentieth-century German photography. Indeed, what Sander achieved in portrait photography and Blossfeldt in plant photography, Renger-Patzsch achieved in his renderings of objects and the material world. As a protagonist of the movement that came to be known as Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), he wanted to record, phenomenologically as it were, the exact appearance of objects -- their form, material, and surface. Thus he rejected any kind of artistic claim for himself. Believing that the photographer should strive to capture the "essence of the object," he called for documentation rather than art.

Renger-Patzsch's most famous work was the 1928 photo album Die Welt ist SchÃ¶n (The World Is Beautiful), a catalog of objects that became one of the most influential photography books ever published. His cool and clinical photographs, with their details of technical apparatus, industrial products, and natural organisms, were models of a new kind of artistic vision.

This book contains not only the canonical "Icons of New Objectivity" series -- the famous still lifes of Jena glassware, rows of flatirons at a shoe factory, industrial objects, and more -- but also Renger-Patzsch's lesser-known but no less engaging photographs of landscapes, architecture, urban scenes, and studies of trees and stones. The book also contains a biography, a bibliography, critical commentary by Thomas Janzon, and selected writings of Renger-Patzsch appearing in English for the first time.

Customer Reviews:

Objectivity or Idealism?.......2002-08-03

German photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch insisted that his photography was merely a matter of cataloguing of material phenomena, and that it represented a "new objectivity" (Neue Sachlichkeit). He also insisted that he was simply a "recorder" of said objects.

That might strike people as odd, in this age when pretentious "post-modernists" defile Christ in urine, or actually sell cans of their own excrement to the Museum of Modern Art for tens of thousands of dollars, when *anything* and *everything* qualifies to be deemed as art, without any formal -- or toilet -- training necessary. Yet, Renger-Patzsch disdained the moniker of "artist" that his enthusiasts tried to make stick to him. I wonder if he would still have that attitude with all the literal crap that poses as art today.

Renger-Patzsch's photographs weren't merely objective, they were pure idealism, for he always arranged or composed the subjects of his photographs to be seen in their best light. Whether it was simple pictures of common items, such as hand trowels, shoe trees or foliage, his photographs had a sensuous quality to them that makes the viewer want to reach into his photographs to touch them.

He had a gift for making the commonplace beautiful and for creating gorgeous landscapes out of factory works and basalt mines. His industrial prints are contemporaneous with any of Charles Scheeler's or Margaret Bourke-White's, but bear a much subtler imprint; There is a quiet quality to his prints, in which man is either alone and isolated or conspicuously absent (as with his photographs of houses outside of Essen and Dortmund), but the handiwork of man is ever-present.

His photographs are very strong, nonetheless, very masculine. He had a stylised eye that cut extraneous subject matter out of his images the way a butcher slices fat away from a side of bacon. Yet, the beautiful, transparent delicateness of his photographs of glass beakers from the Schott Glassworks in Jena speak with a gentle, feminine voice and his photographs of enamel bowls or a child's Pelikan paintbox have a Japanese feel to them, in their iconic and minimalistic compositions.

It is sad to say that even most American enthusiasts of fine-arts photography have never heard of Albert Renger-Patzsch. This volume, nonetheless, contains the best of his work and makes a strong argument for including him in the pantheon of the twentieth century's greatest photographers.

Pure , it's great ........2000-03-10

If you love Ansel , then you should love Albert too . though most of Ansel's photogarphs shows the beauty of nature ,Albert showed his sensity in humaneness and manmade stuffs .

One of the world's great photographers........1998-08-28

The great German photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch, who first came to prominence in the 1920s, here receives a first-rate presentation worthy of his stature. The self-professed striving for "objectivity" in Renger-Patzsch's work leads, seemingly paradoxically, to a poetic intensity only achievable by a master artist. Readers of The New Yorker may have seen, in a recent issue, a stunning photo of a snowy field broken by fencing -- that was a Renger-Patzsch, and they will want to check this book out. But everyone should. The reproductions are superb and the supporting scholarly materials are extremely informative.

Albert Renger-Patzch: Photographer of Objectivity

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Albert Renger-Patzch: Photographer of Objectivity
The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORA1M6

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