Thames&Hudson Faberge. From St Petersburg to Sandringham Collins Ian

Faberge: Treasures of Imperial Russia. Faberge Museum, St. Petersburg is a lavish volume on the most complete Faberge collection in the world, with many pieces rarely seen before, from the famous imperial Easter eggs to precious jewelry, enamels, and Russian silver, showcased in the sumptuous Shuvalov Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia • Jeweler and goldsmith Carl Faberge and his firm are renowned for creating the most superbly refined objects of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for the nobility and aristocracy of imperial Russia. Exquisite examples of the jeweler’s art, Faberge’s magnificent Easter eggs, commissioned for the Romanov Imperial family, and other impeccably crafted objects continue to be prized the world over for their incredible craftsmanship and unparalleled beauty

A stimulating resource that guides readers through the most significant symbols from art history, spanning many civilizations and centuries while revealing the common heritage of a global visual language • The Hidden Language of Symbols covers a wide-ranging selection of visual culture and art under one unified theme: symbols. Often not immediately apparent, our day-to-day lives abound with symbols of various kinds, from national emblems to emojis, allegories to logos, all of which have a fascinating story • Organized across four all-encompassing themes-power, faith, hope, and uncertainty-this stimulating illustrated account of forty-eight key symbols from global art history is aimed at museum-goers, armchair art sleuths, or anyone who wants to understand the history of their visual environment from an unusual and creative angle

Devoted to all-white houses, this book celebrates the ever- popular "non-color" as a perfect backdrop for contemporary lifestyles • Sometimes seen as an absence of color, white in fact reflects the purity of the entire spectrum. In the history of design, white houses often embody the bright, clean clarity associated with twentieth-century giants Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Richard Meier • White Houses presents the most striking, innovative, and unusual white houses by contemporary architects, spanning the globe from Asia to the Americas. The featured houses represent every scale and a wide range of locations and terrains, from seaside retreats to space-saving urban homes and grand country residences. From radical new takes on traditional building forms in Latin America to state-of-the-art urban projects in Europe and Japan, each house employs the apparent simplicity of white to reflect light and accent materiality, pressing the frontiers of form to the point of abstraction

The Russian Empire was among the most mysterious of the world's great powers, profoundly torn between a rural population living almost medieval lives and industrial and social change in the cities. The tsar's gigantic realm struggled with the advent of modernity and with its own internal contradictions between Asia and Europe, faith and science, different ethnic groups, and the divergent interests of the aristocracy, the middle classes, the urban workers, and the rural poor: a continent of contradictions from abject poverty to fairy-tale wealth captured by authors from Tolstoy to Chekhov, from Gogol to Gorky. Twilight of the Romanovs opens a door into the world of pre-revolutionary Russia using original photographs taken during the last decades of Romanov rule

Loaded with hundreds of photographs of high-end homes and interiors, these gorgeous books is a treat for lovers of residential architecture and a resource for people planning to build their own house • Featuring some of the world's most aesthetically creative and environmentally conscious residential design and construction, this gorgeous collection reflects homes with a deep reverence for their natural and cultural contexts, from coastal dwellings to contemporary urban dwellings and mountain cottages With 30 leading pioneers of the green movement, this informed overview spotlights architects from such firms as Christopher Wright, Coates Design Architects, Nathan Good or Robert Hutchison

Rasem Badran's influence is rapidly spreading throughout the developing world. Covering the full spectrum from urban planning to individual residences, his work is human-scaled, responsive to it's environment and meets the social and cultural requirements of the people who use it. He is often seen as the natural successor to the seminal Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy • This volume provides a thorough overview of Badran's work, bringing together the architect's own dramatic collection of drawings, plans and photographs, many seen here for the first time • A comprehensive chronology of Badran's work completes this fascinating survey of one of the most influential and revolutionary architects of our time

From the turn of the century S-bend silhouette to celebrity couture of the new millennium and the evolution of streetwear, this comprehensive survey explores significant developments in fashion from 1900 to the present day. Fashion historians Amy de la Haye and Valerie Mendes focus on key movements and innovations in style, and explore trends through the work of some of the world's most original and influential designers and couturiers. Chapters are organized around crucial shifts in tastes and major world events, and exciting advances in fashion are placed within their socioeconomic, political and cultural contexts • International in scope with colour illustrations throughout, this edition includes updated text as well as a new chapter that discusses some of the defining features of fashion in our time: the industry's proactive embrace of age, gender and race diversity, and it's ongoing efforts to combat labour exploitation and encourage global sustainability

What makes great art great? Why do some works pulse in the imagination, generation after generation, century after century? From Botticelli’s Birth of Venus to Picasso’s Guernica, some paintings and sculptures have become so famous, so much a part of who we are, that we no longer really look at them. We take their greatness for granted; our eyes have become near-obsolete. We need a new way of seeing • Unsatisfied with traditional interpretations of masterpieces, which are so often interested only in learning about art, and not from it, Kelly Grovier combed the surface of revered works from the Terracotta Army to Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits, in a quest to find the key to their lasting power to move and delight us. He discovered that every truly great work is hardwired with an underappreciated detail that ignites it from deep within

A gorgeously illustrated survey of chinoiserie from the 18th century to today • Chinoiserie is a term for Western art and design inspired by a largely invented vision of China. Marco Polo’s sensational account of his visit to the exotic East in the 13th century sparked a fascination with China that reached a fever pitch in the 18th century and continues to this day. Art historian and artist Aldous Bertram has long been captivated by chinoiserie. He organizes Dragons & Pagodas by theme, including porcelain, color and pattern, flora, fauna, people, architecture and tropical exoticism. Each chapter is bursting with images of everything from grand European summer palaces and whimsical pagoda follies to charming details of screens, porcelain figurines and ornate plasterwork, from modern rooms swathed in floral wallpaper to paintings, tapestries and palm-topped columns

Created in collaboration with Dronestegram, the world-leading drone photography website, and Ayperi Karabuda Ecer, a highly renowned photography editor, Dronescapes is the first book to bring together the very best photographs taken by quadcopters around the globe. It grants us the thrilling opportunity to see our planet from entirely new vantage points, whether this is a bird's-eye view of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, a photograph taken inches away from an eagle in mid-flight, or a vertiginous shot taken above Mexico's Tamul Waterfalls. There are extended commentaries on how individual images were created, profiles on notable photographers and a separate user guide containing key advice on how to use your drone. An introduction also discusses how the arrival of drone photography signals a major shift in the history of aerial photography

This is a smart and succinct guide to the rich tradition of Japanese mythology, from the earliest recorded legends of Izanagi and Izanami, their divine offspring and the creation of Japan, to medieval tales of vengeful ghosts, through to the modern-day reincarnation of ancient deities as the heroes of mecha anime. While many around the world love Japan’s cultural exports, few are familiar with Japan’s unique mythology - enriched by Shinto, Buddhism and regional folklore • Mythology remains a living, evolving part of Japanese society, and the ways in which the people of Japan understand their myths are very different today even from a century ago, let alone over a millennium into the past. Offering much more than any competing overview of Japanese mythology, The Japanese Myths not only retells the ancient stories but also considers their place within the patterns of Japanese religions, culture and history, helping readers to understand the deep links between past and present in Japan, and the ways these myths live and grow

Recent advances in technologies and home-generated renewable energy have made building away from urban and rural infrastructures more practical and affordable than ever. This survey of the world's most innovative off-grid homes reveals the cuttingedge architecture and technology that is enabling us to escape to some of the most extraordinary natural environments on the planet • All of the houses featured in this book are fully, or almost fully, self-sufficient in terms of energy, water and, in some cases, food. Architecture and interior design expert Dominic Bradbury reveals how each architect has made everyday living in these wild and natural settings a rewarding and tempting reality. From snowbound cabins in the far Northern Hemisphere to coastal retreats that can only be accessed by boat, the diverse projects collected here show the innovative ways in which architects and their clients are tackling extreme climates, remoteness and construction challenges to enable a new way of life that is both liberating and sustainable