Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan

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In this fanciful volume, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, founder of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (O.M.A.), both analyzes and celebrates New York City. By suggesting the city as the site for an infinite variety of human activities and events--both real and imagined--the essence of the metropolitan lifestyle, its "culture of congestion" and its architecture are revealed in a brilliant new light. "Manhattan," Koolhaas writes, "is the 20th century's Rosetta stone . . . occupied by architectural mutations (Central Park, the Skyscraper), utopian fragments (Rockefeller Center, the U.N. Building), and irrational phenomena (Radio City Music Hall)." Filled with fascinating facts, as well as photographs, postcards, maps, watercolors, and drawings, the vibrancy of Koolhaas's poignant exploration of Gotham equals the heady, frenetic energy of the city itself. Anyone who loves New York will want to own this book.

Customer Reviews:

What an interesting philosophical dissertation.......2007-02-05

through the exhaustive historiography of the phases of congestion coney island brought to manhattan, koolhaas provides a rather cynical view of the Grid as being an ulimatley neutral zoning system of constraining ideas that represent the continual decline of a phantastically realistic civilization, represented as mutated symbols of architecture in the "void" of repeated "pregnancies."

it's really well written. funny. uses, like above, a somewhat inefficient vocabulary but remains in the same vein throughout. it is also a graphic design hubris consuming every page, even the left-justified text, showing off koolhaas's interpretation of the importance to combine scholarship and marketing.

buy it. it's a very good book.

Way Too Much To Think About Sometimes.... .......2006-11-09

A very inventive concept of New York's "culture of congestion" and how people are affected by the architecture they create. It is heavily researched and exhaustive, and after pretty much the third page I agreed with his concept of NY being "totally fabricated by man". What could of been a fascinating article becomes a spastic, heavy-handed read with a sledgehammer effect to your brain. (However,for those of us reading it for school, there are plenty of pictures that fill up the almost devastatingly vast 300+pages quickly.) It will scramble your brain with its thousands of nearly bumper-stickerish statements ("It hides life." "The Mountain MUST become architecture.") written with pretentious glee. However, I believe an independent scientific study has concluded that when pretending to read this book on the train people around you will assume your IQ is 40% higher than truth.

Eating oysters with boxing gloves, naked, on the nth floor........2005-05-25

The quote written above is excerpted from Delirious New York. It is a perfect example of the lyrical quality of the writing prevalent throughout this amazing book. Delirious New York is not an objective chronological listing of New York's development, but a collection of manifestos and stories with opinionated perspectives about a city founded on the idea that maximum congestion is a desirable factor. It is informative, funny (the midget firefighters of Coney Island had me laughing aloud for a solid minute or two), twisted, and inspiring.

Rem Koolhaas is edgier and far more interesting literary figure in architecture than say, Le Corbusier. Koolhaas's analytical yet shockingly refreshing writing style is a blessing for architecture, since he stays away from academic incoherent writing style that most architectural historians and architects tend to employ.

Get a copy of this book if eclectic (and at times disturbing) tales of architecture and urban development is something you think you will enjoy.

best koolhaas ever, man.......2004-01-30

koolhaas is a bit over-the-top for me, but this I think is is best work. it's worth checking out if only for the story of coney island. once you get past blisteringly pretentious phrases like "coney island is a fetal manhattan", you'll find it gloriously entertaining as both a narrative and theoretical work.

the culture of congestion.......2002-12-24

This is by far Koolhaas's most accessible work, as it is rooted so clearly in detail from the city's past. Further, the book is simply brilliant. His take on urban history is to Jane Jacobs what Socrates is to common sense. New York is a special case of modernism that sprang from a special constellation of poltiical and technological forces that collectively create a cultural "big-bang" at the turn of the century. Read it. Blow your mind.

Delirious New York: A retroactive manifesto for Manhattan

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Fantastic
Compelling History of Manhattan

Delirious New York: A retroactive manifesto for Manhattan
Rem Koolhaas
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0195200357

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic.......1999-02-02

RELLY GREAT YEAH!! JUST BRILL!

Compelling History of Manhattan.......1998-02-10

A romp through New York's sometimes jaded history with a view to uncover the roots of the modern metropolis and the singular element devised by architects to inspire (amuse?) the masses - the Skyscraper. The book looks at Coney Island as the testing ground of the Skyscaper, Manhatten as further exploration of the Skyscaper which is trialed in the name of symbols of a propserous future, economic rationale and pushing the envelope to its limits and finishes with Office of Metropolitian Architecture's own experimental projects in New York. A very compelling history of a complex city.

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Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan
Rem KOOLHAAS
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MXEPG0

Book Description

During the 1920s and 1930s, black artists and writers achieved something totally unprecedented: they created a new image of African Americans that truly reflected their times as well as their history. In so doing, they set the artistic agenda of the Harlem Renaissance and gave form to some of its most compelling visions.

This innovative study examines the efforts of Harlem Renaissance artists and writers to create a hybrid expression of black identity that drew on their ancient past while participating in contemporary American culture. Caroline Goeser investigates a critical component of Harlem Renaissance print culture that until now has been largely overlooked, arguing that illustrations became the most timely and often most radical visual products of the movement.

This vibrant partnership between literary and visual talents--a trail blazed by artist Aaron Douglas and poet Langston Hughes--resulted in the image of the New Negro, one that remade the African American past in order to foster greater participation in modern American culture and commerce. Illustrations by Douglas, James Wells, Gwendolyn Bennett, and others appeared on covers of books about black American life and in journals such as Opportunity and The Crisis. Goeser considers the strategies that these artists developed to circumvent stereotypes and shows how their work was received within the movement and in mainstream America.

Connecting visual imagery with literary text and commercial enterprise, these illustrations participated in the modern economy in ways that painting and sculpture could not. Goeser reveals how Harlem Renaissance illustrators depicted the wide-ranging and sometimes conflicting ideas about black identity held within the community: African roots and Egyptian heritage, racial uplift and gay pride. She shows how some artists revisited the Judeo-Christian tradition by portraying a black Adam and Jesus, and examines the interdependent relationships between race and sexuality in the work of artists Richard Bruce Nugent and Charles Cullen, the former black, the latter white.

Book Description

At the New School for Social Research in 1931, the dance critic for the New York Times announced the arrival of modern dance, touting the “serious art” of such dancers as Mary Wigman, Martha Graham, and Doris Humphrey. Across town, Hemsley Winfield and Edna Guy were staging what they called “The First Negro Dance Recital in America,” which Dance Magazine proclaimed “the beginnings of great and important choreographic creations.” Yet never have the two parallel traditions converged in the annals of American dance in the twentieth century. Modern Dance, Negro Dance is the first book to bring together these two vibrant strains of American dance in the modern era. Susan Manning traces the paths of modern dance and Negro dance from their beginnings in the Depression to their ultimate transformations in the postwar years, from Helen Tamiris’s and Ted Shawn’s suites of Negro Spirituals to concerts sponsored by the Workers Dance League, from Graham’s American Document to the debuts of Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus, from José Limón’s 1954 work The Traitor to Merce Cunningham’s 1958 dances Summerspace and Antic Meet, to Ailey’s 1960 masterpiece Revelations. Through photographs and reviews, documentary film and oral history, Manning intricately and inextricably links the two historically divided traditions. The result is a unique view of American dance history across the divisions of black and white, radical and liberal, gay and straight, performer and spectator, and into the multiple, interdependent meanings of bodies in motion. Susan Manning is associate professor of English, theater, and performance studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of Ecstasy and the Demon: Feminism and Nationalism in the Dances of Mary Wigman, winner of the 1994 de la Torre Bueno Prize for the year’s most important contribution to dance studies.

Modern Negro art (The American Negro, his history and literature)

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Modern Negro Art
Pioneering work

Modern Negro art (The American Negro, his history and literature)
James A Porter
Manufacturer: Arno Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: B0006BZ8ZK

Customer Reviews:

Modern Negro Art.......2007-03-20

As artists of African descent move to the forefront of the contemporary scene, this book is a "must read" for anyone engaged in the nature, creation, and discourse of art in a truly egalitarian America that expects to prevail into the twenty-first century.
Leslie King Hammond. The Maryland Institute College of Art.

Pioneering work.......2002-05-21

"A pioneering work in its time, Modern Negro Art continues to provide today's scholars with early source information, core bibliographic material, and other essential research tools for African American art history." Richard J. Powell. Duke University

Modern Negro Art with Eighty-five Halftone Plates

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Modern Negro Art with Eighty-five Halftone Plates
James A. Porter
Manufacturer: Arno Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LPS8OE

Primitive Art: A survey of the art of primitive peoples from Stone Age Man to the modern African Negro

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Primitive Art: A survey of the art of primitive peoples from Stone Age Man to the modern African Negro

Manufacturer: Pelican
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000BGSB5E

Product Description

This reprint describes the various forms which the artistic impulse has taken among primitve peoples--from the Stone Age men who roamed the plains of Europe twenty thousand years ago, to the modern Negro inventing new ways of carving the human figure among the forests of the Ivory Coast. Even in the short time since this book was first published in 1940, many new archaeological discoveries have been made in this field and incorporated in the revised edition. One of the most interesting chapters of the book discusses the effect upon the primitive artist of exposure to the "civilized" conventions of art. What is the point, asks the author, of teaching aborigine in Central Australia to paint water-colours in the European style? Would it not be better to preserve and develop among them the expression of a genuine primitive art? This fascinating volume is illustrated by many pages of plates and numberous line-drawings in the text.

African negro art;: Its influence on modern art

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African negro art;: Its influence on modern art
Marius de Zayas
Manufacturer: Modern Gallery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00086ZAXI

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Modern Negro Art
Porter Ja
Manufacturer: Ayer Co Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 040501970X

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Modern Negro Art
James Amos, 1905- Porter
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NOXF8M

Un Toro negro y enorme: El Toro Osborne, marca, simbolo, totem, imagen universal

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Un Toro negro y enorme: El Toro Osborne, marca, simbolo, totem, imagen universal

Manufacturer: Espana Abierta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Spanish | Foreign Language Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Foreword by Rick Smolan

32-page color insert and black & white photos throughout

Perhaps the most important key to success for sellers on eBay is providing good photographs of their products. In eBay Photography the Smart Way, eBay expert Joseph Sinclair teams up with professional product photographer Stanley Livingston to give readers easy-to-follow instructions for taking better pictures, helping them show off their products to the greatest possible effect. Paving the way for higher profits, the book shows how to:

* shop for and buy a digital camera
* shoot any kind of product
* photgraph and display entire product inventories
* create great thumbnails
* process photos with image editors
* use angles, lighting, studio props, and backgrounds
* organize process and work flow

On eBay, better pictures mean higher sales. eBay Photography the Smart Way reveals how to take great photos that give customers the confidence to buy online what they can't see in person.

Customer Reviews:

Very superficial.......2006-05-26

I have a good grounding in photography and was hoping for more detailed instruction on product photography. I learned practically nothing. There is a lot of very elementary filler material on general photography, digital cameras and editing software and Internet. The photos are not that great either. May be somewhat useful for someone who has no knowledge at all of these topics

Professionals only. .......2006-02-19

This is not what i expected. I needed a beginners guide. The book tells little about cameras. It's mostly how to do professional shoots...meaning expensive specialized equipment.

One Source For All The Answers.......2005-10-13

As a regular e-bayer, I'm always looking for a competitive marketing edge. This book clearly points a way to gain that edge by differentiating my offerings from a large majority of my competitors. I've often thought that most photographs used in e-bay marketing are mediocre, at best, my own included. When I see a good e-bay photographic presentation, I recognize the selling power that it represents, but I have rarely accomplished it myself. Sinclair and Livingston have produced a terrific book. If you read it and apply the material, almost anyone (including me) can produce "above average" photographs for their e-bay marketing. The book is a quick-read, but provides an excellent reference souce for later application of the material it contains. I've read a couple other e-bay books by Joe Sinclair and one thing I like about all these books is that they have a nice clean easy-to-read layout. Each chapter in this book has substantial stand-alone value. A chapter that may be a trinket to you might be a treasure to me, and vice versa. In total, however, the book will have great value to any serious e-bay marketer. If "a picture is worth a thousand words", then several very good pictures make a powerful e-bay sales presentaion, indeed. My conclusion ... a great book, complete, perfect for practical application.

Product Description

There are those that say the Centauri taught us how to wage war. This is simply a lie. We have always known how to fight. We have always known that when one is wronged, there is nothing more important than to address that wrong. We will do anything to accomplish this, including using the tools of our enemies to bring them low. That is the lesson of the GQuan. Face us in battle and you will learn it well. -War Leader GVesh, Black Fleet; September 19, 2257 This booklet and map set is part of the Babylon 5 Ship Plans series. Each set in this line picks a specific vessel and examines it carefully, offering the reader all the answers one might have regarding layout, design and areas of specific interest. The GQuan heavy cruiser is a crucial vessel in the Narn fleet, named after one of their most beloved and revered historical leaders.. Together, the booklet and map form a comprehensive guide to the GQuan. The GQuan Ship Plan provides details and images useful to both Games Masters and Players alike, bringing the subject matter alive during the course of a campaign and remaining a valuable resource between gaming sessions.

Customer Reviews:

G'Quan.......2007-05-15

Very good shape, made it in time for game as advertised.
The map and description are a bit difficult to resolve but overall a good source material - especially if you want to be on a narn G'Quan ship.

Book Description

Originally published by Princeton University Press, The Memoir of Marco Parenti is now available only in this Broadview edition.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent memoir and background info........2007-07-06

This doesn't actually have the actual ricordi of Marco Parenti, the son-in-law of Alessandra Strozzi and a diplomat and merchant of Renaissance Florence, which would have been great, but it IS an excellent resource for learning about how one part of Florentine society worked. There are chapters here about his early life, education, and what Florentine politics were like at the middle of the 15th century. Along the way we learn about the Strozzi, the Medici, and a host of other families. We also learn what exile was like, and how letter-writing worked in a world without a post office (also some fun stuff about ciphers). While I definitely wish it included a straight translation of Parenti's personal logbook, this is a tremendous resource. Don't miss it if you're studying the Medicean period at all.

Memoir of Marco Parenti: A Life in Medici Florence.

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Memoir of Marco Parenti: A Life in Medici Florence.
Mark Phillips
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M46QWK

Customer Reviews:

Origins of Common Law.......1998-10-15

In his first full-length book, Paul R. Hyams, one of the preeminent medieval historians of England, traces the origins of common law from its Latitudinarian beginnings to the Syballine reform movement. Using as his starting point the incrementalist paradigm first espoused by M.M. Postan and Shirley Williams, Mr. Hyams has drawn deeply on primary sources--assizes records, mortmain circulars, and court chamber decrees--to support his thesis that the common law was introduced to England by the Saxon invaders of the twelfth century. He sheds new light on the recently discovered and controversial Uptechurch manuscript, which purports to show that Edward I, and not Athelstan, was the first English monarch to move against the prerogatives of the clergy. In crisply written English, Mr. Hyams boldly takes issue with the Marxist interpretation of English common law, as argued by Rodney Hilton, and conclusively demolishes Bruce Macfarlane's hypothesis that the common law has its origins in the Druid priesthood. This is a splendid contribution to English medieval and legal history and deserves to rank with the classics of English historiography.

Kings, Lords & Commons: An Anthology from the Irish : Irish Poems from the Seventh Century to the Nineteenth

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Kings, Lords & Commons: An Anthology from the Irish : Irish Poems from the Seventh Century to the Nineteenth

Manufacturer: Ford & Bailie Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Irish | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Eastern European | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0926689002

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Kings, Lords and Commons
F. O'Connor
Manufacturer: Books for Libraries
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Hockey | Biographies | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0836960343

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Kings, Lords, & Commons
Frank O'CONNOR
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I2XZMU

Kings, Lords, & Commons: An Anthology From the Irish

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Kings, Lords, & Commons: An Anthology From the Irish

Manufacturer: Books for Libraries Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FTADKS

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Kings, Lords, & Commons: An Anthology from the Irish

Manufacturer: Gill and Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IF8AL8

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Kings, lords, & commons: An anthology from the Irish
Frank O'Connor
Manufacturer: MacMillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Irish | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Kings, Lords, and Commons
O'Connor (editor) Frank
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IKNEZA

Letters between Col. Robert Hammond, Governor of the Isle of Wight, and the Committee of Lords and Commons at Derby-House, General Fairfax, Lieut. General ... Ireton, &c.: Relating to King Charles I

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Letters between Col. Robert Hammond, Governor of the Isle of Wight, and the Committee of Lords and Commons at Derby-House, General Fairfax, Lieut. General ... Ireton, &c.: Relating to King Charles I
Robert Hammond
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0543837122
Release Date: 2001-12-14

Product Description

This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1764 edition by Robert Horsfield, London.

The Life Of John Locke V1: With Extracts From His Correspondence, Journals And Common-Place Books

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The Life Of John Locke V1: With Extracts From His Correspondence, Journals And Common-Place Books
Lord King
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 054813023X

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