The Fires of Excellence; Spanish and Portuguese Oriental Architecture
Matthew Weinreb (Photographer) Reading, England, United Kingdom: Garnet Publishing, 1997. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. The format is approximately 9.875 inches by 12,75 inches. Illustrated dust jacket. Illustrations (in color). Glossary. Chronology. Bibliography. Index. This is an oversized book that if sent outside of the United States will require additional shipping charges. Miles Danby, Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Newcastle University, is an architect and lecturer with a special interest in the buildings of developing countries. Matthew Weinreb is a multi-award winning, internationally renowned photographer specializing in architecture and landscape. He decided to become a photographer in 1981 whilst working in the Cityana photographic gallery. He set out to capture the essence of the city’s buildings. He was the first winner of the European award of Architectural Photographer of the year and has won many awards since. He has published nine internationally acclaimed books on London, Paris, Moorish architecture in Spain and Portugal. The oriental influence in Spain and Portugal has left a legacy of extraordinary architecture, celebrated by scholars, poets and artists. In this illustrated book, Miles Danby reveals the multi-layered cultural interactions which took place, and which have in turn provided inspiration for architects through the centuries and around the world. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Visigoths conquered the Iberian peninsula, bringing new ideas of architectural form from the eastern Mediterranean. More powerful and pervasive influences arrived with the Muslim invaders in AD 711 and the peninsula was to remain wholly or partly under Islamic rule until 1492. Expansion of the Christian kingdoms in the north led to a decline in Muslim political power, but Alfonso the Wise maintained his court at Toledo in a spirit of tolerance, with Christians, Muslims and Jews all contributing to its rich and sophisticated arts and architecture. The final flowering of the oriental style occurred in the mid-fourteenth century, when a Christian king in Seville, Pedro the Cruel, and Ibn Nasr, the Muslim ruler of Granada, used many of the same skilled craftsmen to build their palaces. The magnificent buildings described range in character from the Nasrid palace of the Alhambra and the Umayyad mosque at Cordoba, to the Mudejar cathedral of Teruel, or the Manueline Palacio Nacional at Sintra. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century legacies include Antoni Gaudi's work and the Modernismo movement in Spain, and the neo-Mudejar style used in the construction of stations and bull-rings. The author describes their aesthetic and structural techniques in detail, with clear and precise language. Specially commissioned color photographs fully illustrate the buildings. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Cordoba, Granada, Mudejar, Architecture, Islamic, Moorish, Matthew Weinreb, Gothic, Iberian, Alcazar, Machuca, Alhambra, Casa Vicens, Ayuso's Bullring
ISBN: 1859640877
[Book #90969]
Price: $75.00