Showcases the modern residential style in Southern California and includes many of California's masters of modern residential architecture. Includes outstanding photography by Russell Abrahams.With Silicon Valley in the north and Hollywood in the south, California has become a magnet for creative and entrepreneurial types from within the United States and around the world. Architects have not been immune to the Golden State's aesthetic and cultural draw. Here, in the melting pot of world cultures and native talent, modern residential architecture has been reborn. From the seaside towns of Los Angeles to the rolling hills of San Francisco and the wine country of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, California's adventurous architects have reached back to the cultural and economic optimism of the 1950s to give modern architectural design a new look.With its mild climate and sun-filled days, California has always been a natural fit for modernism's tenets of open plans, indoor-outdoor living, and expansive window walls. There modernist design concepts have adapted easily to the 21st Century's demand for green architecture and energy conservation. Many of the houses in 'California Cool' are energy independent and built using either recycled or sustainable materials.'California Cool' includes contemporary work from some of modern architecture's progenitor's from the mid 20th century along with designs from the young practitioners of the 21st century, who can be found working out of converted warehouses and lofts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Berkeley. From north to south, this beautifully illustrated book captures the rich, creative vibrancy of California's modern architectural presence.AUTHOR: Russell Abraham is one of the leading architectural photographers on the U.S. West Coast. He has the unique ability to both write about and photograph architecture in an incisive way. His work has appeared in many books and trade journals on architecture and interior design. SELLING POINTS:- Showcases the modern residential style in Southern California- Includes many of California's masters of modern residential architecture- Includes outstanding photography by Russell Abraham 270 col.

The first comprehensive examination of California''s mid-century modern design, generously illustrated. In 1951, designer Greta Magnusson Grossman observed that California design was "not a superimposed style, but an answer to present conditions.... It has developed out of our own preferences for living in a modern way." California design influenced the material culture of the entire country, in everything from architecture to fashion. This generously illustrated book, which accompanies a major exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is the first comprehensive examination of California''s mid-century modern design. It begins by tracing the origins of a distinctively California modernism in the 1930s by such European émigrés as Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and Kem Weber; it finds other specific design influences and innovations in solid-color commercial ceramics, inspirations from Mexico and Asia, new schools for design training, new concepts about leisure, and the conversion of wartime technologies to peacetime use (exemplified by Charles and Ray Eames''s plywood and fiberglass furniture). The heart of California Design is the modern California home, famously characterized by open plans conducive to outdoor living. The layouts of modernist homes by Pierre Koenig, Craig Ellwood, and Raphael Soriano, for example, were intended to blur the distinction between indoors and out. Homes were furnished with products from Heath Ceramics, Van Keppel-Green, and Architectural Pottery as well as other, previously unheralded companies and designers. Many objects were designed to be multifunctional: pool and patio furniture that was equally suitable indoors, lighting that was both task and ambient, bookshelves that served as room dividers, and bathing suits that would turn into ensembles appropriate for indoor entertainment. California Design includes 350 images, most in color, of furniture, ceramics, metalwork, architecture, graphic and industrial design, film, textiles, and fashion, and ten incisive essays that trace the rise of the California design aesthetic. of wartime technologies to peacetime use (exemplified by Charles and Ray Eames''s plywood and fiberglass furniture). The heart of California Design is the modern California home, famously characterized by open plans conducive to outdoor living. The layouts of modernist homes by Pierre Koenig, Craig Ellwood, and Raphael Soriano, for example, were intended to blur the distinction between indoors and out. Homes were furnished with products from Heath Ceramics, Van Keppel-Green, and Architectural Pottery as well as other, previously unheralded companies and designers. Many objects were designed to be multifunctional: pool and patio furniture that was equally suitable indoors, lighting that was both task and ambient, bookshelves that served as room dividers, and bathing suits that would turn into ensembles appropriate for indoor entertainment. California Design includes 350 images, most in color, of furniture, ceramics, metalwork, architecture, graphic and industrial design, film, textiles, and fashion, and ten incisive essays that trace the rise of the California design aesthetic. , and fashion, and ten incisive essays that trace the rise of the California design aesthetic.P>California Design includes 350 images, most in color, of furniture, ceramics, metalwork, architecture, graphic and industrial design, film, textiles, and fashion, and ten incisive essays that trace the rise of the California design aesthetic.of wartime technologies to peacetime use (exemplified by Charles and Ray Eames''s plywood and fiberglass furniture). The heart of California Design is the modern California home, famously characterized by open plans conducive to outdoor living. The layouts of modernist homes by Pierre Koenig, Craig Ellwood, and Raphael Soriano, for example, were intended to blur the distinction between indoors and out. Homes were furnished with products from Heath Ceramics, Van Keppel-Green, and Architectural Pottery as well as other, previously unheralded companies and designers. Many objects were designed to be multifunctional: pool and patio furniture that was equally suitable indoors, lighting that was both task and ambient, bookshelves that served as room dividers, and bathing suits that would turn into ensembles appropriate for indoor entertainment. California Design includes 350 images, most in color, of furniture, ceramics, metalwork, architecture, graphic and industrial design, film, textiles, and fashion, and ten incisive essays that trace the rise of the California design aesthetic. , and fashion, and ten incisive essays that trace the rise of the California design aesthetic.iders, and bathing suits that would turn into ensembles appropriate for indoor entertainment. California Design includes 350 images, most in color, of furniture, ceramics, metalwork, architecture, graphic and industrial design, film, textiles, and fashion, and ten incisive essays that trace the rise of the California design aesthetic. , and fashion, and ten incisive essays that trace the rise of the California design aesthetic.

Following The Cover Art of Blue Note', this is a selection of the best of the covers produced by the Contemporary and Pacific Jazz record labels during the boom days of West Coast jazz in the 1950s. Unlike Blue Note, which was an East Coast operation, these two labels were based in and around Los Angeles, on the West Coast, and there is a Californian feel to the covers they produced.