Product Description

In many countries, modern houses have evolved from European-influenced International Style modernism to "regional modernist" variations on local materials and building techniques. This is a survey of new tropical houses that embrace open floor plans, exterior courtyards, sunny patios and cool stucco surfaces - all within a regionally inflected modern architectural vocabulary.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42901 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-15
• Released on: 2003-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this showcase of designs that reach beyond the soaring ceilings and infinity pools of modern home architecture, Barreneche offers a lively study of 21 projects in various tropical surroundings: seaside bluffs, arid yellow deserts and lush, verdant forests. Far away from the cities of its birth, modern architecture, with its attention to climate and dialogue between indoor and outdoor spaces, now thrives in the sun-scored tropics, and Barreneche contextualizes the tradition and samples current trends. Although most of the homes exhibited are in the Western Hemisphere, from Baja to Caracas to Miami, he includes notable examples of "modern tropical" style from Australia, Singapore and Sri Lanka as well. The brightly pigmented cement walls of the Studio MORSA architects' three houses in Nevis, West Indies, contrasts with the steely cool Bitter Residence by Isay Weinfield in Tijucopava, Brazil, whose whitewashed minimalist façade and immense glass doors on the house's posterior afford its residents a private, breathtaking audience with an azure sea. The book's sole disappointment is its cursory review of mid-century modern architectural luminaries, like Gio Ponti, who receives a passing reference and one photograph (of his Villa Planchart in Caracas). Also lamentable (but understandable given the long-standing U.S. embargo on Cuba) is the painfully brief discussion of the residence Richard Neutra designed for Alfred de Schulthess in Havana. Still, the book's luxuriant, full-bleed color photographs beautifully capture the serene settings of these tropical oases, providing both architectural inspiration and escapism.
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About the Author
Raul A. Barreneche is a New York-based design editor and writer who has worked at Architecture magazine as a contributing editor and is the founding editor of House.
He is a contributing editor to Metropolitan Home and Travel + Leisure and also writes for House Beautiful, One, Dwell, Interiors, and the New York Times.

Customer Reviews

Tropical Modern 100%
Beutiful Book!
This is one of the few books that could be judged by its cover. It's 100% Tropical Modern. Good pictures, fair enough text. My only cons is not with the book but with the fact that despite that I love Modern Architecture it might not be the best approach for all tropical areas because of the accelerated deterioration and high-maintenance caused by the weather at this latitudes.