Books published by Editions Skira Paris

Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) was an Italian architect and designer known for his industrial and experimental designs. Winner of the prestigious Compaso de oro in 1959, the artist contributed through his work to going beyond functionalist theories after the war. Like his father before him, Sottsass studied architecture in Turin at the Politecnico, graduating in 1939. In 1947 he moved to Milan and founded his own design studio. In 1956 at the request of the painter and sculptor Sergio Cammilli, he became the artistic director of Poltronova, a new furniture company. Sottsass then created the Poltronova's logo and produced its first catalogues. This collaboration has a strong impact on the work of Sottsass, the catalogues constitute the support of his experimentations with geometric shapes, mixes of materials and vibrant colours. Between innovation and social criticism, the brand becomes a true standard bearer of Italian creation and collaborates with renowned artists such as Max Ernst. From 1960 to 1970, the ten years of collaboration between the designer and Poltronova, marked a period of almost total freedom for the Sottsass. A moment both rich in creations and decisive in establishing the designer's aesthetics that you can now discover in this book, through an analysis of Sottsass's work, advertising photos of the time, annotated sketches and his personal photographs.

Two-dimensional Plensa Jaume Plensa is one of the major figures of contemporary sculpture, best known for his large-scale human figures in stainless steel. This monography presents the artist from another angle, showing his graphic works. The book offers an intimate insight into Plensäs universe. Characterised by a greater freedom, as they are not made to order and do not require assistants¿ help, the drawings are a form of reflexion and experimentation for Plensa. He works with various materials, such as plastic sheets, or thick glue on paper or Plexiglas, which allows him to play with light and transparency and gives his works an impression of volume. As in the case of the sculptures, the artist focuses on the human, representing a variety of figures, which he assembles with elements such as photos, letters from different alphabets or numbers. This monography brings to light the diversity of Plensäs creation and the richness of his artistic language. Far from being reduced to preparatory works, Plensa's drawings, often of very large dimensions, function as artworks in their own right, showing the diversity of Plensäs ideas.

The immersive exhibition Imagine Picasso makes it possible to discover Pablo Picasso's work from new, innovative angles. Each visitor is invited to wander through a mosaic of emblematic paintings, removed from their frames and projected on a huge origami-like forms. Penetrating the mesmerizing world of unusual compositions of large-scale artworks gives the opportunity to explore the richness of details of Picasso's art. The album offers the possibility to relive the immersive experience through multiple photos from the exhibition. They are accompanied by texts by Androula Michael which provide clear descriptions of different Picasso's periods and of subjects that were dear to him. The reader can discover Picasso's art from the early years, through blue and pink period, cubism, "neoclassical" period, surrealism, up to his final years. Les demoiselles d'Avignon, Portrait of Dora Maar, Guernica and many more are to be explored in this book that offers a new way of looking at the work of this genius of modern art.

From the first pages, we are immersed into the history of the creation of Fairmont. Echoing the wonderful endeavor of railway, the flourishing of Fairmont palaces and Chateaux-hotels in North America results from a succesful combination between Luxury and Nature. The constant attention to surroundings hows Fairmont's strong concern in sustainability and wildlife preservation. Focusing on Architecture, the book presents the historic hotels along with the most recent yet iconic hotels ever built. Through architectural and design innovations, the Fairmont hotels managed throughout time to stand out in hospitality Architecture. Traveling from San Francisco to Singapore, one discovers the magnificent locations where Fairmont hotels stand across the world. While exploring the resorts built in heavenly places, one can only wonder at the unlimited solutions used by Fairmont to renew the typology. Praised by international and prestigious guests, the Fairmont hotels has a long experience hosting royal members, actors, singers and politics. The book is illustrated with rare pictures of famous guests while staying at Fairmont hotels. The best of Fashion can be appreciated along with a real enthusiasm for themed balls and parties. This unique material reenacts the wonderful atmosphere that can only be experienced at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. ¿ Luxury hotels throughout the world ¿ Iconic architecture ¿ Historical guests Starting with a foreword written by Fairmont ambassador and Award winning actress Susan Sarandon, this book celebrates the long history of Fairmont through three chapters (Origins, Architecture and Soul) and rich archival material. The book recreates the unique experience given to Fairmont's customers and makes the reader part of its grand and stupendous history. Accor Group is one of the world leading company in the hospitality industry.

Renowned architect Hala Wardé designed "A Roof for Silence" for the Lebanese Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. The design of the work was based on a poem-in-paint by Etel Adnan, as well as on the Antiforms of Paul Virilio, hung facing a series of sixteen ancient trees of Lebanon that were photographed in daylight by Fouad Elkoury, then plunged into darkness by Alain Fleischer, who filmed them in their sleep, with the musical accompaniment of the Soundwalk Collective. The Lebanese Pavilion is conceived as a musical score, resonating disciplines, shapes, and periods to provoke the sensory experience of a thought, articulated around the notions of emptiness and silence, as temporal and spatial conditions of architecture. Treated as a manifesto for a new form of architecture, Hala Wardé's project is based on the cryptic shapes of a group of sixteen olive trees that are a thousand years old in Lebanon. These legendary trees, whose hollowed forms are home to various species, are the tutelary figure of the Lebanese Pavilion. They are places of recollection or gathering, where peasants have convened for generations to decide on village affairs or to celebrate weddings. This book tells the story of the Lebanese Pavilion and explains, through plans, sketches and models, the intentions, and concepts behind the spatial organization of the exhibition.

Political geography and personal encouters

The first catalogue raisonné of a leading artist of the Cubist movement.Raymond Duchamp-Villon (1876-1918) was born in Eure, in the Haute-Normandie region of France. He was the brother of the artists Jacques Villon, Marcel Duchamp, and Suzanne Duchamp-Crotti.In 1894 Duchamp-Villon started a career in medicine at the Sorbonne. However rheumatic fever forced him to abandon his studies in 1898 and he began to pursue an interest in sculpture.He soon achieved a high level of mastery and acumen. In 1902 and 1903, he exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.He exhibited his work at the Salon d'Automne in 1905 and he was made a member of the jury of the sculpture section in 1907, becoming instrumental in promoting the Cubist movement.He participated in major salons in Paris and in 1912 he exhibited at the important Armory Show in New York City.During World War I Duchamp-Villon served in the French army in a medical capacity, but still participated in exhibitions and completed his major cubist sculpture, The Large Horse. In late 1916, Raymond Duchamp-Villon contracted typhoid fever and diedin a military hospital at Cannes.In 1967, in Rouen, his last surviving artist brother Marcel helped organize an exhibition called Les Duchamp: Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Marcel Duchamp, Suzanne Duchamp. Some of this family exhibition was later shown at the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris.

The Majlis, Cultures in dialogue is comprised of objects that tell stories. Stories about a long history of exchanges and dialogue in the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. Stories that one might hear in a majlis, the space present in every Arab home where people gather to talk and socialize. Stories that recall the mutual - and often forgotten - influences between the Islamic civilization, Europe, India and the Far East. Stories at the core of an ambitious project initiated by the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum: a multifaceted forum for respectful yet incisive dialogue that connects people, beliefs and cultures. This catalogue gathers some forty artworks from the collection of the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum, chosen to showcase these existing interrelationships between artists and craftsmen around the world and how they influenced style and culture across country borders.

This album of the Louvre Abu Dhabi collection of works allows readers to fully enjoy what the museum offers its visitors: an encounter with the universal across epochs, cultures and civilisations. The discovery - or rediscovery - of the works exhibited in the Louvre Abu Dhabi is a unique experience: on one hand because they are seen in a new light, that of Abu Dhabi filtered through the dome designed by Jean Nouvel, and on the other because their dialogue with works with which they are not usually presented increases their polysemy. This album provides a key to understanding the characteristics common to all humanity and the elements that constitute and form our distinct identity filtered through the prism of time, culture and history. The collection of the Louvre Abu Dhabi is universal in its scope: from prehistory to the latest contemporary commissions. Artists Giuseppe Penone and Jenny Holzer have created new works in direct response to the museum's unique architecture and spirit. The very first purchase was made in 2009: a seminal painting by abstract pioneer Piet Mondrian. Since then, the collection has expanded to over 600 pieces. The diversity of masterpieces is astonishing. Highlights include an incredibly rare Bactrian princess from the 3rd millennium BCE; a 3000-year-old Middle-Eastern gold bracelet; and a magnificent monumental bronze lion from Andalusia from the 11-12th century. Alongside these are works by some of the great European masters of the 19th and 20th centuries: Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and René Magritte. A series of nine canvases by Cy Twombly produced in Italy just three years before the artist's death in 2011 is also on show. Together, such works, and many more, represent the human desire for artistic expression in its entirety.