Michael Webb – författare

Music in Pacific Island Cultures is one of several case-study volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, Second Edition, the core book in the Global Music Series. Thinking Musically incorporates music from many diverse cultures and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music around the world. It sets the stage for an array of case-study volumes, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present.The islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia are steeped in diverse musical traditions that reach far beyond the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Music in Pacific Island Cultures is the first brief, single-volume text to provide a thematic, succinct introduction to the music of the Pacific Islands--a region of the world that has long been under-represented in ethnomusicological studies.Based on the authors' extensive fieldwork and experiences in Pacific Island cultures, the text draws on interviews with performers, eyewitness accounts of performances, vivid illustrations, and insights gained from ongoing participation in Pacific music. The authors use four themes--colonialism, belief systems, musical flows, and the re/presentation of Pacific cultures--to survey the region and draw parallels and contrasts between its various musical traditions.Packaged with a 70-minute audio CD containing musical examples discussed in the book, Music in Pacific Island Cultures features numerous listening activities that engage students with the music. The companion website includes a comprehensive Instructor's Manual with suggested classroom activities.Visit www.oup.com/us/globalmusic for a list of books in the Global Music Series. The website also includes instructional materials to accompany each volume.

California Houses brings together thirty-six houses completed over the past ten years that capture the spirit of California in distinctive ways and respond creatively to context and the environment. They engage forests and deserts, the ocean and city streets. Large or small, they demonstrate the extraordinary range of invention emerging from the offices of established and younger architects. This is a celebration of the best talent as well as clients with the imagination and means to commission houses that are one-of-a-kind and advance the art of architecture. California is a hotbed of sustainable construction, as mandated by state legislation, and all of these houses employ active and passive strategies to reduce their carbon footprint. There’s a strong emphasis on natural light and ventilation, thermal insulation and solar panels. Rainwater is harvested for irrigation. These are homes constructed to conserve energy, withstand earthquakes and, often, to resist wildfires, but without losing their aesthetic appeal. The selection ranges from a landscaped concrete dome to an inflatable shelter that can be assembled and relocated as easily as a tent. An expansive ocean-front retreat contrasts with a bungalow that has been transformed on a shoestring budget and a weekend cabin in a desert wilderness. One house cascades down a wooded hillside, another spans a creek, and several more are tucked into confined city lots.

Building Community is an in-depth, wide-ranging survey of contemporary apartment buildings, not as raw canvases for interior decoration but as a building type of growing significance. An introduction presents the history of multiple-occupancy housing through its most innovative 20th-century exemplars, from the urbane blocks of Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage in Paris, to the landscaped housing estates of Weimar Germany and the visionary schemes of Le Corbusier. The heart of the book features 39 recent or ongoing projects, designed by leading international studios and rising talents. Buildings range from social housing and micro apartments to urban villages, megastructures and innovative high-rises. Each project is considered for the way in which it enriches the lives of residents and the city, and is shown through drawings and photographs, taken from the street and within. The book also includes interviews with such contemporary masters of apartment design as Michael Maltzan, Lorcan O’Herlihy, Édouard François and Bjarke Ingels. As our cities grow more crowded, it is critical that we produce creative buildings that enhance the lives of their inhabitants, their surroundings and the urban environment as a whole. Building Community offers dozens of proven successes to designers and apartment-dwellers.With 348 illustrations in colour

Thirty of the world’s leading architects, including Norman Foster, Thom Mayne, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, talk about the houses they designed for themselves over the past decade. What inspired them, what were the constraints, how did their concepts take shape? Michael Webb explores the creative process and traces the influence of architects’ houses over the past two hundred years, from Jefferson’s Monticello to the creations of Charles and Ray Eames, Toyo Ito and Frank Gehry.Texts, images, sketches and plans are interwoven to illustrate houses that differ widely, in size, material, character and location. There are urban infills, rustic retreats, experiments, and fusions of new and old. They all make a statement, modest or ambitious, and each reflects the personality and tastes of its owner. These architects have accepted the challenge of doing something out of the ordinary, turning constraints to advantage. They give different answers to a crucial question: how can a house enrich lives and its surroundings? Spacious or frugal, refined or rough-edged, daring or reductive, these adventurous dwellings will inspire other architects and everyone who would like to design or commission a house that is one-of-a-kind.

McClean s second Rizzoli book explores sixteen ultra-modern residences completed over the past five years. Rigorous, elegant, and impeccably detailed, McClean s houses are the embodiment of livable modernism and set the stage for every aspect of California living. The residences range from a remodeled classical mansion in San Francisco, to waterfront houses and serene oases that seem to float above the flats of Los Angeles, with vistas extending from mountains to the ocean. Since its founding in 2000, McClean Design s focus has been on creating home sanctuaries that open to the best views. From the structure to plantings, lighting, and furnishings, there s a free flow of space, through the house and out to the horizon. The quiet authority of McClean s houses exerts a calming influence. There s a sense of formality and spareness in the architecture, a reduction to essentials, serving not as a constraint, but as a foil to the landscape and the relaxed character of the interior spaces; wood strip floors, cabinetry, and natural stones add warmth, as do the soft furnishings in neutral tones. The book includes floor plans and explanatory essays and notes by the architects on common themes throughout their work.

This is the first English language biography of Ottorino Respighi, the most performed Italian composer of the twentieth century.Best known for his so-called Roman trilogy, (Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome and Roman Festivals), this book documents the story of his rise to fame and offers a fascinating insight into the active lifestyle of an internationally renowned musician, who made an important contribution to the revival of interest in early music. It also takes a closer look at Respighi’s associations with eminent figures such as Arturo Toscanini, Serge Diaghilev, Gabriele D’Annunzio and even Albert Einstein which make his story deeply engaging and take us beyond the realms of music into a world of Russian émigrés, wealthy patrons and Nobel Prize winners, while also documenting some of the early effects of fascism on art and culture.

Italy has long been associated with opera, and opera with Italy. But what happened to that other face of Italian music, the rich tradition of instrumental music that inspired a whole generation of European composers throughout the 17th and 18th centuries? Italian Nineteenth Century Instrumental Music aims to introduce readers to the wealth of non-operatic, instrumental music written by Italian composers in and around the 19th century. It also examines how the important historical and political events that marked the course of the century affected the country’s musical scenario. The brief survey focuses on some of the most representative musicians of the period, many of whose names will be unfamiliar to the general public. The works of Saverio Mercadante, Alessandro Rolla, Antonio Bazzini, Giovanni Sgambati, Giuseppe Martucci and many others are still awaiting the full recognition they deserve. With Italian Nineteenth Century Instrumental Music, Michael Webb provides further impetus for a reassessment of this largely unexplored sector of Italian music.

From artworks and chairs to architecture, landscaping and interior design, Michael Boyd’s devotion to the principles of modernism is comprehensive. An artist and musician, he acquired his expertise as a collector, surrounding himself with rare and beautiful finds. His immersion in the philosophy and creativity of the masters inspired him to restore a succession of classic modern houses, curate exhibitions, create a versatile range of furniture and rugs, and design sculptural gardens.Millennium Modern: Living in Design details his work across the first two decades of the new millennium and reflects his belief that the tenets of modernism – honesty and simplicity - developed more than a century ago, are equally relevant to our pluralistic age. In contrast to the pioneers who wanted to do away with the past, his creations are deeply rooted in the history of design. Essays by Boyd and architectural writer Michael Webb, along with comments from collaborators and critics, explore each facet of his residential design. This beautifully illustrated volume reveals Boyd’s holistic design practice from his discovery of design classics in flea markets, to his own furniture designs, which feature in residential interiors, hotels and museums, through to his sensitive restoration of the houses by Paul Rudolph and Oscar Niemeyer, Richard Neutra and Craig Ellwood, and the sculptural landscapes he designed to enhance these residences, as well as masterpieces by John Lautner.

Junior History Book 2 introduces Key Stage 2 pupils to the fascinating ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome. In this book, pupils will be enchanted as they meet the key figures of the period including Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great and a whole range of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. This challenging book features a strongly narrative retelling of historical events during this period to provide a thorough grounding for all Key stage 2 pupils. - Covers the fascinating civilisations of Ancient Greece and Rome, which are sure to enthuse your young historians- The chronological approach will ensure that pupils develop an understanding of what happened when, and why- Source-based evidence questions are featured throughout to help pupils develop important historical skills- Challenging exercises and 'To do' activities at the end of each chapter will engage all pupilsAlso available from Galore Park:- Junior History Book 1- Junior History Book 3- History for Common Entrance 13+ Textbooks, Revision Guide and Exam Practice Questions

Archigram comprised Warren Chalk (1927-88), Peter Cook (1936-), Dennis Crompton (1935-), David Greene (1937-), Ron Herron (1930-94), and Michael Webb (1937-). Together they envisioned the future of architecture in ways that enthralled a generation. In an era defined by the space race, they developed a ‘high-tech’, lightweight, infra-structural approach that stretched far beyond known technologies or contemporary realities. They devised autonomous dwellings and focused on survival technology; they experimented with megastructures and modular construction systems; they explored mobility through the environment, and the use of portable living capsules: all through the medium of an incredible series of drawings and models. Archigram’s influence has been profound and enduring. They gave the high-tech movement its impetus; they inspired architects such as Renzo Piano and Norman Foster; and they laid the ground for the design of buildings such as the Pompidou Centre. Edited and designed by Archigram member Dennis Crompton, this book catalogues Archigram’s activities over fourteen years, together with commentaries by the architects and critics writing then and now.

From the ruins of Palmyra in the Syrian desert to the ghost town of Bodie, the painted churches of Sucevita in Romania, and a fire festival in a Japanese village: Michael Webb has ventured far afield in search of the rare and beautiful. He recalls memorable experiences of people and places over eight decades of travel around the world, and some of the buildings and landscapes that have left a lasting impression. It's getting harder to find places that have not been commercialised and overwhelmed by mass tourism, but they can still be found, even in the most popular destinations. Webb's recommendations should inspire you to get off the beaten track and make your own discoveries.

Anthony Poon's passion for music inspires a vibrant architecture that engages its users and the environment. Affordability and sustainability are hallmarks of Poon's designs, which fuse quality and innovation. His success explodes the myth that architect-designed houses are more expensive and challenging than generic solutions and raises the bar for developers and architects alike. This monograph explores three fields in which Poon Design have excelled: housing, schools, and restaurants. It explains how they enrichthe experience of living, learning, and eating, and promote social interaction. Readers can track the creative process from concept sketch to model, plan to completion.