Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces [Hardcover]

Douglas Keister (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2005

Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces presents a pictorial survey of an increasingly popular part of indoor/outdoor design-the courtyard. Today's architects and designers are creating beautifully private indoor/outdoor spaces amidst escalating urban development.

Doug Keister's striking, color photography illustrates a diverse selection. From ancient Rome and medieval Europe to modern-day New Orleans and San Diego, Courtyards explores the courtyard's history, development, landscaping, and modernization. Whether quaint and quiet or spacious and stimulating, Courtyards offers a taste of how these unique living spaces can be a canvas on which to paint a lasting impression, and on how they can set the mood and tone of any structure.

Courtyards will inspire you to create a space for entertaining, family meals, relaxation, and solitary reflection. It includes chapters such as The Greening of the Courtyard; Community Courtyards: Apartment, Bungalow and Cottage Courts and Public Buildings; Courtyards in Historic Residential Architecture; Water Elements; and Lighting.

Douglas Keister has photographed more than twenty-five critically acclaimed books. He also writes and illustrates magazine articles and contributes photographs and essays to dozens of magazines, newspapers, books, calendars, posters, and greeting cards worldwide. Some of his books include Classic Cottages, Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography, Ready to Roll, Red Tile Style, Silver Palaces, and Victorian Glory. Keister lives in Chico, California, with his wife Sandy Schweitzer.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces by Douglas Keister

When the outside meets the inside, a courtyard is born, and whether defined by tropical plants and a low stone wall, or a burbling fountain and modern sculpture, each one has the ability to delight our senses. Long associated with comfort and security, courtyards have been an important architectural element for thousands of years, and today these indoor/outdoor spaces are more popular than ever.

Courtyards takes you on a journey across the globe, looking at all kinds of courtyards and exploring their fascinating history. Courtyards can be adapted to almost any space, large or small, and the variations in greenery, stonework, water elements and lighting are endless. Classic Courtyards is perfect for homeowners looking to remodel, add something extra to the landscape, or simply modify an existing space, and this book, with its beautiful color photos and helpful advice, is sure to inspire anyone looking to create a unique place of solitude and serenity.

Douglas Keister has photographed more than twenty-five critically acclaimed books. He also writes and illustrates magazine articles and contributes photographs and essays to dozens of magazines, newspapers, books, calendars, posters and greeting cards worldwide. Some of his books include Classic Cottages, Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography, Ready to Roll, A Travel Trailer, Red Tile Style, The Bungalow, and Victorian Glory. Keister lives in Chico, California, with his wife Sandy Schweitzer.

From the Back Cover

Few architectural elements are more closely associated with comfort, protection, and security than the courtyard-an outdoor living space that is partially or fully enclosed by walls or buildings. The courtyard became a major architectural design element almost as soon humans began constructing permanent buildings.

Scholars tell us that courtyards have been around since at least 3000 b.c. The earliest civilizations in China, the Middle East, and North Africa all had courtyards. Protection was the primary function of these early courtyards, with high walls providing a shield from the weather and a barrier to marauding animals and unwanted human visitors. In later western culture, the requirements of a courtyard were looser, and any area that was partially or entirely enclosed by walls or buildings could be called a courtyard.

Today, defining a courtyard seems to depend on the elements it contains and the feelings it evokes rather than the architecture that surrounds it. The basic elements of a courtyard have always been water, walls, and sky combined to convey qualities of intimacy, security, and quiet.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith, Publisher (August 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586855409
• ISBN-13: 978-1586855406
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,070,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Photographer-writer Douglas Keister, has authored and co-authored thirty-six critically acclaimed books. He also writes and illustrates magazine articles and contributes photographs and essays to dozens of magazines, newspapers, books, calendars, posters and greeting cards worldwide. His twenty-five books on architecture include five books on Victorian homes (Daughter's of Painted Ladies, Painted Ladies Revisited, America's Painted Ladies, Victorian Glory and 500 Victorians); twelve books on bungalow homes (The Bungalow, Inside the Bungalow, Outside the Bungalow, 500 Bungalows and eight small format books on bungalow details), a book on 1920's whimsical homes (Storybook Style) a book about cemetery art and architecture (Going Out in Style), a book on Spanish architecture, (Red Tile Style), four books on cottage (Classic Cottages, Inside Classic Cottages, Cottages and 500 Cottages a book on cemetery architecture (Going Out in Style) and a book on Courtyards. Keister photographed and wrote an award winning children's book (Fernando's Gift), has two monographs of his personal work (Black Rock and Driftwood Whimsy), and four books on classic recreational vehicles, Ready to Roll, Silver Palaces, Mobile Mansions and Teardrops and Tiny Trailers. His wealth of books on architecture has earned him the title, "America's most noted photographer of historic architecture". His book on cemetery symbolism, Stories in the Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography, has garnered a number of glowing reviews. Sunset magazine said, "Keister has done for cemetery exploration what Audubon did for birding."
He recently photographed and wrote two bilingual children's books in China, To Grandmother's House: A Visit to Old-Town Beijing (January 2008), and Tao Tao's Green Gift (future release). Three other books came out in 2008: Forever Dixie (a book on southern cemeteries), Teardrops and Tiny Trailers and a book featuring his collection of glass negatives. Lincoln in Black and White 1910-1925.
His thirty-seventh book, "Forever LA" which will feature cemeteries in the Los Angeles Area, will come out in the fall of 2009
Doug frequently gives presentations in conjunction with his books and speaks at related events. In the past few years he has lectured in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Spokane, Kansas City, Boston, Milwaukee, Vermont, Winnemucca and Carson City, Nevada, Lincoln, Nebraska, The Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and the Cooper-Union in New York.
He lives with his wife, Sandra Mclean, in Chico, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare look at the function, definition and purpose of a courtyard, January 5, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces (Hardcover)

Douglas Keister's Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces takes a rare look at the function, definition and purpose of a courtyard surveying courtyards around the world which grace both home and public establishment. Courtyards can be adapted to both large and small spaces, vary in greenery, stonework, and lighting, and are perfect additions for homeowners seeking to remodel with style. Turn a backyard into a courtyard setting or consider many options through the phone color exhibition of photographer Keister, paired with text which considers design options and successful examples.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Beautiful Book, September 30, 2005

By 

lsjeno (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces (Hardcover)

The author has definitely done his homework. We are in the process of creating a courtyard in our back yard after having added a sunroom this past season. Our theme has been "New Orleans" for the sunroom ... even though we live in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we have visited New Orleans many times and consider it our "home away from home". There are courtyards from New Orleans featured in this book - but many from other places as well. Whatever you are looking for in courtyard ideas, you will find it here.

4 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, August 24, 2006

By 

quill and saber "artist" (pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces (Hardcover)

This book was recommended as a guide to developing sculpture gardens and outdoor living spaces. It is not. The photographs appear to be very dated as are the subject courtyards. It is a dull, unispired book.