Spectacle (Hardcover)

by David Rockwell (Author), Bruce Mau (Author)
Key Phrases: white turf, flash mobs, Burning Man, Las Vegas, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In Spectacle, the architect David Rockwell, in collaboration with designer Bruce Mau, explores the allure of larger-than-life events that take place around the globe. From the running of the bulls in Pamplona to the Holi Festival in India to deafening - and dangerous - NASCAR races, Spectacle considers what it is about these "shared, live experiences" that transforms not only the way we see the world, but also how we connect with each other.
Illustrated with over 200 color photographs, the dynamic visual essay highlights the power of real-time, real-space events in today's highly mediated world. The book features a collection of photographs and interviews with award-winning authors, producers, directors, and performers. These contributors have documented, participated in, or produced large events and bring a fascinating behind-the-scenes and in front-of-the footlights perspective on "spectacles" today. Interviews include: Muhammad Ali, champion boxer; Kurt Anderson, novelist and essayist; Simon Doonan, author and creative director; Dave Hickey, art critic; Quincy Jones, legendary music and event producer; Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil; Julie Taymor, film and theater director; Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, architects; John Waters, filmmaker; and Steve Wynn, Las Vegas mega-developer, with a concluding essay by critic Herbert Muschamp.
The book offers readers an unprecedented tour of over 60 far-flung and fleeting, beautiful and bizaare manmade events around the world. An in-depth selection of "spectacles" are presented thematically in six chapters that focus on various characteristics and unique cultural attributes that connect or distinguish each of the events.
Spectacle offers statistics and sidebars on the history of featured events, providing layers of information that add depth and context. Further, a reference section called "Getting There" contains a monthly calendar listing more global spectacles throughout the year, maps and insider tips you should know before you go.
"An empty stadium, an open field or a busy urban thoroughfare, each--when transformed by spectacle--undergoes an alchemic process," says David Rockwell. "A group of strangers fuses into an instant community. As an architect I strive to make environments where people connect. This is rooted in vivid recollections of my childhood--from amateur theater on the Jersey shore to the open air markets of Guadalajara Mexico--that have made me deeply aware of the power of shared experience. By physically attending an event, you declare yourself; you become something greater than you."
From the glitzy appeal of Las Vegas to the historical reenactment of the Calcio Storico in Florence, Spectacle presents an extraodordinary collection of images and text that convey the palpable buzz, sheer beauty and unusual fascination of public performance around the globe. If you are an armchair traveler or spontanieous jetsetter, David Rockwell and Bruce Mau offer a mesmerizing, thought-provoking journey into the world of spectacle that is bound to encourage not only conversation but also participation.

About the Author
David Rockwell is the founder and CEO of the Rockwell Group, an award winning, cross-disciplinary 180-person architecture and design practice. Based in New York City, Rockwell Group specializes in hospitality, cultural, theater and film design. Recent commissions include the Jet Blue Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport; the Elinor Bunin Film Center at Lincoln Center; Town restaurant and Chambers hotel (New York City); W New York and W Union Square (New York City); the Academy Awards' Kodak Theatre (Los Angeles); the Broadway musicals "Hairspray," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "Phantom of the Opera" (Las Vegas); and, numerous restaurants located internationally including New York restaurants Nobu Fifty Seven, Country, Bar Americain, Café Gray, Nobu in Dallas, Bahamas, Dubai and Hong Kong, Roppongi Hills in Tokyo and Maze in London to mention a few. Pleasure: The Architecture and Design of Rockwell Group was published by Universe, a division of Rizzoli Books in 2002.

Bruce Mau is the Chairman and Creative Director of Bruce Mau Design, which has gained international recognition for innovative multidisciplinary work collaborating with some of the world's leading architects, artists, writers, curators, academics, entrepreneurs, businesses and institutions since its inception in 1985. Mau is the author of Lifestyle and Massive Change: The Future of Global Design, both published by Phaidon, and designed and conceived of the award-winning book S,M,L,XL with Rem Koolhaas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (October 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714845744
• ISBN-13: 978-0714845746
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #207,459 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is AMAZING., October 30, 2006

By	J'MO (New York) - See all my reviews

I didn't know what to expect when I opened up this book - but it's fair to say the whole world exploded (in a good way) before my eyes as I literally flew through the pages. Spectacle takes a look at the reasons why people gather together - sometimes in the most unwelcoming circumstances - to celebrate, to mourn, to affect change, to create.

There's a beauty here that goes way beyond the amazing photographs - it's the study of the whys and hows behind the events and how the connective energies are the same regardless of ones attending a NASCAR race or the running of the bulls.

I was tremendously moved by SPECTACLE.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular insight from the Spectacle, January 31, 2007

By	Toyam D. Patel "toyam patel" (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An enlighting experiences into the most miraculous community or urban places bringing places and ideas together. And it is particularly overwhelming to review this issue from the lens of an architect. A must Buy!!!