1-Houses and Palaces of Andalusia
Patricia Espinosa De Los Monteros,

Francesco Venturi (Photographer),Caroline Phipps (Translator),Patricia Espinosa De Los Montero,Patricia Espinosa De Los Montero

About the Author
PATRCIA ESPINOSA DE LOS MONTEROS has a regular interiors column in Blanco y Negro, the Sunday supplement of the Spanish daily newspaper ABC, and she is the editor of El Anticuario, an antiques journal in Madrid. FRANCESCO VENTURIS photographs appear in many books, including Houses and Gardens of Portugal (Rizzoli, 1998) and the soon-to-be published Private Rome (Rizzoli; 1998).
Book Description
With riches fromNew World conquests pouring intoSeville in the 16th to 18th centuries, the Spanish nobility of Andalucia built exquisite houses and palaces. This book chronicles the finest of these treasures, traces the development of a distinctive regional style of architecture and decoration- the beautiful tiles, dramatic staircases and doorways, columns, and arches, and the cool exterior patios that are so integral to Spanish building. Many of these homes are miraculously preserved with their authentic interiors intact, and a fascinating text tells the stories of the families that built and lived in them.

2-The Bazaar: Markets and Merchants of the Islamic World 

This volume is a journey through the bazaars in the old Islamic cities of the Orient. Beginning with a general outline of the history of trade, it examines the origins of the "city within a city" and the early Islamic fortresses and caravanserais. The path of goods is traced along legendary caravan routes such as the Silk, Incense and Amber Roads. The everyday workings of the bazaar are described, and the book focuses on traditional trades and crafts including gold and sugar traders' markets, the workshops of lute makers, fabric painters and mosaic carvers, glass-blowers and coppersmiths. Persian carpet-makers, engravers and perfumers, miniature painters and calligraphers are revealed at work, as are people whose exotic trades are now dying out - sword and fire makers, water sellers, foot ironers, magicians and storytellers. In the final section, more than a dozen of the finest bazaars are described and illustrated.

3-Arts and Crafts of Morocco (Arts and Crafts)

The arts and crafts ofMorocco express a centuries-long intermingling of influences fromAfrica, Islam, and from the alliance of the Moors and the Spaniards. Yet despite their versatility and diversity, Moroccan crafts are relatively little known outside the country. The author's account, based on his own first-hand research, examines all the media one-by-one: textiles, jewelry; leather, wood and metalwork; and pottery and ceramics. These objects derive either from a rural lifestyle, with symbols and patterns that express the powerful animistic beliefs of the Berber country artisans, or from the cities, in which Islamic tenets provide the vigorous context. All of them are thus endowed with a spiritually charged meaning to add both their utility and to their beauty. This book contains guidance for collectors and analyzes the belief systems, festivals and ceremonies to which the arts relate.

4-Mediterranean Style: Relaxed Living Inspired by Strong Colors and Natural Materials
Catherine Haig

Vibrant, informal and, above all, refreshingly simple, Mediterranean style is synonymous with easy living. From Tangiers toTuscany, an imaginative sense of colour and pattern prevails, allied to a sensitive use of natural materials and local traditions. Floors are natural wood or terracotta tiled; ceilings have exposed beams; and the natural imperfections of brick and plaster walls might be highlighted through the lightest of distemper washes. This is a world suffused with warmth, where the dividing line between indoor and outdoor living is seamless. With colours from Kasbah to Crete so in vogue today, this title reveals the Mediterranean love of strong sun-drenched hues and the subtleties of Mediterranean patterning, found in Moorish mosaic detailing, ceramic tiles, kilim weaves and wrought ironwork. This resource features photography of locations from Umbria to Marrakech combined with 12 specially commissioned projects to provide imaginative ideas for translating this look into the contemporaryedition.

Table of Contents:

THE MEDITERRANEAN LOOK
WALLS AND FLOORS
WINDOWS AND DOORS
FURNISHINGS AND DISPLAY
OUTDOOR LIVING
Sources
Index
Acknowledgments