For the love of reading: New books on Architecture

I have told my husband that once communism is over in Cuba we should buy a vacation home there and bring any kind of business that has been nonexistent and let's call it a life.  Easier said than done, but until life throws the dice I'll be content with having The Splendor of Cuba 450 Years of Architecture and Interiors (Rizzoli) by Michael Connors and photography by Brent Winebrenner .  This tome includes 295 color photos of Cuba's well preserved and extraordinary architecture from 1500's to 1950's featuring spectacular well preserved colonial Spanish Creole, sugar plantations, baroque palacios, to unique 20th century modernism movement. This is a book designed to enrich the knowledge and vocabulary of those Architecture aficionados but it's also a coffee table book that will be the start of many an interesting and opinionated conversations. 

The first time I visited Versailles back in 2000 I was in complete awe by its magnificent and perfect harmonious Gardens as much as The Chateau itself.  The recently released “Versailles: A Private Invitation" (Flammarion), with photographs by Francis Hammond and text by Guillaume Picon gives us a very intimate look into this Paris landmark.  Hammond was given access to every room in order to create a comprehensive new record of the estate.  Items and details such as personal gifts given to Marie Antoinette, the bed where Louis XVI would lie down after taking baths are pictured in this must-have book. 

 

 Below are a few images:

 Amazing how this graphic marble court looks so current.

 The Staircase of Provence, in the south wing.

 The spectacular Hall of Mirrors.

 The bed where Louis XVI would rest after bathing. 

 Marie Antoinette's Bedchamber.

 The Great Stables.  How magnificent is this?

The Orangerie Parterre.