Joze Plecnik (1872-1957), one of the most important European architects of the twentieth century, created a highly original and independent architectural language. Drawing on the architecture of antiquity, the theories of Gottfried Semper and the teachings of Otto Wagner, Plecnik developed a refined but eclectic classicism that has become increasingly popular today. In this authoritative book, Damjan Prelovsek describes the life and work of the architect, analysing his buildings and his relationships with other architects and patrons, and placing his work in the perspective of current architectural ideas and practices. Prelovsek relates how Otto Wagner recognized Plecnik's enormous gifts and accepted him as a pupil in 1894, and how the young man capped his student career by winning the coveted Rome Prize. By 1903 Plecnik had already completed the Zacherl House, the most significant work by a student of Wagner in Vienna. It was a radical work, deliberately incoporating the traditions of European art but, unlike the work of later postmodernists, not content with mere architectural quotation. In Prague, says Prelovsek, Plecnik's extensive and sometimes controversial work on the Prague Castle brought him in close contact with the Czech President, Tomas Masaryk; in Ljubljana, Plecnik's far-reaching planning decisions and numerous buildings have exerted a lasting influence on the appearance of his native town.

Why urban design is larger than architecture: the foundational qualities of urban design, examples and practitioners Urban design in practice is incremental, but architects imagine it as scaled-up architecture—large, ready-to-build pop-up cities. This paradox of urban design is rarely addressed; indeed, urban design as a discipline lacks a theoretical foundation. In The Largest Art, Brent Ryan argues that urban design encompasses more than architecture, and he provides a foundational theory of urban design beyond the architectural scale. In a “declaration of independence” for urban design, Ryan describes urban design as the largest of the building arts, with qualities of its own. Ryan distinguishes urban design from its sister arts by its pluralism: plural scale, ranging from an alleyway to a region; plural time, because it is deeply enmeshed in both history and the present; plural property, with many owners; plural agents, with many makers; and plural form, with a distributed quality that allows it to coexist with diverse elements of the city. Ryan looks at three well-known urban design projects through the lens of pluralism: a Brancusi sculptural ensemble in Romania, a Bronx housing project, and a formally and spatially diverse grouping of projects in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He revisits the thought of three plural urbanists working between 1960 and 1980: David Crane, Edmund Bacon, and Kevin Lynch. And he tells three design stories for the future, imaginary scenarios of plural urbanism in locations around the world. Ryan concludes his manifesto with three signal considerations urban designers must acknowledge: eternal change, inevitable incompletion, and flexible fidelity. Cities are ceaselessly active, perpetually changing. It is the urban designer's task to make art with aesthetic qualities that can survive perpetual change.

Dave Brussat has made a significant contribution to the history of Providence. For those interested in that history, Lost Providence is a real find. Providence Journal Providence has one of the nation's most intact historic downtowns and is one of America's most beautiful cities. The history of architectural change in the city is one of lost buildings, urban renewal plans and challenges to preservation. The Narragansett Hotel, a lost city icon, hosted many famous guests and was demolished in 1960. The American classical renaissance expressed itself in the Providence National Bank, tragically demolished in 2005. Urban renewal plans such as the Downtown Providence plan and the College Hill plan threatened the city in the mid-twentieth century. Providence eventually embraced its heritage through plans like the River Relocation Project that revitalized the city's waterfront and the Downcity Plan that revitalized its downtown. Author David Brussat chronicles the trials and triumphs of Providence's urban development.

These essays by leading European scholars and the 300 illustrations of his work show, Plecnik's long career offers an invaluable example of the richness and diversity of early modern architecture.