Last summer when we wrote about Land Rover's 60th anniversary we visited the incredible Astor Courts in Rhinebeck, N.Y, designed by Stanford White as part of a country retreat for John Jacob Astor IV in 1902. The Astor Courts features prominently in a beautiful new book from Rizzoli, Stanford White, Architect. White, the visionary head of famed firm McKim, Mead & White, was arguably the most celebrated American architect of his day and a "defining figure of the so-called Gilded Age." In addition to the Astor Courts (originally the Ferncliff Casino), the book features many of White's buildings, including Beacon Rock in Newport, Rhode Island (above).

The book, by White's great-grandson Samuel G. White and Elizabeth White with photography by Jonathan Wallen, comprehensively explores White's "sumptuously rich oeuvre," from his own residences on Long Island and in Gramercy Park, to the "extraordinary and opulent" houses such as the incredible Rosecliff in Newport (see the gallery) and Villard Houses and Payne Whitney mansion in New York City. It also includes the lavish private clubs he designed such as the Century Association, the old Madison Sqaure Garden and Tiffany & Co., churches, monuments and more.



Rosecliff, commissioned by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs in 1899, is without a doubt the most extravagant house in the book. Designed to evoke Louis XIV's Grand Trianon at Versailles, it cost $2.5 million by the time it was completed in 1902 - about $60 million in today's dollars. The mansion, which is now a museum, was used to film scenes from 1974's The Great Gastby starring Robert Redford. Oelrichs hosted many fabulous parties at Rosecliff, including a fairy tale dinner and party featuring famed magician Harry Houdini as the evening's entertainment. In 1904 she staged the famous "Bal Blanc" to celebrate the Astor Cup Races, in which everything in the house was white and silver.

The classical Astor Courts is pictured on the book's cover. A less opulent but equally beautiful echo of the Grand Trianon, the five-bedroom structure features an indoor tennis court and swimming pool, and cost $1 million to build, or about $22 million in today's dollars. The building was a complete wreck in 2002 when a former TV producer purchased it for $3.2 million and set about an intense restoration. Five years and more than a million dollars later, it has been restored to White's original grandeur.

The latest book from Acanthus Press, publishers of lavish tomes on classical architecture, is titled Great Houses of Philadelphia: Chestnut Hill and the Wissahickon Valley, 1880 - 1930. The book (right), from their superlative Suburban Domestic Architecture series, covers the marvelous landscape that "became the setting for glorious estates that celebrated the connection between the natural and the built environment."

From the mid-19th through the mid-20th century, "three generations of prominent regional and national architects designed houses [there] that have endured as magnificent examples of their own time, and remain eminently livable homes to this day." The book examines 40 properties in detail with over 300 archival and contemporary photographs, drawings, and floor plans.

The battle for the world's tallest building is already a fiercely contested one. How else can you get in the record books? How about picking another category? Developers Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) are working on Capital Gate, a building that will enter Guinness Book of Records as the "World's most inclined tower." The building leans at an angle of 18 degrees, a small amount perhaps but compare that the the most famous askew building, the leaning Tower of Pisa which leans less than four degrees. Creating a building with a lean like this is no easy feat, it requires extra steel reinforcements to compensate for the gravitational, wind and seismic pressures caused by the tilt of the building. The tower is part of a $2.2 billion business and residential project.

Yesterday Zaha Hadid's Chanel Mobile Art Pavilion made its way to Central Park, the latest stop on its whirlwind world tour. The curled shiny structure is full of art inspired by Chanel's iconic 2.55 handbag -- pieces like an enormous Chanel handbag spilled over. The work has drawn criticism for its cluelessness, and its place in the Park, which the New York Times calls an "instrument of psychological healing for the weary." Apparently Chanel's little interlocking Cs don't have quite the same calming effect, even when they're wrapped up in Hadid's creativity.

Chanel paid $400,000 to rent space in the park, and has additionally made a donation to the Central Park Conservancy.

On Sunday evening, a select group of Los Angeles design luminaries will converge at the intersection of fashion and architecture -- Katy Rodriguez's show at John Lautner's Harpel residence. Models and It Gals like Chloe Sevigny and Christina Ricci will be wearing Rodriguez's latest designs and mingling with guests including artists Shepard Fairey and Raymond Pettibon.

Judging from the collection, it feels like the perfect setting -- the clothes have an architectural quality, and they're filled with the rich, subtle detailing that distinguishes good design from the ordinary, or the ostentatious.

The Harpel house has been meticulously restored by Rodriguez's business partner Mark Haddawy. He's spent the past two years removing a superfluous second story and bringing the house back to its original, sublime logic.

Between the high fashion and the cityscape below, the views should be pretty spectacular. Check out the gallery to see a few images of the Harpel house and more pieces from Rodriguez's Spring/Summer 2009 collection.

HenryBuilt -- the design team long favored by discerning architects and their customers -- has recently launched its Whole House Line, essentially sleek-ifying every niche of your home from the library to the laundry room. The custom line is all rift-cut oak, walnut, stainless steel, teak: rich woods in a classic modern style.

The pieces aptly synthesize engineering and craft, meaning they can live in your home for a lifetime. Feelgood bonus: HenryBuilt uses a wide range of renewable or recycled materials.

A New York fixture since 2001, HenryBuilt has just opened a new showroom in Seattle, where the company first began. If you're Pacific Northwest bound, check out the goods at their opening party on September 18. 997 Western Ave., Seattle. Their NYC shop is at 79 Grand Street.

The soon-to-open Kimber Modern in Austin, Texas eschews the typically quaint look of the standard bed and breakfast. Kimber Cavendish and Vicki Faust shared a dream of launching a unique hotel in the hip Soco area of Austin. Architect Burton Baldridge has created an angular retreat that offers six rooms, a tranquil courtyard and a light-filled common area that includes a multi-level deck. Breakfast is self-serve and available from 7 to 11 a.m. The Kimber Modern opens to guests on October 10 and is now taking reservations. Standard rooms are $295-$320 a night, suites, which include a seating area with a custom couch designed by Burton Baldrige are $350 to $395 per night.

A really great, oversized design book with beautifully-reproduced images can sometimes actually transport you to another place. Such is the case with a new volume titled New Seaside Interiors, edited by Angelika Taschen, which is anything but a mishmash of coastal clichés. Forget what you think you know about nautical décor; with examples of brilliant seaside design on all five continents, from Iceland to Chile, the architecture in this book harmonizes with the ocean in ways that go far beyond sprinkling a few seashells around the guest bath. From fashion designer Pierre Cardin's Bond villain-style floating house in St. Tropez to Dolce & Gabbana's eye-popping seaside villas in Italy, this is the né plus ultra of seaside style. See the gallery for more.

A luxe new coffee table book called Dream Homes: Coastal California (Panache Partners, $34.95) showcases over 40 of the region's finest architects, designers and builders. Focusing on Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties, it features 250 photographs of breathtaking designs such as the Villa Beaumont pictured above, an Italian-Renaissance country villa in Santa Barbara by Sorrell Design based on the work of the great 16th-century architect Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola. From multimillion dollar classical revival mansions to modernist beach dwellings, no expense has been spared in realizing clients' dreams (hence the title). See the gallery for a tour.

In Kuwait's plans for Silk City (Madinat Al Hareer), no one will ever be more than three blocks from water or gardens. A vast National Wildlife Refuge is in the works. And medical treatment along with fresh, healthy food will be accessible on foot for 80% of residents. The centerpiece of the hugely ambitious project will be the tallest building in the world, the Mubarak al Kabir Tower, at 200 stories and comprised of seven distinct "vertical neighborhoods." (Fun fact: the tower will reach to 1,001 meters, an imposing physical reference to the Arabian Nights tale.) Add to that the four main quadrants of the city: Finance City, Leisure City (I'm totally moving there), Culture City and Ecologic City, and what is ostensibly an architectural feat becomes an experiment in crafting entire ways of life. With government investment of $132 billion, London-based design firm CivicArts/Eric R. Kuhne are ready to break ground ... and continue its labors until the estimated date of completion for Silk City, 2023.

Investors in the project state that their hopes to renew Kuwait's cultural influence are highly motivational, and the idea is based on the crucial links established over a thousand years ago when Kuwait was a center on the silk trade routes. Now planning to link itself with cities like Damascus and Baghdad, stretching ultimately all the way to China, Kuwait intends to reestablish its connectivity in more than just symbolic measure.

Clearly imitative of nearby architectural playgrounds like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Silk City and all its outrageous goals does come off feeling a bit more commercial than its underlying motives might imply. They're tossing around terms like the "Arabian Riviera" and plan to incorporate such enclaves as "Film City" and multiple "pleasure facilities." Maybe it's that the intentions aren't just outrageous but highly-regimented. The planners are busy designing 28 different "lifestyle zones" specifically branded by interest (sports, film, media, etc.). While all the bells and whistles sound pretty awesome (in the true sense of the word) the overly manufactured quality of every detail -- especially the neighborhoods, oops "lifestyle zones," which force homogeneity not diversity -- make this huge community appear rather disconnected after all.

I guess we'll have to reevaluate in 2023. But judging from a fairly recent visit to Dubai, a model of speedy construction and ambitious contemporary architecture, I'd be willing to bet Silk City is operational much before then. Those oil prices don't hurt the timeline, either.

The skyline of Paris has remained relatively unchanged for the last 18 years but the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, is seeking to change that and has presented a bold new plan to the city council. It's currently against regulations to build higher than 37 meters (121.4 feet) in the capital and there hasn't been a new skyscraper built in 18 years. But Delanoë believes that new buildings could help ease the city's housing shortage. Even though nearly two-thirds of Parisians are said to be against relaxing the building rules, the mayor said that a public official's responsibility is to act in the best interest of the public rather than just pay attention to polls.

The council has voted in favor of studying the plan and the citizens will be allowed to weigh in at a conference next year. The plans include a 200 metre pyramidal tower next to the Porte de Versailles with a four-star hotel but other planned residential projects are in the 50 meter range. Advocates say this type of architecture is necessary in order for Paris to compete with other "global cities" like London, Tokyo and New York. Critics say that Paris is beautiful as is and that dramatic new architecture would damage the city's famous charm. Check out the potential new Paris in the gallery below.

You can now monitor progress on Frank Gehry's amazing Hall Winery project in the Napa Valley via a live video feed. Last year my colleague Deidre Woollard told you about the ambitious plan for the new facility built around the original 1885 winery south of St. Helena. Progress is proceeding apace on the project, which artfully blends avant-garde architecture with existing historic structures. The live cam is the latest addition to the Gehry plan web features, which include a project gallery and time-lapse camera showing progress to date. Hall's new 110,000-square-foot complex of six buildings, which broke ground last summer, is slated to open in 2010. Pictured above is Gehry (center) and associate Edwin Chan (left) with winery owners Kathryn and Craig Hall (right) discussing the architect's model for a new Visitor's Center, an all-glass structure supported by a "floating" trellis overhang. See the gallery for more.

Photo by Grant Mudford

The Lone Star State, which was part of Mexico until 1836, is not particularly known for its architectural treasures. There are some amazing estates scattered among its vast tracts, however, as author Lisa Germany and photographer Grant Mudford reveal in their excellent new book, Great Houses Of Texas (Abrams, $50). The Texan landscape -- "combined with the larger-than-life personalities who were drawn to the brutal hardships of the frontier and the architects who designed these extraordinary homes" -- is the unifying theme of the 25 houses, ranging from the intimate to the ornate, collected in the book. Among them is the beautiful Crespi Mansion in Dallas, designed by Swiss architect Maurice Fatio in 1939, pictured above; and the Nowlin House in Austin designed by Paul Lamb in 2002, which was partially based on Mayan ruins. See the gallery for more.

Photo by Scott Frances / Esto

Every edifice ever built by rationalist architect Richard Meier -- and then some - is featured in a new mega monograph about to be published by Taschen: Richard Meier & Partners: Complete Works 1963-2008. The extra-large $150 volume showcases Meier's entire career to date, including such stunning commissions as the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the City Hall and Library at the Hague and the beauteous Southern California beach house pictured above. Meier, one of the world's top architects - or "starchitects" as he and a select few of his contemporaries such as Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas are known - has an insatiable appetite for large swaths of white, but it works (to say the least). Meier will be at Taschen's New York store to sign copies on June 3rd from 6 - 8 p.m. You can preview the book in the gallery below.

The British architecture firm Foster + Partners has unveiled a new design for yet another planned city in the Middle East. Their latest, Al Madina Al Zarqa, the Blue City, will be a new coastal city near Muscat in Oman. Al Madina Al Zarqa, the Blue City, will be home to 200,000 people. The Blue City is the largest development in Oman and is part of Oman's drive to attract foreign investment to develop its tourism potential and economic growth.

The Blue City takes it is inspiration from traditional Omani architecture, combining local styles with a look that will appeal to potential tourists. The city will be formed of clustered communities with schools, a university, stadia, golf facilities, a marina, hotels, a concert hall, shops and souks with the waterfront developed as a luxury resort. Forster + Partners strives to make sustainable projects and this one will have natural ventilation and careful orientation to minimize direct sunlight and maximize ventilation.

[via Building Design]