Ivan Zaknic, Jeremiah Bragstad (Photographer)
Pompidou Center.
Flammarion, 1983. First edition signed by author and photographer. Preface by Renzo Piano. 2080120077 77 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 8" x 8.5", is bound in glossy white paper spine and boards, with red lettering to spine and front cover. Book is in fine condition, with firm binding, bright and clean pages. Dust jacket displays light shelfwear and is preserved in mylar cover.
Ivan Žaknić is professor emeritus of art and architecture at Lehigh University. He has published several books on Le Corbusier.
Author's inscription appears on front flyleaf, just above the signature of photographer.
"Paris has always been a uniquely favored city, the capital of European civilization, a center for scholarship, the aesthetic heart of Europe. For centuries it has maintained this position, and its architecture has been a vital factor. The Pompidou Center, with its fantastic space age design, may seem as shocking now as the Eiffel Tower was in the 19th century. The concept of a closed museum has been replaced by an open, living structure, adjacent to a carnival square. The privileged party is no longer the scholar or connoisseur, but the general public.
In the words of the architects: "...It is not just an elitist cultural monument made up of a number of watertight compartments, but a people's center, a university of the street, capable of reflecting the constantly changing needs of its users."
This book is an operational tool for understanding "Beaubourg" and a history of its development. It is a momento for the visitor from all over the world."