Leonard Koren

This is an updated version of the enduring classic that first introduced the concept of "imperfect beauty" to the West. Text, images, and book design seamlessly meld into a wabi-sabi-like experience. Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers explores the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. Wabi-sabi could even be called the "Zen of things," as it exemplifies many...

A quirky memoir of the aesthete responsible for creating cultural icons such as WET: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing and bringing the concept of wabi-sabi into Western aesthetic discourse. Musings of a Curious Aesthete by Leonard Koren delves into the world of aesthetics through the eyes of one of its most intriguing enthusiasts. With wit and insight, Koren shares his...

In this new, reimagined, and easy-to-use stylish size, Concrete takes a fresh look at the world's most versatile and abundant building material. Collating fascinating and beautiful concrete buildings by some of the most celebrated architects of the last century, it features familiar projects from Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright alongside work from some of the leading lights of contemporary...

Twenty-plus years after the initial publication of Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, Leonard Koren is back with further insights into this seminal aesthetic paradigm. An important book for art and design theorists, and other thoughtful creators.

This is a pared-down, demystified overview of the mental operations involved with creating things aesthetic, i.e., art, design, and the like. It is a disarmingly clear-headed and unsentimental look at the creative process by an eminent creator. The book's photographs and design serve as an example of what the creative process, at its most sophisticated, can yield. On Creating Things...

Artists do a number of things that are very useful. In this deceptively modest book, some of these things are described. Seminal works by artists Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, Richard Serra, Christo & Jean-Claude, Donald Judd, and On Kawara are used to illustrate (in words only) these points. This book is highly recommended for parents of children thinking of embarking...