Windows of the World

The "eyes" of a building, windows separate viewer from view, inside from outside, public from private. Windows of the World tours the infinite richness of this basic architectural element, from the simple, square porthole of a stone farmhouse in Brittany to the fine ironwork details of the mashrabiya that screen windows in Morocco to the windows of New York’s Greenwich Village, crisscrossed by a complex, ornate maze of fire escapes.

Here are bay, rose, lancet, and half-fan windows, oculi, shutters, and blinds, testimony to the creative genius of architects, artisans, and the inhabitants themselves. Drawing on their extensive travels and years of research conducting site analyses of the chromatic palettes of villages and cities worldwide, Jean-Philippe and Dominique Lenclos show how the diverse proportions, designs, materials, and colors of windows reflect the geography, traditions, and culture of local habitats. 215 color photos