Fantasy Worlds : palaces, bizarre sanctuaries, colorful sculpture garden outsider art hardcover book (Taschen: English, German and French Edition)

One day, Ferdinand Cheval, a French postman, came across a stone at Hauterives near Lyon, and was fascinated by its strange, evocative shape. He spent the next three decades collecting stones, shells, and fossils, and used them to build the Palais ideal. Cheval's palace is one of many works of architectural fantasy in this book, the result of over 20 years' research by celebrated architectural photographer Deidi von Schaewen.

Like Cheval, the creators of these extraordinary worlds simply started building, with no rules to guide them and, in most cases, no previous artistic experience. These fantasy palaces, bizarre sanctuaries, and colorful sculpture gardens seldom follow a plan.

Often the artists continued building for many years, sometimes until their dying day. Their work is impossible to categorise: Art brut, architecture with-out architects, self-taught art, fantasy architecture in the tradition of Piranesi, non-academic architecture, Outsider Art - none of these definitions quite encapsulates this worldwide phenomenon.

Eccentric hideaways like the Tour de l'Apocalypse in Belgium, the Junkerhaus at Lemgo or the Owl House in South Africa appear alongside Simon Rodia's Watts Towers, which dominate the cityscape of Los Angeles. To venture into this world is to immerse oneself in the collective unconscious. The addresses of sites open to the public are listed in the appendix.

• Previously read copy in great condition with dust jacket.
• Note that this book is quite sizable and heavy, around 7 lb.
• "Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. 
  

342 pages with a list of addresses where the buildings and features can be viewed. Printed in English & French. beautifully photographed with double page colour plates. Heavy cloth boards. Near fine, NOT ex-library. No Smells or worn areas. Large heavy folio. 

• Publisher Taschen
  
• ISBN-10 3822871907
• ISBN-13 9783822871904
• Format Book, Hardcover
• Publication Year 1999
• Weight 87.1 Oz
• Width 9.9in.
• Height 1.4in.
• Length 12.8in.
• Copyright Date 1999
• Author Peter S. Beagle
• Number of Pages 340 Pages
• Publication Date 1999-12-01
• Language EN
• Authors: Deidi von Schaewen (Author, Photographer), John Maizels (Author), Angelika Taschen (Editor)