While lying on the beach in Nice one day, eighteen-year-old Yves Klein and his friends decided to divide the world up among themselves. Klein (1928-1962) chose the air, the cloudless sky. He remained fascinated with the element and its immaterial quality throughout his life. In the late fifties, he and the German architect Werner Ruhnau developed plans for an "architecture of air" composed of walls and roofs of air-as represented, for example, in the idea of the "Temple of the Elements" with fountains of water and fire and a café protected against the rain only by air currents. Klein associated this idea with a philosophy of optimism devoted to the creation of a paradise on earth, a Garden of Eden in which human beings would be free to pursue their own interests. The publication is the first book devoted exclusively to this aspect of Yves Klein's art. It includes reproductions of drawings and other works as well as essays and lectures on the subject. Additional articles by other authors emphasize the significance of Klein's work to the theme of the immaterial. Exhibition schedule: MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Schindler House, Los Angeles, May 12 - August 29, 2004