shelf life_ 33 book recommendations from architects & designers _ archdaily

8/11/2019 Shelf Life_ 33 Book Recommendations From Architects & Designers _ ArchDaily

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MOSTVISITED OF THE WEEK

31 Jul 2014

Till House / WMR

Arquitectos

4 Aug 2014

Top 300 US Architecture

Firms

4 Aug 2014

Shelf Life: 33 Book

Recommendations From

Architects & Designers

29 Jul 2014

BIG Unveils Design For

"Zootopia" In Denmark

30 Jul 2014

New Images Leaked of

Zaha Hadids LuxuryNYC Apartment ComplexThree Love Problems from George Eliots Middlemarch, by Stephen Doyle. Photo: Stephen Doyle

2. Radical Cities: Across Latin America in Search of a New Architectureby Justin

McGuirk

Some cities in Latin America have become paradigms of urban renewal, with design,

architecture, and politics at the core of positive transformation. McGuirk renders a

portrait of a complex continent that is so hard to get to know, but that we can learn a lot

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SEARCH ARCHDAILYH o m e P r o j e c t s N e w s A r t i c l e s I n t e r v i e w s S o f t w a r e V e n i c e B i e n n a l e M o r e
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from. - Paola Antonelli, senior curator, Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern

Art

3. Houseby Tracy Kidder

Published 30 years ago, House remains an outstanding narrative about the design and

construction process, and about the birth of an architecture firm. - Stephen Schreiber

FAIA, program director in Architecture + Design, University of Massachusetts/Amherst

4. Matter: Material Processes in Architectural Productionedited by Gail Peter Borden

and Michael Meredith.

Offers an expanded architectural design practice and educationone that tests spatial

and material ideas through fabrication at multiple scales, in new time frames, to re-

imagine architecture and our experiences. - Karen Nelson, head of the School of

Architecture, Boston Architectural College

5. Sir Banister Fletchers A History of Architecture

The foremost history of Western architecture, extensively illustrated.

6. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Constructionby Christopher Alexander, Sara

Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein

A compendium of pieces that, when linked through examination of the natural world,

create wholes, to the delight of the people who use buildings.

7. The Architecture of Happine ssby Alain de Botton

A small and personal analysis of the features of architecture that bring joy into our lives.

8. The RSVP Cycles: Creative Processes in the Human Environmentby Lawrence

Halprin

B o t t o n A r c h i t e c t u r a l B o o k s I t a l o

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Architecture as the choreography of people in the built landscape.- Diane Georgopulos

FAIA, MassHousing

9. The Shingle Style and the Stick Styleby Vincent J. Scully, Jr.

Changed how we see 19th-century architecture and how we design in the 20th and 21st

centuries.

10. The Highway and the Cityby Lewis Mumford

Passionate and eloquent essays; why dont we write and argue about architecture like

this today?

11. The Power Brokerby Robert A. Caro

The best book ever written on how the American city is built and unbuilt.

12. Havby Jan Morris

A tantalizing travel guide to a city you never heard of.

13. Up in the Old Hotelby Joseph Mitchell

Nobody looks more closely, listens more carefully, or writes better about New York.

- Jay Wickersham FAIA, Noble & Wickersham

14. Chicagoisms: The City as Catalyst for Architectural Speculationby AlexanderEisenschmidt and Jonathan Mekinda

That rare book able to interest both academics and non-architect city lovers,

Chicagoisms is a catalog of smart, readable essays and illustrated interludes

uncovering the citys appetite for the spectacular (Ferris wheel, Burnhams Plan,

Kapoors Cloud Gate), balanced with fascinating new scholarship on, among other

things, Chicagos surprisingly large influence on European urban theory.
http://www.amazon.com/Chicagoisms-City-Catalyst-Architectural-Speculation/dp/3906027155/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Up-Old-Hotel-Joseph-Mitchell/dp/0679746315/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Hav-York-Review-Books-Classics/dp/1590174496/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Power-Broker-Robert-Moses-Fall/dp/0394720245/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Highway-City-Lewis-Mumford/dp/0156402165/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Shingle-Style-Stick-Architectural-Publications/dp/0300015194/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQT


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15. Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattanby Rem Koolhaas

Before S, M, L, XL, there was Delirious, the book that made Rems name. In his hands,

New York becomes remythologized as a gridiron palimpsest of architectural capitalism.

16. From Bauhaus to Our Houseby Tom Wolfe

Wolfes retelling of the Modern Movement is acerbic, hilarious, and often wrong, but auseful reminder to architects of the suspicion Modernism still arouses in America.

17. Architecture in the United Statesby Dell Upton

Less a comprehensive history than a project to reclaim architecture from architects,

Uptons wry prose casts a gimlet eye onto the pretensions of art-architecture from the

colonial era to the present.

18. The Detail s of Modern Architecture, Volume s 1 and 2by Edward R. Ford

As the pioneeering Modernists were inventing new forms, so were they inventing new

constructional methods. Fords astonishingly researched study, illustrated with

invaluable drawings, reveals the ingenuity of this ad hoc tectonic, as well as its

misalignment with Modernist rhetoric.- Ian Baldwin, lecturer at Rhode Island School of

Design

19. A Guide to Archigram 196174by Dennis Crompton

The impact of the Archigramproject was in shifting the architectural site of inquiry fromthe building and urban scale to a smaller human scale and then scaling up again. In

1994, when the first edition of this monograph was released, students were still wrestling

with Deconstruction and the fallout of Postmodernism. Archigram filled a void that many

of us felt in attempting to engage architecture at a more human, visceral levelone

where the human/user was integral to a larger system of factors and networks.

20. Incorporations (Zone 6)by Jonathan Crary and Sanford Kwinter.
http://www.archdaily.com/tag/sanford-kwinter/http://www.amazon.com/Incorporations-Zone-6-Jonathan-Crary/dp/0942299299/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Guide-Archigram-196-74/dp/161689086X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Details-Modern-Architecture-1/dp/0262562014/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Architecture-United-States-Oxford-History/dp/019284217X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Bauhaus-Our-House-Tom-Wolfe/dp/0312429142/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Delirious-New-York-Retroactive-Manifesto/dp/1885254008/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQT


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What Archigram seemed to prefigure in technological and mechanical terms at the

scale of the body, Incorporations more deeply addressed through explorations in

biology, neurology, art, and film. This edited collection of dossiers spoke directly to the

idea that the body was not necessarily becoming a site of architecture, but that

organism of the body, in all its complexity, was precisely the site of architecture. At a

deeper level, the book planted the idea that a failure to think this way was quick ly

becoming a failure to think architecturally at all. - Lee Moreau, principal at Continuum

21. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Sensesby Juhani Pallasmaa

The first half is the history of how we have developed, since the Greeks, as a culture

around sight; the second half is about how architecture (together with landscape) can

awaken our other sensessmell, touch, hearing. Written by a Finnish writer/philosopher

with great examples that span art, design, and buildings.- Tamara Roy AIA, principal at

ADD Inc

22. Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China by Paul Theroux

Experience the lesser-known China by rail at the juncture of socioeconomic upheaval,

through the eyes of a prolific travel writer who details people, places, and ambiance with

brutal honesty.

23. Invisible Citiesby Italo Calvino

Imaginary conversations between the Venetian traveler Marco Polo and the aged Mongol

ruler Kublai Khan frame approaches to thinking about cities and the forms they might

take.- S ho-Ping Chin FAIA, principal at Payette

24. Design with Natureby Ian L. McHarg

Post-Katrina and Sandy, McHargs vision of communities hugging the high ground while

floodplains are used to manage water flow and provide productive land for agriculture is

more relevant than ever.
http://www.amazon.com/Design-Nature-Ian-L-McHarg/dp/047111460X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Cities-Italo-Calvino/dp/0156453800/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Riding-Iron-Rooster-Train-Through/dp/0618658971/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Skin-Architecture-Senses/dp/1119941288/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQT


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25. TASCHENs Architecture Now!series by Philip Jodidio

Essential catalogs of the best work globally, these inspiring books represent an

efficient means of instruction across the design professions.- Charlotte K ahn, former

research analyst at The Boston Foundation

ARCHITECTURE BOSTON STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS

26. Why Architecture Mattersby Paul Goldberger

Raises awareness of proportion, scale, space, texture, materials, shapes, light, and

memory; in doing so, readers appreciate and experience the built world anew.

27. Fifty Typefaces That Changed the W orldby John L. Walters

A witty discussion about the meaning and influence of type, from the ancient world to

the digital future.

28. A Field Guide to American Houses: The Definitive Guide to Identifying and

Understanding Americas Domestic Architectureby Virginia Savage McAlester

An invaluable easy-to-use resource for everyone who wants to know more about the

culture and history of their own homes and communities.

29. The Elements of Typographic Styleby Robert Bringhurst

A typographer-poet combines the practical, theoretical, and historical in this masterfulstyle guide.

30. The Library: A World Historyby James W. P. Campbell; photographs by W ill Pryce

Each age and culture has reinvented the library, and this combination of authoritative

text and stunning photography illuminates the story in a single volume.
http://www.amazon.com/Library-James-W-P-Campbell/dp/022609281X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Robert-Bringhurst/dp/0881791326/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-American-Houses-Understanding/dp/140004359X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Faces-Changed-Design-Museum/dp/184091629X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.archdaily.com/tag/paul-goldberger/http://www.amazon.com/Why-Architecture-Matters/dp/0300168179/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Architecture-Now-Vol-Philip-Jodidio/dp/3822840912/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQT


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C i t e :

A r c h i t e c t u r e B o s t o n. "

S h e l f L i f e :

3 3 B o o k R e c o m m e n d a t i o n s F r o m A r c h i t e c t s &

D e s i g n e r s "

0 4 A u g 2 0 1 4 .

A r c h D a i l y.

A c c e s s e d 0 6 A u g 2 0 1 4 .

S h a r e y o u r t h o u g h t s

If you want your own avatar and keep track of your discussions with the community, sign up for My

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31. The Devil in the White Cityby Erik Larson

This irresistible, deeply researched true story parallels Daniel H. Burnhams meticulous

construction of the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair with the diabolical building plans of H.H.

Holmes, a fraudster and serial killer who exploited the fair for richesand victims.

32. Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Designby Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott

Miller

This beautifully illustrated study is a vital source on the art and history of books, letter

forms, symbols, advertising, and theories of visual and verbal communication.

33. 101 Things I Learned in Architecture S choolby Matthew Frederick

A jargon-free zone of clarity and utility. Not a substitute for a masters degree, but an

invaluable supplement.

If you enjoyed this, you can read more ArchitectureBoston articles

on http://www.architects.org/architectureboston/books
http://www.architects.org/architectureboston/bookshttp://www.amazon.com/101-Things-Learned-Architecture-School/dp/0262062666/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/Design-Writing-Research-Ellen-Lupton/dp/0714838519/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQThttp://www.amazon.com/The-Devil-White-City-Madness/dp/0375725601/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8831718525&linkCode=as2&tag=arch05-20&linkId=QFBKEXFXIXX7CVQT


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