Now that we are halfway through the year, what better time to prioritize your reading list? Whether you’re interested in the history of interior design, the relationship between architecture and health, or learning more about the 20th century’s forgotten architects, Metropolis editors have selected a variety of current and forthcoming titles that will be sure to get you through 2021.
You are reading: Books on architectural design
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breuer’s bohemia: the architect, his circle and mid-century houses in new england
by james crump, monacelli press, 248 pp, available September 14, 2021
Illustrated with a collection of contemporary and historical photographs, as well as rarely seen documents, Breuer’s La Bohemia examines an often-overlooked corner of the modernist’s oeuvre. In addition to designing brutalist public and commercial buildings from the 1950s through the 1970s, Breuer designed a collection of houses for friends in Connecticut and Massachusetts, many of whom were artists and intellectuals. Although there is no shortage of material available on Breuer’s furniture design, architecture, and influence, Crump uses the architect’s residential projects to weave the history of an artistic medium that included such luminaries as Alexander Calder, Arthur Miller, Francine du Plessix Gray. , philip roth and william styron.
the turning point in architectural design: a historical scenario for the future
by helmut c. schulitz, editorial hirmer, 240 pages
This illustrated volume explores the history of construction and its relationship to technology. With innovations like CAD and other technologies, architects can create forms that were once unimaginable. but is the focus on form detracting from function, context and construction? Tipping Point in Architectural Design argues that technology alone is not the tipping point; technology alone cannot address global challenges like resources and energy. the change in architectural design must come first.
made woman: great designers
by jane hall, phaidon, 264 pages
Featuring more than 200 designers from over 50 countries, Woman Made: Great Women Designers is a comprehensive look at women product designers, from Aino Aalto to Sandrine Ebène de Zorzi. author jane hall, winner of the british council’s lina bo bardi fellowship and founding member of assembly, organized the book into four design categories: product, furniture, textiles, and lighting. She writes in the introduction, “The Made Woman tells the story of design as a narrative of suffrage, education, and employment, but it also speaks to the importance of technological innovation, global migration, and economic struggle.”
epidemic urbanism: contagious diseases in global cities
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edited by mohammad gharipour and caitlin declercq, intellect books, 408 pages
The covid-19 pandemic clarified the weaknesses as well as the resilience of modern cities. But questions remain about what the long-term impact of Covid will be as reopening continues. To better understand what the future holds, we need to look at how past epidemics and pandemics shaped life and urban landscapes. that is the idea behind gharipur and declercq’s book. features dozens of case studies of cities that have overcome similar crises around the world and throughout history, revealing the connections between cities and disease.
future of sand
by justin beal, mit press, 256 p.p.
who was minoru yamasaki? The most famous buildings by this hugely influential but often forgotten architect were the World Trade Center in Manhattan and the Pruitt-Igoe Apartments in St. louis, both of which were spectacularly destroyed on live television 30 years apart. Rather than a direct biography, Beal takes Yamasaki’s life as the starting point for a novelistic exploration of the changing image of architects in literature and film, and the social realities of how and for whom cities and buildings are designed. buildings.
mid-century master: the architecture of william f. cody
by catherine cody, jo lauria and don choi, forward by wim de wit, monacelli press, 312 p.p.
From Frank Sinatra’s 1953 Rancho Mirage residence to signature designs for California’s many country clubs, William F. Cody was a pioneer of “desert modern” American architecture. master of the midcentury is the first comprehensive survey of the modernist architect’s life and work, including an index of all his known projects between 1943 and 1975. it was written by the team that curated the los angeles museum of architecture and design exhibit Fast Forward: The Architecture Of William F. cody.
health architecture: hospital design and construction of dignity
by michael p. murphy jr. with jeffrey mansfield and mass design group, cooper hewitt, smithsonian design museum, 272 p.p
Who better to write the history of hospitals than the mass design group? The firm was named a metropolis game-changer in 2011 for its work on Rwanda’s Butaro District Hospital and has been one of the most strident architectural voices in healthcare ever since. In this book, the firm looks at the most important historical figures to have tackled the architecture of health, from Florence Nightingale to Louis Kahn. what emerges is not just a typological study, but a deeper insight into how buildings and the human condition shape each other.
interior design atlas
by dominic bradbury, phaidon, 432 pages
“In a post-pandemic era, the ideal of a carefully conceived and beautifully conceived house or apartment has a new resonance,” writes author Dominic Bradbury in the introduction to the Interior Design Atlas. The latest volume of Phaidon is a geographically organized global survey of more than 400 residential interiors from the 1940s to the present. By organizing projects across country and regional maps, the book allows readers to track and compare design influences around the world through projects by professionals such as Peter Marino, Kelly Behun, Faye Toogood, Andre Fu, and more.
echo chambers: architecture and the idea of acoustic space
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by joseph l. clarke, pittsburgh university press, 320 p.p
echo’s chambers is a history of acoustics showing how architects since the Enlightenment have sought to represent and control how interior spaces sound, informed by developments in music, performance and listening culture. clarke, adjunct professor of art history at the university of toronto, explores these connections in the architecture of pierre patte, claude-nicolas ledoux, carl ferdinand langhans, and le corbusier, as well as in the acoustic theories of athanasius kircher, richard wagner, and others . Along the way, he champions acoustics as an architectural component that is both mystical and scientific.
no strings attached: the work of florence knoll
by ana araujo, princeton architecture press, 208 p.p.
ana araujo is an architect, teacher and researcher and currently heads a design studio at the london architecture association. Ella’s latest book No Compromise: The Work of Florence Knoll takes a closer look at Knoll’s career from student to professional, where her motto was “No Compromise, Never.” Araujo writes, “Most accounts of Florence Knoll tend to take her work and statements at face value, ignoring her contradictions and biases.” Instead, this small volume looks at her work “through understanding Florence Knoll’s compromises” to assess her work from a different angle.
graphic life: celebrate places, tell stories, make symbols
by michael gericke, with a foreword by moshe safdie and an introduction by paul goldberger, image publishing, 520 dpi
Too often, the graphic designers who create the signage, branding and visual language that help us make our way in the world are allowed to remain anonymous. not so with gericke. graphic designer whose work has included everything from the identity of the airtrain, which transports passengers to and from new york subways and buses to jfk airport, to signage for the new guggenheim outpost in abu dhabi. Featuring 284 illustrations in lush colors, this volume showcases the work of a contemporary graphic designer who is actively rebuilding the visual identity of the world we inhabit.
wide-eyed: cranbrook academy of art since 1932
edited by andrew blauvelt, cranbrook museum of art, 2021, 624 p.p.
Few schools of art, design, and architecture have made their mark on mid-century modernism like the cranbrook academy of art in bloomfield, michigan. This 624-page magnum opus traces some of his national and international influence through the stories of 200 alumni, with a focus on women and people of color. Interspersed between the profiles are essays and timelines tracing the school’s 79-year history. Thanks to the painstaking research of the 40 curators who contributed to this book, we have the chance to discover underrated geniuses and see familiar legends with new eyes.
non-extractive architecture, vol. 1, about designing without exhaustion
edited by space caviar, sternberg press, 296 p.p.
Most buildings start with the earth: metals mined for structural elements, clay turned into bricks, trees felled for lumber, and oil turned into plastics, with all the associated negative impacts on the environment and community taking place. preferably as far as possible from the construction site. With this new book, Italian design research studio Space Caviar argues that this is not always the case. this book brings together perspectives from around the world on a new form of architecture that doesn’t draw without worrying about the consequences. goes beyond the idea of limiting carbon emissions to delve into the social and economic systems that depend on extraction, and asks how we can reverse them.
This article was originally published in metropolis.
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