A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

If you've been wondering why I haven't posted in some days, it's because I'm in Chicago covering the AIA Convention for World-Architects . Posts should return to normal next week.

Here are some photos of the M4 FŐVÁM STATION (2010) in Budapest, Hungary, by Spora Architects , photographed by A.P. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Venice Architectural Guide: Buildings and Projects After 1950 by Clemens F. Kusch and Anabel Gelhaar, published by  DOM Publishers , 2014. Paperback, 280 pages. ( Amazon ) I've reviewed a number of architectural guides from Berlin's DOM Publishers ( Japan, Taiwan , Pyongyang ), but not until recently was I able to use one as properly designed – as a companion to traversing a city when in that city. Such is the case with Venice, when I took the publisher's latest book with me to the opening of Rem Koolhaas's much-anticipated Biennale . Before delving inside it's worth pointing out that, like DOM's other architectural guides, the book is tall and slender – hardly small but still portable, as it's not too thick, like certain guidebooks . The book is organized into nine color-coded, geographical sections (well, actually eight are geographical, since the ninth is devoted to a "hypothetical Venice" that is scattered throughout the city) that are...

A few weeks ago I started compiling my photos and impressions from my opening-day visit to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, focusing on Snøhetta's above-ground entry pavilion in Part 1 . Although it took me more than "a few days" to continue, here is Part 2 on Davis Brody Bond's below-grade museum. [All photographs by John Hill] As mentioned at the end of Part 1, there is a distinct impression of moving from light to dark in descending the stairs or escalator next to the Twin Towers' rusty tridents that anchor one end of the entry pavilion. That sensation is somewhat tangible in the above photo, looking from the museum's lobby level back to the pavilion. Once descending to the lobby level, it's natural to want to see the base of the tridents, which are placed adjacent to the stairs; the steps flare around the tridents, as if to embrace them or as if they're carved away to make room for the uprights. Up close (photo above) the tridents bear the ma...

Here are some photos of Amsterdam's Noord-Zuidlijn tunnel (under construction, to be completed in 2017) from a May 25 tour , photographed by Matthijs Borghgraef . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Watching this commercial for prescription drug Xarelto earlier today I couldn't help notice that... A visit to a Mario Botta building ( Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, North Carolina) + Seeing a model of the Roman Coliseum in one of its galleries + Popping some Xarelto = A trip to see the Coliseum in person (well, through a car window, at least). Thank you, Xarelto! (and Mr. Botta and Mr. Bechtler)