A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year! Posts will resume on January 5, 2015.

This list of notable books for 2014 is broken into three sections of seven books each, listed in alphabetical order by title. Note that books reviewed or noted were not necessarily released in 2014. Covers link to Amazon, with links to reviews and my other blog included when appropriate. Seven favorites from the 50 books I read and reviewed in 2014 (titles are linked to reviews): Chicagoisms: The City as Catalyst for Architectural Speculation   edited by Alexander Eisenschmidt with Jonathan Mekinda, published by Park Books, 2013 Manhattan Atmospheres: Architecture, the Interior Environment, and Urban Crisis  by David Gissen, published by University of Minnesota Press, 2014 The Nature of Urban Design: A New York Perspective on Resilience  by Alexandros Washburn, published by Island Press, 2013 OASE #91: Building Atmosphere  edited by Klaske Havik, Hans Teerds and Gus Tielens, published by nai010 Publishers, 2013 Torre David: Informa...

CLOG: World Trade Center , published by CLOG, 2014. Paperback, 168 pages. ( Amazon ) No one needs to be reminded the the Twin Towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, so the latest issue of CLOG is a welcoming thing, since it focuses on the pre-2001 existence of the towers and the other parts of the World Trade Center development in Lower Manhattan. Yet the fact they collapsed after being hit by jumbo jets appears to dictate a good deal of the issue's content, as structure is a major theme throughout. In addition to interviews with architects from Minoru Yamasaki's office, the editors of CLOG spoke with the structural engineers at LERA and they include numerous architectural and engineering drawings and construction photos of the project under construction, all pointing to the way architecture and structure melded in the design. Structure is not the only concern of the editors and the numerous contributors to the issue, but it is never far remov...

Walking past Greenlight Bookstore at lunchtime today a certain book called out to me: Robert Moses: The Master Builder of New York City is a graphic novel by Pierre Christin and Olivier Balez, published by Nobrow. Here's a description of the book from the publisher, though I'd argue with the statement that Moses is "the architect who designed it all": A new graphic biography by Pierre Christin and Olivier Balez recounts the achievements of one man who changed the the face of an entire city. Robert Moses: the mastermind of New York. From the subway to the skyscraper, from Manhattan’s Financial District to the Long Island suburbs, every inch of New York tells the story of one man’s mind: Robert Moses, the architect who designed it all. Now, in Christin and Balez’s graphic biography, the rest of Robert’s story will be told. [ Photos inside book from Nobrow ] Available at

Watch the 25-minute " documentary film that explores the architectural studio ":

I can't be the only person who thinks the recently completed " Aufstockung und Generalsanierung Wohnhochhaus als Nullenergiehaus " designed by Freivogel-Architekten... [Photo: Dietmar Strauß, via German-Architects ] looks like Giuseppe Terragni's Casa del Fascio... stacked two high? [Original photo of Casa del Fascio from here ] Not only do the (1) articulated grid, (2) deep-set openings and (3) expanse of flat wall surface on one side of the building in Pforzheim, Germany, bring to mind the 1936 building in Como, Italy, but the generous space in front of each building (a road and train tracks in the case of Freivogel-Architekten's refurbishment of the 9-story building, and a plaza in the case of the 4-story Casa del Fascio) allows their fronts to be seen like 2-dimensional elevations. The proportions may be different but the similarities are uncanny.

Here are some photos of Tobias Rehberger. Home and Away and Outside at the Shirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (21 February – 11 May 2014), photographed by Frank Dinger (be sure to click the panoramas to see them larger at Flickr). To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool To contribute your Instagram images for consideration, just: :: Tag your photos #archidose

The "So You Want to Learn About" (SYW2LA) series highlights books focused on a particular theme: think "socially responsible architecture" and "phenomenology," rather than broad themes like "housing" or "theory." Therefore the series aims to be a resource for finding decent reading materials on certain topics, born of a desire to further define noticeable areas of interest in the books I review . And while I haven't reviewed every title, I am familiar with each one; these are not blind recommendations. I went to undergraduate architecture school in the early- and mid-1990s, coming during the (albeit brief) rise of Deconstructivism and the waning of Postmodernism. Therefore, instead of architects like Venturi and Scott Brown, Charles Moore, James Stirling, and other PoMo architects, the primary influences on my architectural education – design studio and other classes – were architects like Morphosis, Coop Himmelb(l)au...

Fairy Tales: When Architecture Tells a Story edited by Blank Space, published by Blank Space Publishing, 2014. Paperback, 256 pages. ( Amazon ) The subtitle of this book, which collects the winners and runners-up from the more than 300 entries to the first Blank Space Fairy Tales Competition, is a telling one. "When architecture tells a story" means that the story is most important and secondary is architecture; the latter serves the former, in other words, not the other way around. But in a number of the "fairy tales" in the book, architecture actually serves architecture. Story is either an afterthought to architectural imagery or something that is confused with architectural theory; in the case of the latter, and without pointing out any offenders, at times I found myself growing tired of pronouncements about architecture, which should be elsewhere but not here. A fairy tale, like poetry or other forms of narrative, gains its power as much from what it doesn...

Here are some photos of the Quinta Do Vallado Winery (2011), in Vilarinho dos Freires, Peso da Régua, Portugal, by Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados , photographed by José Carlos Melo Dias . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool To contribute your Instagram images for consideration, just: :: Tag your photos #archidose

[All photographs by John Hill] This (rainy) morning was the press preview unveiling the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum 's three-year renovation, carried out by a "dream team" of 13 design firms, including Gluckman Mayner Architects and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Below is a tour of sorts through the different parts of the museum, from the first floor to the third floor. The museum opens to the public on Friday, December 12. If the photos don't make it clear, a visit is highly recommended. The "dream team" and what they were responsible for: Information desk in the Great Hall: First floor galleries, with "Beautiful Users" on display: Process Lab, located off the Great Hall: Corridor leading to the Shop Cooper Hewitt: Shop Cooper Hewitt: Cafe, located next to the Shop Cooper Hewitt: Stairs: Interactive tables (throughout museum): Second floor galleries ("Models & Prototypes Gallery...