A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Ehrlich Yanai Outside-In: New California Modernism Steven Ehrlich and Takashi Yanai; Zahid Sardar (Introduction) The Monacelli Press , April 2019 Hardcover | 9-1/2 x 11-3/4 inches | 240 pages | English | ISBN: 978-1580935029 | $60.00 Publisher Description : Recipient of the 2015 Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects, EYRC Architects is internationally recognized for elegant design in a modernist spirit. Residential designs are at the heart of the practice, which now encompasses commercial and institutional projects. Sixteen houses are presented in the book, the majority in Southern California and others near San Francisco and Houston. These designs are characterized by the fusion of powerful, simple forms, with the cultural, climatic, and contextual particulars of place. Accompanying the drawings and luxurious color photography are sketches and source material that reveal the genesis of the design as well as the completed project. As Ehrlich says, “Blurring...

Chicago on Foot: An Architectural Walking Tour Ira J. Bach J. Philip O'Hara Inc., 1973 (Second Edition) Hardcover | 8 x 10 inches | 370 pages | English | ISBN: 978-0879554026 Publisher Description : Chicago is one of the great architectural meccas of the modern world. The names of its architects -- Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, William Lebaron Jenney, Daniel Burnham, Mies van der Rohe, C. F. Murphy, Y. C. Wong, to mention just a few -- are internationally famous. Their revolutionary concepts of design and construction continue to produce a host of "firsts" -- the skyscraper, the iron skeleton, the floating foundation, the Prairie House, the "Chicago window," the glass wall, the urban atrium house. Ira Bach, architect, city planner, and ardent walker, has developed 32 tours which provide rich and detailed walks showing Chicago's most outstanding buildings and its famous neighborhoods -- Michigan Avenue, State Street, LaSalle Street, Wacker D...

Chicago by the Book: 101 Publications That Shaped the City and Its Image The Caxton Club (Editor) University of Chicago Press , November 2018 Hardcover | 8-1/2 x 9-1/2 inches | 336 pages | 101+ illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-0226468501 | $35.00 Publisher Description : Despite its rough-and-tumble image, Chicago has long been identified as a city where books take center stage. In fact, a volume by A. J. Liebling gave the Second City its nickname. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle arose from the midwestern capital’s most infamous industry. The great Chicago Fire led to the founding of the Chicago Public Library. The city has fostered writers such as Nelson Algren, Saul Bellow, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Chicago’s literary magazines The Little Review and Poetry introduced the world to Eliot, Hemingway, Joyce, and Pound. The city’s robust commercial printing industry supported a flourishing culture of the book. With this beautifully produced collection, Chicago’s rich literary tradi...

Metropolitan Dreams: The Scandalous Rise and Stunning Fall of a Minneapolis Masterpiece Larry Millett University of Minnesota Press , November 2018 Hardcover | 7 x 9 inches | 248 pages | 140 illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-1517904166 | $29.95 Publisher Description : When it opened in 1890, the twelve-story Northwestern Guaranty Loan Building was the tallest, largest, and most splendid commercial structure in Minneapolis—a mighty stone skyscraper built for the ages. How this grand Richardsonian Romanesque edifice, which later came to be called the Metropolitan Building, rose with the growth of Minneapolis only to fall in the throes of the city’s postwar renewal, is revealed in Metropolitan Dreams in all its scandalous intrigue. It is a tale of urban growing pains and architectural ghosts and of colorful, sometimes criminal characters amid the grandeur and squalor of building and rebuilding a city’s skyline. Against the thrumming backdrop of turn-of-the-century Minneapol...

Seeking Chicago: The Stories Behind the Architecture of the Windy City-One Building at a Time Tom Miller Universe, March 2019 Paperback | 5-1/2 x 7-3/4 inches | 256 pages | English | ISBN: 9780789333872 | $19.95 Publisher Description : Meticulously researched, engagingly presented, and richly detailed, Seeking Chicago is truly a must-read for anyone interested in the story of the Windy City and how it got that way. Unlike other books about local history, here Tom Miller reveals the stories of many smaller, more modest buildings that are off the beaten track - the very structures that most guide books overlook - along with the iconic landmarks. Chicago is possibly the most important American city for experiencing important architectural masterpieces. There are numerous ways to learn about its architectural heritage, from museums to curated walking and driving tours and even a boat tour. While the basic factual histories of Chicago's landmarks are fairly well known, ther...

Cultivating Compassion: Humanistic Architecture as Practiced by JJP Architects and Planners Joshua J. Pan Tongji University Press, November 2018 Paperback | 9-1/2 x 9-1/2 inches | 268 pages | 475 illustrations | English/Chinese | ISBN: 978-7560879048 | $59.95 Publisher Description : This book is a monograph of J.J. Pan and Partners. Mr. Joshua Pan, one of the few western educated Taiwanese elite architects, returned to Taiwan from the U.S. in 1976 and started J.J. Pan and Partner. Their success is originated from their maturity and confidence on their professionalism, sense of identity towards the local culture and a strong sense of social responsibility. The basic belief behind Mr. Pan’s pursuit of excellence falls on his value of harmony with nature, proper use of technologies and materials, and people–orientation. These principles not only guided JJP Architects over the past four decades but will continue to lead JJP’s future generations despite various challenges. dDAB Co...