A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Abstract 09/10 Scott Marble (Editor) with Jordan Carver and Jason Roberts Columbia GSAPP , December 2010 Paperback w/slipcase | 7-1/2 x 11 inches | 316 pages | English | ISBN: 978-1883584689 | $X.00 Publisher Description : Abstract is the yearly publication of student work from Columbia University’s GSAPP. The catalog is produced through the office of Dean Mark Wigley. The archive of student work, containing documentation of projects selected by faculty at the conclusion of each semester, is utilized in the making of Abstract. dDAB Commentary : As mentioned in my review of the most recent Abstract from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), the annual publication of student work has taken a different form depending on the dean. Both Bernard Tschumi (dean from 1988 to 2003) and Amale Andrao (dean since 2014) use(d) consistent formats, with the former relatively slim and modest by today's standards and the latter mark...

Abstract 2018 Amale Andraos, Shannon Werle (Editors) Columbia GSAPP / Actar , April 2019 Spira-bound paperback | 8 x 11 inches | 372 pages | English | ISBN: 978-1941332511 | $35.00 Publisher Description : Abstract is the yearly publication of work and research from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). Produced through the Office of the Dean Amale Andraos, the archive of student work contains documentation of exceptional projects, selected by faculty at the conclusion of each semester. dDAB Commentary : If any architecture school gives an excessive amount of attention to its year-end presentation of student work and the goings-on of the school, it's Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, best known as GSAPP ("Gee sap"). Long called Abstract , the publications this century are bold in format and design, each one different, or slightly different, from its predecessor...

Sun Seekers: The Cure of California Lyra Kilston Atelier Éditions, April 2019 Paperback | 7 x 9-1/4 inches | 192 pages | 60 illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-0997593587 | $29.95 Publisher Description : Sunlight was once considered medicinal, a substance that doctors prescribed and architects summoned indoors with bold new designs. Around the turn of the 20th century, sun-drenched locales like Southern California proved an ideal testing ground for unorthodox thinking about healthy living, from diet to fitness to housing. The region’s celebrated climate and untamed nature lured waves of newcomers—health-seekers, iconoclasts, dropouts—all seeking antidotes to physical and civilizational ailments. Their search led to remarkable curiosities like the “Health House,” a helio-therapeutic modern home; the world’s first raw vegan cafeteria; and a group of eccentric barefoot men who camped out in the hills and canyons, getting back to nature long before the 1960s. Lyra Kilston revis...

The Heart of the City: Creating Vibrant Downtowns for a New Century Alexander Garvin Island Press , May 2019 Paperback | 6 x 9 inches | 264 pages | 100 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9781610919494 | $30.00 Publisher Description : Downtowns are more than economic engines: they are repositories of knowledge and culture and generators of new ideas, technology, and ventures. They are the heart of the city that drives its future. If we are to have healthy downtowns, we need to understand what downtown is all about; how and why some American downtowns never stopped thriving (such as San Jose and Houston), some have been in decline for half a century (including Detroit and St. Louis), and still others are resurging after temporary decline (many, including Lower Manhattan and Los Angeles). The downtowns that are prospering are those that more easily adapt to changing needs and lifestyles. In The Heart of the City , distinguished urban planner Alexander Garvin shares lessons on how...

Louvre Abu Dhabi: The Story of an Architectural Project Jean Nouvel, Olivier Boissière Skira Paris, May 2019 Paperback | 8-1/4 x 11-1/2 inches | 128 pages | 150 illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-2370740816 | $34.95 Publisher Description : Louvre Abu Dhabi is a comprehensive exploration of Jean Nouvel's (born 1945) latest masterpiece, from the first sketches and through each phase of its conception and construction. From its majestic, novel dome to its exhibition halls, this book walks the reader through this architectural jewel. dDAB Commentary : The first page of this monograph on Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi, which opened to the public in November 2017 , is a tribute to Olivier Boissière, who wrote many books on Nouvel's architecture, including one of Birkhäuser's Studio Paperbacks . "Olivier Boissière wrote all of his life," Nouvel writes. "Books of art and architectural critique, a novel and some articles distinguished by common sen...

Home Futures: Living in Yesterday's Tomorrow Eszter Steierhoffer, Justin McGuirk (Editors) The Design Museum, April 2019 Paperback | 6-3/4 x 9-1/2 inches | 308 pages | 260 illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-1872005423 | $49.95 Publisher Description : The “home of the future” has long been a topic of fascination in popular culture and an intriguing prospect for designers, and the 20th century offered up countless visions of the future of domestic life, from the aspirational to the radical. Whether it was the dream of the fully mechanized home or the notion that technology might free us from the home altogether, the domestic realm was a site of endless invention and speculation. But what happened to those visions? Are the smart homes of today and patterns of use in the sharing economy the future that architects and designers once predicted, or has the “home” proved resistant to radical change? Home Futures: Living in Yesterday’s Tomorrow explores different approaches...