A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

This blog is taking a two-week summer break, with posts resuming in the first week of August. Need some reading ideas in the meantime? I put together a list of ten recommendations for World-Architects ; most of those books will find their way onto this blog later in the summer.

Relational Theories of Urban Form: An Anthology Daniel Kiss, Simon Kretz (Editors) Birkhäuser , March 2021 Paperback | 6 x 9 inches | 464 pages | English | ISBN: 9783035620764 | 29.95€ PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : This commentated anthology contains essential passages from eight important architecture and urban design theory texts from the 1960s to the 2010s. With these excerpts, the editors discursively outline the concept of form as a relational field of tension between man and material. The relational element is treated not only as a topos, but above all the interpretational perspective of architectural theory. The texts are arranged under the guiding themes of Type, Process, Place, and Things. The texts themselves were written by authors including Christopher Alexander, Oswald Mathias Ungers, Fumihiko Maki, Alison and Peter Smithson, Lucius Burckhardt, Bruno Latour, and Manuel de Solà-Morales. They offer a paradigmatic foundation that encourages further research and the continu...

The History of Architecture: From the Avant-Garde Towards the Present by Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi DOM Publishers , July 2021 Paperback | 8-3/4 x 9 inches | 528 pages | 700 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9783869227139 | 28€ PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : What exactly gave rise to the phantasmagoric ­buildings of ­starchitects such as Zaha Hadid? How did inter­actions between artists and architects affect architectural production during the twentieth century? Which exhibitions and publications have had a lasting influence over the last century? This concise volume chronicles the move­ments and trends in architecture over the past 120 ­years. Written as a narrative but split into succinct sections, it makes for clear and compelling reading. In his pithy and personal style, the Rome-based critic and archi­tectural historian Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi explores the events and motivations that have driven the work of leading archi­tects from Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Kahn, to Rem Koolh...

German Architecture Annual 2021 Yorck Förster, Christina Gräwe, Peter Cachola Schmal (Editors) DOM Publishers , Year Hardcover | 9 x 11-2/4 inches | 256 pages | 350 illustrations | German/English | ISBN: 9783869227740 | 38.00€ PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : The German Architectural Annual, edited by the German Architecture Museum (DAM), has been documenting contemporary architectural projects in Germany for the past 40 years. This year´s edition of the annual presents the shortlist of 25 buildings selected by the jury for the 2021 DAM Preis for Architecture in Germany. The building reviews, written by architectural critics, along with large-format photographs, provide a deep insight into those works. REFERRAL LINKS :       dDAB COMMENTARY : At the beginning of this year the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) awarded the 2021 DAM Preis for Architecture in Germany to MVRDV and N-V-O Nuyken von Oefele Architekten for WERK12, a five-story mixed-use building near Munich's Os...

Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Space - Detail - Light by Edgar Stach Birkhäuser , July 2021 Hardcover | 9 x 11-2/4 inches | 160 pages | English | ISBN: 9783035614602 | 39.95€ PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : The Pritzker laureate Renzo Piano is recognized worldwide as one of the most renowned architects of our time. Central elements of his aesthetics include the playful use of natural light, the transparency of his buildings and their fine detailing. This publication documents nine museum buildings by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Prof. Edgar Stach , College of Architecture and the Built Environment, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia. REFERRAL LINKS :       dDAB COMMENTARY : One of the highlights of a trip to Dallas a decade and a half ago was an afternoon spent at the Nasher Sculpture Center , the downtown museum designed by Renzo Piano with a generous sculpture garden by Peter Walker and a "skyspace" by James Turrell . The museum being open past sunset afford...

Visual Discoveries: A Collection of Sections by Allen Keith Yee ORO Editions , November 2020 Paperback | 10-1/2 x 8-1/2 inches | 224 pages | English | ISBN: 9781943532964 | $35.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : There are three standard methods to visually represent a building: the plan, elevation, and section. The section drawing is a vertical slice of a building, depicting the relationships between interior and exterior as well as any level changes. While the section can serve as merely a functional drawing for construction, it can also be an exciting, revelatory drawing that can artfully depict a building, landscape, or object. Visual Discoveries: A Collection of Sections is an image-forward book that is devoted to showcasing notable section drawings throughout history and demonstrating that the section drawing, while having roots in architecture, has spread to many other professions and disciplines. These professions include medicine, transportation, product design, geology, an...