A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Pisé – Rammed Earth. Tradition and Potential Edited by Roger Boltshauser with Cyril Veillon and Nadja Maillard Triest , 2019 Paperback | 8-3/4 x 12 inches | 304 pages | 400 illustrations | English (also available in French and German editions) | ISBN: 9783038630289 | €60 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : This book for the first time illustrates the history and significance of rammed earth construction in Central Europe, particularly in Switzerland, using historical examples to investigate the potential of that building technique for contemporary construction. As such, it represents a pioneering comprehensive documentation that will contribute to safeguarding existing architectural monuments, while also providing the foundation for further research. Based on that evidence, the editors investigate the material’s potential for modern day edifices, especially from the perspective of regional architecture claiming to establish identity and save resources. Due to the material’s advantages –...

Robin Boyd: Late Works by Peter Raisbeck and Christine Phillips Uro Publications , January 2020 Paperback | 8-3/4 x 12 inches | 108 pages | English | ISBN: 9780648435594 | $49.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : Robin Boyd: Late Works unveils the urban and public architectural projects designed by Robin Boyd, one of Australia’s most iconic mid-century modernists, in the final decade before his untimely death in 1971. One of the few architects in Australia’s history to have become a household name, Boyd rose to prominence as a public intellectual after the release of his book The Australian Ugliness in 1960, a biting attack on what he saw as the debased quality of Australia’s cities and design culture. Upon its release, the book drew both condemnation and praise in Australia’s media, but in the process gave Boyd a national platform from which to campaign throughout the 1960s for the betterment of Australia’s built environment. Concomitant with his public pronouncements during this ti...

The Havana Guide: Modern Architecture, 1925-1965 by Eduardo Luis Rodríguez Princeton Architectural Press , 2000 Paperback | 5-1/2 x 9 inches | 263 pages | English | ISBN: 9781568982106 | $29.95 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : The first half of the twentieth century was a culturally rich era for Cuba, a time in which the architects of the Modern Movement sought to define an identity for this Caribbean nation. However, within a few years after the revolution of 1959, design ideology became allied with the mass-production aesthetic promoted by the Soviets, and many Cuban architects fled to seek creative and political freedom abroad.  The Havana Guide is the first to recognize the enormous importance of Cuba's modern architecture. It features over 200 structures, including hotels, churches, theaters, social clubs, and private residences. Street maps for all neighborhoods as well as archival and contemporary photographs supplement the texts. Also included is a history of modern archi...

The Planet After Geoengineering by Design Earth (Rania Ghosn, El Hadi Jazairy) Actar Publishers , July 2021 Paperback | 8-1/2 x 10 inches | 112 pages | 92 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9781948765961 | $29.95 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : The term “geoengineering” refers to technologies that counteract the effects of anthropogenic climate change by deliberately intervening in Earth systems. In the midst of a climate crisis, and with disparate views on whether planetary-scale design is the appropriate response at all, The Planet After Geoengineering employs a speculative fiction approach to think with and against geoengineering as a form of planetary management. The graphic novel makes climate engineering and its controversies visible in a series of five stories that are collectively assembled into a planetary section from the deep underground to outer space. Each geostory —Petrified Carbon, Arctic Albedo, Sky River, Sulfur Storm, and Dust Cloud— depicts possible future Earths tha...

Cuban Modernism:  Mid-Century Architecture 1940–1970 by Victor Deupi and Jean-François Lejeune Birkhäuser , April 2021 Hardcover | 8-3/4 x 11-1/4 inches | 344 pages | 195 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9783035616415 |  € 52 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : In the 20th century, modern architecture thrived in Cuba and a wealth of buildings was realized prior to the revolution 1959 and in its wake. The designs comprise luxurious nightclubs and stylish hotels, sports facilities, elegant private homes and apartment complexes. Drawing on the vernacular, their architects defined a way to be modern and Cuban at the same time – creating an architecture oscillating between tradition and avant-garde. Audacious concrete shells, curving ramps, elegant brise-soleils and a fluidity of interior and exterior spaces are characteristic of an airy, often colorful architecture well-suited to life in the tropics. New photographs and drawings were specially prepared for this publication. A biographic...

Sigurd Lewerentz: Architect of Death and Life Kieran Long, Johan Örn (Editors) ArkDes/ Park Books , August 2021 Hardcover | 9 x 11-3/4 inches | 712 pages | 756 illustrations | English (also available in Swedish ) | ISBN: 9783038602323 | $150.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : Sigurd Lewerentz (1885–1975) is one of the most highly revered—as well as one of the most heavily mythologized—protagonists of modern European architecture. Arguably Sweden’s most distinguished modernist, he is more influential for architects around the world today than he was during his lifetime. Countless architecture lovers from around the world visit his buildings. Stockholm’s woodland cemetery Skogskyrkogården, his most significant contribution to landscape design, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This authoritative new monograph on Sigurd Lewerentz is based on extensive research undertaken at ArkDes, Sweden’s national center for architecture and design, where his archive and personal library are kept. It f...