A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

G. E. Kidder Smith Builds: The Travel of Architectural Photography by Angelo Maggi, foreword by Michelangelo Sabatino AR+D Publishing , August 2022 Hardcover | 8 x 11 inches | 272 pages | English | ISBN: 9781954081536 | $60.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : George Everard Kidder Smith (1913–1997) was a multidimensional figure within the wide-ranging field of North American architectural professionals in the second half of the twentieth century. Although he trained as an architect, he chose not to practice within the conventional strictures of an architecture office. Instead, Kidder Smith “designed,” researched, wrote, and photographed a remarkably diverse collection of books about architecture and the built environment. His work and life were deeply interwoven and punctuated by travel related to the research, writing, and promotion of books that sought to reveal the genius loci of the countries whose built environments he admired and wished to share with a broader audience. From th...

Introducing: Short Essays on Influential Thinkers and Designers in Architecture David Erdman ar+d (Applied Research + Design) , February 2021 Paperback | 6-1/2 x 9 inches | 203 pages | English | ISBN: 9781940743554 | $30.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : In the post-Internet architectural climate, critical discourse historically found in the pages of institutionally backed journals has been overshadowed by a culture of abundant, shorter media. As traditional means of disseminating information has lost support, e-magazines, which are typically segregated from, if not entirely in opposition to, the academy and its requisite polemics, have risen in popularity. The question stands as to whether architectural discourse has the resilience to deal with the speed of new media, and if it does, in what form that discourse might be delivered and relevant. Introducing, Short Essays on Influential Thinkers and Designers in Architecture —a collection of 18 short essays developed by designer and e...

Architecture Beyond Experience Michael Benedikt ar+d (Applied Research + Design) , May 2020 Paperback | 7 x 10 inches | 312 pages | English | ISBN: | $35.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : Architecture Beyond Experience is a work in the service of one goal: the bringing about of a more relational, “posthuman” and yet humanist strain in architecture. It argues against the values that currently guide much architectural production (and the larger economy’s too), which is the making, marketing, and staging of ever more arresting experiences. The result, in architecture, is experientialism: the belief that what gives a building value, aside from fulfilling its shelter functions, is how its views and spaces make us feel as we move around. The book argues that it’s time to find a deeper basis for making and judging architecture, a basis which is not personal-experience-multiplied, but which is dialogical and relational from the start. It uses the word relational to describe an architectur...

Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemics, Futures Franca Trubiano, Ramona Adlakha, Ramune Bartuskaite (Editors) ar+d (Applied Research + Design) , October 2019 Paperback | 6-1/2 x 9-1/2 inches | 144 pages | English | ISBN: 978-1943532438 | $29.95 Publisher's Description : Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemic, Futures is exemplary in its mission to combine in one resource reflections on the renewal of feminist thought in architecture (Framing Stories), challenges to practice made possible by activism (Shaping Polemics), and portrayals of inspiring practitioners who pave the way for future women architects (Building Futures). The goal of this edited book is to increase the visibility and voice of women who everyday challenge the definition and practice of architecture. Women [Re]Build gathers words and projects of leading women thinkers, activists, designers, and builders who have dared to ask, “where are the women?” Where are the women whose architectural work should be celebrated...

Not Interesting: On the Limits of Criticism in Architecture Andrew Atwood ar+d (Applied Research + Design) , October 2018 Paperback | 7 x 9 inches | 230 pages | 100 illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-1940743530 | $29.95 Publisher's Description : Not Interesting proposes another set of terms and structures to talk about architecture, without requiring that it be interesting. This book explores a set of alternatives to the interesting and imagines how architecture might be positioned more broadly in the world using other terms: boring, confusing, and comforting. Along with interesting, these three terms make up the four chapters of the book. Each chapter introduces its topic through an analysis of a different image, which serves to unpack the specific character of each term and its relationship to architecture. In addition to text, the book contains over 50 case studies using 100 drawings and images. These are presented in parallel to the text and show what architecture m...

Architecture of Nature/Nature of Architecture Diana Agrest ar+d (Applied Research + Design) , January 2019 Hardcover | 9 x 11-3/4 inches | 280 pages | English | ISBN: 978-1939621948 | $49.95 Publisher Description : Architecture of Nature/Nature of Architecture presents original research work, exploring the materiality and the forces at play in the history of the earth. While nature has always been historically embedded “within” architecture discourse in different forms, Architecture of Nature/Nature of Architecture departs from the traditional ‘nature as a referent’ approach, detaching itself as a free radical to become itself the object of study, transforming that relationship through one common element essential to both science and architecture in the production of knowledge: representation. This work was developed through unique drawings and models over for the past eight years in the context of the Advanced Research graduate studio “Architecture of Nature/ Nature of Arc...

Towards Openness Li Hu, Huang Wenjing ar+d (Applied Research + Design) , February 2018 Paperback | 6-3/4 x 9 inches | 288 pages | English | ISBN: 978-1940743226 | $35.00 Publisher Description : Drawn from keen observation of the rapidly changing social economic landscape of China, and using OPEN projects as case studies, Towards Openness is a symphony of seven built projects and six idea chapters which are intriguingly interwoven to offer an in-depth examination of OPEN’s unique practice and the critical thinking underlying their work, work that actively engages with the rapid transformation of the society, with unwavering hope for a better future. Towards Openness offers a unique approach to understanding the transformational power of architecture, presenting a humanistic approach to architecture in relation to nature, touching upon our fundamental sensitivity as human beings to go far beyond the boundaries of nations. This book challenges the preconceived and ...