A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

The Minimal Intervention by Lucius Burckhardt, edited by Markus Ritter and Martin Schmitz Birkhäuser , October 2022 Paperback | 5 x 7-1/4 inches | 166 pages | 13 illustrations | English (translated from German by Jill Denton) | ISBN: 9783035625301 | $26.99 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : Lucius Burckhardt (1925–2003) outlined his theory of the “smallest possible intervention” back in the early 1980s. The idea of minimal intervention runs through his entire oeuvre, from his critique of urbanism to the science of walking. The “smallest possible intervention” denotes a planning theory that assumes two “views” within landscape design: that which is actually visible and that in our mind’s eye. The theory of the minimal intervention means not interfering excessively with the existing landscape, but instead working with the landscape in our minds to develop an aesthetic understanding of the environment. In this book, available for the first time in English, the Swiss sociologist applies thi...

Aalto in Detail: A Catalogue of Components by Céline Dietzkier and Lukas Gruntz Birkhäuser , July 2022 Hardcover | 6 x 8 inches | 464 pages | 400 illustrations | English (translated from the German original ) | ISBN: 9783035623321 | €32 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : This carefully curated catalog celebrates the rich detail in the work of Aino, Elissa, and Alvar Aalto. Every support, railing, and handle is the result of intensive formal and functional research. The authors document 50 Aalto buildings – some well-known and others less so – and arrange their photographs by component into 20 chapters. The result is a rich photographic record that will serve as a source of inspiration for every architect. REFERRAL LINKS :       REVIEW : Having yet to visit Finland, and having spent my one day in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the campus of Harvard rather than MIT, I've yet to see an Alvar Aalto building in person. The Baker House dormitory at MIT is the easiest way for someo...

Architecture of Normal: The Colonization of the American Landscape Daniel Kaven Birkhäuser , February 2022 Hardcover | 8-1/2 x 11 inches | 456 pages | 450 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9783035624380 |  € 62 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : A multimedia exploration of the morphology of architecture in the American Southwest as defined by evolving modes of transportation. In examining advances in transportation, the book asks how we have come to acquiesce to the monotonous, isolating, and aesthetically bankrupt landscape of suburbia. It also casts predictions about how the future built landscape will look as it continues to adapt to patterns of human movement. Daniel Kaven is an architect and artist in Portland, Oregon. He is a founding partner in the office of William / Kaven Architecture. REFERRAL LINKS :       REVIEW : On page 244 of Architecture of Normal , in a chapter devoted to cars, architect and artist Daniel Kaven asserts, "Derivatecture had fully arrived....

Temple and Teahouse in Japan by Werner Blaser Birkhäuser , October 2021 (New edition) Hardcover (also available in paperback) | 9-1/4 x 12 inches | 172 pages | English (also available in German) | ISBN: 9783035623499 | 78€ PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : After a trip to Japan in 1953, Werner Blaser published his landmark book on classical Japanese architecture. His studies of 17th- and 18th-century wooden buildings document minimalist, grid-based structures using stark black-and-white photographs, some color photographs and numerous line drawings. His book, highly prized in terms of design and content, contributed significantly to introducing Japanese aesthetics to Western architecture, art and graphics. Mies van der Rohe, for example, gave it to many of his friends. The reprint is enriched by a text on the history of the book by Christian Blaser, Werner Blaser's son, a contribution by Inge Andritz on Mies van der Rohe and Japanese architecture, and a personal afterword by Tadao ...

The Work: Architecture, Urban Design, Drawings and Sculptures by Rob Krier Birkhäuser , August 2021 Hardcover (2 volumes) | 10 x 12 inches | 1,344 pages ( The Work I : 712 pages; The Work II : 632 pages) | 3,000 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9783035622799 | €128 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : As an architect, urban planner and sculptor, Rob Krier has created a multifaceted oeuvre which is presented here in a comprehensive manner for the first time. After graduating, Krier first worked with O. M. Ungers and Frei Otto before setting up his own studios in Vienna and Berlin. He later taught at the Vienna University of Technology from 1976 to 1998 and as a visiting professor at Yale University in 1986. Drawing on a wealth of historical models and archetypal patterns, he developed new typologies of streets and public squares as an architect and urban planner, and was responsible for numerous urban development projects throughout Europe. These included the perimeter block development on...

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...