A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America by Vishaan Chakrabarti, published by  Metropolis Books , 2013. Hardcover, 252 pages. ( Amazon ) On Monday, Vishaan Chakrabarti gave a book talk at the Center for Architecture on A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America , published by Metropolis Books. The SHoP Architects partner and Columbia University professor presented the major arguments from the self-described manifesto, accompanied by illustrations from the book. Those in the full-house crowd left with a fairly good understanding of what Chakrabarti envisions for America: dense urban environments served by local and regional rail infrastructure. The basic treatise of the book is "it's all about density," based on the assertion that environmental sustainability and economic opportunities are greater in cities. [Photo courtesy of Center for Architecture] For a city dweller, like me, who won't need much convincing that cities are better (...

Thanks for the View, Mr. Mies: Lafayette Park, Detroit edited and with text by Danielle Aubert, Lana Cavar, Natasha Chandani | Placement, published by  Metropolis Books , 2012. Paperback, 288 pages. ( Amazon ) While I'm a big fan of book-length case studies on buildings, I'll admit that most tend to focus exclusively on architecture and process at the expense of social concerns, especially how a building is used after the architect is out of the picture. One book counter to this that comes to mind is Peter Friedl's Working at Copan , which features interviews with workers at Oscar Niemeyer's Edificio Copan in São Paulo, but I'm hard pressed to think of a book that makes the users the subject of a book. So Thanks for the View, Mr. Mies is a refreshing arrival this fall, not only for looking at architecture through the lens of Lafayette Park's residents, but for crafting a marvelous book that gives a full sense of the place through text and images....

Architects' Sketchbooks by Will Jones, published by Metropolis Books , 2011. Hardcover, 352 pages. ( Amazon ) This fall I finally took the plunge and started teaching. In my first semester two classes are on my plate: a second-year design studio and a first-year "visualization" lab, aka drawing. In regards to the second, I'm glad to know of and be part of the continuing emphasis on hand-drawing (hard-line and free-hand) as a way of documenting and understanding architecture. Computer renderings may be the focus of both student and professional presentations, be they competitions or commissions, but one does not leap directly into computer modeling and rendering without learning through the process of drawing. There is still something to be said for the link between the brain and the hand with the pen or pencil as a tool. Yes, the computer is a tool, but in hardly the same way; its abstraction divorces certain levels of understanding that come when putting drawing...

Beyond Shelter: Architecture and Human Dignity edited by Marie J. Aquilino, published by  Metropolis Books , 2011. Paperback, 304 pages. ( Amazon ) Testify!: The Consequences of Architecture edited by Lukas Feireiss, published by  NAi Publishers , 2011. Paperback, 240 pages. ( Amazon ) One consequence of trends is that their popularity begets a renewed interest in their opposite or the things they displace. The current trend of digitizing just about everything shows signs of appreciating, among many other things, well-crafted books, handwritten letters and, in the realm of architecture, hand drawings and models built by hand. While these things still pale in comparison, in terms of attention and quantity, to their digital counterparts (ebooks, emails/texts, digital renderings), the important thing is that they are not displaced; they retain their potential as important means of thought and expression. In physical buildings this trend/opposite trait...

The Power of Pro Bono: 40 Stories About Design for the Public Good by Architects and Their Clients edited by John Cary and Public Architecture, published by  Metropolis Books , 2010. Hardcover, 288 pages. ( Amazon ) In writings on architecture, particularly contemporary collections, the voice of the client is often missing. Some articles may incorporate quotes from the client about the positive experience and results, but for the most part the architect's point of view prevails. This can be chalked up to the fact that the venues, be they print or online, are typically for promoting architects and architecture, and their audiences tend to be the same practitioners, eager to look at what others are doing. Therefore to give equal copy to a client alongside an architect in coverage of a project would be pretty novel these days. It would also run the risk of painting the architecture in not-so-nice a light, bringing to the fore considerations that were not atte...

Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism edited by Bryan Bell and Katie Wakeford, published by  Metropolis Books , 2008. Paperback, 288 pages. ( Amazon ) Through the act of building...marginalized people can come back into the community and reassert their role, their position, their political right. - Sergio Palleroni This quote is found in the last of 30 essays on architects and architecture devoted to a broader public not typically considered in the profession and in schools: the poor, the homeless, the disabled, the individuals, families and organizations not affected by architecture and its upper-class private clients and exclusive institutions. By the time the reader confronts these words by Palleroni, one of the founders of the BaSiC Initiative , there is little doubt in his or her min...