A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Just as last week's Places in Time III post featured a trio of books that were initially listed in my earlier  holiday gift books post , two of the three monographs featured here were also on that list. As happened when I wrote this post, each book begins with a rhetorical question pertaining to monographs. This post features the last reviews of the year. A week from today I'll have a year-capping roundup of my favorites from the many books featured on this blog in 2023. An Atlas of Es Devlin  by Es Devlin, edited by Andrea Lipps, published by Thames & Hudson , December 2023 ( Amazon  /  Bookshop ) Is it possible to love a monograph on a designer whose work you're largely indifferent to? Es Devlin is a phenomenally famous artist and designer who is best known for creating the sets and backdrops for U2, Adele, Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, and other big-name musicians, and for such events as the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show. Her London studio's designs for these an...

Houses: Vo Trong Nghia & The Work of VTN Architects Preface by VTN Architects; Introduction by Vo Trong Nghia; Edited by Oscar Riera Ojeda Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers , July 2021 Hardcover | 8-1/2 x 11 inches | 320 pages | English | ISBN: 9781946226952 | $59.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : In an age of overpopulation and rapid urban development, most Vietnamese houses are located within crowded cities. Therefore, the residents suffer from polluted air with little green space for themselves. The presence of televisions, Internet, and social media also poses problems for urban dwellers. People are mentally stressed from constant social pressure and the modern lifestyle. They have limited space for activities, for living life, and for enjoying nature. Understanding the situation, VTN Architects’ “Houses for Trees” connect people to nature, creating pockets of greenery within our concrete cities. Our houses become ecosystems that merge natural energy and natural materials to pro...

Green Architecture: Vo Trong Nghia & The Work of VTN Architects Preface by VTN Architects; Introduction by Vo Trong Nghia; Interview by Vladimir Belogolovsky; Edited by Oscar Riera Ojeda Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers , May 2021 Hardcover | 8-1/2 x 11 inches | 320 pages | English | ISBN: 9781946226464 | $59.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : "Vietnamese cities have lost their tropical beauty. They have turned into concrete jungles just like Bangkok or Jakarta.” Vo Trong Nghia In a context of rapid urbanization and environmental crisis, Vietnam, like many other countries across the world, requires innovative new architectural solutions to improve the lives of its urban residents. Green Architecture showcases the multi-faceted responses to these challenges conceived by the award winning studio VTN Architects, led by Vo Trong Nghia, in which the emphasis is placed on bringing greenery back to cities in a holistic and sustainable manner. Through detailed illustrated breakdowns of...

Bamboo Architecture: Vo Trong Nghia & The Work of VTN Architects Preface by VTN Architects; Introduction by Masaaki Iwamoto; Interview by Vladimir Belogolovsky; Edited by Oscar Riera Ojeda Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers , May 2021 Hardcover | 8-1/2 x 11 inches | 320 pages | English | ISBN: 9781946226457 | $59.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : “I think bamboo is the right material for creating a new architectural language unique to Vietnam.” Vo Trong Nghia With the climate crisis raging and awareness of humanity’s detrimental impact on the environment now patently apparent, the need for architects to come up with sustainable new solutions has never been more pressing. A key part of any green approach to architecture is the use of local natural materials with a low environmental impact. Bamboo, which has been widely used in Asian architecture for centuries as scaffolding and for bridges, pavilions, houses and other structures, is an ideal material in this context: lightweight, stron...

Jones Studio Houses: Sensual Modernism Jones Studio, with introduction by Aaron Betsky, interview by Vladimir Belogolovsky, epilogue by Eddie Jones Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers , May 2021 Hardcover | 9 x 9 inches | 368 pages | English | ISBN: 9781946226440 | $65.00 PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION : JONES STUDIO HOUSES Sensual Modernism is a self-imposed limited look at the 40-year-plus career of Eddie Jones. Almost unheard of outside the southwest United States, Jones has quietly accumulated a body of work ranging beyond residential design to include major federal projects impacting the edges of America... to be featured in a soon to be published monograph! Supported by Aaron Betsky’s insightful forward, plus an enlightening interview with Vladimir Belogolovsky, and comments from many of his famous colleagues, Jones summarizes his lifelong dance with architecture through the personal stories embedded in each house. Refusing to repeat himself, the work tests the reality of gravity on a...