A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

The "So You Want to Learn About" series highlights books focused on a particular theme: think "socially responsible architecture" and "Le Corbusier," rather than broad themes like "housing" or "modern architects." Therefore the series aims to be a resource for finding decent reading materials on certain topics, born of a desire to further define noticeable areas of interest in the  books I review . And while I haven't reviewed every title, I am familiar with each one; these are not blind recommendations. About one year ago my book 100 Years, 100 Landscape Designs came out. There were a number of landscape designers that just had to be in the book, one of them being Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994), the great Brazilian landscape designer and artist who single-handedly defined landscape architecture in South America, not just Brazil. (A couple of his landscapes worked their way into my book, both carrying his influential name: Sitio ...

The "So You Want to Learn About" series highlights books focused on a particular theme: think "socially responsible architecture" and "Le Corbusier," rather than broad themes like "housing" or "modern architects." Therefore the series aims to be a resource for finding decent reading materials on certain topics, born of a desire to further define noticeable areas of interest in the  books I review . And while I haven't reviewed every title, I am familiar with each one; these are not blind recommendations. This year's release of Michael Sorkin's latest collection of critical essays,  What Goes Up: The Rights and Wrongs to the City , prompted me to put together a "learn about" post on the influential critic, educator, and designer of buildings and cities. An outspoken critic of misguided architecture, urban inequality, oppressive ideologies, and other impediments to truly egalitarian and sustainable societies, Sork...

The "So You Want to Learn About" series highlights books focused on a particular theme: think "socially responsible architecture" and "phenomenology," rather than broad themes like "housing" or "theory." Therefore the series aims to be a resource for finding decent reading materials on certain topics, born of a desire to further define noticeable areas of interest in the  books I review . And while I haven't reviewed every title, I am familiar with each one; these are not blind recommendations. Well before the  death of Robert Venturi  last week at the age of 93, I'd planned a  "So You Want to Learn About"  post on  Learning from Las Vegas , the classic text by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour from 1972. It's only now that I finally got around to finalizing it. Last year I noticed that MIT Press had released a facsimile version of the hard-to-find and extremely expensive first edition; a co...

The  "So You Want to Learn About"  series highlights books focused on a particular theme: think "socially responsible architecture" and "phenomenology," rather than broad themes like "housing" or "theory." Therefore the series aims to be a resource for finding decent reading materials on certain topics, born of a desire to further define noticeable areas of interest in the  books I review . And while I haven't reviewed every title, I am familiar with each one; these are not blind recommendations. Today is the 150th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright's birth, and with that sesquicentennial are lots of celebrations . These include exhibitions, such as Unpacking the Archive at the Museum of Modern Art, and numerous new and reissued publications. The latter provoked me to put together this small list of books on Wright – small in that it's a tiny fraction of the hundreds of books devoted to the architect, but these are the one...

The "So You Want to Learn About" series highlights books focused on a particular theme: think "socially responsible architecture" and "phenomenology," rather than broad themes like "housing" or "theory." Therefore the series aims to be a resource for finding decent reading materials on certain topics, born of a desire to further define noticeable areas of interest in the books I review . And while I haven't reviewed every title, I am familiar with each one; these are not blind recommendations. For the longest time I was not a fan of interviews, though recently I've come around to them to the extent that I sometimes search them out. I'm not sure why I didn't like them nor why I like them now, but it might have to do with having less time to read books in their entirety combined with a desire to know the ideas and motives of particular architects. With this subtle shift of reading habits a number of bo...