A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Like a gazillion other people, today I got an email with a link to Amazon's Best of 2010 . For whatever reason the editors don't have a Top 10 for the architecture subcategory (there is one for the category under which architecture is nested, Art & Photography , but no architecture books are represented), but a glance at the Bestsellers in Architecture reveals the below top 20. What can we learn from this list? Looks to me like architecture doesn't sell. Interior design comprises most of the list, but only one or two architecture books are found here: Matthew Frederick's hit from MIT Press and a reference book about Revit (I'm inclined to think of #20 more as a baseball book than an architecture book). Most of the books are new, though I'm glad to say Frederick's book came out in 2007, making it something of an anomaly. And what about the first and second spots? Travel/science writer Bill Bryson's "authoritative history of domesticity"...

We're all familiar with R. Buckminster Fuller's proposal for a dome over Midtown Manhattan: But did you know about his 1964 proposal for Harlem , also done with his student Shoji Sadao? Me neither. (via Eating Bark )

Researching Rafael Moneo's Northwest Corner Building this evening, I discovered WikiCU , "2,975 articles about Columbia…anyone can edit!" Its entry on the new building provides one or two helpful tidbits, though I was struck by the critiques captioning the images. Top photo: "Plan: a rendering of the Northwest Science Building looks sinister but contextual, blending the gray of the new structure with a grayed trim on Pupin to make it look as if it fits in well" [screenshot of Northwest Corner Building entry at WikiCU, accessed Nov. 3, 2010] Bottom photo: "Reality: Moneo and what has metamorphosized into a bluish, glassy monstrosity both attempt to tower over poor, increasingly antiquarian Pupin " I'd be tempted to edit the captions to something more wikipedia-esque, but I can't even figure out how to do that. Edit links are available for the text (visible in the screenshot above, to the left of the photo with Moneo) but not for the p...

Here are photos of three new buildings in Nianjing, Jiangsu, China, the first two as part of the China International Practical Exhibition of Architecture (CIPEA), which includes 24 buildings by international architects ( video ). Photographs are by Bryan Chang . [Nanjing Museum of Art & Architecture by Steven Holl Architects ]   [CIPEA Villa by Sanaksenaho Architects ] [Nanjing University Performing Arts Center by Preston Scott Cohen ] To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Magazine on Urbanism #13: Most Valuable Urbanism Magazine on Urbanism , October 2010 Paperback, 128 pages In my inbox this morning was an email with a link to the results of the MAS Survey on Livability , which asked New Yorkers to respond to questions about their happiness with living in the city and with its different qualities (cleanliness, schools, police, shopping, etc.). This survey is one among what must be hundreds of similar ones that range from examining a city in particular to comparing cities on national and international scales; Forbes has a list of America's Most Livable Cities , Mercer leads an international survey , as does The Economist . Each survey has its own reason for being and corresponding criteria to make judgments, but the overall impression of the quantification of subjective personal experiences is that cities should strive to for being number one, that those on top are safer, cleaner, prettier, better places to live than the rest. In the 13th is...

Cities for People by Jan Gehl, published by  Island Press , 2010. Hardcover, 288 pages. ( Amazon ) In 1971 Danish architect and urban designer Jan Gehl articulated the ideas that he would build upon for the rest of his career in the book Life Between Buildings . In response to modernism's emphasis on objects (buildings) over spaces (streets and plazas) and its bird's-eye-view planning, Gehl argues for the prioritization of the design of public space as a supporter of social life. It's a hard position to argue against, but one that is a difficult sell against the entrenched modernist principles of architecture and planning. Or in other words, Gehl needs to continue articulating and spreading his ideas, and in this his fifth major book he does so clearly, with an abundance of illustrations and examples of the good and bad in today's cities. What Gehl is fighting against can be described in one word: cars. This isn't to say that he ...

Docet Institute in Monterrey, Mexico by stación-ARquitectura Arquitectos, 2010 For the Docet Institute 's new home in Monterrey, stación-ARquitectura Arquitectos made the building fit the site, preserving existing trees to create a courtyard for the children in the preschool. This decsision is linked to the Institute's "respect for nature and the environment" and as a counter to the area's new developments more akin to removing trees in the process. The resulting building both stands out from and integrates itself with the landscape, depending on which face one experiences. As can be seen on the site plan, a dropoff fronts the building's north side; this setback preserves trees close to the street and gives the building a civic presence by putting the whole facade on display. This exterior wall is primarily a ventilated assembly, custom perforated corrugated steel in front of CMU walls. It is a sparse, industrial aesthetic aimed at saving mon...