Submitted by WA Contents
10 of the best books to give to an architect this Christmas
United Kingdom Architecture News - Nov 18, 2013 - 23:25 3394 views
Wondering what gift to get for your favourite architect?
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Buildings and their Territories: Tony Fretton
Publisher: Birkhauser
Price: £64.95
It took a long time for this book to come out, and the bookshop manager says there’s been a real buzz building around it. It’s a lovely book and the manager described it as “probably the definitive monograph on him at the moment”. Just check that the recipient is a Fretton fan before you splash out as this one is at the pricier end of the spectrum.
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Publisher: gta Verlag
Price: £42
For the more serious-mided reader, this heavyweight tome is the first book in English on Pouillon and includes survey drawings of key Parisian housing projects alongside some interesting writing by Caruso and Pouillon himself. The bookshop staff rated the overall production value of the book and the quality of the drawings highly. It also promises to be the first in a series focusing on ‘a forgotten generation of European architects’.
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Never Modern, by Irenee Scalbert and 6a Architects
Pulisher: Park Books
Price: £20
A current best-seller in the RIBA Bookshop at Portland Place and one that’s been popular in the BD office too. It’s only a small paper back but it’s a lovely thing and an interesting insight into the workings of a practice whose work seems to be growing in popularity.
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Lina Bo Bardi, by Zeuler Rocha Mello De Almeida Lima and Barry Bergdoll
Publisher: Yale University Press
Price: £40
Bo Bardi seems to be having a bit of a moment, with titles on her work flying off the shelves in most architecture bookshops. The AA published an anthology of her writing earlier this year to compliment an exhibition of her work. This weightier tome goes a bit further - looking at her impact and influences. This title was recommended by the manager at Koenig, too (see bleow).
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AA Conversations, Ed. by Thomas Weaver
Publisher: AA Publications
Price: £15
This is the first in a series of anthologies collating conversations from the AA’s long running journal. Being the AA, they do have access to some of the most interesting thinkers and archives; this collection includes extended interviws with Francois Dallegret, Leon Kirer, Mario Botta, Massimo Scolari and Moshe Safdie as well as a smattering of artists, philosophers, film makers, amd photographers.
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EP Vol. 1 - the Italian Avant-Garde: 1968-1976, Ed. by Alex Coles and Catharine Rossi
Publisher: Sternberg Press
Price: £18.95
A textual and visual reader for a key moment in Italian design and its legacy with contirbutions from Paola Antonelli, Pier Vittorio Aureli, Joseph Grima and Michelangelo Pistoletto. The concept behind the book’s approach to presenting information is interesting in itself - the editors aim to create a publishing equivalent of the ‘extended play’ record with a text that goes more in depth than a magazine but more accessible than academic journal. According to the bookshop, they’ve succeeded in this. The AA wil be hosting a round table and launch for the book in December.
Koenig Books
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Fujimoto: Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013, Ed. by Sophie O’Brien, Melissa Larner & Rebecca Lewin
Publisher: Koenig in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery
Price: £29.80
Yes, it’s by Keonig so they’re bound to be a bit biased, but this really is a beautiful book on Fujimoto’s first UK project and has plenty to offer those who didn’t get to visit it in situ over the summer as well as curious architect who want to know more about Fujimoto’s work.
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Koolhaas: Houselife, by Ila Beka and Louise Lemoine
Publisher: Living Architecture
Price: €35 (first editions available for €65)
This isn’t as new as the others but it’s been a strong seller for Keonig and is probably the most light hearted of the list. The book and DVD combo is one of a series taking the reader inside building by famous architects as seen by the people who live and work in them - in this case the Maison a Bordeaux by Rem Koolhass and it’s entertaining cleaner Guadalupe Acedo.
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The Architect Says: Quotes, Quips and Words of Wisdom, by Laura S Dushkes
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Price: around £9.50
This book actually came out last year so it isn’t new, but it’s both pocket sized and affordable - the ingredients for a great stocking filler - and one of Magma’s ‘lighter read’ suggestions.
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Pin-Up Interviews, by Felix Burrichter
Publisher: Powerhouse Books
Price $30
This collection brings together 50 of the best interviews from seven years of Pin-Up and is the magazine’s first book. It includes plenty of heavy hitters like Chipperfield, Adjaye, Koolhaas, Meier and Ban as well as artists and deisgners for a bit of light relief.
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