Architecture books to inspire shelf love

Architecture | 23 Feb 2021

Here at Wallpaper*, we’re students for life. We’ve got architecture books piling up on shelves, desks and floor space surrounding the bookcase, despite minimalist efforts. These are the photographic tomes, architects’ monographs and limited editions that we couldn’t resist, touching on themes from anime to brutalism.

Anime Architecture: Imagined Worlds and Endless Megacities

Thames & Hudson

A true labour of love, just like the artworks within, Anime Architecture is devoted to the realms conjured up in the modern wave of Japanese science-fiction anime films over the past twenty years. Focusing on eight films, including the iconic Akira and Ghost in the Shell, Riekeles’ monograph includes nearly 400 images taken from all stages of the production process, from concept designs through to finished, film-ready backdrops. The artistry on display is staggering, especially in the fine lined concept designs by the likes of Shuichi Kusamori and Shinji Kimura, and the book covers an era when traditional hand processes were increasingly being spliced with computer graphics.

Image: Metropolis, scene 12, cut no. 7 et al. Final production background Shuichi Kusamori Poster colour on paper 50 × 70.7 cm (193⁄4 × 27⁷⁄₈ in.) © 2001 TEZUKA PRODUCTIONS / METROPOLIS COMMITTEE. Licensed from BANDAI NAMCO Arts Inc. All Rights Reserved

Richard Seifert's text on British Brutalist Architect features this striking image of Centre Point, London

Richard Seifert: British Brutalist Architect

Lund Humphries

Richard Seifert was a commercial architect of exceptional acumen, renowned for Brutalist works that transcend the banality of many big developments. Seifert’s talent was for pattern, extracting ornament out of the repetition of modular façade elements. It gave his buildings a strong character, from Croydon to Centre Point, which doubtless helped sway planners to adopt his monumental schemes. The other key factor in his career was the war, from which Seifert emerged as a Colonel, returning to a city in desperate need of architectural renewal. His firm grew to become one of Britain’s largest, with George Marsh as a principal designer and key clients like the developer Harry Hyams. Dominic Bradbury’s new architecture book is the first major treatment of the life and work of an architect who still leaves a major legacy.

Image: Centre Point, London

A spread from the book 'David Adjaye Works'

David Adjaye - Works 1995-2007

Thames & Hudson

One of the many delights of The Modern House website is seeing the occasional early work by Sir David Adjaye resurface for sale. It’s hard to imagine, but the winner of the 2021 RIBA Royal Gold Medal was once best known for his intimate, experimental and richly detailed private houses and interiors. Many of those projects were for artists and creatives and went deliberately and boldly against the grain. Adjaye shaped luminous caverns out of unprepossessing spaces, treating architecture as if it had been hewn from a solid block. Colour, light, and form also play a key role in these projects, with the theatrical juxtaposition of bold hues, mirrored surfaces and an almost Brutalist reverence for building materials. This suitably monumental new monograph, Works 1995-2007, covers those early, formative years and is among the year’s must read architecture books.

A midcentury image from Twenty Great Houses of the Twentieth Century

20/20: Twenty Great Houses of the Twentieth Century

Lund Humphries

Architect John Pardey is no stranger to our pages. An author as well as an award-winning architect, his new book looks at twenty of the most significant houses of the last century. There aren’t any major surprises here, but instead of dry by-the-numbers description, Pardey’s take on each project is personal, weaving the trials and tribulations of their design, construction and subsequent history. From Aalto to Wright, Eames to Utzon, there isn’t a house here that doesn’t have many tales to tell, and Pardey proves a compelling and knowledgeable narrator.

Image: Exterior view of Stahl House showing the pool and terrace

A spread from the book 'Architecture and Interiors Built from Wood'

Out of the Woods – Architecture and Interiors Built from Wood

Gestalten

The Gestalten image factory does what it does best, taking a concept and then sifting through the image streams to illustrate it inside and out. Out of the Woods is not especially high concept, featuring as it does page after page of warm and charming contemporary structures that deploy every aspect facet of timber construction. But the projects on display are also underpinned by a much more significant truth; wood has never been more important. Not only are new structural approaches giving fresh impetus to timber’s practicality, but its innate sustainability and flexibility make wood an excellent option for almost every application. One of the year’s must read architecture books.

Triangle Modern Architecture

ORO Editions

This new book from ORO captures the architectural experimentation that has come characterise ‘The Triangle’, the area of North Carolina contained within the three college towns of Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill. Over seven decades, this legacy came to include a multitude of mid-century Modern houses, as well as campuses, country clubs, malls and commercial buildings. It wasn’t just sleek, low structures – there were also plenty of bold structural innovation and neo-Brutalist forms. Architect and writer Victoria Ballard Bell traces the web of influences, allegiances and partnerships that put the Triangle at the sharp end of American architecture.

Photography: Tom Arban

Frank Gehry: Catalogue Raisonné of the Drawings Volume One, 1954–1978

Cahiers d’Art

It’s easy to think of Frank Gehry as a global phenomenon, an architect whose signature style became shorthand for cultured engagement. The first volume in the prolific Canadian architect reveals the Californian origins of his career. Early projects were influenced by the spindly windows and willowy canopies of the Case Study Program, with drawings that evoked the meticulous line work of Paul Rudolph (an acquaintance). Gradually the influences become broader, and restraint gives way to expressionism, as Gehry rattles through Pop and Po-Mo until – at some point in the mid-70s – he hits upon something unique, a deconstructed style that launches a hundred imitators and a thousand theses. The period covered by this lavish volume gets us nowhere near the familiar ‘icons’ of the 20th century, but culminates instead with a hefty tranche of drawings for the building that effectively launched the architect’s career, the Frank and Berta Gehry Residence in Santa Monica, ‘completed’ in 1978. Encapsulating his ethos of ‘careless complexity,’ the house was a stage set for experimentation and has never lost its allure.

Photography: Gaetane Girard

In Search of African American Space: Redressing Racism

Lars Müller Publishers

As the title of this new study from New York’s Pratt Institute makes abundantly clear, a clearly defined ‘African American Space’ is still in flux, constantly redrawn and redrafted by shifts in the body politic. Overlooked and discarded, demonised or gentrified, and then casually redrawn and redrafted to suit the political expediency of the community’s oppressors, African American Space is still hugely contested. Contemporary America still sits on a racial fault line of uneasy juxtapositions and this book is the first major academic study of how space and community continues to be one of the cracks. With details of artistic and architectural responses to the perennial search for a meaningful space, as well as a huge number of historical illustrations, the book is essential reading for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of modern America.

Image: ISAAS House 2, Project Row Houses, Houston, Texas, 2001, Yolande Daniels

Life Meets Art: Inside the Homes of the World’s Most Creative People

Phaidon

Going through the keyhole with creative figures spanning the past few centuries, Life Meets Art is as much a statement about modern museology as it is about creativity. In addition to the beautifully curated living spaces of contemporary practitioners, a substantial chunk of the book shows the meticulously maintained studios of the departed. These are spaces that have been kept as they were the day their occupant died, with totems of inspiration carefully art directed for prosperity. These range from the ragged authenticity of artist’s studios belonging to the likes Joan Miró, Francis Bacon and Henry Moore, through to the shrine-like reverence accorded to the workspaces of Lloyd Wright, the Eameses, and Le Corbusier. Many of these more famous rooms are (usually) open to the public, so this architecture photography book serves as an atlas of the eccentric art of the creative space.

Abbatt Toys: Modern Toys for Modern Children

Design for Today

Paul and Marjorie Abbatt were a power couple of British modernism, albeit in a low-key way. Their company was set up in 1932 and soon occupied a magnificent toyshop on Wimpole Street, designed by none other than Ernö Goldfinger with a style and ethos that still looks utterly contemporary. The Abbatts believed in dovetailing play with learning, studying the emerging field of educational psychology and choosing their stock from the best and brightest European designers. Their catalogue was full of puzzles and construction toys, sturdily built to last. Powers’ book chronicles their hugely collectible oeuvre and the modernist circles they moved in.

Flughafen Tegel

Verlag POOL Publishing

Featuring immersive, striking colour photography by Berlin based artists Robert Rieger and Felix Brüggemann and an essay by Wallpaper’s own Germany editor Sophie Lovell, this book is an ode to Tegel airport. Now reduced to skeleton service, after being in operation for almost 70 years, Berlin Tegel is captured in this new 88-page photo book, which celebrates not only the particular project as a landmark piece of infrastructure, but also the architecture of the 1960s and ‘the unmistakable design logic of this singular airport,’ explain its creators. The beautiful tome includes an interview with architect Volkwin Marg, who, together with von Gerkan designed the project.

Photography: Flughafen Tegel © Felix Brüggemann & Robert Rieger

Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary

Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers

The Belgian architect Glenn Sestig’s new monograph is a testament to refinement, not just of physical form, but of materials and the interaction of light and shadow. On the surface, Sestig’s work feels like an endless quest in search of reduction and simplicity, but it’s the interplay of volumes, whether structural, material or physical, that gives these spaces their sense of enduring solidity. The monograph has an introduction by our very own Nick Vinson, along with an essay from wallpaper*’s Architecture Editor Ellie Stathaki and interviews with a number of key Sestig clients.

James-Simon-Galerie Berlin

Walther König

On the occasion of the completion of the James-Simon-Galerie in Berlin, David Chipperfield Architects has commissioned an elegant tome to celebrate. The building of subject, a visitor centre and gateway to Berlin’s Museum Island located between the Kupfergraben canal and the Neues Museum, is the last architectural puzzle piece to be slotted into the island masterplan. And who better to capture the sober lines, slim concrete columns and classically sculpted space of the James-Simon-Galerie but photographer Thomas Struth. The photographs in the book, which are complemented by essays and archive images, capture the crispness of the architecture with Struth’s typical clarity and sensitivity across multiple scales and angles. Read more about the James-Simon-Galerie here. Photography: Marion Schoenenberger for David Chipperfield Architects

Thinking Outside the Box: Television Centre Reimagined

Artifice Press

Few building complexes in London have captured the imagination of the British public (and beyond) like the Television Centre, formerly the place of production of beloved programmes, such as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Top of the Pops, and Blue Peter. Now, this cultural icon and mid-century modernism landmark has been transformed into residences by AHMM and this new publication by Artifice Press celebrates the building’s journey. Authored by Wallpaper*’s very own editor-at-large Jonathan Bell the book offers thoughtful perspectives into the project through words, as well as an extensive array of new photography, drawings, plans and archival footage. Photography: Lee Mawdsley

Slacklands 2: A Guide To Rural Contemporary Architecture Of The Twentieth Century

ARCA, Archive for Rural Contemporary Architecture

In this second edition of the beautiful Slacklands guide written by Corinna Dean, ARCA (the Archive for Rural Contemporary Architecture) explores the architectural gems found, often in ruins, outside the big urban hubs of the world. Ranging from Cold War relics to more everyday typologies (such as water towers and churches) the book explores 32 illustrated examples of buildings that fit the category. Artwork by Peter Nencini perfectly complement’s Dean’s words in each chapter section, creating a fascinating visual Grand Tour of lesser known architectural marvels. The tome includes a foreword by Charles Holland.

Locatelli Partners: Dialogues – Architecture Interiors Design

Rizzoli International

Milanese firm Locatelli Partners – led by Massimiliano Locatelli and originally founded in 1993 by Locatelli as CLS Architetti together with Giovanna Cornelio and Annamaria Scevola – is one of the Italian metropolis’ most prolific architects. Now under its current name since 2018, the practice counts projects such as fashion retail, restaurants and numerous residential commissions under its belt; which meant timing was great to celebrate the studio’s ongoing work with a new book. Enter, Dialogues – Architecture Interiors Design, which launches this month by Rizzoli International. The book is a lavish edition, featuring 32 projects by the studio, as well as an entire section dedicated to design from the second half of the 1990s to today. Beautiful images and composition – a Locatelli Partners signature – are prevalent within the book, which tells the story of projects, materials, people and places, as well as the studio’s artful merging of traditional and contemporary. The publication was stylishly designed by Studio Karl Kolbitz.

Site: Marmol Radziner in the Landscape

Princeton Architectural Press

Written by architects Leo Marmol and Ron Radziner with a foreword by novelist Mona Simpson, this book explores the evolving relationship between house and landscape in the work of Los Angeles-based architecture firm Marmol Radziner. Established in 1989, the practice is recognized for house designs that connect interior and exterior life, and the restoration of modernist masterpieces by the likes of Richard Neutra and John Lautner. Across four habitat types – canyon, desert, urban, and woodland, the book explores 19 case studies houses designed by Marmol Radziner.

Snøhetta: Collective Intuition

Phaidon

Phaidon has just unveiled the first monograph on Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta in over a decade. This book is a rich tome that explores the internationally acclaimed practice’s work, by showcasing its extensive and wide-ranging portfolio; it is also designed to mark a key anniversary, the studio’s 30th (Snøhetta was founded in 1989 by Craig Dykers and Kjetil Traedel Thorsen). The beautiful publication features 24 new essays on 24 projects from the last decade. The book, produced in close collaboration between subject and publisher, not only looks at the completed works as standalone pieces of architecture; but it also examines their everyday life and legacy, and their part in their users’ lives. Gorgeous imagery, detailed drawings and a chronological list of projects, ensure this book is as informative as it is aesthetically pleasing.

Photography: Michael Grimm

The Touch – Spaces designed for the senses

Gestalten

How can a design inspire you to reach out and touch? This is the question that The Touch explores through a series of 25 sensuous case studies compiled by Copenhagen-based experts in lifestyle, design and creative living, Nathan Williams of Kinfolk and Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen of Norm Architects. Pertinent to a generation consumed with flat images on Instagram and Pinterest, the book seeks to reconnect the senses back to design. Each chapter hones an element of touch, educating readers on the ‘building blocks of human centric design’.

The book is generous, reaching gracefully across theories, typologies and styles connected to the movement. Photographs capture the feeling of walking through the Moorish modern arches of the Corberó Residence, or sleeping alongside the muted earth tones and ikebana arrangements of the Bijuu Residence in Japan. While interviews, including John Pawson on light, and David Thulstrup on colour, ponder the meaning of each element in further detail, as well as an appendix with profiles on pivotal design figures such as Lina Bo Bardi, Donald Judd and Juhani Pallasmaa.

AB Concept: A Cultural Journey through Light, Form, and Space

Assouline

AB Concept co-founders Ed Ng and Terence Ngan set up their joint Hong Kong operation two decades ago and have since seemingly taken over the world of luxury interiors in the residential and hospitality fields; and with good reason, as their striking designs are sensual, meticulous and multi-layered, bringing their own unique brand of east-west fusion in an exciting journey of storytelling. Now, a range of their projects can be perused in a new tome by specialist publisher Assouline. The hefty publication includes a variety of hospitality flagships around the world, such as their Mei Ume restaurant in London’s Trinity Square. Not only will the reader be able to follow the practice’s work through iconic and experimental works, getting a unique insight into the brand’s mind and processes, but they will also be taken through an enticing journey around the world, as well as a true visual feast. The book features words by Paola Singer. Photography: Owen Raggett

Lever de rideau: A theatre in Cachan

Park Books

Editor Rafaël Magrou and Ateliers O-S Architectes present a playful building study of the Jacques Carat Theater in Cachan near Paris by Ateliers O-S architects. Combining photography by Cyrille Weiner with a graphic short story by Lucas Harari and Alexis Jamet, and architectural plans and illustrations, this book tells the story of the transformation of an early 20th century local theatre building, into an animated culture centre. Beyond rebuilding and modernizing, the design extended out into the neighbourhood – a neighbouring tennis court became a public park. This unconventional book is a unique portrait of urban planning and architecture.

Edge of Order

Crown Publishers

Architect Daniel Libeskind beautifully encapsulates his guiding philosophies, inspirations and creative processes within a new monograph designed by Rodrigo Corral and written by Tim McKeough. Libeskind’s projects such as the Jewish Museum Berlin and the World Trade Center Master Plan have changed how we think about architecture today, and this publication provides a window into how he has achieved these provocative designs. The book weaves together text and design to reveal his personal creative history through sketches, notes, plans, and photographs surrounding some of his key projects: ‘This process is not always neat and tidy, or linear. Sometimes the components fall neatly in order, one after another; other times they’re all in play at once. But describing them as a sequence provides a framework for my ideas, and a path forward,’ says Libeskind.

Contours & Horizons: Reiulf Ramstad Architects

Hatje Cantz

A new monograph brings together the ‘unpretentious’ and ‘simple’ architecture of Oslo-based Reiulf Ramstad Architects (RRA). The studio was founded by Norwegian architect Reiulf Ramstad in 1995, who has referenced Aldo Rossi, Carlo Scarpa, and Sverre Fehn as influences on his work. While presenting a broad selection of projects, this books looks specifically at RRA buildings in the context of Scandinavia. Within the book, the architecture of RRA is complemented by essays from artists, philosophers, and architectural critics who explore the state of contemporary architecture today. The book was launched alongside an exhibition at the Utzon Centre in Aalborg, Denmark that investigates what it means to be a Nordic architect in a globalised era.

In Service of Undiscovered Life – Kristin Jarmund Architects

Arvinius + Orfeus Publishing

A new book charts the journey of architect Kristin Jarmund and the practice she founded in 1985. Characterised by simplicity, modern solutions with an emphasis on the human dimension, her architectural style first broke onto the scene with the Fyrstikkterrassen building, a multipurpose commercial building in Oslo. She then went on to design many important urban structures including Nydalen Metro Station, the award-winning Råholt School and the Norwegian Embassy in Kathmandu. Opening with a foreword by Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, an essay by Aaron Betsky and an in depth interview with Kristin Jarmund by the editor of the book, Tomas Lauri, the book then launches into four chapters that guide the reader through Jarmund’s key concepts. The first one, ‘Colour is a Material’, follows her use of colour and its significance to her work.

Eric Mendelsohn Synagogues

Lund Humphries

Four synagogues designed by Eric Mendelsohn are documented in colour by photographer Michael Palmer in this new book published by Lund Humphries. These four synagogues, are the built designs out of the seven that the German-Jewish architect created in America between 1946 and 1953. Writer Ita Heinze-Greenberg’s accompanying essay describes Mendelsohn’s relationship to Judaism and Zionism – including his interest in finding new architectural solutions for the post-war and post-Holocaust climate, when the duality of Jewish and American identity became more crucial than ever.

Architects’ Houses by Michael Webb

Thames & Hudson

This fascinating publication, authored by Michael Webb, peeks into the houses of some of the world’s leading architects, investigating their design statements, as each one reflects the tastes, approach and personality of its author and owner. Pictured here is Tower house in New York State by Peter and Thomas Gluck, where living spaces are cantilevered from a stack of three bedrooms to command sweeping views over the tree tops. The project, published by Thames & Hudson, comprises 30 pioneering houses and their architects, who talk about what inspired them and how their concepts came to become reality. Pictured here, the striking Swartberg house in South Africa by Jennifer Beningfield, featuring simple blocks of brick faced in rough plaster plays off the beauty of the landscape. The architects in the book include established names, such as Norman Foster, Thom Mayne, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien – and the projects vary in size, scope, context and material, offering a thrilling read. Pictured here, architect Todd Saunders’ Villa S in Bergen, Norway. Here, the main living spaces are raised off the ground to minimise the footprint and provide shelter from frequent rain. Photography: Richard Davies, courtesy Openstudio Architects

Midwest Architecture Journeys

Belt Publishing

A group of architects, critics, and journalists unite for an architectural road trip across the Mid-west, visiting works by Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as lesser known buildings such as the New Glarus Brewing’s Hilltop Brewery in Wisconsin and Eliel Saarinen’s Christ Church Lutheran in Minnesota. Pitched at travellers and architecture fans alike, this coffee table book, edited by Zach Mortice with an introduction by Alexandra Lange, presents each building case study with a black and white photography and short text.

Peter Salter: Walmer Yard

Circa

A new book published by Circa traces the decade-long development of Walmer Yard, an experimental residential project in Notting Hill designed by architect Peter Salter. The complex, an intense collage of materials and techniques, now houses the Baylight Foundation a charitable organisation that works towards increasing the public understanding of what architecture can do. Combining Salter’s pen-and-ink drawings, with photographs by Hélène Binet and accounts from collaborators including Fenella Collingridge and developer Crispin Kelly, the book unravels a narrative of the complex. Read more about Walmer Yard here

Ehrlich Yanai Outside-In: New California Modernism

The Monacelli Press

This book takes readers on a journey from Venice Beach to Palo Alto through 15 recent private residential projects of architects Steven Ehrlich and Takashi Yanai, principals of Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects (EYRC). Design writer Zahid Sardar charts the subtle variations of regional Californian modernism in the introduction as an entry into the work of EYRC. He describes Ehrlich’s theories of ‘multicultural modernism’, an architecture equipped with ideas from time spent in Morocco and Nigeria. And the interests of Yanai, born in Japan and later raised in Southern California, who draws from traditional Japanese architecture and a love of nature. Sardar summarises: ‘Timeless in concept, Ehrlich and Yanai’s practical, modern, interactive, and sometimes quixotic house designs “borrow” views, erase the lines between interiors and exteriors, and bring the outside in.’ Pictured above is Ehrlich Yanai’s Spectral Bridge House – a collaboration with artist Johannes Girardoni, who created an immersive art experience of shades of light that bounce through the monolithic blocks of architecture.

Box Set #25: Lacroix Chessex

Divisare

Swiss architecture practice Lacroix Chessex teamed up with renowned photographer Joël Tettamanti to produce a carefully curated set of five books, each focusing on one of the dynamic practice’s individual projects. The Geneva based studio has graced the pages of Wallpaper* more than once with their striking architectural compositions of modernist-inspired work. The work of partners Hiéronyme Lacroix and Simon Chessex has already won numerous awards, including the ’best single house 2018 award’ for their Villa Sandmeier, which is featured in this publication. In these books, and seen through Tettamanti’s sensitive but also dramatic photography, is a selection of the architects’ work, spanning private houses, a larger residential scheme and a nursery. The prohects included are: Maison aux Jeurs, Valais (2013); Chalet Noisette, Swiss Alps (2008); Villa Sandmeier, Geneva (2014); Creche in La Chapelle-Les Sciers, Geneva (2015); Student house, The Graduate Institute, Geneva (2012). Writer: Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Joel Tettamanti

Drawing architecture

Phaidon

Architectural drawings by the likes of Michelangelo, Frank Gehry, Louise Bourgeois, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Grafton Architects and Luis Barragán are brought together in this book. Spanning geography and time, over 250 drawings are printed on textured uncoated paper with deckled edges and displayed in pairs with an illustrated chronology at the back of the book. The drawings, introduced by Helen Thomas, architect and writer, represent many different parts of the design process – from dreaming and doodling, experimenting and visualising, to planning and prepping for construction. Some sketches are realistic renderings of buildings, while others are totally abstracted visions or careful, close-up details. Each unique drawing is accompanied by text explaining its meaning and purpose to the architect. Architects drawings are often overlooked, yet are true works of art. From historic Japanese scrolls to Chamberlin Powell and Bonn’s intricate illustration for the Barbican cultural centre, architecture begins its life on paper.

Radical Essex book by Hayley Dixon and Joe Hill

Radical Essex by Hayley Dixon and Joe Hill

Focal Point Gallery

Following up on the 2016 event that explored the lesser known modernist gems of Essex, ‘Radical Essex’ is a book documenting the British region’s mid-century works and celebrates its vibrant, pioneering thinking throughout the 20th century. The archive material included in the book ranges from a weekend celebrating modernist architecture in Essex, to an exhibition charting the history of the county’s experimental communities. Pictured here, the Bata Estate, East Tilbury (2016). Essex ‘lays claim to being the birthplace of British modernism’, say the authors. Indeed, the country’s earliest building of this style, the Clockhouse Way Estate, was built on the outskirts of Braintree. The county also played host to architectural experiments, such as the two new towns of Harlow and Basildon. Pictured here, the Redshank in Lee-over-Sands (2016). The book is illustrated with photography from award-winning photographer Catherine Hyland, who worked in residence for the Radical Essex project. Complementing the beautiful visuals, the project includes specially written essays by Tim Burrows, Gillian Darley, Charles Holland, Rachel Lichtenstein, Jules Lubbock, Jess Twyman and Ken Worpole. Pictured here, the Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea (2016). Photography: Catherine Hyland, Courtesy of Focal Point Gallery

Elemental

Phaidon

Chilean architecture practice Elemental may not be even 20 years old, but it has already made its mark on the 21st-century architecture scene. Now, an especially curated monograph cataloguing the inspirational studio’s work over the years has been released by Phaidon, celebrating the five partners’ – Alejandro Aravena, Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Victor Oddó and Diego Torres – tireless pursuit for great architecture. The way the book is put together represents well the firm’s design approach; it is meticulously planned, delving into a wealth of drawings and sketches that tell the story behind the practice’s history and its growing list of commissions. Looking at Elemental’s approach and working practice through engaging storytelling and rigorous architecture representation, this tome combines never-before-published images by the studio and renowned architectural photographers in a true visual feast for architecture buffs. There is a very useful and interesting timeline of Elemental’s work to-date, as well as texts describing projects but also wider themes, like the origins of the practice, by 2016 Pritzker Prize winner Aravena.

Writer: Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Elemental

Archigram – The Book

Circa Press

Designed and edited by Dennis Crompton, ‘Archigram – The Book’ presents the history and work of the celebrated architectural collective founded in the 1960s that inspired buildings such as the Pompidou in Paris and the High Tech movement. Archigram member, Crompton, has worked on the book over a period of 40 years to document the illustrated theories, mind-boggling designs and progressive ideas of Archigram into one impressive tome. The rebellious group created an experimental and optimistic, functionalist style of architecture that they spread over 14 years of productivity, which the book brings together into one colourful catalogue of designs of cities, infrastructures and concepts, with commentaries by architects and critics, tracing the group’s creative output that traversed mediums and countries. Archigram published their first manifesto, titled ‘Living City’ in 1963, edited by Reyner Banham, as well as an ongoing series of magazines that circulated out their radical ideas. Participating in the 14th Milan Triennale launched the group into international orbit and Archigram’s work continues to be relevant to architects across the world today.

Garcia Tamjidi Architecture Design: 20 Years

Garcia Tamjidi

San Francisco-based architecture and interiors firm Garcia Tamjidi is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a carefully designed tome that looks back at its projects and overall approach over the years. Beautifully written by Eva Hagberg Fischer and designed by Public, the publication offers valuable insights from practice directors Michael Garcia and Farid Tamjidi on what it means to build in Frisco. The publication fits within a custom made envelope and the design reflects the practice’s thoughtful and minimalist architectural approach. A selection of projects, including residential, office and product design, help introduce the firm’s priorities, presented through the lens of key architectural elements: lines, shapes and colours. Writer: Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Joe Budd

Konrad Wachsmann and the Grapevine Structure

Park Books

Wachsmann developed the Grapevine construction element with students during his tenure at the Chicago Institute of Design, now part of Illinois Institute of Technology. The book highlights other important projects including the Packaged House System, his relocatable hangars for the US Air Force and the Local Orientation Manipulator (LOM), developed with John Bollinger and Xavier Mendoza at the University of California, Los Angeles. As well as diagrams and archive material related to the projects, the book features texts by a number of contributors. Notably, an essay by Andreas Burkhalter on Wachsmann’s legendary knotted joints in the context of possible similar structures in the human brain, and a conversation by Marko Pogacnik with architects Hermann Czech and Friedrich Kurrent on Wachsmann’s lectures at the Salzburg Summer Academy.

Rene Gonzalez Architects: Not Lost in Translation

The Monacelli Press

The new monograph on the work of Rene Gonzalez surveys the Miami-based architect’s works, spanning 14 residential, commercial, and cultural projects in Florida. It also explores his concerns and investigations on the environmental issues that are affecting the world – and the way rising sea levels, specifically, will change the way we design. The book includes the architect’s own photographs of Miami’s vernacular architecture, as well as his projects such as three Alchemist boutiques, the first of which won the 2011 National AIA Institute Honor Award, the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, and several private houses. On the left, the striking, 18-storey Glass Residential Tower in Miami Beach also forms part of the beautifully curated tome, which includes essays from Modern Magazine editor Beth Dunlop, journalist Caroline Roux, and architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Photography: Mark Stavaridis

California Captured: Mid-Century Modern Architecture

Phaidon

Marvin Rand’s iconic photographs have helped define California’s instantly recognisable mid-century modern aesthetic, and now, a new book from Phaidon by Emily Bills, Sam Lubell and Pierluigi Serraino is out to celebrate the work of the American photographer. Up till now an unsung hero of his time, Rand left a rich archive, which was discovered in 2012 by one of the book’s writers and West Coast editor of the Architect’s Newspaper, Sam Lubell. The archive is a true treasure trove of material and consists of more than 50,000 negatives and transparencies. Working with architect, author and educator Pierluigi Serraino and participating adjunct professor of Urban Studies at Woodbury University Emily Bills, Lubell curated a carefully composed tome that explores Rand’s photography and showcases the broad range of architecture captured through his lens in a beautifully produced book.

Arquitectonica

Rizzoli

Arquitectonica is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a hefty monograph by Alastair Gordon that looks back into the practice’s rich body of work. The international firm has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Lima and Sao Paulo and is led by principals Bernardo Fort-Brescia and Laurinda Spear, who work with modern materials and contemporary forms to create architecture of a wide range of scale and typologies. The book, authored by Alastair Gordon, explores the frequently large-scale, groundbreaking work of the practice that is behind instantly recognisable architecture pieces such as Regalia tower on Sunny Isles Beach in Miami, pictured here. There’s an extensive selection of projects to enjoy, as the firm has work in 58 countries across five continents. Photography: Mike Kelley

Seth Stein Architects monograph by Kenneth Powell and published by Kenneth Powell

Seth Stein Architects by Kenneth Powell

Lund Humphries

Since 1990, Seth Stein has worked across typologies of residential and commerical architecture, attracting much interest and prasie for his work that combines striking scrulptural form with elegance. This monograph brings together a range of projects with 204 coloured images, yet also reveals insight into the practice’s ethos and design processes including material and building method innovation and an interest in environmental sustainability. Pictured here, the Equestrian Centre built in Australia in 2014, featuring a strong, curved rear wall made of rammed earth. Stein’s architecture ranges from coastal retreats to revitalisations of historic townhouses and palazzos. His work preserves and communicates its context, connecting with its natural or urban landscape. Pictured here on the right, the Beach House in North Caicos bulit in 2006 which features jalousie and bug screens that transform the buildings into two lanterns in the evening. On the left, the Archipelago House in Finland built in 2000. Photography: Lisbeth Grosmann

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