July book news: leaf through this month's top tomes
Pierre Charpin
By Alessandra Fanari, Françoise Guichon and Marco Romanelli
The French designer Pierre Charpin defines his joyously colourful, engagingly simple objects as 'receptors': 'primarily as forms, and only on a second level as functional.' This gives them a quality not out of place in two dimensions, where, he says, 'others can decide what meaning to give [them]'. It's an enjoyable pursuit, following his ideas through the stage of naïve sketching, to graphic paintings as exuberant as Matisse cut-outs and ultimately the glossy finished objects - though he prefers to call them 'things', to escape the narrowness of a definition. A lighthearted discourse between the designer and critic Marco Romanelli, journeying through the experiments of the 1980s to the triumphs of the 1990s, is the heart of the text, worth blowing past the impenetrable treatise by Alessandra Fanari to access. The curator Françoise Guichon places Charpin in a historical context, a natural successor to French masters like Auguste Rodin and Nicolas Froment.
Finnish architect Alvar Aalto was a jack of many trades - architecture, product design, furniture, textiles and glassware - and arguably a master of all. Architect and professor Robert McMarter charts the Finn's impressive oeuvre in a new tome, called simply Aalto, revealing how he transformed ordinary and mundane materials into marvelously poetic spaces. Photographs and floor plans take us inside more than 200 key Aalto projects, including Villa Mairea, Essen Opera House and Finlandia Hall.
3D printing seems constantly on the cusp of a revolution. Now that the technology is firmly entrenched, the creative floodgates have opened wide and the design press is awash with physical objects that would otherwise have remained on the screen or drawing board. But prototyping, sketching and one-offs remain the primary output of the growing army of 3D printers churning away in studios around the globe, awaiting some killer app that will make this technology truly mainstream. Printing Things is both how-to guide and best-of collection of the contemporary state of the art. The emphasis is still skewed toward artistic projects, but practical projects are growing in number, be they medical, architectural or educational.
With hindsight, the studied chaos of deconstructivism really didn't stand a chance. The movement's proponents created their visions out of collage and densely layered drawings, soaking up the influence of earlier 20th-century avant gardes in homage to architecture's possibilities for an all-consuming experience. The pioneering project of the genre was Bernard Tschumi's Parc de la Villette, a sprawling science and exhibition centre in Paris, built on the site of the city's former abattoirs. Tschumi's masterplan eventually accommodated many of the major players of 1980s architecture, but it's the bright red 'follies' that still linger in the imagination. Each represented a fragmented diagram of the larger whole, forming a grid across the site. Artifice's new monograph traces Tschumi's competition-winning design from its earliest sketches through its completion.
Of course it is, for artist Gavin Turk has done everything in his power to subvert the relationship between artist, artwork, dealer and public. Of all the artists loosely corralled into the YBA movement two decades ago, Turk was always on the far fringes, never quite willing to submit to the art world tropes that consumed his peers. This Is Not a Book is sketchy and imprecise, less a monograph than a series of invited musings (featuring many of those starry peers), scattered with Turk's own thoughts and artworks. The latter are reproduced in Jim Hollingworth's sketches rather than glossy, full-colour photographs.
Two cities with very different architectural heritages get the full-on guide treatment from the publisher DOM. The Venice Architectural Guide goes for the city's lesser-known contemporary structures, focusing on works completed after 1950. That means a lot of Scarpa, new restorations and a hefty focus on the pavilions and halls that play host to Venice's famous biennales. Riga offers up the whole spectrum of architectural history, from classicism through art nouveau and functionalism. Each contains maps, plans and copious illustrations, making them a must-have for any eager archi-tourist.
Tom Wilkinson's new book is social history told through architectural invention, ancient and modern. We get ancient Rome and Babylon, the dawn of the modern era (Detroit's Highland Park factory), the birth of the welfare state (London's Finsbury Health Centre) and the conjunction of sex, feminism and sudden death in Eileen Gray's E1027 Villa in the South of France. Full of fascinating anecdotes and asides, Wilkinson's tome puts the human interest into architecture and shows when it comes up trumps - or fails badly.
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Melina Keays is the entertaining director of Wallpaper*. She has been part of the brand since the magazine’s launch in 1996, and is responsible for entertaining content across the print and digital platforms, and for Wallpaper’s creative agency Bespoke. A native Londoner, Melina takes inspiration from the whole spectrum of art and design – including film, literature, and fashion. Her work for the brand involves curating content, writing, and creative direction – conceiving luxury interior landscapes with a focus on food, drinks, and entertaining in all its forms
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Los Angeles’ best fine-dining restaurants
LA boasts a creative food scene driven by some of the world’s most innovative chefs. Browse the Wallpaper* guide to the city’s best fine-dining restaurants
By Kevin EG Perry Published
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First look at Maison 3, an eclectic new Parisian bar for sleepless nights
Maison 3 is an enigmatic space with a sensual atmosphere brought to life by the French studio Les Beaux Jours Architectures
By Fabienne Dupuis Published
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Chanel heads to Hangzhou, China for a poetic Métiers d’Art 2025 show
This evening in China (3 December 2024), Chanel travelled to Hangzhou’s much-mythologised West Lake, a Unesco World Heritage site, for a show that highlighted the extraordinary craft of the house’s artisans
By Jack Moss Published
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'Moroseta Kitchen' is a new recipe book offering a glimpse into the Puglian countryside
'Moroseta Kitchen - A Window Into The Puglian Countryside' by Giorgia Eugenia Goggi is based on the essence of eating in Italy, rooted in farm to table seasonal recipes
By Tianna Williams Published
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‘Bethlehem’ is a new recipe book celebrating Palestinian food
‘Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food’ is a recipe book by Fadi Kattan that celebrates culinary tradition and explores untold stories
By Tianna Williams Published
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René Redzepi, Mette Søberg and Junichi Takahashi on Noma’s new cookbook
Lifting the lid on Noma’s secrets, a new cookbook celebrates the pioneering restaurant’s season menus, and offers a deep dive behind the scenes
By Jeni Porter Last updated
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60-Second Cocktails book shakes up summer happy hour at home
This 60-Second Cocktails book brings summer happy hour into your home with easy but sophisticated cocktail recipes and tips to guide even novice shakers
By Martha Elliott Last updated
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New cookbook transforms horror movies into terrifying food art
Horror Caviar, the first cookbook from A24, features recipes inspired by horror movies, from creatives including Laila Gohar and Chloe Wise, alongside essays by Carmen Maria Machado, Stephanie LaCava, and more
By Mary Cleary Last updated
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Edible flowers: the how, the what and the why
A new book from Monacelli, Edible Flowers: How, Why, and When We Eat Flowers, uncovers a fascinating history
By Hannah Silver Last updated
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Match point: learn how to properly pair food and wine
Learn a thing or two about fine cooking and wine selection with this new book from the London Club
By Melina Keays Last updated
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Fragile Self’s multi-platform debut album is a fervent fusion of sound and vision
The designer behind David Bowie's album covers has released a multimedia album exploring the history of psychology and the definition of ‘normality'
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Last updated