May book news: eight new tomes to add to your shelves

Slacklands
By Corinna Dean

Writer and Wallpaper* contributor Corinna Dean has turned her eye to the hinterlands of the British rural experience for her new book, Slacklands. Subtitled a 'Guide to Rural Contemporary Architecture' and with a foreword by Margaret Howell, the book presents a catalogue of rural architecture with a twist. This isn't the story of bucolic barns or picturesque farmhouses, but rather the rotting tail-end of militarisation and industrialisation, the great expanses of post Cold War wasteland that has somehow emerged as a new form of picturesque and place of pilgrimage.

Published by Archive for Rural Contemporary Architecture, £18.95

Tertium Quid
By Murray Moss

Curator and gallerist Murray Moss lets his pictorial imagination run wild in his new monograph from August Editions. Tertium Quid, limited to just 1250 numbered copies, creates new stories out of the juxtaposition of old images, culled from press archives and wire services from the past few decades of American history. The result is a triumph of the strange, uncanny and ephemeral with striking diptychs set up throughout the book, complete with their scrawled, mysterious reverses.

Published by August Editions, $75

Building as Ornament
By Michiel van Raaij

It hasn't escaped our notice that architecture is getting more elaborate; the most structurally baroque examples of late period modernism are now vying with Post-Modernism's most ostentatious statements. Building as Ornament is a visual survey of the iconic structure, featuring interviews with Ben van Berkel, Winy Maas, Charles Jencks and many other proponents of ‘signature’ buildings. Author and architect Michiel van Raaij traces the style’s evolution from simplistic statement into bold, innovative design.

Published by nai010 Publishers, €22.50

Art & Ecology Now
By Andrew Brown

This survey of contemporary responses to climate change, our relationship with nature and the growth of environmentalism takes up where the 1970s-era Land Art movement left off. Comprising the work of nearly 100 contemporary artists, Art & Ecology Now runs from small-scale commentary to massive in situ pieces that change our relationship with place, such as David Maisel’s large-scale images of industry-scarred lakes. 

Published by Thames & Hudson, £29.95

A Pelican Introduction

Pelicans were the ultimate self-improvement books; from 1937 to 1984 nearly 3,000 titles were publishing to introduce high concepts to mass audiences. Now the familiar hue and classically simple covers are back as the company bids to bring back the idea of big ideas in compact, affordable packages. The first set of titles delves into modern Russia, economic theory, ancient Greece and human evolution, amongst other things. At just £7.99 each (£4.99 for the Kindle - which rather negates the 'collect the set mentality' of the design), they're designed to evoke the ethos of the original series and bring back the spirit of enquiry.

Published by Pelican, £7.99

London’s New Routemaster
By Tony Lewin with a foreword by Thomas Heatherwick

One for the transport buffs, but also an interesting tale of the efforts cities need to go to in order to get what they want. Thomas Heatherwick's Routemaster is now a firm fixture on the capital's streetscape, but the bus' journey from drawing board to depot needed not just design skills but political savviness and the desire to follow the route to its conclusion. Beginning with a short history of London’s buses, the book traces Heatherwick’s competition-winning design (including a look at its rivals) through the tendering and refinement process. Eventually some 600 new Routemasters will ply the city’s streets, and are expected to stay in service for some two decades.

Published by Merrell, £25

Manhattan Classic: New York's Finest Prewar Apartments
By Geoffrey Lynch

Delve into the world of terrifying condo boards, uniformed doormen and sumptuously panelled country houses in the sky with Manhattan Classic, a journey through old money and classic style. The glassy, angular modern penthouse has largely usurped the traditional image of the rooftop apartment, but Geoffrey Lynch - an architect with a penchant for the period - has tracked down the best examples of New York's very particular breed of stately homes, with sumptuous photography and plans for the armchair snooper to peruse.

Published by Princeton Architectural Press, £30

Behind the Green Door: A Critical Look at Sustainable Architecture Through 600 Objects
By Rotor

Published by the Oslo Architecture Triennale, Behind the Green Door is focused on the emergence of sustainable design. The catalogue of a 600 object-strong exhibition held during last year’s Triennale, curated by Belgian collective Rotor, it presents a cornucopia of ideas, thoughts, experiments and products that build up a positive set of strategies to improve the world. 

Published by Oslo Architecture Triennale, €28