Designers & Books Blog

 

856 blog entries
The Proust Questionnaire — Book Edition
By Adrian Shaughnessy November 14, 2013

As November 14 is the actual 100th anniversary date of the first publication of Swann’s Way—the almost 500-page first book in Proust’s lengthy and leisurely journey into his thoughts—we thought it fitting to post Adrian Shaughnessy’s answers today, the longest and most detailed we’ve received, and as Adrian says about a book in one of his answers, “fatally compelling.” More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter January 3, 2013

Landscape designer Margie Ruddick: Margie Ruddick Landscape (Philadelphia)
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“Novels and poetry have more power than textbooks to convey landscape ideas,” asserts landscape designer Margie Ruddick, whose work includes New York’s Queens Plaza; which has won awards for promoting a new idea of nature in the city, and the Living Water Park in Chengdu, the first ecological park in China, which cleans polluted river water biologically. More...

Architecture
By Steve Kroeter February 14, 2012

Architect Galia Solomonoff: Solomonoff Architecture Studio (SAS) (New York)
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The architect Galia Solomonoff, a native of Argentina, traces her attachment to books to a memorable incident: “In 1975, my parents burned a significant and dear part of our library as Isabel Perón signed a number of decrees empowering the military to ‘annihilate’ the Argentine left. It was a Sunday morning in winter. We were at our suburban house on the Paraná River and I was seven. I passed books to my father in silence; we did a barbecue to cover up the burning of the books.” More...

Daily Features
By Zara Arshad October 17, 2013

This year’s AGI Open—easily graphic design’s most high-profile annual international conference—took place in London at the end of September. Organized by Tony Brook (Spin, Unit Editions), Angus Hyland (Pentagram, London), and Adrian Shaughnessy (Unit Editions), and the AGI UK board, sessions covered education, gender, clients with ideas, and the pluses and pitfalls of collaboration.  More...

Daily Features
January 16, 2014

Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister will sign personalized copies of the latest edition of his book Things I have learned in my life so far at his New York studio on February 6. Can’t be there? You can still get a personally inscribed copy! More...

The Proust Questionnaire — Book Edition
By Alexandra Lange November 25, 2013

Critic and author Alexandra Lange is a fan of Jane Austen: “In my dreams I wake up one day and write the Pride and Prejudice of the contemporary design world,” she says in one of her answers to The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition. More...

The Proust Questionnaire — Book Edition
By Alice Rawsthorn November 26, 2013

Alice Rawsthorn’s favorite place to buy books (it’s in Cambridge), the best “book as object” she owns (it’s very small), and more answers to The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition. More...

Daily Features
By Stela Razzaque, Superscript November 22, 2013

Bookstores can be magical places that transport us to a different time and place. In celebration of the written word, here are five of our favorite unconventional bookstores from across the country. More...

Architecture
By Steve Kroeter June 19, 2012

Architect Neil Denari: Neil M. Denari Architects (Los Angeles)
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Architect Neil Denari is “primarily a reader of nonfiction.” He tells Designers & Books, “Reports, almanacs, and encyclopedias have always interested me as they dryly lay out apparently unbiased information. I am also interested in the opposite: spurious conjectures, crackpot theories, conspiracies, and theoretical arguments.” More...

Architecture
By Steve Kroeter August 2, 2011

Architect Winka Dubbeldam: Archi-Tectonics (New York)
book list
In an interview earlier this year, Winka Dubbeldam recalled that her parents enjoyed buying and building new homes—an obsession that resulted in her moving 15 times in the 17 years she lived with them. It isn’t really a surprise, then, that she ended up as an architect with a particular interest in progressive residential work. Her worldwide reputation now also extends to office tower, commercial, hospitality, and interior design work. More...