Book List of the Week

Book List of the Week: Five Designers Who Read Poetry

March 31, 2014

April is National Poetry Month in the U.S. In honor, we take a look at five designers’ book lists from our archive that have included books of poetry—by authors ranging from Shakespeare to Mark Strand—as design inspiration. The designers are architects Deborah Berke (featured in our post “Every Carefully Selected Word and Each Elegantly Constructed Sentence”) and Victoria Meyers (“Michelangelo Suffered During the Design Process, Too”); graphic designer Peter Mendelsund (“Lessons Learned”); fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi (“Tables Made of Books”); and product designer Cleto Munari (“Friendships with Designers and Writers and Artists”). For more, see all poetry books chosen by designers. (Updated April 7, 2015)

“Man and Camel,” glass and aluminum table (2009) by poet Mark Strand, produced by Cleto Munari
Deborah Berke's Book List

I have always loved books—books of all kinds. I like reading books, I like being in rooms where there are books, I get inspiration from books, I like giving books as gifts, I like having a book with me.

My list is an eclectic one of books I have enjoyed and books I have learned from. I always have a large pile of books—fiction and nonfiction, books with images and books without, poetry, plays, collections and surveys, essays—on my nightstand, and always a book in my bag.

Peter Mendelsund's Book List

I don’t believe I’ve ever read a “design book” in my entire life. (I don’t think I’ve ever read a single book devoted solely to the visual arts or architecture either, unless you include the occasional biography of a painter, or an essay collection here and there that might have happened to include some piece or other on design or the visual arts.) Furthermore, I have no formal training as a designer so I wasn’t asked to read these books in an academic program either.

Isaac Mizrahi's Book List

Richard Avedon, Tibor Kalman, William Makepeace Thackeray. As a general category, books are probably the most inspiring objects in my life—whether it’s literature or picture books or cookbooks or self-help. Some of my favorite tables are made of stacks of books!

Victoria Meyers's Book List

I selected my books for many reasons. Some books have followed me around for a very long time (I started reading Frank Lloyd Wright’s writings when I was seven or eight.). Some books on the list were given to me by relatives whom I was close to (The Poetry of Robert Frost, given to me by my aunt). Complete Poems and Selected Letters of Michelangelo catalogues a life that I can relate to—suffering because of the design process! Some books got me through dark times with good advice, others with their amazing humor (John Cage and Andy Warhol).

Cleto Munari's Book List

In thinking about some of my favorite books I cannot avoid dreaming about my own desires for adventure and imaginary worlds. Dumas and Salgari are part of those childhood fantasies whereas my early adulthood found me leaning toward the aristocratic world described by authors like Tomasi di Lampedusa. Other books on this list are associated with my friendships and interactions with fiction writers such as Mahfouz and Saramago, or poets met through a friend of mine who translates and works with poets, including Wole Soyinka, Mark Strand, and Manuel Alegre.

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