Chosen Books

Invited designers and commentators have chosen these as the books that inspire them and that have shaped their worldview or their ideas about design.

title a–z

Nonfiction, Interior Design

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76 books


Alexander Girard	Oldham, Todd et al.	Comments:
Anatomy for Interior Designers	Schroeder, Francis de N.
Apartments for the Affluent	Alpern, Andrew
Authentic Décor: The Domestic Interior 1620–1920	Thornton, Peter
Axel Vervoordt	Etherington-Smith, Meredith
Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors	Baron, Armelle
Behind the Picture Window	Rudofsky, Bernard
The Big Book of Chic	Redd, Miles
Billy Baldwin Decorates	Baldwin, Billy
Billy Baldwin Remembers	Baldwin, Billy
Bloomingdale’s Book of Home Decorating	D’Arcy, Barbara
By Design	Caplan, Ralph
Classic Style	Miller, Judith
David Adler: The Architect and His Work	Pratt, Richard
David Hicks on Decoration—with Fabrics	Hicks, David
David Hicks: A Life of Design	Hicks, Ashley
The Decoration of Houses	Wharton, Edith et al.
Designing the Modern Interior: From the Victorians to Today	Sparke, Penny
Donald Judd Furniture: Retrospective	Judd, Donald et al.
Dunbar: Fine Furniture of the 1950s	Piña, Leslie
Eileen Gray	Adam, Peter
Elsie de Wolfe: The Birth of Modern Interior Decoration	Sparke, Penny
The English House	Muthesius, Hermann
Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes	David, Fernand et al.
The Finest Rooms	Tweed, Katharine
The Finest Rooms in America	Jayne, Thomas
The Finest Rooms in France	Editors of French House & Garden,
Form & Decoration: Innovation in the Decorative Arts, 1470–1870	Thornton, Peter
Furniture from British India and Ceylon	Jaffer, Amin
The Furniture of Gerrit Thomas Rietveld	Baroni, Daniele
Great Houses of England and Wales	Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh et al.
Hans J. Wegner	Bernsen, Jens
High-tech	Kron, Joan et al.
The House in My Head	Rodgers, Dorothy
The House of Life	Praz, Mario
An Illustrated History of Interior Decoration: From Pompeii to Art Nouveau	Praz, Mario
In House	Moore, Derry et al.
Italian Splendor	Basehart, Jack et al.
Italy: The New Domestic Landscape	Ambasz, Emilio
Jansen	Abbott, James Archer
Jansen: Decoration	Leveque, Jean
Jean Royère	Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris,
Jean Royère	Lacoste, Jacques
Jean-Michel Frank	Chanaux, Adolphe et al.
John Fowler: Prince of Decorators	Wood, Martin
La Maison de Verre: Pierre Chareau’s Modernist Masterwork	Vellay, Dominique
La Villa Kérylos	Vian des Rives, Régis
Legendary Decorators of the Twentieth Century	Hampton, Mark
Les Décorateurs des années 40	Foucart, Bruno et al.
Les Réussites de la Décoration Française 1950–1960	Kernan, Thomas
Le Style Louis XVI	Jullian, Philippe
Maarten van Severen	Bekaert, Gert
Mark Hampton on Decorating	Hampton, Mark
Merry Hall	Nichols, Beverley
The Modern Interior	Sparke, Penny
Moderne: Fashioning the French	Schleuning, Sarah
Modernism: Designing a New World, 1914–1939	Wilk, Christopher
Neoclassicism in the North	Groth, Håkan
New York Interior Design, 1935–1985: Inventors of Tradition	Gura, Judith
Nouvelles Réussites de la Décoration Française, 1960-1966	Kernan, Thomas
Perché un libro su Enzo Mari (Why Write a Book on Enzo Mari)	Burkhardt, François et al.
Sir John Soane: The Architect as Collector, 1753-1837	Thornton, Peter et al.
The Splendor of France	Schezen, Roberto
Style and Design	Hicks, David
Style by Saladino	Saladino, John
Syrie Maugham: Staging the Glamorous Interior	Metcalf, Pauline
Tapio Wirkkala	Wirkkala, Tapio
Tony Duquette	Goodman, Wendy et al.
A Treasury of Scandinavian Design	Zahle, Erik
Visite Privée	Halard, François
Vogue’s Book of Houses, Gardens, People	Lawford, Valentine
What If...?: The Architecture and Design of David Rockwell	Pearlman, Chee et al.
What Is Modern Design?	Kaufmann Jr., Edgar
Wiener Werkstätte, Design in Vienna 1903-1932	Brandstätter, Christian
Women Designers in the USA, 1900–2000	Kirkham, Pat
The World of Gloria Vanderbilt	Goodman, Wendy et al.

Announcements

Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister

Now is Better

By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023

Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.

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Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future

By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022

Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.

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Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People

By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022

Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.

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Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber

Milton Glaser: POP

By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

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Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall

By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022

Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”

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Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)

By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023

This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.

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