Invited designers and commentators have chosen these as the books that inspire them and that have shaped their worldview or their ideas about design.
covers
14 books
As You Like It
William Shakespeare
On Ralph Rucci’s Book List
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Happy Days
Samuel Beckett
On Maira Kalman’s Book List
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The Importance of Being Ernest
Oscar Wilde
On Alexa Hampton’s Book List
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King Lear
William Shakespeare
On Ralph Rucci’s Book List
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Macbeth
William Shakespeare
On Norman Foster’s Book List
On Jonathan Barnbrook’s Book List
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
William Shakespeare
On Michael Sorkin’s Book List
On Ralph Rucci’s Book List
On Penny Drue Baird’s Book List
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Novecento
Alessandro Baricco
On Jean-Marie Massaud’s Book List
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Riders to the Sea
John Millington Synge
On Margaret McCurry’s Book List
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The Seagull
Anton Chekhov
On Massimo Vignelli’s Book List
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The Temptation of St. Anthony
Gustave Flaubert
On Daniel Libeskind’s Book List
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Three Sisters
Anton Chekhov
On Massimo Vignelli’s Book List
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Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare
On Norman Foster’s Book List
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Waiting for Godot
Samuel Beckett
On Sagi Haviv’s Book List
On Eric Owen Moss’s Book List
On Jonathan Barnbrook’s Book List
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William Shakespeare—The Complete Works
William Shakespeare
On Margaret McCurry’s Book List
On Angus Hyland’s Book List
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Best-Selling Design Books at Van Alen Books, New York

1
Building Seagram
Phyllis Lambert
2
Clog 6: Brutalism
Kyle May et al., eds.
3
Project Journal Issue 1
Project
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Newest Designers and Commentators

Matteo Thun
Architect, Interior Designer, Product/Industrial Designer, Lighting Designer; Italy
Michael Maharam
Writer; Executive; United States
Fritz Frenkler
Product/Industrial Designer; Germany
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Newly Chosen Books

De Kooning: An American Master
Mark Stevens
A Book of Spoons
Jasper Morrison
Hidden Forms
Franco Clivio
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20 Books on Textile Design

British Textiles: 1700 to the Present
Linda Parry
Katsuji Wakisaka: Japanese Textile Designer
Katsuji Wakisaka
Textile Arts of India
Kokyo Hatanaka
More books on textile design...

Recent Books by Our Contributors

Diller, Scofidio + Renfro: Lincoln Center Inside Out
Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, and Charles Renfro
Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced
Stephen Burrows
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec: Drawing
Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
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Contributors Who Chose...

Delirious New York
Rem Koolhaas
On 8 lists
Jeanne Gang
Architect; United States
Mohsen Mostafavi
Designer; Educator; United States
Galia Solomonoff
Architect; United States
Adam Tihany
Architect, Interior Designer, Product/Industrial Designer; United States
More...