Mohsen Mostafavi
An Intellectual Affiliation: Mohsen Mostafavi’s Book List
How does one compile a short list of personally meaningful books? One way is to surrender to an almost unconscious process of simply picking the first titles that come to mind, but that method tends to skew the collection toward volumes most recently read. Instead, I have attempted to filter the selection to highlight titles that have been both inspiring and in some way formative to me as a designer and a teacher. Many of the books so chosen reflect my sense of intellectual affiliation with admired authors as much as an appreciation of specific content.
Nonfiction, Architecture
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I was lucky enough to have met Summerson. This book is indispensable as a history of an important period in the development of London as well as for the study of architectural form and its social repercussions.
One of the last of the old-fashioned variety of “British Gentleman.” Price's architectural speculations and realized projects are still radical today. He was an inspiration for me, but more importantly to a generation of architects that includes Archigram, Foster, Rogers, Grimshaw, and Koolhaas, to name just a few.
Vesely is one the most influential teachers of architecture in the U.K. Originally from Prague, he is well versed in philosophy and art history. This book is the summation of years of research and thinking on creativity and its role within contemporary architectural practice. I feel fortunate to have both studied and taught with him.
Undoubtedly one of the most preeminent historians of architecture, Ackerman is still going strong, here unraveling the work of one of the greatest architects ever. I feel lucky to know James Ackerman as a friend.
Reyner (Pete) Banham was a genius in selecting topics of study well ahead of his time. This is one of the first and still one of the best books on the technologies of the building envelope and their consequences.
Apart from all its other attributes, one of the best books on the idea of the city as an architectural section.
Conrads’s little encyclopedia provides one of the best introductions to some of the most critical ideas in architecture during the iconic period of 20th-century modernism.
Tafuri was as adept at architectural and urban history as he was with the architecture of the recent past. This small volume—a manifesto of sorts—demonstrates the power of the ideas of the author as much as it does of the architecture that is the subject of its analysis.
This is one of the most concise reflections on the relationship between architecture and the city. Rossi brings together his knowledge of history, sociology, and geography to enhance our urban imagination.
Evans had an amazing mind and saw architectural ideas like no other. His writing has a lightness of touch that invariably makes the past vital for the present. I am glad that I had the opportunity to initiate putting these essays together.
There is little genuine architectural criticism today. Colquhoun's writing is a wonderful, precise, and clear example of the genre.
Three very short essays on Foucault's notion of the apparatus, on friendship, and on what it means to be contemporary. All three themes are of utmost relevance to designers.
A collection of essays on a wide-ranging set of themes bringing architecture and design under the same umbrella, demonstrating Rykwert's extraordinary range and originality.
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What is Universal Everything? edited by Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook
What is Universal Everything?
Edited by Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook; designed by Spin
Publisher: Unit Editions
Published: June 2019
Matt Pyke, founder and creative director of Universal Everything, calls his studio a “digital art and design collective.” Now, after 15 years of revolutionary work in the digital realm, the studio has its first book. For anyone interested in the future of digital design, the book features a unique cover for each copy of the book (limited to 2,000)—every buyer owns a one-off.
The Future of Design: Global Product Innovation for a Complex World by Lorraine Justice
The Future of Design: Global Product Innovation for a Complex World
by Lorraine Justice
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey
Published: June 4, 2019
Internationally recognized product design expert, TED speaker, and consultant to companies like Microsoft and Levi’s, shares the ten global factors that directly impact product design success and failure.
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City by Paul Goldberger
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City
By Paul Goldberger
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published: May 2019
An illustrated, entirely new look at the history of baseball: told through the stories of the vibrant and ever-changing ballparks where the game was and is staged, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic.
Charleston Fancy by Witold Rybczynski
Charleston Fancy: Little Houses and Big Dreams in the Holy City
By Witold Rybczynski
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: May 2019
Charleston, South Carolina, which boasts America’s first historic district, is known for its palmetto-lined streets and picturesque houses. The Holy City, named for its profusion of churches, exudes an irresistible charm. Award-winning author and cultural critic Witold Rybczynski unfolds a series of stories about a group of youthful architects, builders, and developers based in Charleston: a self-taught home builder, an Air Force pilot, a fledgling architect, and a bluegrass mandolin player.
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