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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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There is little genuine architectural criticism today. Colquhoun's writing is a wonderful, precise, and clear example of the genre.
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.
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.
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.
Apart from all its other attributes, one of the best books on the idea of the city as an architectural section.
Announcements
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy by John Lobell
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy
By John Lobell
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: June 2020
Noted Louis I.Kahn expert John Lobell explores how Kahn’s focus on structure, respect for materials, clarity of program, and reverence for details come together to manifest an overall philosophy.
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn by Harriet Pattison
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn
By Harriet Pattison
Publisher: Yale University Press
Forthcoming: October 2020
An intimate glimpse into the professional and romantic relationship between Harriet Pattison and the renowned architect Louis Kahn. Harriet Pattison, FASLA, is a distinguished landscape architect. She was Louis Kahn’s romantic partner from 1959 to 1974, and his collaborator on the landscapes of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the F.D.R. Memorial/Four Freedoms Park, New York. She is the mother of their son, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn.
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
By Per Olaf Fjeld and Emily Randall Fjeld
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Published: October 4, 2019
A new and personal reading of the architecture, teachings, and legacy of Louis I. Kahn from Per Olaf Fjeld’s perspective as a former student. The book explores Kahn’s life and work, offering a unique take on one of the twentieth century’s most important architects. Kahn’s Nordic and European ties are emphasized in this study that also covers his early childhood in Estonia, his travels, and his relationships with other architects, including the Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo.
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Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context by David Raizman
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context
By David Raizman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Published: December 2020
An innovative approach to graphic design that uses a series of key artifacts from the history of print culture in light of their specific historical contexts. It encourages the reader to look carefully and critically at print advertising, illustration, posters, magazine art direction, and typography, often addressing issues of class, race, and gender.
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian by Rick Poynor
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian
By Rick Poynor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: September 2020
A comprehensive overview of the work and legacy of David King (1943–2016), whose fascinating career bridged journalism, graphic design, photography, and collecting. King launched his career at Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s, starting as a designer and later branching out into image-led journalism, blending political activism with his design work.
Teaching Graphic Design History by Steven Heller
Teaching Graphic Design History
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: June 2019
An examination of the concerted efforts, happy accidents, and key influences of the practice throughout the years, Teaching Graphic Design History is an illuminating resource for students, practitioners, and future teachers of the subject.
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