Stanley Abercrombie
Stanley Abercrombie’s Notable Books of 2012
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This is important because it is so beautiful. Formentera, named for the Spanish island where interior designer Juan Montoya once lived, is a 110-acre site near the Hudson River town of Garrison, New York. There is, of course, an interesting house with skillful interiors, but the emphasis here is on nature—trees, forests, streams and ponds, subtly augmented with sculpture, walls and walks. Idyllic.
A compilation that deserves the adjective magisterial. Included are almost 800 20th-century buildings by almost 700 architects in 97 countries, almost all given exterior and interior photographs, floor plans, and explanatory texts. Who has the most entries? Le Corbusier with 12 buildings, followed by Marcel Breuer and Oscar Niemeyer with 11 each. An amazing reference.
England’s famously minimalist architect and designer here shares not his recent work (although some details of his own London house are included) but 260 full-page images from the hundreds of thousands he has collected around the world. I find it fascinating to see what has attracted and inspired him. Some things are, as expected, minimal—one of them just a streak of light on a wall—but many of them, such as a Gothic Revival stair by George Gilbert Scott, not minimal in the least.
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Understanding Understanding: New from Richard Saul Wurman
Understanding Understanding
by Richard Saul Wurman
Publisher: Richard Saul Wurman and Jack Dangermond
Published July 30, 2017
From the author of Information Architecture, who says about his newest book: “This is a book for people to dip into, as they would walk in and out of the room of a dinner party and embrace their interests. . . Before the rules on how to organize information, before you learn grammar, before you work hard at expanding your vocabulary and go through the exercises of parallel meanings of things as using a Thesaurus and as one writes papers in class, before any learning one must understand.”
The Hard Life by Jasper Morrison
The Hard Life
by Jasper Morrison
Publisher: Lars Müller Publishers
Published in US: May 22, 2017
Photographs taken by designer Jasper Morrison of objects in the collection of the National Museum of Ethnology in Lisbon, Portugal. “The objects photographed and described may be appreciated both for their beauty and for the example they set of design at its purest. The Hard Life is a continuation of Morrison’s celebration of the ordinary and offers a new perspective on his design philosophy.”
Paula Scher: Works - Order from Unit Editions
Paula Scher: Works
Editors: Tony Brook & Adrian Shaughnessy
Design: Spin
Publisher: Unit Editions
Published April 2017
New book covering the career of of master designer Paula Scher, called “the most influential woman graphic designer on the planet.” (Ellen Lupton), This definitive, chronological visual record spans Paula’s early days in the music industry as an art director with CBS and Atlantic records; the launch of her first studio, Koppel & Scher; and her 25-year engagement with Pentagram.
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Type Tells Tales: New from Steven Heller and Gail Anderson
Type Tells Tales
by Steven Heller and Gail Anderson
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published May 30, 2017
Reveals how type can become both content and illustration, as letters take the form of people, animals, cars, or planes. With numerous illustrations by F. T. Marinetti, Bruno Munari, and Francis Picabia, among others, as well as by contemporary designers such as Richard Eckersley, John Hendrix, Maira Kalman, and Corita Kent.
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