
Shashi Caan
Shashi Caan’s Book List
Intrigued with interactions, phenomena, and life’s pervasive yet seemingly intangible aspects, I love pondering experience and language. Words are our expression and our power. Communication fosters connection and exchange. Thinking gives meaning to the subject of pondering, which utilizes words. As the experimental psychologist Steven Pinker says, “Language is so tightly woven into human expression that it is scarcely possible to imagine life without it. Chances are that if you find two or more people together anywhere on earth they will soon be exchanging words. When there is no one to talk with, people talk to themselves, to their dogs, even to their plants.” (Stephen Pinker, The Language Instinct, 1994).
As a product of an amalgamation of three of the world’s distinct regions—with an Asian heritage, a European education and the last two decades spent in America—I am an embodiment of my interpretation of the confluence of sometimes conflicting cultural views and constructs. Very much aware of the diversity of societal mores and values, my understanding of people and cultures is fundamentally impacted by books and literature from around the world. Seeking to comprehend the core and unifying criteria binding all of humanity (outside of human biology), I find people remain as much the same as they are different.
With these ruminations, my selected list of ten books, reflecting my readings over the past three decades, is eclectic yet narrow. The ideas in these books inform my design thinking but are not specific to design. These are some of my favorites, which continue to stimulate and provide insight and satisfaction. Mostly, these and other readings have helped me to gain cultural liberation, providing a personal sense of freedom toward the shaping of a thoughtful and necessary 21st-century world society.
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This story reminds me of life’s journey and the conditions we encounter. By association, it reminds of the potential for interpretation and alternate possibilities—and our solemn responsibility for our deeper consideration of the consequences of our actions within society and culture.
An extraordinary life story, this factual and well-written book is often hard to believe or imagine. It reminds me to remain open to incredible possibilities and that there is much in life which remains a mystery and unknown.
A clever and easy to read book on "how to better punctuate" in the English language, this is an essential companion for improving one’s writing ability. Delightful and witty in its delivery, it is as good a read as it is educational.
Written with simplicity and imagination, this satirical parable is entertaining and educational. It challenges us to expand our capacity to rethink the possibility of other-dimensional life within our vast universe, and inspires the cultivation of greater conceptual prospects. Implicit in the story is the human acceptance of limitations and the status quo. These ideas are required to be rethought and possibly challenged by the designer.
Short chapters that are magnificent in their breadth of subject matter and depth of meaning. Exploring the ordinary and everyday objects and happenings, Barthes provides a critique that is intriguing in its consideration of the shaping of changed meanings, by design, in society and culture. He also inspires the questioning of myth, our reality, and the related significance.
Grounded in his thoughts of the shaping of a better English society, this book presents Morris’s image of a superior future though his personal lens of an idealized version of the past. It is especially relevant now given the current resurgence of interest in craft and the importance of local expression in many nations around the world.
Storytelling at its best, this brilliant book simultaneously stimulates the imagination and intellect. The narrative flattens dimensional time and human existence, while seamlessly flip-flopping between the real and the surreal. It also provides a view into an aspect of the psyche of the uniquely Mexican/Latin imagination.
While depicting life in the society and era of a bygone India, these captivating and vivid stories shed insight into our commonly shared human nature.
This accessible color theory book is both illuminating and surprising. Since the book is devoid of pictures, reconstructing the experiments by following the writing results in experiential learning. This is a “must read” for anyone interested in better understanding human response to our physical world. It explains the phenomenological interactions of light, color, and form that help to shape our daily experiences. This book and the writings of Johannes Itten and Josef Albers, other equally important color theoreticians, are foundational reading for anyone interested in architecture and design.
Not the easiest of reads, this book is exemplary in the expression of ideas through observation and the dissection of contemporary society and culture. Eco is inspirational in his multifaceted exploration of writing from different vantage points, including scholarship, mass media (newspapers and magazines), and fiction.
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.
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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