Book List of the Week

Imagining, Understanding, and Interpreting: Philip Freelon's Book List

By Steve Kroeter August 9, 2011

Philip Freelon

Architect Philip Freelon: The Freelon Group (Durham, NC)

One look at Philip Freelon's varied portfolio of architectural work—his most recent high-profile commission is the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture (with David Adjaye and Davis Brody Bond Aedas), planned for the Mall in Washington, D.C.—and it becomes clear that this decidedly public work is as much about stimulating insights and constructing cultural bridges as it is about the skillful interweaving of artful forms and technology. In addition to cultural institutions focused on the arts and history (the Atlanta Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Harvey Gantt Center for African-American Culture in Charlotte, NC, among others), Freelon’s firm has designed science research facilities, museums, and other buildings for university campuses (Duke, North Carolina State, Yale), buildings for healthcare and the workplace, and distinctive public libraries in Washington, D.C.

Freelon’s book choices for Designers & Books similarly reflect this approach, bringing us titles that “have broadened my understanding of the world” and are “centered on imagining, understanding, and interpreting environments.” These range from the science-fiction books Dune and Ender’s Game to a scientist’s understanding of our world interpreted for laymen (A Brief History of Time); noted historian (“and family friend”) John Hope Franklin’s seminal study From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans; and a book in which photography (“one of my favorite art forms”) is interpreted by a philosopher (Tao of Photography).

Architecture books in this vein include Nader Ardalan and Laleh Bakhtiar’s The Sense of Unity: The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture, “a refreshing and fascinating departure from the standard Western theories of form, space, and order.” Among the fundamental principles of Sufism the book discusses is the idea of “unity in multiplicity”—a concept that we can see would appeal to Freelon. He also singles out the classic student reference Architecture: Form, Space, and Order for its “drawings [that] are at once impeccable and soulful."

Freelon’s involvement with the arts extends to his wife, Nnenna Freelon (with whom he was featured in the 25th Annual Emerging issues Forum), a jazz singer, composer, producer, arranger, and six-time Grammy nominee. So we took the opportunity to ask him not only what he’s currently reading but also what new music he and his wife are currently listening to. The answers?

“I’m reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Nnenna and I are currently listening to our custom radio station created for Pandora, which is a blend of classic bossa nova from the ‘60s (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Sergio Mendes) and contemporary Brazilian artists (Djavan, Bebel Gilberto, Eliane Elias, Elis Regina, Ivan Lins, Milton Nascimento, Rosa Passos)—very hip stuff.”

The Shared Space of Architecture and Art: David Adjaye’s Book List

An Intellectual Affiliation: Mohsen Mostafavi’s Book List—Interview by Nicolai Ouroussoff

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