Architecture Concepts: Red is Not a Color

Add to My Reading List

Bernard Tschumi

Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2012, English

Nonfiction, Architecture

7.5 x 9.5 inches, hardcover, 776 pages, 1,195 color illustrations

ISBN: 9780847837977

Suggested Retail Price: $85.00

From the Publisher. An autobiographical look at the work of a seminal modernist architect. This is the first comprehensive treatment of the architecture of Bernard Tschumi. Part monograph, part architectural theory, and part story, the book narrates a three-decade journey through a personal history of architecture and architectural ideas, intertwining theory, practice, and hypothetical projects with forty built works. From Tschumi’s many written works, such as Architecture and Disjunction and The Manhattan Transcripts to such renowned projects as the Parc de la Villette in Paris, major concert halls in Geneva, Switzerland, and in Rouen and Limoges, France, a high-rise in Manhattan, the Vacheron Constantin Headquarters in Geneva, the Paris Zoo, and the Acropolis Museum in Athens, the book presents a profusely illustrated tour through the work of the architect, set in the context of a rich history of architectural ideas. Written for the layperson as well as the specialist, the book is an entertaining narrative about the condition of architecture today.

On 1 book list

John Hill

On John Hill’s Notable Books of 2012 list

This hefty tome (776 pages, just shy of 7 pounds) spans five decades of Bernard Tschumi’s architecture and writing and reveals that plus-sized monographs—à la Rem Koolhaas’s S,M,L,XL—still have their place (Thomas Heatherwick: Making is another biggie worth commending). Across five sections in roughly chronological order, Tschumi recounts the creation of his varied output (from the Manhattan Transcripts to a zoo under construction in Paris). Curiously he writes in the second person, a tactic that is intended, among other things, to “draw the reader in,” and which ultimately is successful due to the text’s conversational tone and its thoughtful integration with numerous illustrations.

comments powered by Disqus

Announcements

Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister

Now is Better

By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023

Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.

Order the book.

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future

By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022

Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.

Order the book.

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People

By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022

Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.

Order the book.

Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber

Milton Glaser: POP

By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

Order the book.

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall

By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022

Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”

Order the book.

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)

By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023

This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.

Order the book.