The Four States of Architecture
From the Publisher. The work of New York architects Victoria Meyers and Thomas Hanrahan is remarkable for its interpretation of the modern world and minimalism, mixing ideas from philosophy and science.
Their palette of materials includes wood, stone, glass, and metals and these elements are carefully woven into the projects in finished and raw states. This gives the work both a natural and an abstract quality. Their work has an intellectual rigor stemming from the history of ideas and the arts, while maintaining a precise formal vocabulary that has allowed them to craft buildings that work equally well in rural and urban settings.
The four states of architecture described in this book—horizon, light, atmospheres, and ground—are derived from contemporary interpretations of matter, light, and the natural world. This book features 14 of Hanrahan and Meyers's projects, each of which is aligned with one of these states. The projects range in scale from individual residences to galleries, museums, and buildings for the performing arts. The context of ideas in which they are set crosses the boundaries that typically divide architecture, art, science, and experience.
The projects represented—three performance spaces, three galleries, two museums, one urban design project, and five residences—include Holley Loft, New York; Interpretive Center, Elise Chapin Wildlife Sanctuary, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Museum of Women, Battery Park City, New York; and Ojai Festival Shell, Libbey Park, Ojai, California. Includes forewords by Billie Tsien and Terence Riley
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.
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By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
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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.
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By Debbie Millman
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Published: April 15, 2025
From the award-winning artist, designer, and the host of the podcast Design Matters, Debbie Millman, this book tells the visual story of falling in love with gardening—and the philosophies that work conjures. Spread throughout are simple recipes using the garden’s ingredients from Millman’s wife, best-selling author Roxane Gay.
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Publisher: Gestalten
Published: June 2026
Seymour Chwast, legendary co-founder of Push Pin Studios, reinvented how we see and read picture books. The Picture Book Book gathers over 40 of his works, curated by Steven Heller, and offers a rare look at his playful, incisive approach to visual storytelling. From bold graphics to sly wit, Chwast’s books expanded the boundaries of design and children’s literature alike.
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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.”
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
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By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023
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