Chosen Books

Invited designers and commentators have chosen these as the books that inspire them and that have shaped their worldview or their ideas about design.

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Nonfiction, Architecture

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318 books

Archizoom Associati, 1966–1974 Roberto Gargiani On Paolo Deganello’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Walter Pichler: Zwei Troge, Wasserrinnen Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman Add to My Reading List	Critical Path R. Buckminster Fuller On Norman Foster’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Nine Chains to the Moon R. Buckminster Fuller On Norman Foster’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth R. Buckminster Fuller On Norman Foster’s Book List On Carlo Ratti’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Design Activism Alastair Fuad-Luke On Zoë Ryan’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Shack Chic Craig Fraser On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Modern Architecture, 1851-1945 Kenneth Frampton On list of Books by Kenneth Frampton Add to My Reading List
Studies in Tectonic Culture Kenneth Frampton On Terence Riley’s Book List On Barry Bergdoll’s Book List On list of Books by Kenneth Frampton Add to My Reading List	The Details of Modern Architecture Edward R. Ford On Witold Rybczynski’s Book List On Barry Bergdoll’s Book List Add to My Reading List	A History of Architecture Sir Banister Fletcher On Hugh Newell Jacobsen’s Book List Add to My Reading List	A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method Banister Fletcher On Norman Foster’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Disappearing Architecture Georg Flachbart et al. On Zoë Ryan’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Zone 1/2 Michel Feher et al. On Terence Riley’s Book List On Neil Denari’s Book List On Greg Lynn’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays Robin Evans On Mohsen Mostafavi’s Book List On David Adjaye’s Book List Add to My Reading List	The Projective Cast Robin Evans On Richard Meier’s Book List On Victoria Meyers’s Book List Add to My Reading List
House X Peter Eisenman On list of Books by Peter Eisenman On Greg Lynn’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Recueil et Parallèle des Edifices de tout genre Anciens et Modernes Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand On Michael Graves’s Book List Add to My Reading List	La Villa Kérylos Vian des Rives On David Easton’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Trutg dil Flem: Seven Bridges by Jürg Conzett Wilfried Dechau et al. Add to My Reading List	The Architecture of Happiness Alain de Botton On Paul Goldberger’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Carlo Scarpa: The Complete Works Francesco Dal Co et al. On David Piscuskas’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Carlo Scarpa: Theory, Design, Projects Maria Antonietta Crippa On Juergen Riehm’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Ancient Greek Architects at Work: Problems of Structure and Design J. J. Coulton On Cino Zucchi’s Book List Add to My Reading List
Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-Century Architecture Ulrich Conrads On Mohsen Mostafavi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Essays in Architectural Criticism Alan Colquhoun On Barry Bergdoll’s Book List On Mohsen Mostafavi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Modern Architecture Alan Colquhoun On Deborah Berke’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media Beatriz Colomina On Jessica Helfand’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture Peter Collins On Witold Rybczynski’s Book List Add to My Reading List	A Hut of One’s Own Ann Cline On Peter Bohlin’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Re-cycle Pippo Ciorra, ed. On Paolo Deganello’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Architecture: Form, Space, and Order Francis D. K. Ching On Philip Freelon’s Book List Add to My Reading List
Community and Privacy Serge Chermayeff et al. On Norman Foster’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Emotionally Durable Design John Chapman On Zoë Ryan’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Diary of the Cavaliere Bernini’s Visit to France Paul Fréart de Chantelou On Daniel Libeskind’s Book List Add to My Reading List	The Power Broker Robert Caro On Nancye Green’s Book List On Jaquelin Robertson’s Book List Add to My Reading List	By Design Ralph Caplan On Nancye Green’s Book List On Jennifer Morla’s Book List On Jeffrey Bernett’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Architecture of Truth François Cali On Michael Maharam’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Architetture nel Segno dei Maestri Claudio Buttafava et al. On Daniel Libeskind’s Book List Add to My Reading List	The Architecture of Sir Edwin Lutyens A.S.G. Butler On Peter Pennoyer’s Book List Add to My Reading List

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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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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.

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Love Letter to a Garden by Debbie Millman

Love Letter to a Garden

By Debbie Millman
Contributions by Roxane Gay
Publisher: Timber Press
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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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.

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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.”

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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.

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