Notable Design Books of 2013
Also see Notable Books: Reviews, Notable Design Books of 2012 and Notable Design Books of 2011.
| Italian Liberty Style | De Guttry, Irene et al. | 24 Ore Cultura | $45.00 |
| Mapping Manhattan | Cooper, Becky et al. | Abrams | $19.95 |
| The Most Beautiful Opera Houses in the World | de Laubier, Guillaume et al. | Abrams | $60.00 |
| Experiments with Life Itself | González de Canales, Francisco | Actar | $39.95 |
| Design Forward | Esslinger, Hartmut | ARNOLDSCHE Art Publishers | $40.00 |
| Moroccan Carpets and Modern Art | Adam, Jürgen et al. | ARNOLDSCHE Art Publishers | $115.00 |
| Threads of Silk and Gold | McDermott, Hiroko T. et al. | Ashmolean Museum | $40.00 |
| Synesthetic Design | Haverkamp, Michael | Birkhäuser | $69.95 |
| The Invention of Craft | Adamson, Glenn | Bloomsbury | $29.95 |
| The Metropolitan Revolution | Katz, Bruce et al. | Brookings Institution Press | $29.95 |
| Eva Zeisel: Life, Design, and Beauty | Kirkham, Pat et al. | Chronicle Books | $50.00 |
| Dekho | Codesign, et al. | Codesign | $42.00 |
| Creative Confidence | Kelley, Tom et al. | Crown | $29.00 |
| Printer’s Devil | Loxley, Simon et al. | David R. Godine | $45.00 |
| Architectural Guide Japan | Bognar, Botond | DOM Publishers | $50.00 |
| Creative Engineering, Architecture, and Technology | Hammann, Ralph | DOM Publishers | $99.95 |
| Eileen Gray: Objects and Furniture Design | Espegel, Carmen et al. | Ediciones Polígrafa | $30.00 |
| The Pinecone | Uglow, Jenny | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | $28.00 |
| How Architecture Works | Rybczynski, Witold | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | $27.00 |
| Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940-1990 | Wit, Wim de et al. | Getty Research Institute | $59.95 |
| Hall of Femmes: Lella Vignelli | Bouabana, Samira et al. | Hall of Femmes/Oyster Press | $19.65 |
| Hall of Femmes: Tomoko Miho | Bouabana, Samira et al. | Hall of Femmes/Oyster Press | $19.65 |
| Hello World | Rawsthorn, Alice | Hamish Hamilton | $30.00 |
| The Afterlife of Emerson Tang | Champa, Paula | Houghton Mifflin | $26.00 |
| Cosmos of Light | Plummer, Henry | Indiana University Press | $39.00 |
| James Turrell: A Retrospective | Govan, Michael et al. | Prestel Publishing | $75.00 |
| The Light Pavilion | Kumpusch, Christoph a. | Lars Müller Publishers | $15.00 |
| Culture:City | Wang, Wilfried | Lars Müller Publishers | $55.00 |
| The Design Book: 1000 New Designs for the Home and Where to Find Them | Hudson, Jennifer | Laurence King Publishing | $30.00 |
| 100 Years of Architectural Drawing | Bingham, Neil | Laurence King Publishing | $50.00 |
| Irma Boom: The Architecture of the Book | Boom, Irma et al. | Lecturis | $45.50 |
| Everything Loose Will Land | Lavin, Sylvia et al. | Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg | |
| A Country of Cities | Chakrabarti, Vishaan | Metropolis Books | $29.95 |
| Never Built Los Angeles | Lubell, Sam et al. | Metropolis Books | $55.00 |
| Formica Forever | Lange, Alexandra et al. | Metropolis Books | $39.95 |
| Hippie Chic | Whitley, Lauren | MFA Publications | $35.00 |
| MVRDV Buildings | MVRDV, et al. | nai010 Publishers | $95.00 |
| Deventer | Stadler, Matthew et al. | nai010 Publishers | |
| Architecture of Santiniketan | Das, Samit | Niyogi Books | |
| The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon | Dalley, Stephanie | Oxford University Press | $34.95 |
| Graphic Icons | Clifford, John | Peachpit Press | $31.99 |
| Shiro Kuramata | Sudjic, Deyan et al. | Phaidon Press | $150.00 |
| Out There | Brito, Maria Gabriela | Pointed Leaf Press | $60.00 |
| PIN-UP Interviews | PIN-UP, et al. | powerHouse Books | $29.95 |
| Kamisaka Sekka | Trinh, Khanh et al. | Prestel Publishing | $50.00 |
| Theater of Architecture | Hardy, Hugh | Princeton Architectural Press | $50.00 |
| Shadow Type | Heller, Steven et al. | Princeton Architectural Press | $55.00 |
| Lolita—The Story of a Cover Girl: Vladimir Nabokov’s Novel in Art and Design | Bertram, John et al. | Print Publishing | $18.00 |
| Swiss Made | Breiding, R. James | Profile Books | |
| The Images of Architects | Olgiati, Valerio | Quart Architektur | |
| Encounters 2 | Pallasmaa, Juhani et al. | Rakennustieto | |
| Hand-Drying in America | Katchor, Ben | Random House | $29.95 |
| Luxurious Minimalism | von der Schulenburg, Fritz | Rizzoli International Publications | $60.00 |
| All the Buildings in New York *That I’ve Drawn So Far | Hancock, James Gulliver | Rizzoli International Publications | $19.95 |
| A New Sculpturalism | Mount, Christopher et al. | Rizzoli International Publications | $65.00 |
| Multiple Signatures | Rock, Michael | Rizzoli International Publications | $35.00 |
| Visions of Seaside | Thadani, Dhiru A. et al. | Rizzoli International Publications | $75.00 |
| Discovering Architecture | Jodidio, Philip et al. | Rizzoli International Publications | $45.00 |
| Mario Buatta: Fifty Years of American Interior Decoration | Buatta, Mario et al. | Rizzoli International Publications | $75.00 |
| It’s Modern: The Eye and Visual Influence of Alexander Liberman | Churchward, Charles | Rizzoli International Publications | $65.00 |
| Fashion Design, Referenced | Kennedy, Alicia et al. | Rockport Publishers | $41.25 |
| Interviewing Users | Portigal, Steve | Rosenfeld Media | $39.00 |
| Everything Sings: Maps for a Narrative Atlas | Wood, Denis | Siglio | $32.00 |
| Carlo Scarpa: Venini, 1932–1947 | Barovier, Marino | Rizzoli International Publications | $95.00 |
| D&AD: 50 | Stanley, Ron | TASCHEN | $59.99 |
| Emilio Pucci | Friedman, Vanessa et al. | TASCHEN | $69.99 |
| Álvaro Siza: Complete Works 1952–2013 | Jodidio, Philip | TASCHEN | $150.00 |
| Architecture on the Carpet | Vale, Brenda et al. | Thames & Hudson | $27.95 |
| Various Small Books: Referencing Various Small Books of Ed Ruscha | Brouws, Jeff et al. | The MIT Press | $39.95 |
| Handbook of California Design, 1930-1965 | Tigerman, Bobbye | The MIT Press | $34.95 |
| Albert Speer | Krier, Léon et al. | The Monacelli Press | $75.00 |
| Paradise Planned | Stern, Robert A. M. et al. | The Monacelli Press | $95.00 |
| Henri Labrouste | Bélier, Corinne et al. | The Museum of Modern Art | $55.00 |
| Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes | Cohen, Jean-Louis et al. | The Museum of Modern Art | $75.00 |
| Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Architecture after Images | Dimendberg, Edward | The University of Chicago Press | $65.00 |
| The Library | Campbell, James W. P. et al. | The University of Chicago Press | $75.00 |
| The Sustainable Fashion Handbook | Black, Sandy | Thames & Hudson | $55.00 |
| Type Only | Sinclair, Mark et al. | Unit Editions | $68.00 |
| Staircases | Tusquets Blanca, Oscar | The Vendome Press | $75.00 |
| Tom Dixon: Dixonary | Dixon, Tom | Violette Editions | $49.95 |
| City of Ambition | Williams, Mason B. | W. W. Norton | $29.95 |
| Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design | Kidd, Chip | Workman | $17.95 |
| James Stirling: Revisionary Modernist | Lawrence, Amanda Reeser | Yale University Press | $45.00 |
| Building Seagram | Lambert, Phyllis et al. | Yale University Press | $65.00 |
| The Houses of Louis Kahn | Marcus, George H. et al. | Yale University Press | $65.00 |
| Lina Bo Bardi | Lima, Zeuler Rocha Mello de Almeida et al. | Yale University Press | $65.00 |
| Wunderkammer | Williams, Tod et al. | Yale University Press | $29.00 |
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.
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.
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.”
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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