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.

title a–z

Nonfiction, Architecture

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318 books


Achille Castiglioni	Polano, Sergio	Comments:
Against Architecture	Hollier, Denis
Ai Weiwei’s Blog: Writings, Interviews, and Digital Rants, 2006–2009	Weiwei, Ai
AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.)	White, Norval et al.
Aircraft	Le Corbusier,
Albert Kahn: Architect of Ford	Bucci, Federico
Alexander Girard	Oldham, Todd et al.
American Architecture	Kimball, Fiske
American Architecture and Urbanism	Scully, Vincent
American Buildings and Their Architects, vol. 5: The Impact of European Modernism in the Mid-twentieth Century	Jordy, William H.
Ancient Greek Architects at Work: Problems of Structure and Design	Coulton, J. J.
Animal Architecture	von Frisch, Karl
Ant Farm	Scott, Felicity
Apartments for the Affluent	Alpern, Andrew
The Arcades Project	Benjamin, Walter
Architectonic Space	van der Laan, Hans
An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles	Gebhard, David et al.
Architectural Ornament	Brolin, Brent C.
Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation	Vesely, Dalibor
Architecture and Politics in Germany: 1918-1945	Lane, Barbara Miller
Architecture: Choice or Fate	Krier, Léon
The Architecture of the City	Rossi, Aldo
Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity	Trachtenberg, Marvin et al.
Architecture in Britain 1530–1830	Summerson, John
The Architecture of Michelangelo	Ackerman, James S.
The Architecture of Community	Krier, Léon
The Architecture of H. H. Richardson and His Times	Hitchcock, Henry-Russell
The Architecture of Happiness	De Botton, Alain
The Architecture of Humanism: A Study in the History of Taste	Scott, Geoffrey
The Architecture of Sir Edwin Lutyens	Butler, A.S.G.
Architecture of Truth	Cali, François et al.
Architecture on the Edge of Postmodernism	Stern, Robert A. M. et al.
Architecture: The Natural and the Manmade	Scully, Vincent
Architecture and Utopia	Tafuri, Manfredo
The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment	Banham, Reyner
Architecture Without Architects	Rudofsky, Bernard
Architecture: Form, Space, and Order	Ching, Francis D. K.
The Architecture of Ludwig Wittgenstein	Leitner, Bernhard
Architettura addio	Mendini, Alessandro
Architetture nel Segno dei Maestri	Buttafava, Claudio et al.
Archizoom Associati, 1966–1974	Gargiani, Roberto
The Artless Word: Mies van der Rohe on the Building Art	Neumeyer, Fritz
Arts & Architecture: The Entenza Years	Goldstein, Barbara
As I Was Saying	Rowe, Colin
Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals	Payne, Christopher et al.
At Home by the Sea	Vanden Brink, Brian et al.
Ausgeführte Bauten und Entwürfe von Frank Lloyd Wright (Studies and Executed Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright)	Wright, Frank Lloyd
Autobiografia scientifica (A Scientific Autobiography)	Rossi, Aldo
Barragán Guide	Barragán, Luis
The Bauhaus Reassessed: Sources and Design Theory	Naylor, Gillian
Bauhaus: Weimar, Dessau, Berlin, Chicago	Wingler, Hans
Behind the Picture Window	Rudofsky, Bernard
Bertram Goodhue	Wyllie, Romy
Between Zero and Infinity	Libeskind, Daniel
Big Jim	Girouard, Mark
Brunelleschi’s Dome	King, Ross
Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi: Best of Friends	Sadao, Shoji et al.
The Building Erected in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition 1851	Gibbs-Smith, Charles H.
Building with Nantucket in Mind	Lang, J. Christopher et al.
By Design	Caplan, Ralph
Carlo Scarpa	Saito, Yutaka
Carlo Scarpa: Theory, Design, Projects	Crippa, Maria Antonietta
Carlo Scarpa: Architecture in Details	Albertini, Bianca et al.
Carlo Scarpa: The Complete Works	Dal Co, Francesco et al.
Cedric Price (Works II) [The Square Book]	Price, Cedric
Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture	Collins, Peter
Charles and Ray Eames	Kirkham, Pat
The Charlottesville Tapes	Various authors; transcript of conference at the University of Virginia, November 12–13, 1982,
Chicago’s Famous Buildings	Schulze, Franz et al.
Churches in Rock	Gerster, Georg
The City Observed: Los Angeles	Moore, Charles
Classic Style	Miller, Judith
The Classical Language of Architecture	Summerson, John
Community and Privacy	Chermayeff, Serge et al.
Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture	Venturi, Robert
Conditions	Snøhetta,
Constant’s New Babylon	Wigley, Mark
Cosmos of Light	Plummer, Henry
The Country Houses of David Adler	Salny, Stephen
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things	McDonough, William et al.
Creation is a Patient Search (L’atelier de la recherche patiente)	Le Corbusier,
A Critic Writes: Essays by Reyner Banham	Banham, Reyner
Critical Path	Fuller, R. Buckminster
The Curves of Time	Niemeyer, Oscar
David Adler: The Architect and His Work	Pratt, Richard
Delirious New York	Koolhaas, Rem
Design Activism	Fuad-Luke, Alastair
Design After Modernism: Beyond the Object	Thackara, John
Design Like You Give a Damn	Sinclair, Cameron et al.
Design with Climate	Olgyay, Victor
Design with Nature	McHarg, Ian
The Details of Modern Architecture	Ford, Edward R.
The Devil in the White City	Larson, Erik
Dialogues	Valéry, Paul
Diary of the Cavaliere Bernini’s Visit to France	Chantelou, Paul Fréart de
Differences	Solà-Morales Rubió, Ingnasi
Digital Water Pavilion	Ratti, Carlo
Disappearing Architecture	Flachbart, Georg
Donald Judd: Raume Spaces	Judd, Donald et al.
The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods	Scully, Vincent
The Edifice Complex	Sudjic, Deyan
Edifices de Rome Moderne	Letarouilly, Paul Marie
Education of an Architect	Hejduk, John
Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future	Pelkonen, Eeva-Liisa et al.
Eileen Gray	Adam, Peter
Eléments et théorie de l’architecture	Guadet, Julien
Eliot Noyes	Bruce, Gordon
Emotionally Durable Design	Chapman, Jonathan
An Engineer Imagines	Rice, Peter
English Country Houses	Hussey, Christopher
The English House	Muthesius, Hermann
Esperienza dell’Architettura	Rogers, Ernesto
Essays in Architectural Criticism	Colquhoun, Alan
The Essential Frank Lloyd Wright: Critical Writings on Architecture	Wright, Frank Lloyd et al.
Essential Le Corbusier: L’Esprit Nouveau Articles	Le Corbusier,
Experiencing Architecture	Rasmussen, Steen Eiler
The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses	Pallasmaa, Juhani
A Field Guide to Landmarks of Modern Architecture in Europe	Stimpson, Miriam F.
File Under Architecture	Muschamp, Herbert
Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture	Schorske, Carl E.
For an Architecture of Reality	Benedikt, Michael
The Four Books on Architecture	Palladio, Andrea
Frank Lloyd Wright	Huxtable, Ada Louise
Frank Lloyd Wright	Secrest, Meryle
Frank Lloyd Wright: An Autobiography	Wright, Frank Lloyd
Frank Lloyd Wright: Collected Writings, Vol. 1, 1894–1930	Wright, Frank Lloyd et al.
Frei Otto: Complete Works	Nerdinger, Winfried
Friedrich Kiesler: Architekt, Maler, Bildhauer, 1890–1965	Bogner, Dieter
From Bauhaus to Our House	Wolfe, Tom
From the Ground Up	Mumford, Lewis
The Functional Tradition in Early Industrial Buildings	Richards, J. M.
Fundamentals	Koolhaas, Rem
The Future of Architecture	Wright, Frank Lloyd
The Gardens of Russell Page	Schinz, Marina et al.
Geoffrey Bawa	Taylor, Brian Brace
Georgian London	Summerson, John
Gerrit Rietveld	van Zijl, Ida
Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism	Panofsky, Erwin
Great Houses of England and Wales	Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh et al.
Hans Richter, New Living	Janser, Andres et al.
Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping	Koolhaas, Rem et al.
Heavenly Mansions and Other Essays on Architecture	Summerson, John
A History of Architecture	Fletcher, Banister
A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method	Fletcher, Banister
A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals	Kostof, Spiro
History of Modern Architecture (Storia dell’Architettura Moderna )	Benevolo, Leonardo
Home: A Short History of an Idea	Rybczynski, Witold
Horizons	Bel Geddes, Norman
House X	Eisenman, Peter
How Buildings Learn	Brand, Stewart
A Hut of One’s Own	Cline, Ann
Iconic Vision: John Parkinson, Architect of Los Angeles	Gee, Stephen
Imperial Delhi	Volwahsen, Andreas
In the Nature of Materials	Hitchcock, Henry-Russell
In Praise of Architecture	Ponti, Gio
In the Life of Cities	Mostafavi, Mohsen
Indian Summer	Irving, Robert Grant
Informal	Balmond, Cecil
The International Style	Hitchcock, Henry-Russell et al.
Interpreting the Renaissance (Ricerca dell’Rinascimento)	Tafuri, Manfredo
The Invention of Tradition	Hobsbawm, E. J. et al.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel	Rolt, L.T.C.
Italian Splendor	Basehart, Jack et al.
Italy: The New Domestic Landscape	Ambasz, Emilio
Japanese Houses Today	Yamawaki, Iwao
Jean Prouvé: Complete Works, Volume 1	Sulzer, Peter
Jean Prouvé: Complete Works, Volume 2	Sulzer, Peter
Jean Prouvé: Complete Works, Volume 3	Sulzer, Peter
Joe Colombo	Kries, Mateo et al.
Journeys: How Travelling Fruit, Ideas and Buildings Rearrange our Environment	Borasi, Giovanna
Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa, Sanaa Works 1995–2003	Sejima, Kazuyo et al.
Kindergarten Chats and Other Writings	Sullivan, Louis H.
La Maison de Verre: Pierre Chareau’s Modernist Masterwork	Vellay, Dominique
La Nueva Villa Getty	Silvetti, Jorge et al.
La Prima Architettura Barocca (The First Baroque Architecture)	Brandi, Cesare
La Villa Kérylos	Vian des Rives, Régis
The Language of Post-Modern Architecture	Jencks, Charles
L’Architecture	Ledoux, Claude-Nicolas
Le Corbusier: A Life	Weber, Nicholas Fox
Le Modulor	Le Corbusier,
Learning from Las Vegas	Venturi, Robert et al.
Le Corbusier: Oeuvre Complète (Complete Works)	Boesiger, Willy
Les Dix Livres d’Architecture de Vitruve, 2nd edition (Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture)	Perrault, Claude
Letters to Clients	Wright, Frank Lloyd et al.
Libraries	Höfer, Candida et al.
The Life and Work of John Nash, Architect	Summerson, John
Light is the Theme	Kahn, Louis I.
Lina Bo Bardi	Bardi, Lina Bo
Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies	Banham, Reyner
Louis Kahn: Conversations with Students	Kahn, Louis I.
Louis Kahn: On the Thoughtful Making of Spaces	Merrill, Michael
The Manhattan Transcripts	Tschumi, Bernard
Many Masks: A Life of Frank Lloyd Wright	Gill, Brendan
Mask of Medusa	Hejduk, John
Mastering Tradition: The Residential Architecture of John Russell Pope	Garrison, James B.
The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays	Rowe, Colin
Mechanization Takes Command	Giedion, Sigfried
Megastructure	Banham, Reyner
Miami Modern Metropolis	Shulman, Allan T.
Mies van de Rohe: Critical Essays	Schulze, Franz
Mies van der Rohe	Johnson, Philip
Mies van der Rohe: A Critical Biography	Schulze, Franz
Minimum	Pawson, John
Miralles/Pinos 1983–1990	Miralles, Enric
Modern Architecture	Colquhoun, Alan
Modern Architecture and Other Essays	Scully, Vincent
Modern Architecture: Romanticism and Reintegration	Hitchcock, Henry-Russell
Modern Architecture, 1851-1945	Frampton, Kenneth et al.
Modernism: Designing a New World, 1914–1939	Wilk, Christopher
Module, Proportion, Symmetry, Rhythm (Vision + Value Series)	Kepes, Gyorgy
A Monograph of the Works of McKim Mead & White 1879–1915	Roth, Leland M.
Morphosis - Combinatory Urbanism: The Complex Behavior of Collective Form	Mayne, Thom
The Most Beautiful House in the World	Rybczynski, Witold
Nairn’s London	Nairn, Ian
Nairn’s Paris	Nairn, Ian
The Natural House	Wright, Frank Lloyd
The Necessity for Ruins, and Other Topics	Jackson, John Brinckerhoff
The Necessity of Artifice	Rykwert, Joseph
Neoclassicism in the North	Groth, Håkan
New Directions in British Architecture	Sudjic, Deyan
New York 1930	Stern, Robert A. M. et al.
Nine Chains to the Moon	Fuller, R. Buckminster
Notes on the Synthesis of Form	Alexander, Christopher
Object to Be Destroyed: The Work of Gordon Matta-Clark	Lee, Pamela M.
On Adam’s House in Paradise	Rykwert, Joseph
On the Art of Building in Ten Books	Alberti, Leon Battista
On Weathering	Mostafavi, Mohsen et al.
Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth	Fuller, R. Buckminster
Opus Architecturum	Borromini, Francesco et al.
An Outline of European Architecture	Pevsner, Nikolaus
Outrage	Nairn, Ian
Palladio	Ackerman, James S.
Pamphlet Architecture 27, Tooling	Aranda, Benjamin et al.
Pamphlet Architecture 7	Holl, Steven
Paradise Planned	Stern, Robert A. M. et al.
A Pattern Language	Alexander, Christopher et al.
Perfect Acts of Architecture	Kipnis, Jeffrey
Perspecta 12, The Yale Architectural Journal	Papademetriou, Peter
Philip Johnson: Life and Work	Schulze, Franz
Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius	Pevsner, Nikolaus
A Place of My Own	Pollan, Michael
Planned Assaults	Lerup, Lars et al.
The Power Broker	Caro, Robert
Prefab Architecture: A Guide to Modular Design and Construction	Smith, Ryan E.
The Presence of Mies	Mertins, Detlef
The Prisons (Le Carceri)	Piranesi, Giovanni Battista
Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media	Colomina, Beatriz
The Prodigious Builders	Rudofsky, Bernard
Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-Century Architecture	Conrads, Ulrich
The Projective Cast	Evans, Robin
Pyramid	Macaulay, David
Quotidiano sostenibile	Manzini, Ezio et al.
Re: CP	Price, Cedric et al.
Re-cycle	Ciorra, Pippo
Recueil et Parallèle des Edifices de tout genre Anciens et Modernes	Durand, Jean-Nicolas-Louis
Robert Maillart	Bill, Max
Roma Barocca	Portoghesi, Paolo
The Rome of Borromini	Portoghesi, Paolo
Ronchamp	Le Corbusier,
Roots of Contemporary American Architecture	Mumford, Lewis
Round Buildings, Square Buildings, and Buildings That Wiggle Like a Fish	Isaacson, Philip M.
S, M, L, XL	Koolhaas, Rem et al.
Saarinen’s Quest: A Memoir	Knight, Richard et al.
SANAA: Spiel der Gegensätze/The Play of Opposites	Sejima, Kazuyo et al.
The Sense of Unity	Ardalan, Nader et al.
740 Park: The Story of the World’s Richest Apartment Building	Gross, Michael
Shack Chic	Fraser, Craig
The Shingle Style and the Stick Style	Scully, Vincent
The Shingle Style Today	Scully, Vincent
Sigurd Lewerentz, 1888-1975	Architectural Association,
Sir John Soane: The Architect as Collector, 1753-1837	Thornton, Peter et al.
Snøhetta Works	Snøhetta,
Space Calculated in Seconds	Treib, Marc
Space, Time and Architecture	Giedion, Sigfried
The Sphere and the Labyrinth (La sfera e il labirinto)	Tafuri, Manfredo
The Stones of Venice	Ruskin, John
Storia dell’Architettura Moderna, vol. 2	Zevi, Bruno
The Strange Death of Architectural Criticism	Pawley, Martin et al.
Studies in Tectonic Culture	Frampton, Kenneth
Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts; or, Practical Aesthetics	Semper, Gottfried
Super Constellation	Asendorf, Christoph
The Swedish House	Snitt, Ingalill et al.
The Making of Classical Edinburgh 1750–1840	Youngson, Alexander John Brown
Theories and History of Architecture (Teoria e storia dell’architettura)	Tafuri, Manfredo
Theory and Design in the First Machine Age	Banham, Reyner
Thermal Delight in Architecture	Heschong, Lisa
Thinking Architecture	Zumthor, Peter
Thinking Drawing/Working Drawing	Murcutt, Glenn
To Engineer Is Human	Petroski, Henry
Too Much Is Never Enough	Lapidus, Morris
Towards a New Architecture (Vers une Architecture)	Le Corbusier,
Town and Revolution	Kopp, Anatole
Traditional Islamic Craft in Moroccan Architecture	Paccard, André
Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays	Evans, Robin
Tropical Modernism	Trulove, James Grayson
Trotzdem, 1900–1930	Loos, Adolf
Trutg dil Flem: Seven Bridges by Jürg Conzett	Dechau, Wilfried et al.
The Turning Point of Building	Wachsmann, Konrad
Twenty Minutes in Manhattan	Sorkin, Michael
Unbuilding	Macaulay, David
Uppercase 3	Smithson, Alison Margaret et al.
Utzon	Weston, Richard
Venezia Minore	Trincanato, Egle R.
Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture	Vitruvius Pollio, et al.
Walter Gropius e la Bauhaus	Argan, Carlo Giulio
Walter Pichler: Zwei Troge, Wasserrinnen	Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman,
Watermark	Brodsky, Joseph
What If...?: The Architecture and Design of David Rockwell	Pearlman, Chee et al.
What is an Apparatus? and Other Essays	Agamben, Giorgio
What Is Modern Design?	Kaufmann Jr., Edgar
When the Cathedrals Were White	Le Corbusier,
White Walls, Designer Dresses	Wigley, Mark
Why Architecture Matters	Goldberger, Paul
Without Rhetoric	Smithson, Alison Margaret et al.
Wooden Houses	Suzuki, Makoto et al.
You Have to Pay for the Public Life	Moore, Charles et al.
Your Private Sky: R. Buckminster Fuller	Lichtenstein, Claude et al.
Zone 1/2	Feher, Michael et al.

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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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.

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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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