Witold Rybczynski
Witold Rybczynski’s Notable Books of 2014
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Ian Ritchie is a sometime poet as well as a gifted architect, so one would expect that his latest book, Being: An Architect, would be out of the ordinary. This beautifully-produced two-volume work (designed by James Ritchie) combines a memoir, selected writings, poems, conversations, and personal asides. The almost 600 pages also include descriptions—written and photographic—of his work, both built and unbuilt.
Ritchie belongs to the generation of British architects that immediately followed, learned from and was inspired by the two godfathers of that country’s architectural Renaissance, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers. In many ways, this book is a history of that heady period—the 1980s—when British architects emerged as the most adventurous and accomplished in the world.
In the 1980s, Ritchie co-founded an unusual engineering/design firm with engineer Peter Rice and industrial designer Martin Francis. The reader may be surprised to learn (as I was) that Rice Francis Ritchie played a key role in such iconic projects as the glazed roof of the Louvre’s Court Marly, the Cité des Sciences at La Villette, and the Opéra Bastille. Ritchie is fascinated by modern technology, especially glass. He is responsible for the giant Glass Hall in Leipzig, a latter-day Crystal Palace. But he has also built with Corten steel and gabion (caged rocks); the evocative Spire of Dublin monument is the world’s tallest stainless-steel shell structure in the world.
Ritchie does not have a signature style. What unites his buildings is consistently cutting-edge (and unexpected) techniques and materials, inventiveness, imaginatively conceived details, and an integration of architecture, engineering, and fabrication. The range of projects described in Being is impressive, not only buildings but also urban design, memorials, stadiums, bridges, subway stations, sculpture, exhibitions, desk lamps, even high-voltage electricity pylons for Electricité de France. Have a problem? Call Ritchie.
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.
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.
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.
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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