Ada Tolla has a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design from the Universita’ di Napoli, Italy, and completed postgraduate studies at Columbia University, New York. Besides heading her professional practice, LOT-EK, she currently teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Architecture. She also lectures at major universities and cultural institutions globally.
Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano have achieved high visibility for their sustainable and innovative approach to construction, materials, and space and through the adaptive reuse (“upcycling”) of existing industrial objects and systems not originally intended for architecture. They are also recognized for the use of technology as an integral part of architecture, for addressing transformability in architecture, and for integrating aspects of art and architecture.
LOT-EK’s work has been published in national and international publications, including the New York Times, the London Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, Wallpaper*, Domus, A+U, Interior Design, Wired, Surface, Metropolis, Graphis, and more.
LOT-EK’s first monograph, Urban Scan, was published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2002. Mixer: Installation and Assembly Manual: LOT-EK Architecture was released by by Edizioni Press in 2000; and LOT-EK: Mobile Dwelling Unit was published by DAP in 2003.
Ada Tolla was recently recognized as a United States Artists (USA) Booth Fellow of Architecture and Design. Nominations are made each year by U.S. arts leaders and practitioners, critics, and scholars, of artists they believe show an extraordinary commitment to their craft.
Announcements
Louis Kahn: The Importance of a Drawing
Louis Kahn: The Importance of a Drawing
Edited by Michael Merrill
Publisher: Lars Müller Publishers
Published: October 2021
The first in-depth study of drawings as primary sources of insight into architect Louis Kahn’s architecture and creative imagination. Based on unprecedented archival research, with over 900 illustrations and written contributions by Michael Benedikt, Michael Cadwell, David Leatherbarrow, Louis Kahn, Nathaniel Kahn, Sue Ann Kahn, Michael J. Lewis, Robert McCarter, Michael Merrill, Marshall Meyers, Jane Murphy, Gina Pollara, Harriet Pattison, Colin Rowe, David Van Zanten, Richard Wesley, and William Whitaker.
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People
By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Forthcoming: 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.
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy by John Lobell
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy
By John Lobell
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: June 2020
Noted Louis I.Kahn expert John Lobell explores how Kahn’s focus on structure, respect for materials, clarity of program, and reverence for details come together to manifest an overall philosophy.
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn by Harriet Pattison
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn
By Harriet Pattison
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: October 2020
An intimate glimpse into the professional and romantic relationship between Harriet Pattison and the renowned architect Louis Kahn. Harriet Pattison, FASLA, is a distinguished landscape architect. She was Louis Kahn’s romantic partner from 1959 to 1974, and his collaborator on the landscapes of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the F.D.R. Memorial/Four Freedoms Park, New York. She is the mother of their son, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn.
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context by David Raizman
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context
By David Raizman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Published: December 2020
An innovative approach to graphic design that uses a series of key artifacts from the history of print culture in light of their specific historical contexts. It encourages the reader to look carefully and critically at print advertising, illustration, posters, magazine art direction, and typography, often addressing issues of class, race, and gender.
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian by Rick Poynor
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian
By Rick Poynor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: September 2020
A comprehensive overview of the work and legacy of David King (1943–2016), whose fascinating career bridged journalism, graphic design, photography, and collecting. King launched his career at Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s, starting as a designer and later branching out into image-led journalism, blending political activism with his design work.
Popular NowWeekMonth
- Book List of the Week: Milton Glaser
- 25 Books on Scandinavian Design
- Typomania: Erik Spiekermann’s Book List
- 15 Books on the Intersection of Psychology and Design
- 15 Books about Design and the Future
Recent Articles
