Alexa Hampton’s Book List
I have always been a big reader. My tastes are far-ranging—from police procedurals to history to biography and even chick lit.
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My favorite architect (along with Schinkel, Soane, and Alberti). A great sculptor and a great artist, too.
I love this book and it had a huge influence on my academic life.
A catalogue raisonné of an important American architect.
A textbook written by a former professor of mine. It’s a must for any student of architecture.
One of my favorite design books. I love the images and the structure of the book.
An essential trio of reference books in one set that includes Early Georgian: 1715–1760, Mid Georgian 1760–1800, and Late Georgian 1800–1840.
A beautiful poetic book with philosophical and political essays.
Horrible title—but an excellent book filled with tons of amazing floor plans of New York’s great buildings.
This book (“New Achievements in French Decoration, 1960-1966”) and Les Réussites de la Décoration Française 1950–1960 (“Achievements in French Decoration, 1950-1960,” also by Thomas Kernan) are two of my all-time designer favorites. I have copies of these at home where they will be safe. They really show how taste in modern decorating has changed over the years.
This is the book that triggered my love of reading. I read it the summer after the fifth grade and, ever after, I was a reader.
This is in my top ten fiction reads. I love the story and I feel for Raskolnikov.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that this man, who has such an amazing command of the written language, was doing anything else besides writing. He’s incredible.
A fascinating book of essays on the topic of misogyny. A terrific read despite the gloomy subject.
Being in the current edition of Finest Rooms in America is a great honor.
This book (“Achievements in French Decoration, 1950-1960”) and Nouvelles Réussites de la Décoration Française, 1960-1966 (“New Achievements in French Decoration, 1960-1966,” also by Thomas Kernan) are two of my all-time designer favorites. I have copies of these at home where they will be safe. They really show how taste in modern decorating has changed over the years.
I read this as a 13-year-old and petitioned my school to exchange this for George Eliot’s Middlemarch as our summer required reading. It is a beautiful, easy read. I love Cather.
See my comments on The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris.
Great political philosopher writing about morality and ethics.
What’s better than Nancy Mitford writing fiction? Nancy Mitford’s historical biographies.
A great book about a fascinating architect and the contents of his house, which is my favorite museum.
Elmore Leonard is a great American author. His dialogue is snappy and fun.
See my comments on Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault.
I read this book just before my college interviews. I spent most of them making sure my interviewers went and bought this book. I loved it.
I think we all love this book, along with John Adams, also by David McCullough.
Le Style Louis XVI is part of the series Les Grands Styles (“The Great Styles”), which includes Le Style Louis XIV, and Le Style Louis XV. These are essential reference books for interior designers.
For me, Amis is hit or miss. I love his books, but he is such a pessimist, I sometimes have to put his books down. But, he is always hilarious.
As a film lover, as well as book lover, I love art criticism that focuses on semiology.
With three small kids, I’m grateful I have Dr. Seuss around. This book is a favorite of mine from my childhood.
I love all the books in the Jack Reacher series (more police procedurals) and can’t wait for the next one.
A beautiful, seminal design book. Crisp Scandinavian interiors like this inspire me.
David Hicks was a family friend as well as one of my favorite designers.
A must for any student of interior design.
Among my all-time favorite books. Churchill is so colorful and fascinating
I read this book as a freshman at Brown University and it introduced me to a new way of looking at images. It’s an interesting text.
Not as pulpy as Arianna Huffington’s biography—more serious and more in-depth.
See my comments on The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932–1940 by William Manchester.
One in a series of Scandinavian police procedurals about a grumpy, diabetic policeman, Kurt Wallender. Amazing books.
Any art historian, serious or not, must read this book—part history, part fiction and part propaganda.
I love reading theory. Whether or not one agrees, theory usually contains great creative thinking.
Along with Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt is my historical hero. This book—along with Theodore Rex—also by Edmund Morris, is amazing.
A truly beautiful book with mouth-watering images of important houses.
Another all-time favorite. The World Wars are so unbelievable to me that I love reading about them and Massie is an excellent author. He just published a biography of Catherine the Great. I cannot wait to read it!
A two-volume tour de force about my favorite city on earth. My parents met in Florence on a blind date!
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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