Craig Hodgetts
Craig Hodgetts’s Book List
I look to writers, especially those who deal with the form of writing itself, to open doors to the infinite number of ways to structure and assess the world, and particularly the processes and concepts that animate and motivate us as humans. I don’t look at them as “source books” but rather as indicators of how one might think about and relate to the incredibly diverse surroundings with which we interact on a daily basis. I am at heart an eclectic individual, with an appetite for nearly everything I encounter, so this list is likewise eclectic and unstructured.
Nonfiction, Architecture
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Simple, straightforward account of the birth of a new aesthetic. Brave new magazine composition, brave new design principles, brave new technology, brave new lifestyle, all assembled into a slim, almost fragile format that was just this side of self-indulgence—except it wasn’t. It is of course the bible for mid-century aficionados, but don’t let that fool you. It is as deep as you want to go, and I suggest you do go deep.
Surely if Le Corbusier must summon up patience, then we mere mortals must require it in extra large helpings. This book, with its rants, ravings, and alternating scolding and ecstatic tone, helped me, and countless others, to develop a healthy disregard for conventional wisdom and opt, instead, to operate outside the box.
The futuristic, Popular Science magazine-style images created by Bel Geddes were built on a solid foundation of design fundamentals and bravely negotiated the line between fantasy and reality, demonstrating a quick grasp of urban design, aeronautical engineering, and architecture only equaled by Le Corbusier on the other side of the world. His facility in creating a practical, if sadly unrecognized, template for a romantic, heroic environment continues to inspire me.
Wright’s letters inform us of his practical nature, his unwillingness to compromise, and his supreme self-confidence. But they also tell us of his almost uncanny ability to read his client’s minds, and to spend vast intellectual and creative resources on each of his projects, regardless of the supposed “payback.” Penny-pinching with actual finances, he drove himself and everyone associated with a project to the brink with his desire to realize both principle and result.
What a revelation! Giedion weaves the strands of innovation we take for granted into a compelling fabric that helps to explain how and why our cities and towns took the shape they did. Hopefully someone of his stature will do the same for the Information Age.
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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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.
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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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