There's lots to read about this month, as our selection of new architecture books for Autumn 2024 offers something for everyone - from explorations of materials and unbuilt architecture to architecture monographs and current trends. Modernist classics rub shoulders with contemporary marvels in this compilation that will keep you busy and interested.
The finest new architecture books for Autumn 2024
The Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces
We’re living in an age where 'Brutalism' is no longer a pejorative and brutalist architecture thrives, and even the most obscure piece of 1960s-era concrete design can become a social media sensation. With all that said, there’s still a dearth of decent information about fine, but overlooked modernist architecture of the period. Dominic Bradbury’s new monograph, Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces, hopes to redress the balance, combining the trademark Phaidon aesthetic excellence with an insight into how the new architecture embodied not just optimism and change, but also the monolithic power of governments and corporations alike.
Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces, Dominic Bradbury, Phaidon, £100, Phaidon.com, Amazon.co.uk
American Modern: Architecture, Community, Columbus, Indiana
American Modern: Architecture, Community, Columbus, Indiana is a dynamic and thorough monograph shedding fresh light on the long-established experimental canvas that was this company town. Researched and written by seasoned architecture critic Matt Shaw, who also happens to have grown up in the mid-western city, the book is an in-depth historical record of its status as one of the country's most prominent modernist projects; a semi-urban city populated by distinct, groundbreaking civic buildings imagined by mid-20th-century heavyweight architects such as Eero Saarinen and I. M. Pei as well as a slew of their contemporary successors, Deborah Berke and IwamotoScott amongst many.
American Modern' is available through Amazon
South Bank: Architecture and Design
Penned by architecture expert Dominic Bradbury, this is a book that delves into the design of London's beloved Southbank Centre. While the complex is a popular capital landmark and a key point in architectural history, this is the first comprehensive overview that zooms into its design in all aspects. A sumptuous must-read, the book also features new photography by Rachael Smith.
South Bank is available through Amazon
12 sogni di Roma
12 sogni di Roma is not written in English, so brush up on your Italian. Here, author Marina Engel explores the subject of community and community-powered action, in particular through examples born in the folds of the Eternal City. Through twelve case studies, the book tells the story of how 'over the last decades in Rome, citizens have reappropriated public spaces in which they can congregate, they are reanimating their neighbourhoods, fighting the housing crisis, empowering women and gender minorities, protecting and enhancing the environment, providing opportunities for the young, and promoting independent culture and sports activities that are accessible to everyone.'
Building Inclusion: A Practical Guide to EDI
Building Inclusion: A Practical Guide to EDI is written by Marsha Ramroop, a global-award-winning inclusion strategist, inaugural Director of Inclusion and Diversity at the Royal Institute of British Architects, and former BBC Inclusion Editor. As such, Ramroop is an ideally placed author for the subject - and this is the perfect how-to guide for any studio or institution in architecture and the built environment that wants to build in a powerful EDI approach. This is a first-of-its-kind publication in its field.
Building Inclusion is available through Amazon
The best Summer 2024 architecture books
A Time ⋅ A Place (The Modernist)
A Time ⋅ A Place is a new monograph from architectural photographer Daniel Hopkinson and architect John Piercy Holroyd. Subtitled ‘An exploration of automotive and architectural design’, it is designated as Volume 1, covering the years 1964 to 1982 with a specific brief: to capture the winners of the prestigious European Car of the Year (ECOTY) Award since its inception. The cars are seen alongside a striking piece of architecture from the same date. It was an impressive logistical exercise, but Hopkinson and Holroyd have an eye for vintage elegance and an innate understanding of the pitfalls of retro-fetishism.
'A Time ⋅ A Place: An exploration of automotive and architectural design', John Piercy Holroyd, Photographs by Daniel Hopkinson (@DanHopArchitecture), £40, published by The Modernist, The-Modernist.org
Before / After: Álvaro Siza Duccio Malagamba (Phaidon)
Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza and Italian architectural photographer Duccio Malagamba are before Before / After: Álvaro Siza Duccio Malagamba - a monograph of pure aesthetic delight. It puts the spotlight onto just 20 projects from this architect’s 70 years of practice, but has a high impact, thanks to Malagamba’s expert imagery. The photographs are paired with Siza’s expressive concept sketches on every spread, which explains the subtitle of the book (Siza loosely stands for 'before', and Malagamba for 'after'). A spacious layout allows projects room to breathe and a well-made production offers a sensual reading experience.
Before / After: Álvaro Siza Duccio Malagamba, £79.95 from phaidon.com; also available from Amazon
Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich (Park Books)
Ana Francisco Sutherland’s Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich has a tight focus, but looking at the post-war architecture of this single south London borough is a rich experience. Putting the spotlight on the particular era of modern design in the area, the book explores how Blackheath and Greenwich became a petri dish of quiet innovation. With the capital in desperate need of new housing, the run-down grand villas and estates in south-east London offered up the requisite space for expansion. Many of the larger sites were taken on by firms like Span, set up by developer Leslie Bilsby in collaboration with the architect Eric Lyons.
'Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich', 1950-2000, Ana Francisco Sutherland, Park Books, CHF 39, Park-Books.com, also available from Amazon
Protest Architecture: Structures of Civil Resistance (RIBA Publishing)
Protest Architecture: Structures of Civil Resistance, a new book by RIBA Publishing, delves into how architects have often used their skills in struggles for civil rights, gender equality and climate justice. The publication is authored by architect Nick Newman, also the co-author of Everything Needs to Change: Architecture and the Climate Emergency, and looks into the architecture activism movements' origins and more. He says: 'This book aims to broaden awareness of the concept of protest architecture, bringing together many different voices and narratives, each of whom has been creating positive change without collective representation within the profession. It witnesses the societal changes that their work has helped to move forward and the great challenges that they are yet to overcome.'
Protest Architecture: Structures of Civil Resistance, RIBA Publishing, £34, Amazon
The Gardens of Ulf Nordfjell (Merrell)
The new book The Gardens of Ulf Nordfjell is an exploration of the landscape designer's expansive body of work. Written by Annie Gatti, the book discusses Nordfjell's oeuvre and how it ‘sings in all seasons’. The multi-award winner garden specialist explains that his ‘interest in merging nature and horticulture with architecture and design … finds fresh expression in every new project.’
The Gardens of Ulf Nordfjell, Merrell, £40, Amazon
Kiosk: The Last Modernist Booths (Zupagrafika)
Zupagrafika brings Kiosk design, a forgotten slice of socialist architecture history, to life with this collection of modular, modernist booths. Kiosk: The Last Modernist Booths is an enticing publication. In the hands of a skilled photographer, fading styles, forgotten movements and long-overlooked designers can all be given a second wind in the digital era. Perversely, this has also led to a modest but significant uptick in design publishing, as the market for this kind of imagery becomes algorithmically assisted.
'KIOSK: The Last Modernist Booths Across Central and Eastern Europe', Zupagrakia, 26 euros, Zupagrafika.com
The finest Spring 2024 titles
Carlo Scarpa: The Complete Buildings (Prestel)
One of the most celebrated European Modernists, Italian Carlo Scarpa (1906 - 1978) has left a rich legacy, which is celebrated in this new tome by Prestel. The book looks into the architect's well- and lesser-known works, which effortlessly blend the historical and the futuristic, the classic and the modern, as well as natural and human-made materials in timeless classics, such as the Veritti Tomb in Udine, the Olivetti Showroom in Venice, and the Banca Popolare di Verona. Words by Emiliano Bugatti and Jale N. Erzen are accompanied by new photography by Cemal Emden.
Carlo Scarpa: The Complete Buildings, £40.99, Amazon
Matteo Thun: Stories (Callwey)
A captivating autobiographical book, 'Stories' by Matteo Thun, offers a deep dive into the life and work of the influential architect. With a career spanning four decades - and counting - Thun has been prolific, designing some of the world's most renowned resorts, and public, residential and office buildings. Taking the reader on a journey across the globe to look at them, this book also provides insights into the architect's personal life and friendships, as well as his past and present, revealing the personality and force behind those architectural projects that we know and love.
Stories by Matteo Thun, £25, Waterstones
Brutalist Plants (Hoxton Mini Press)
‘Brutalist Plants’ offers an immersive selection of visuals that captures the very best of the new-ish trend of 'eco-brutalism'. Coming from humble beginnings - an Instagram account which gained rapid traction from followers who were attracted to its bold juxtaposition of concrete greys and leafy greens - the book, authored by Olivia Broome, explores the texture-rich movement that focuses on brutalist architecture that has been - to varying degrees - embraced by flora.
Brutalist Plants by Olivia Broome, £20, Waterstones
California Houses: Creativity in Context (Thames & Hudson)
The author of 'California Houses: Creativity in Context', Wallpaper* occasional contributor Michael Webb, explores the homes that epitomise the pioneering thinking and expressive nature of domestic architecture in the State's context. The tome delves into the typology through the presentation of 36 houses, from Hollywood Modernism to contemporary sustainable architecture examples.
California Houses: Creativity in Context, £45, Waterstones
Concrete Architecture
Concrete Architecture surveys more than a century’s worth of the world’s most influential buildings using the much-used construction material - from brutalist memorials to sculptural apartment blocks. The meaty tome includes examples from across the globe, spanning the material’s earliest usage right up to the present day. Some of the best-known architects of the modern era shaped their reputations in concrete; it remains the preeminent component of infrastructure projects around the world.
Concrete Architecture, £59.95, Waterstones
The Architecture of Studio MK27. Lights, camera, action
'The Architecture of Studio MK27. Lights, camera, action' may first catch your attention for its jaw-dropping array of the Brazilian practice's inspiring private homes; but it will retain it, for its founder Marcio Kogan's captivating journey and way of thinking that bridges architecture and film, highlighting the buildings' experiential side. The book is the first monograph on the studio's work and presents a strong selection of recent projects, along with an overview of the five key elements that go into Studio MK27’s approach. These are each helmed by a different writer, including architects Gabriel Kogan and Filippo Bricolo, Wallpaper’s own Ellie Stathaki, regular contributor Scott Mitchem and dezeen’s Amy Frearson.
The Architecture of Sudio MK27, £50, Waterstones
London Estates: Modernist Council Housing 1946-1981
With 'London Estates: Modernist Council Housing 1946-1981,' author and photographer Thaddeus Zupančič isn’t claiming to make a comprehensive study of every example of the capital’s extensive post-war, modernist architecture housing. Instead, he is seeking out the best, the blighted and the occasionally overlooked housing schemes in a deeply political book about residential architecture. In doing so, he has assembled an important record.
London Estates: Modernist Council Housing 1946-1981, £26.95, Waterstones
Atlas of Never Built Architecture (Phaidon)
Phaidon's 'Atlas of Never Built Architecture', authored by Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin, is a valuable survey of a fascinating alternative history of the buildings that never were, grand plans that failed to get off the drawing board, due to politics, money, or a straightforward lack of any realistic chance for construction.
Atlas of Never Built Architecture, £100, Waterstones
Louis I. Kahn: The Last Notebook (Lars Müller)
The latest Louis Kahn-themed book, 'The Last Notebook', launched at Milan Design Week this year, is a fascinating insight into the great modernist architecture master's thoughts and processes. It is the exact reproduction of the architect’s final notebook, showing his early sketches of Four Freedoms Park, interiors and drawings of furniture, notes to himself, and a draft for an acceptance speech. ‘My dream for this book is that it not be a very precious thing, but something where you can see him as a person and not some kind of architectural idol that's on a pedestal,’ says Sue Ann Kahn. ‘And then I hope you are inspired to use the blank pages to make your own drawings, write your own thoughts.’
Louis I. Kahn: The Last Notebook, £38, Waterstones
Christophe Gevers Monograph (Jean-Pierre Gabriel)
Christophe Gevers may feel less familiar to wider audiences than other figures in 20th-century and modernist architecture; but now, this new monograph dedicated to his portfolio, curated and photographed by Jean-Pierre Gabriel, puts a spotlight to his oeuvre. The Belgian designer (1928-2007) has been celebrated among his peers for his intricate craftsmanship, architecture and interiors, and this book explains just why.
Christophe Gevers Monograph, $95, Copyrightbookshop
