Tag Archives: Architecture Books

Architecture, Books, Home Design, Homes, Reviews

Architecture Books: ‘Vertical Living’ (2021)

January 13, 2021 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Vertical Living is an introduction to the architecture and interior masterminds using skillful, clever design to conquer compact living wherever there is space. As we continue to expect more of our flats and houses, unexpected approaches are necessary for the future of our urban spaces.

The era of moving to the suburbs is coming to an end. Instead, a growing movement of city dwellers are looking for grand architectural solutions in the smallest of spaces. Slender, slim, and tall structures are soaring in the limited land available, offering innovative solutions to a world with ever-growing urbanization.

The book looks at ingenious architectural solutions: impossibly skinny houses wedged into narrow plots, spacious homes built into neglected infill sites and comfortable homes created in tiny spaces. By combining inspirational projects, in-depth features and engaging profiles of architects around the world, Vertical Living will offer a new way of looking at how we live in the built environment.

Architecture, Books, Design, Home Design, Profiles

Profile: Spanish Architect & Designer Ricardo Bofill – ‘Dreamer Of Modernity’

December 4, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

December 2, 2020

What Bofill creates with exceptional mastery are spaces or the sense of space. He describes this ability, probably jokingly, as being an escape from the claustrophobia of his childhood in Barcelona, living in bourgeois apartments crammed floor to ceiling with decorative objects.

Postmodernity in the work of Bofill does not have to be the abolishing of rules or the death of history. In his own words, postmodernity “breaks with cultural hegemony to adapt models to different cultures, considering the place and its history.” It is more of a reaction against the uniformity of modern architecture.

Ricardo Bofill was born on December 5, 1939, in Barcelona. The son of a contractor, in the dullest hours of the Franco regime. As he explains himself, the feeling of being, not in the middle of the world but the outskirts, in a periphery—a Catalonia that was not just physically isolated from the cultural capitals but also far from national, political decision-making—sparked dreams of freedom and faraway lands, and was probably what later inspired his nomadic lifestyle. The importance of the vernacular, it’s engagement with classicism, Bofill’s sense of atemporal elegance—all find their roots in this early period.

Architecture, Books, Home Design, Homes

HOME DESIGN: ‘LIVING IN – MODERN MASTERPIECES OF RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE’

November 30, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Openhouse has spent the last six years giving readers a closer look at some of the most extraordinary houses around the globe. In their first book, the editors open the doors to their highlights, including exclusive photography and rarely seen homes.

With a range of architectural styles from Brutalism to 20th-century mastery from the likes Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, this book portrays the stories of architects and residents of the most remarkable and inspiring living spaces around the world. Enter the adobe house of Georgia O’Keefe in New Mexico, step into the Modernist Casa Pedregal designed by Luis Barragán in Mexico City, and discover the sensorial architecture of George Nakashima’s house, studio, and workshop in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

From case study houses to cutting edge contemporary architecture, Living In describes what it feels like to occupy these spaces from the perspective of their owners—who themselves have become stewards of architectural history.

Architecture, Books, Home Design, Homes, Photography

New Architecture Books: ‘Escapology – Modern Cabins & Cottages’ (2020)

November 21, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Escape from 2020 and give your mind a getaway with Escapology: Modern Cabins, Cottages and Retreats. Curated by Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan, the 265-page book takes you to 24 dreamy homes around the world where you can mentally cozy up around a wood-burning fire and immerse yourself in mother nature.

One minute you’ll be in a rugged mountain lodge and the next you’re held up in a minimal Scandinavian cabin surrounded by foilage. The duo even highlights their own retreat on Ontario’s Drag Lake. Filled with impressive photographs, this book might even inspire you to turn your own abode into your dream retreat.

Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan―Scottish interior designers, TV hosts, and property speculators―are cabin aficionados who divide their time between homes in Canada and their beloved Scotland. iEscapology: Modern Cabins, Cottages and Retreats is a stunning book of modern-day retreats―bucolic weekend escapes by the sea, remote getaways in the woods, and rustic mountain hideouts―to inspire peaceful and quiet living. The authors genuinely believe that cabin time has a remarkably positive impact on our health, wellbeing and our happiness.

Whether it’s a rustic cottage nestled deep within a Nordic forest, a robust mountain lodge in Montana, a breathtaking treehouse in Canada, or a steel-walled, one-room “hotel” in Denmark, these retreats share one vital aspect in common: they proffer the chance to escape and to and live in harmony with nature, far from the madding crowd. Part style bible and lifestyle manual, the book features a beautiful collection of classic and contemporary cottages and cabins, each accompanied by an informative design profile and beautifully photographed images.

And of course, the book is also packed with practical building and design advice that fans of Colin and Justin have grown to love. You’ll find relevant information about different types of dwelling styles, builds, sustainability/off-grid living, tiny homes, renovation on a budget, room zonings, décor and everything in between.

Architecture, Books, Home Design, Homes

Books: ‘Out Of The Woods – Architecture & Interiors Built from Wood’ (2020)

November 19, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

This book explores the innovative and inspiring ways architects are using this universal building material. Spanning grand Alpine escapes to tropical getaways, plywood penthouses to mass timber high-rises, Out of the Woods documents their progressive and inspiring creations from the foundations up.

Humans have been building homes from wood for thousands of years, and yet, in a contemporary world of option and innovation, the most primitive resource could in fact be the most pertinent.

Stretching back to historic Japanese houses, becoming synonymous with resort accommodation, and intertwining itself in the modern trend of hygge, its tactility and warmth have influenced countless architectural design movements. Timber is fast emerging as a viable material of choice, a safe, sturdy, and sustainable alternative to concrete. Architects are rediscovering wood’s universal appeal, thanks to recent technological advances.

Read and see more

Architecture, Books, Home Design, Homes

Top Architecture Books: ‘Scott Mitchell Houses’

November 16, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The first volume on his work, Scott Mitchell Houses is an exploration of the architectural designer’s impressive portfolio of projects. Mitchell’s houses are studies in space, materiality, and light. Emphasizing an elegant economy of space, his projects respond to the natural appeal of their locations, be they bucolic retreats on Long Island or resplendent beach houses overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The utilization of monolithic concrete, glass and steel curtain walls, and cantilevered roof planes reduces each building to its essential elements, cultivating a sense of balance and repose.

Merging formalist spatial logic and an atmosphere of calm, the work bridges disparate architectural typologies to create places that are both poetic and profound.

Mitchell’s monolithic forms draw on the surrounding environment via floor to ceiling windows that open onto vistas so cinematic that Tom Ford utilized one of Mitchell’s homes in his neo-noir drama Nocturnal Animals. Through previously unpublished photographs, readers are given an exclusive view into eight pivotal projects that span the globe from the Hamptons to Melbourne, featuring images by Ross Bleckner, Scott Frances, Trevor Mein and Steve Shaw.

A foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Paul Goldberger, contribution by fashion designer Calvin Klein, and essay by architecture and design writer and author Michael Webb further highlight the seductive style of Mitchell’s work.

Architecture, Books, Buildings, Gardens

Architecture Books: ‘The Conservatory – Gardens Under Glass’ (Princeton)

November 12, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Through evocative archival and contemporary photographs, drawings of landmark structures, and graceful, accessible text, The Conservatory celebrates the patrons and designers who advanced the technology and architectural majesty of these light-filled structures. The importance of conservatories continues to grow with efforts to conserve phenomenal plants and their environments.

Elegant and magnificent, conservatories reveal fascinating social, cultural, botanical, and engineering advances as they have evolved across history. First appearing in the eighteenth century as simple structures designed to protect fruit trees and other delicate plants from harsh European winters, conservatories became grand glass houses that spread across the European continent, to the Americas, and ultimately around the world.

Alan Stein is President and Director of Architecture at Tanglewood Conservatories, Ltd., founded in 1993 with his wife and business partner, Nancy Virts. The company’s mission is to conceive and build the finest classical and modern glass conservatories. Tanglewood’s work has been published in Architectural Digest, Garden Design Magazine, The New York Times, Town & County and other periodicals around the world. Alan studied design at the California College of Art and graduated from the University of Maryland with a professional degree in architecture. He lives in Maryland.

Nancy Virts is cofounder of Tanglewood Conservatories, Ltd., with her husband and business partner, Alan Stein. The company conceives and builds the finest classical and modern glass conservatories. Tanglewood’s work has been published in Architectural Digest, Garden Design magazine, the New York Times, Town & Country, and other periodicals around the world.

Architecture, Books, Home Design, Homes, Photography, Travel

New Architecture Books: ‘Contemporary Houses’ – 100 Homes Over 2 Decades

October 29, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

This publication rounds up 100 of the world’s most interesting and pioneering homes designed in the past two decades, featuring a host of talents both new and established, including John Pawson,Shigeru Ban, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, Daniel Libeskind, Alvaro Siza, and Peter Zumthor.

Accommodating daily routines of eating, sleeping, and shelter, as well as offering the space for personal experience and relationships, this is architecture at its most elementary and its most intimate.

Designing private residences has its own very special challenges and nuances for the architect. The scale may be more modest than public projects, the technical fittings less complex than an industrial site, but the preferences, requirements, and vision of particular personalities becomes priority. The delicate task is to translate all the emotive associations and practical requirements of “home” into a workable, constructed reality.

The author

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His TASCHEN books include the Architecture Now! series and monographs on Tadao Ando, Santiago Calatrava, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Richard Meier, and Zaha Hadid.

Architecture, Arts & Literature, Books, History

New Books: ‘Versailles – From Louis XIV to Jeff Koons’ (Assouline 2020)

September 28, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Welcome to the most storied palace in the world, the glittering Château de Versailles. Recounting the most important historical, social, and cultural milestones of Versailles, beginning with the original proposal for a modest hunting lodge requested by Louis XIII in 1623, this volume encompasses the expansive property, from the palace and gardens to the Grand Trianon and the Queen’s Hamlet.

From the first great constructions under Louis XIV, to its reimagining by Louis-Philippe in 1837 as a museum dedicated to all the glories of France, Versailles has truly seen many momentous occasions, including diplomatic summits, scientific advancements, and renowned visitors over the centuries, from Mozart, Benjamin Franklin and Queen Victoria to Fred Astaire and the Kennedys, not to mention exhibitions of today’s great artists, beginning with Jeff Koons in 2008.

Lavishly illustrated with archival images and beautiful photography, Versailles: From Louis XIV to Jeff Koons features insightful texts by Catherine Pégard, president of the Château de Versailles, with the collaboration of Mathieu da Vinha, scientific director of the Château de Versailles Research Center, revealing all the stories that have unfolded within this glorious monument.

Complimentary white gloves are included with each purchase from Assouline’s Ultimate Collection. A limited edition vibrant blue tote bag is included with Versailles: From Louis XIV to Jeff Koons.

Architecture, Books, Home Design, Homes

American Architecture: Evolution Of Indiana Houses In Photographs

September 21, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

In the early nineteenth century, Indiana was at the intersection of ideas from the East and the frontier – resulting in a unique opportunity to express creative adaptions of residential architectural styles in America.

Industrialization later in the century created a new wealth to build extraordinary houses outside of cities; by the early twentieth century, Americans had created their own distinctive residential architecture with the Prairie Style.

This 288 page compendium includes over ninety houses in Indiana which are representative of the finest American residential architecture, from the Federal and Classical Revival style to Modern. The fascinating story of the evolution of residential architecture elaborates on the character defining features of each period, including the exterior form, massing, details as well as interiors – all beautifully illustrated in large format black and white photographs.

Authors: Craig Kuhner and Alan Ward

American Residential Architecture
Oscar Riera Ojeda Publications
Photographs of the Evolution of Indiana Houses