It’s still not too late to order books on architecture and design – and A+A is pleased to offer a few more recommendations from recent posts. Their topics range from preserving world monuments to planning Long Island communities to the art of mailbox design – and they’re all well written and beautifully illustrated:
No mere coffee table book, the 239 pages in World Monuments: Irreplaceable Sites to Discover, Explore and Champion are filled with thought-provoking essays by some of the world’s more prominent writers, including Andre Aciman, Anne Applebaum, William Dalrymple, Justin Davidson, John Julius Norwich, and Fernanda Eberstadt. Published by Rizzoli, it can be ordered here.
Since 1885, the Chelsea Hotel has seen more than its share of artists, musicians, writers, and celebrities. Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols, Before Sunrise star Ethan Hawke, filmmaker Milos Forman, and beat poet Herbert Huncke have all called it home. Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road there; Arthur C. Clarke penned 2001: A Space Odyssey within its walls. Now, award-winning photographer Linda Troeller – who lived on the Chelsea’s ninth floor for 20 years – has published a book on it, from Schiffer Publishing. Order it here.
By the time that Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald moved into their rented house in Great Neck in 1922, the development of Long Island had been well-under way for three decades. And Robert MacKay’s new book, Gardens of Eden, chronicles it all. You can order it from W. W. Norton here.
James Cutler was a 19th-century Rochester architect known not for his buildings, but his innovative contribution to the skyscraper. He invented the mailbox and its accompanying chute for tall buildings, with a patent approved in 1883. His designs, and many others, are contained in Art Deco Mailboxes from W. W. Norton. Order it here.
Last but not least is “Drawing from Practice: Architects and the Meaning of Freehand, by the editor of this website. It traces the tactile sketch, from initial parti to finished product, through words, images, and photographs that reveal the creative process in action, with chapters on 26 well known architects, including Tom Kundig, Peter Bohlin, Deborah Berke, Phil Freelon, Richard Meier, and Michael Graves. New York magazine’s Wendy Goodman calls it a “fantastic book that sheds light on the creative process of how architects envision and bring their buildings to life.” For more, go here.
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