A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books Newsletter

This newsletter for the week of August 24 heads to New England, with the new two-volume guide to the region’s architecture from DOM Publishers as our companion. We’re also digging out an old guidebook to houses of worship in New England to take with us on our virtual trip. In between are the usual headlines and new releases. Happy reading! New England Architectural Guide (Vol. 1: Boston, Cambridge, Providence, and New Haven; Vol.

This newsletter for the week of August 17 looks at Diagrams, the book accompanying the exhibition of the same name that AMO/OMA installed at Fondazione Prada in Venice last year. One of the unique aspects of the publication is it being “unfinished” and therefore requiring the reader to do some work to complete it, a characteristic shared by a 23-year-old book devoted to Diller & Scofidio’s famous unbuilt design for Eyebeam, featured at bottom. In between are the usual headlines and new releases.

This newsletter for the week of August 10 looks at Theo Deutinger’s latest book, All About U.S.: 250 Years of the United States of America. Although this Book of the Week won’t be released until September 22 in the US, I’m featuring it this week while the events (or non-events) of last month’s semiquincentennial celebrations are still fresh in my mind. The book From the Archive is a related look back at America’s past, while the usual headlines and new releases are in between.

This newsletter for the week of August 3 heads to Chicago to look at two skyscrapers, one from a couple years ago and one from the late nineteenth century. The Book of the Week is Autobiography of a Skyscraper, the titular skyscraper being Helmut Jahn’s posthumously realized 1000M. The book From the Archive is Skyscraper, about the Loop’s famous Reliance Building. In between are the usual headlines and new releases.

This newsletter for the week of July 27 looks at Future or Eclipse of Criticism, one of the books I highlighted in a recent roundup of small-sized Summer Reads. The book features essays and interviews stemming from a lecture series and symposium in 2023 that focused on the ways architectural criticism has shifted in recent years in the face of wider societal, economic, and technological changes.

This newsletter for the week of July 20 takes a look inside Ikebana & Other Infidelities and two other books made by Venice, California-based designer Coy Howard over the last decade. The book from the archive sticks to Southern California, with A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California from 2013. In between are the usual headlines and new releases.

This newsletter for the week of July 13 looks at a companion book to the exhibition Seny i Rauxa: An Account of Catalan Architecture, on display at Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub) until September 6. I got a peek at the exhibition when I was in Barcelona for the UIA World Congress of Architects and delved into the book after returning home. The book from the archive is, by turn, devoted to exhibitions in New York City, while the usual headlines and new releases are in between.

This newsletter for the week of June 29 is a slight departure from its normal format. Instead of a Book of the Week and a list of new releases, I’m highlighting a dozen summer reads: new and forthcoming books that are united by their subject matter (architecture, obviously) and size. These are small books that can be carried to the beach or other vacation spots—no coffee table books here. There are a few headlines plus some old summer reads from the archive.

This newsletter for the week of June 22 looks at Underdover Architect: Townhouse Design-Build in Harlem NY, by Christian Volkmann, released this week in the United States by Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers. While telling the story of the titular townhouse, the book is also an argument for reorienting architectural practice toward design-build. Is it successful? Read on and see.

This newsletter for the week of June 15 looks at A Builder’s Life Done Well: The Story of Prutting + Co., a monograph released last month on the firm that has built some of the most stunning contemporary houses in and around Connecticut this century. Fittingly, the book from the archive looks at a six-year-old book featuring interviews with builders and tradespeople. In between are the usual headlines and new releases.