Best Architecture & Design Books

Timeless Residences

Beta-Plus Publishing · 2024

Concrete, Mon Amour The Raw Imprint of Modernism

gestalten, Stefano Perego, Gestalten · 2025

Eastern Blocks

Zupagrafika · 2019

150 casas imprescindibles

Jacinthe Gigou, Thijs Demeulemeester · 2025

Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction

Christopher Rawlins · 2025

Arranging Things - Colin King

Built - Valerio Olgiati

Making Life Simpler- John Pawson

A Way of Living - Herman Miller

Aino + Alvar Aalto: A Life Together

Heikki Aalto-Alanen · 2023

Arne Jacobsen: Designing Denmark

Katrine Stenum Poulsen · 2024

Lost Danish Treasure

Carl J. D'Silva · 2024

<b>Growing up, almost every kid dreams of finding buried treasure. That dream slowly fades with age as they realize that Blackbeard never visited their backyard. For some, the search for treasure continues in their adult lives in other ways. Metal detectors and shovels may be replaced with online searches and library visits, but the thrill of the hunt is still alive, ever driving the quest forward.</b><p><br>Lost Danish Treasure tells the tale of two stories: 1) the history of Finn Juhl's iconic Chieftain Chair and a long-forgotten painting that preceded it, and 2) the individual connections to this design by a small group of collector researchers. Although starting in different eras and timelines, the two accounts start to intertwine over the course of the book, with the research efforts of today helping to unravel the mysteries of the past. As each chapter unfolds, more and more clues are revealed that slowly weave the storylines closer together--until the summer of 2021, when both accounts collided after Lot 242 popped up in an auction house in Chicago. The result of the subsequent analysis sheds new light about the origins and identity of the very first Chieftain Chair.</p>

The Interior Design Handbook: Furnish, Decorate, and Style Your Space

Frida Ramstedt · 2020

The new comprehensive bible of interior design, from a home styling guru who has coached an entire Scandinavian generation in the art of creating a harmonious home.<br/><br/>Frida Ramstedt believes in thinking about how we decorate, rather than focusing on what we decorate with. We know more today than ever before about design trends, furniture, and knickknacks, and now Frida familiarizes readers with the basic principles behind interior and styling—what looks good and, most of all, why it looks good.<br/><br/>The Interior Design Handbook teaches you general rules of thumb—like what the golden ratio and the golden spiral are, the proper size for a coffee table in relation to your sofa, the optimal height to hang lighting fixtures, and the best ways to use a mood board—complete with helpful illustrations. Use The Interior Design Handbook to achieve a balanced, beautiful home no matter where you live or what your style is.

The Touch: Spaces Designed for the Senses

Kinfolk, Norm Architects · 2019

Soft Minimal: Norm Architects: A Sensory Approach to Architecture and Design

· 2022

Building spaces of equilibrium: Norm Architects' humane simplicity creates environments that feel as good as they look. Guided by ideas of wellbeing, the essence of Norm Architects' style is balance: richness focused by restraint, simplicity imbued with warmth, complexity heightened by order. Be it architecture, interiors, or furniture, Norm's unique brand of soft minimalism speaks to the mind as much as the body, creating spaces for people. The first monograph by Norm Architects, Soft Minimal is their own curation of works that have made them key figures of Nordic design. It presents residential and commercial projects throughout Scandinavia, Italy and Japan as Norm reflect on Nordic traditions, modernist principles, and the importance of natural materials. Exploring a creative process that makes the visual speak to all senses, the book becomes insightful, inspirational, and deeply poetic.

The Kinfolk Home

Nathan Williams · 2015

Architectural Digest at 100

Architectural Digest, Amy Astley · 2019

<b>A rich visual history celebrating a century of the magazine’s publication, </b><b><i>Architectural Digest at 100</i></b><b> presents the best from the pages of the international design authority.</b><br> <br><b>Introduction by Amy Astley, <i>Architectural Digest</i> editor in chief * </b><b>Foreword by Anna Wintour</b><br> <br><b>“A survey of how Americans have lived—and how American life has changed—over the past 100 years.” —<i>Los Angeles Times</i></b><br> <br><b>“Celeb Décor to Envy.” —<i>Variety</i></b><br> <br><i>Architectural Digest</i>’s editors have delved into the archives and culled years of rich material covering a variety of subjects. Ranging freely between present and past, the book features the personal spaces of dozens of private celebrities like Barack and Michelle Obama, David Bowie, Truman Capote, David Hockney, Michael Kors, and Diana Vreeland, and includes the work of top designers and architects like Frank Gehry, David Hicks, India Mahdavi, Peter Marino, John Fowler, Renzo Mongiardino, Oscar Niemeyer, Axel Vervoordt, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Elsie de Wolfe.<br><br> Also included are stunning images from the magazine’s history by photographers such as Bill Cunningham, Horst P. Horst, Simon Upton, Francois Dischinger, Francois Halard, Julius Shulman, and Oberto Gili.<br> <br><b>“Written in the elevated quality that only the editors of <i>Architectural Digest</i> can master so well, [this] is the world’s newest guide to the best and brightest designs to inspire your next big home project.” —<i>The Editorialist</i></b>

Before / After: Álvaro Siza

Duccio Malagamba · 2024

A curated survey of the legendary Portuguese architect’s most interesting buildings, photographed by Duccio Malagamba<br/>The renowned Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza is widely regarded as one of the most important architects of the 20th and 21st centuries. Recognized with numerous awards throughout his career, his architectural works are both functional and aesthetically pleasing, characterized by their elegant simplicity, careful attention to detail, and harmonious integration with the surrounding environment.<br/>Conceived together with acclaimed architectural photographer Duccio Malagamba, the book reflects twenty compelling global projects personally selected by Siza, with each feature accompanied by the architect’s inspired hand drawings. The features are additionally illustrated by Malagamba’s photography, reflecting the enduring relationship between the two men for the last three decades.<br/>Siza’s work has had a significant impact on younger generations of architects, and his approach to architecture, rooted in careful observation and a deep understanding of the human experience, has influenced countless designers around the world. Born in Portugal in 1933, Siza has received much international recognition, including the Pritzker Prize, the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, and the Japanese Praemium Imperiale and his unique approach to space and volume continues to inspire contemporary designers and architects today.<br/>This book offers a unique opportunity to look at his work through his selection of 20 projects in Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Portugal, South Korea, and Spain, shown through his personal drawings and Duccio Malagamba’s elegant photography.

Concrete Architecture: The Ultimate Collection

Phaidon Editors, Sam Lubell, Greg Goldin · 2024

<p><b> The ultimate book of concrete architecture, featuring 300 buildings of every type and style from the past 100 years </b></p><p>A singularly impressive volume featuring 300 examples of the most incredible and inspiring concrete architecture from the early twentieth century to the present day. Organised visually, with one building per page, <i>Concrete Architecture</i> celebrates the might, majesty, and sculptural beauty of concrete buildings from all over the globe and is grounded with a contextualising essay on the long history of concrete architecture, reaching back more than a thousand years to the classical civilisations of Greece and Rome. </p><p>Including buildings from the pioneering Modern masters of concrete Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, I. M. Pei, John Lautner, and Frank Lloyd Wright as well as work by some of the most revered architects of the late twentieth century including Tadao Ando, Steven Holl, Herzog and de Meuron, and Zaha Hadid, <i>Concrete Architecture</i> also brings to light the contemporary stars using concrete in spectacular ways, including Grafton Architects, Elemental, and Pezo von Elrichshausen. This awe-inspiring collection of concrete buildings from around the globe is a visual feast for lovers of Brutalism, one of the hottest topics in popular architecture.</p>

Sense of Style

Pauwels, Wim · 2024

• A beautifully presented volume with 18 new portraits of the homes and workplaces of artists, designers, architects and other creatives from all over the world<br/><br/>This new book is the long-awaited successor to Rendez-Vous and Visite Privee. Sense of Style showcases artists and creatives who continuously fascinate us - not only because of their creative work, but also because of the inspiring home in which they live and work. The journey begins in the vibrant heart of New York's Tribeca, and finishes in Stockholm, via Antwerp, Copenhagen, Brussels, Berlin, Long Island, Rio de Janeiro, and Milan.

Les Amandiers Home: Timeless Interiors

Beta-Plus Publishing · 2023

<p>- A monograph on the work of Les Amandiers Home, presenting projects in the Var countryside, the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, the French Alps and abroad</p><p></p><p>When Sonja, a Belgian interior decorator and Joel, Catalan and a master carpenter met, they were working on restoration projects for listed buildings in the Eastern Pyrenees. From this professional encounter, which augured a sentimental one, Les Amandiers was born. Their first showroom, on the road to Le Muy in 2007, transferred in 2010 to the entrance of Sainte-Maxime. During this time they envisioned, designed and developed a collection of beautiful indoor and outdoor furniture. Starting from high quality raw materials they conceive contemporary furniture in French oak for the interior and in Red cedar or Padouk for the outdoors. Following Joel's long illness and death in May 2017, it marked the end of one era for Les Amandiers, but the beginning of another. Sonja, along with her team embarked on new projects including the purchase of a village house in Grimaud, and made it another showroom for the spirit of Les Amandiers Home. Les Amandiers Home offer a unique custom service from their workshops in Sainte-Maxime and Saint-Etienne. A team of 12 carpenters put their skills to work every day to carry out the various furniture orders made in France and abroad. It is in the purest tradition of ancestral craftsmanship that the workshop team works to produce a truly high quality collection. In their first monograph, Les Amandiers Home show an overview of their high-end projects in the Var countryside, in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, in the French Alps and abroad. Text in English and French.</p>

Mies

Detlef Mertins · 2024

The classic and definitive monograph on iconic architect Mies van der Rohe<br/>This is the most readable, comprehensive, and beautiful book ever published on one of the twentieth century’s most influential architects, now available with a stunning new cover. Known for the beauty and purity of his work, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe built remarkable houses, skyscrapers, museums, and multibuilding campuses. Accompanied by more than 700 drawings, photographs, plans, and diagrams,<br/>Mertins’ rich and highly readable text traces the aesthetic and intellectual context for all of Mies van der Rohe’s work, with in-depth discussions of his most important buildings and projects. The clarity of Mies’s architecture belies the diversity of his interests, which included philosophy and science as well as design, and Mertin’s rigorous and accessible text gives the reader a clear description of all the most important of Mies’s buildings as well as the intellectual contexts for their design.<br/>Includes such buildings as: the Barcelona Pavilion in Spain; the Tugendhat House in Brno, Czech Republic; S. R. Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, USA; and the New National Gallery in Berlin, Germany.

Louis Poulsen: First House of Light

TF Chan · 2024

<p><b>A celebration of the 150th anniversary of one of the finest and most recognisable lighting companies, Louis Poulsen</b></p> <p>Founded in Denmark in 1874 by Ludvig Raymond Poulsen , the original brand was transformed by the designer Poul Henningsen when he designed the iconic PH lamps. Since then, Louis Poulsen has worked with some of the world's most talented designers, from Arne Jacobsen to nendo. By delving into the company's rich history and archive, this book traces the fascinating story of a brand that has flourished over generations, creating a holistic celebration of one of the world's most distinctive lighting design houses.</p> <p>Featured throughout the book are designs by heavyweight mid-century designers, such as Verner Panton and Arne Jacobsen, as well as some of the most creative contemporary designers working today including GamFratesi and Olafur Eliasson. Published to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the iconic Danish lighting company Louis Poulsen, the book includes more than 200 archival drawings and photographs, most of which have never been seen before.</p>