Omni Personal Shopper: The Architecture Student

For our second challenge in our Omni Personal Shopper series (add your own requests in the comments), we turn to what might seem a more straightforward request:

My brother is in his final year of architecture school. It’s a tradition of ours to always give each other books for Christmas. After 5 straight years of giving him Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry coffee table books, I’m looking for something with a bit more 'in-the-know' credibility--something that will really spark his interest. Naturally, he’s also really into design; Philippe Starck is one of his faves. Are there any great architecture or design books from this past year?

But getting past the big names to some "in-the-know credibility" that will hold up for someone who has been living and breathing architecture and design for the past few years, well...  Here's what we came up with:

• Lauren recommends two new conceptual books from the brainiacs at MIT Press: The Grid Book, by Hannah B Higgins, and Camp: A Guide to 21st-Century Space by Charlie Hailey, as well as a "gem" from the consistently fabulous Princeton Architectural Press, Le Corbusier and the Maisons Jaoul: "Le Corbusier designed very few personal homes, but the Maisons Jaoul was an exception. He was close friends with the family. This book documents in great detail the entire creative and building process of two houses for a father and son. A fascinating look behind the scenes of the creation of a masterpiece of domestic architecture—and an unexpectedly intimate work by the great guru of industrial apartment blocks." And she also points to one of the major books of design history this year, Nicholas Fox Weber's The Bauhaus Group.
• Daphne and Anne both thought of Unpacking My Library: Architects and Their Books, a gorgeous book in its own right (it just got knocked out of our Best Covers contest) that could lead to a lifetime's worth of further architectural reading. Daphne also recommends a new book featuring one of our most innovative architects here in Seattle, Jim Olsen Houses (many of which were designed for art collectors), and, on the design side, one of our favorite books from 2008, Stefan Sagmeister's provocative concoction, Things I have learned in my life so far.
• Anne also suggests a book she posted a recent Crush on, Asylum, "a haunting and beautiful photographic study of the now-abandoned state hospitals constructed across the US during the 19th century. The depth and precision of the pictures you’ll see here shows a perhaps unusual slice of architectural history, but one that any student of fine craftsmanship or (for lack of a better word) institutional design will surely appreciate." And she likes Hearts of the City, the new collection from the late Herbert Muschamp, the longtime architectural critic of the New York Times, "the ultimate wish-list book for a city lover like myself, so I can only imagine the riches in store for an architect who can actually appreciate the nuance in Muschamp’s take on spaces ranging from Frank Gehry’s Conde Nast cafeteria ('a small city park that has become unexpectedly lodged on the fourth floor of a midtown skyscraper') to the new Bibliotheque Nationale de France, where 'the proximity of nature to culture will remind some visitors of French cuisine.'”
• My first thought for your brother is one of my go-to recommendations of the year, Geoff Manaugh's BLDGBLOG Book. I've raved here plenty about it, but it's a lovely and approachably mind-blowing tour through speculative and actual built environments. And if you're willing to get a little goofy on the design side, there's one that's been road-tested on my own family (I gave it to my gadget-loving son a couple of years ago and we all think it's hiliarious): The Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions.
• And finally, in search of some real in-the-know credibility, I consulted my sister, an architect who I suspect likes books even more than buildings, and who I always try to stump at Christmas with a gorgeous design book she's never seen (she might end up getting something from this list, in fact, but I can't say more, since I know she reads Omni!). She recommends a couple "classics" from the last few years documenting the work of innovative firms: Herzog & de Meuron: Natural History and Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis: Opportunistic Architecture. And, if you really love your brother (is she trying to give me a hint?), you could spring for a pristine used copy of Peter Zumthor Works, which she says, "I very much regret not buying when it was new."

Hope this helps--let us know what you decide! And thanks for asking. --Tom

Comments

[Kathy on December 09, 2009 at 09:06 AM]

I am asking this here because I can't find another spot to ask. I have had amazon daily since I purchased my kindle last year. As of November 5th, it just stopped. I tried to cancel it and re-activiate it to no avail. I miss reading it. Any tips for me? Thanks Kathy

[Tom on December 09, 2009 at 10:16 AM]

Hi Kathy--

Thanks for letting us know--I forwarded that question to our blogs team to look into.

Tom