Books: The Iconic House: Architectural Masterworks Since 1900

Presenting the most architecturally significant houses since 1900, The Iconic House is a comprehensive record of the most important works to date. With specially commissioned photographs by Richard Powers, and written by Dominic Bradbury, the book not only looks at the architects and their designs but also the close communion between the architect and client–a relationship, sometimes harmonious, but often conflicted.
The houses are experimental and innovative, their influence has spread throughout the world and many have established new architectural paradigms that affect the way we perceive a beautiful home. Each featured house includes floorplans, a short biography of the architect with key buildings, and are sorted chronologically with a giant date to anchor the description.
Not to be overlooked is a bibliography at the back of the book, as well as a gazetteer and list of houses by type which offer further information including which homes are open to the public.

Some of the architects whose work appears in The Iconic House include Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ban, Marcel Breuer, Richard Buckminster Fuller, Charles & Ray Eames, Eileen Gray, Greene & Greene, Walter Gropius, Herzog & de Meuron, Philip Johnson, Louis Kahn, Pierre Koenig, Rem Koolhaas, John Lautner, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Richard Neutra, Oscar Niemeyer, Eero Saarinen, UN Studio, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Iconic House: Architectural Masterworks Since 1900, by Dominic Bradbury, Photographs by Richard Powers, Publisher: Thames & Hudson, Hardcover, 351 Pages, ISBN: 9780500342558

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Books: Concrete Creations: Contemporary Buildings & Interiors

Concrete, as the Romans knew it, was in effect a new and revolutionary material. but it wasn’t until after its re-invention in the 18th century that the material combined with reinforced steel transformed the world as we know it. While concrete fell out of favor in the 70s after unpopular modernist architectural movements like Brutalism and large-scale government sponsored urban renewal projects, it is now enjoying a period of revival and innovation.

Concrete has overcome its once tarnished image – thanks to recent advances in technology, the once dull substance has been transformed into an impressive material. Thanks to its especially moldable character, concrete’s flexibility knows no rival. In liquid state, it can fill any form making its application practically boundless.
Big-name architects and newcomers alike have discovered this trend long ago, and the book presents a selection of 60 of the most memorable projects recently completed. With high-quality images, detailed plans and informative project descriptions.

Highlights include private homes by Wingårdh Arkitektkontor, Akira Sakamoto and Thomas Bendel as well as projects by Moshe Safdie, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid and Fernando Romero.

Concrete Creations: Contemporary Buildings and Interiors, Selected by Dirk Meyhöfer, Hardcover, 23.5 x 23.5 cm, 256 pages, 410 colored illustrations, Publisher: Verlagshaus Braun ISBN 9783938780329
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Max Ernst Museum by SMO Architektur

Thirty years after Max Ernst’s death, his home town of Brühl opened a museum for their prodigal son. It has been set up in the former Brühl Pavilion, a neoclassical palais built in 1844, where Ernst went dancing as a schoolboy.

Max Ernst Museum, by Van Den Valentyn Architektur/SMO Architektur
Photos by: Rainer Mader

Max Ernst Museum: Van Den Valentyn Architektur/SMO Architektur, Hardcover, Pages 64, Illustration 27 colour, 38 b&w illustrations, 26cm x 24cm, ISBN 9783883759494
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Books: Le Corbusier And The Maisons Jaoul

In his article published in the Architectural Review in 1955 James Stirling observed that, “frequently accused of being an ‘internationalist’ Le Corbusier was, in fact, the most regional of architects”. With the construction of the vaulted Maisons Jaoul, built for André Jaoul and his son—and their wives—made entirely of brick, concrete, stone, and timber, the house is the antithesis of everything commonly referred to as “Corbusian.”

The book is the first detailed examination of a lesser-known, yet architecturally significant house. Filled with detailed drawings, plans, rare photographs, and indeed even a glimse of the contents of the house and the type of furnishings installed. The book ends with the critical reception by the houses, mainly in the British and American press during the 1950s and ’60s.

Le Corbusier himself never explained this radical change in direction, leaving this design a mystery for future generations to decipher. The book is a welcome addition to the study of this well-known architect but will certainly pose the question: Perhaps Le Corbusier is not a modernist after all?

Le Corbusier and the Maisons Jaoul, by Caroline Maniaque Benton, 19cm x 25cm, Hardcover, 176 pages, (122 color illustrations; 100 b/w),
Published by Princeton Architectural Press ISBN 9781568988009
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Books: Architecture Now! Houses

Some of the best houses built in the last few years, many of them featured on Daily Icon, can be found in a condensed format in the series Architecture Now!

Beyond the fundamental notion of shelter, what defines a house? What are its elements and limitations? This broad-ranging selection of extraordinary dwellings shows the concept to be infinitely malleable: one house seems to hover above the ground, another is embedded in it; some have stark minimal lines, others have tropical gardens; some are palatial, others monastic. From postmodern castles to hi-tech cabins, here is a connoisseur’s choice of the world’s most remarkable new houses, from deepest Patagonia to the Sydney suburbs, via the USA, Europe, Scandinavia and Asia.

Featured architects/firms/artists include:
3LHD Architects, Ábalos & Herreros, Ricardo Bak Gordon, Shigeru Ban, Blank Studio, Gianni Botsford, Nancy Copley, Correia/Ragazzi Arquitectos, Durbach Block, Eastern Design Office, Fuhrimann & Hächler, Terunobu Fujimori, Sou Fujimoto Architects, Kotaro Ide, Carlos Jiménez, Jouin Manku, Kamayachi + Harigai, Mathias Klotz, Kengo Kuma, Leven Betts Studio, MOS, Mount Fuji Architects Studio, Plasma Studio, Antoine Predock, Laurent Savioz, Shim + Sutcliffe, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Philippe Stuebi, Zhang Lei, René van Zuuk

Architecture Now! Houses, Edited by Philip Jodidio, 20 x 25 cm, 416 pages
ISBN: 9783836503747
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Books: Case Study Houses

The Case Study House program (1945–1966) was an exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture and remains to this day unique. The program, which concentrated on the Los Angeles area and oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed during the postwar building boom. Highly experimental, the program generated houses that were designed to redefine the modern home, and thus had a pronounced influence on architecture—American and international—both during the program’s existence and even to this day. This compact guide includes all projects featured in the XL version, with over 150 photos and plans and a map of where all houses are (or were) located.

Case Study Houses, Edited by Peter Gössel, Hardcover, 96 pages ISBN: 9783836513012

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Monograph: Frank Lloyd Wright: Complete Works

The Complete Frank Lloyd Wright
Part of an exhaustive three-volume monograph featuring all of Wright’s 1,100 designs, both realized and unrealized. This volume covers the postwar years and the “living architecture” period.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was one of the fathers of modern architecture; his work helped define the modern era, had a widespread cultural influence, and remains highly influential today, half a century after his demise. The mature work of his final years is the subject of this monograph, including all his designs from that period, even those never built. Based on unlimited access to the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives in Taliesin, Arizona, this penetrating study gives an unrivalled overview of Wright’s groundbreaking work, complex personal life, and eventual ’starchitect’ status – included are drawings he made for an unrealized house intended for Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller.

Together with two forthcoming companion titles, this three-volume monograph will cover Wright’s entire oeuvre, from his early Prairie Houses, through the Usonian concept home and “living architecture” buildings, to late projects like the Guggenheim Museum and his fantastic vision of the “living city.” Author Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, who served as Wright’s apprentice during the 1950s, highlights the latest research and gives fresh insights into the work, providing new dates for many of the plans and houses. A wealth of personal photos also illustrates the working routine at Frank Lloyd Wright’s fellowship.

Frank Lloyd Wright: Complete Works, Vol. 3, Edited by Peter Gössel, Author Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Hardcover, 40cm x 31cm, 584 pages, ISBN: 9783822857700

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Books: Behind Bars: Design for Cafés & Bars

The range of bars and cafés that can be found in cities around the world is growing. These locations are used for personal enjoyment and as relaxing and inspirational escapes from our urban daily lives. But more notably, bars and cafés are increasingly serving as representative environments for key meetings as well as maintaining business and social networks. Today, discerning individuals and businesspeople are looking for exclusive and discrete ambience in combination with contemporary comforts and trends. The design and interior of bars and cafés are decisive criteria for succeeding in a highly competitive international market.

Behind Bars: Design for Cafés & Bars, Edited by Marlous Willems, 340 pages, hardcover
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Books: Spacecraft 2

The design community’s preoccupation with space and building beyond the limits of classical architecture is more fascinating than ever before. Like its successful predecessor, Spacecraft 2 presents projects that meet the changing spatial needs of our modern lifestyles and that are simultaneously expanding our current understanding of architecture.

This book showcases international projects by architects, artists and designers all distinguished by the unconventional use and creation of space. The dynamic range of work presented in this sumptuous volume stretches the existing concepts of temporary architecture, thus unhinging conventional definitions of spatial design.

Spacecraft 2 features modular ephemeral structures that exist only for a limited time, such as pavilions, art projects and exhibition spaces. They exemplify innovative interventions often found in public spaces and urban environments. It also presents projects that deal with the transient use of space such as studios, mobile habitats and pop-up stores that either adapt to their surrounding environments or are strikingly conspicuous.

Spacecraft 2: More Fleeting Architecture and Hideouts, Editors: R. Klanten, L. Feireiss, 280 pages, full colour, hardcover.
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Books: Key Houses of the Twentieth Century Series

For the first time, a student can now find all the key plans in one place. Featuring more than 100 of the most significant and influential buildings of the 20th century, this book includes both classic works by such seminal architects as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto, as well as those by more recent masters, such as Norman Foster, Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas. For each of the buildings included there are numerous, accurate scale plans showing each floor, together with elevations, sections and site plans where appropriate. All of these have been specially commissioned for the book and are based on the most up-to-date information and sources. There is also a concise text explaining the significant architectural features of the building and the influences it shows or generated, together with full-colour images. Cross-references to other buildings in the book highlight the various connections between these key structures.

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Key Contemporary Buildings: Plans, Sections and Elevations
Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections, Elevations
Key Houses of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections, and Elevations