Architecture Books

Isokon and the Bauhaus in Britain

£25.00

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In the mid-1930s, three giants of the international Modern movement, Bauhaus professors Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and László Moholy-Nagy, fled Nazi Germany and sought refuge in Hampstead in the most exciting new apartment block in Britain. The Lawn Road Flats, or Isokon building (as it came to be known), was commissioned by the young visionary couple Jack and Molly Pritchard and designed by aspiring architect Wells Coates. Built in 1934 in response to the question 'How do we want to live now?' it was England's first modernist apartment building and was hugely influential in pioneering the concept of minimal living. During the mid-1930s and 1940s its flats, bar and dining club became an extraordinary creative nexus for international artists, writers and thinkers. Jack Pritchard employed Gropius, Breuer and Moholy-Nagy in his newly formed Isokon design company and the furniture, architecture and graphic art the three produced for him and other clients during their brief sojourn in pre-war England helped shape Modern Britain This book tells the story of the Isokon, from its beginnings to the present day, and fully examines the work, artistic networks and legacy of the Bauhaus artists during their time in Britain. The tales are not just of design and architecture but war, sex, death, espionage and the infamous dinner parties. Isokon resident Agatha Christie features in the book, as does Charlotte Perriand, working for Le Corbusier's practice, who Jack Pritchard commissioned for a pavilion design in 1930 The book is beautifully illustrated with archive photography - much of which is previously unseen - and includes the work of photographer and Soviet spy Edith Tudor-Hart, as well as plans and sketches, menus, postcards and letters from the Pritchard family archive In Spring 2018, the Isokon building and Breuer, Gropius and Moholy-Nagy were honoured with a Blue Plaque from English Heritage. 2019 marks the centenary of the foundation of the Bauhaus, so the book is a timely celebration of European design

Architecture of Closed Worlds

£30.00

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What do outer space capsules, submarines, and office buildings have in common? Each is conceived as a closed system: a self-sustaining physical environment demarcated from its surroundings by a boundary that does not allow for the transfer of matter or energy Contemporary discussions about global warming, recycling, and sustainability have emerged as direct conceptual constructs related to the study and analysis of closed systems. From the space program to countercultural architectural groups experimenting with autonomous living, this publication documents a disciplinary transformation and the rise of a new environmental consensus in the form of a synthetic naturalism It presents an archive of 39 historical living prototypes from 1928 to the present that put forth an unexplored genealogy of closed resource regeneration systems Prototypes are presented through unique discursive narratives with historical images, and each includes new analysis in the form of a feedback drawing that problematises the language of environmental representation by illustrating loss, derailment, and the production of new substances and atmospheres

By the People: Designing a Better America

£30.00

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The United States maintains one of the world's largest economies, but a record number of Americans live in poverty and, as income gaps grow, social mobility is out of reach for many more The third book to result from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum's groundbreaking series of exhibitions dedicated to socially responsible design, 'By the People: Designing a Better America' features sixty design profiles, nine essays and interviews, and more than 450 images that bring to light design's important role in addressing social, economic, environmental, and spatial disparities. Worker-owned enterprises, productive landscapes, affordable housing, alternative transportation, and civic toolkits are just a few of the inspiring designs for a more just and equitable America

The Monocle Guide to Shops, Kiosks and Markets

£35.00

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Revealing Monocle’s 100 favourite shops worldwide, from the independent fashion boutique to the department store that takes up a city block, this is a new practical guide complete with case studies, a collection of sharp essays, snappy interviews, contacts and tips – a toolbox for the retail-minded and those with their own shop in prospect. The Monocle Guide to Shops, Kiosks and Marketsis a handbook for the shopper and any aspiring shopkeeper, stocking a wealth of insight and inspiration. Now, may we show you around? Monocle was launched by Tyler Brûlé in 2007 as a monthly magazine briefing on global affairs, business, culture, design, and much more. Today, Monocle is a complete, media brand with a suite of travel guides under its belt, a 24-hour radio station, a film-rich website, retail ventures around the globe, and cafés in Tokyo and London. Besides their London HQ they have seven international bureaux in New York, Toronto, Istanbul, Singapore, Tokyo, Zurich, and Hong Kong. At their core is the simple belief that there will always be a place for a print brand that is committed to telling fresh stories and sending photographers on assignments

The Shopkeepers: Storefront Businesses and the Future of Retail

£40.00

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In the age of online shopping, opening a store and becoming a shopkeeper seems like a bold move. Yet from Vienna to Vancouver, storefronts are emerging once again as worthy opponents to commercial corporations. Customers embrace individual businesses that share the distinctive knowledge, personalities, vision, and humour of their owners Whether brand new and based on innovative ideas or passed down for generations and revamped, the stores and their shopkeepers featured in this book stand out for the singular experience they provide to their customers and the personal selection of items they sell. The Shopkeepers: Storefront Businesses and the Future of Retail celebrates the diversity and creativity of brick-and-mortar businesses, telling the stories of the shops and their unique owners  Good stores still exist. In fact, their number is growing. Well-designed specialty shops that are inspired by the small manufacturers and mom-and-pop operations of the past are now sprouting up. These outlets are defying e-commerce and anonymous online shopping with outstanding products, original interior design, innovative concepts, and, first and foremost, friendly and competent customer service. The Shopkeepers: Storefront Businesses and the Future of Retail explores this new store culture through examples such as barber shops, fish smokeries, tailors, and milliners, as well as retail spaces specialising in stationery, hardware, buttons, home décor, or coffeemakers. They can be found off the beaten track as well as in the hearts of major cities from Vienna to Vancouver. The book makes it clear that they are all driven by the passion that their founders and operators have for their business ideas and products, whether vintage eyeglasses, textiles from India or China, specialty books, soaps, olive oils, or tropical fish. While some shops are based on innovative ideas, others are reinterpretations of traditional family businesses The Shopkeepers: Storefront Businesses and the Future of Retail introduces the personalities behind these exciting retail concepts. Many have been running their shops for years but are only now being recognised by a new generation of consumers for their acumen, integrity, and knowledge—from shoemakers who truly understand their craft to culinary experts who can differentiate between 200 types of chocolate or cheese with their eyes closed. Some are such interesting characters that the chance to interact with them is reason enough to attract potential customers A celebration of the diversity and creativity of brick-and-mortar businesses, The Shopkeepers: Storefront Businesses and the Future of Retail tells compelling stories of singular shops and their unique owners

David Hicks scrapbooks

£60.00

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The most famous British designer of his day, David Hicks (1929–1998) wowed the English decorating world with his bold geometric prints, electrifying colour combinations, and quirky mix of antique and contemporary furniture. Thanks to his prodigious talent, his gift—and penchant—for publicity, and his connection to the royal family through his marriage to Lady Pamela Mountbatten (cousin of Prince Philip), Hicks attracted an A-list clientele drawn from the aristocracy, media, and fashion For decades, Hicks documented every salient moment of his life in scrapbooks, amassing 24 volumes in all. They contain press clippings, party invitations, swatches of his signature textile patterns, sketches of interiors, magazine articles on his projects, and hundreds of photographs, mainly family snapshots but also his own photographs of people like Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly, and Andy Warhol. Many of the pages are laid out in a graphic collage style, now yellowed and stained, lending a patina of history. And many are embellished with drawings and notations, revealing Hicks’s turn of mind and sense of whimsy For this volume his son, Ashley Hicks, has carefully chosen more than 325 of the best pages—providing a poignant window into the extraordinary world of David Hicks and a handmade time capsule of an era

Brutal Bloc Post Cards

£22.50

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A collection of previously unpublished postcards from the former Eastern Bloc - sinister, funny, poignant and surreal, they depict the social and architectural values of the period Brutal concrete hotels, futurist TV towers, heroic worker statues - this collection of Soviet era postcards documents the uncompromising landscape of the Eastern Bloc through its buildings and monuments. They are interspersed with quotes from prominent figures of the time, that both support and confound the ideologies presented in the images In contrast to the photographs of a ruined and abandoned Soviet empire we are accustomed to seeing today, the scenes depicted here publicise the bright future of communism: social housing blocks, Palaces of Culture and monuments to Comradeship. Dating from the 1960s to the 1980s, they offer a nostalgic yet revealing insight into social and architectural values of the time, acting as a window through which we can examine cars, people, and of course, buildings. These postcards, sanctioned by the authorities, intended to show the world what living in communism looked like Instead, this postcard propaganda inadvertently communicates other messages: outside the House of Political Enlightenment in Yerevan, the flowerbed reads `Glory to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union'; in Novopolotsk, art school pupils paint plein air, their subject is a housing estate; at the Irkutsk Polytechnic Institute students stroll past a five metre tall concrete hammer and sickle

Archigraphy: Lettering on Buildings

£45.50

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Lettering on buildings and in the public realm affects our environment. The core of this manual is formed by archigraphy projects that represent a strategy of how architecture can be enriched by graphic elements The structural, material or visual methods can be used as inspiration for the reader's own designs A compilation of lettering techniques, advice on project management, make this manual a tool for architects and graphic designers alike