Gifts for Architects

Postmodern Architecture: Less is a Bore

£29.95

Quantity

A curated collection of Postmodern architecture in all its glorious array of vivid non-conformity This unprecedented book takes its subtitle from Postmodernist icon Robert Venturi's spirited response to Mies van der Rohe's dictum that ‘less is more'. One of the 20th century's most controversial styles, Postmodernism began in the 1970s, reached a fever pitch of eclectic non-conformity in the 1980s and 90s, and after nearly 40 years is now enjoying a newfound popularity Postmodern Architecture showcases examples of the movement in a rainbow of hues and forms from around the globe

Le Corbusier: The Buildings (ex display)

£67.00 £98.00

Quantity

Le Corbusier is widely acknowledged as the most influential architect of the twentieth century. As extensively researched and documented as his works are, however, they have never been exhaustively surveyed in photographs until now. Photographer Richard Pare has crossed the globe for years to document the extant works of Le Corbusier - from his first villas in Switzerland to his mid-career works in his role as the first global architect in locations as far-flung as Argentina and Russia, and his late works, including his sole North American project, at Harvard University, and an extensive civic plan for Chandigarh, India Le Corbusier: The Buildings provides numerous views of each project to bring a fuller understanding of the architect's command of space, sometimes surprising use of materials and colour, and the almost ineffable qualities that only result from a commanding synthesis of all aspects of design. With an authoritative text by scholar and curator Jean-Louis Cohen, Le Corbusier: The Buildings is a groundbreaking opportunity to appreciate the master's work anew Please note: these are ex display copies and have sustained from wear and tear from being on display in store. As such their price has been reduced to reflect the imperfect condition

Black: Architecture in Monochrome

£14.95

Quantity

A stunning journey through the world's most dramatic and inspiring black architecture - now in a cool, compact new format In this sleek, stylish and easy-to-use new size, this book highlights the exquisite elegance of black in the built world through more than 150 structures From ancient churches to contemporary skyscrapers, Black demonstrates how hues from ebony to onyx have been beloved by architects for centuries Insightful texts paired with striking photography bring to life these captivating buildings including works by Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, David Adjaye, Jean Nouvel, Peter Marino, and Steven Holl

Isokon and the Bauhaus in Britain

£25.00

Quantity

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

Stone

£29.95

Quantity

Stone is a fascinating, fresh and insightful global tour of the world's oldest and most beautiful building material Featuring more than 170 structures, from prehistory through to today, the book includes an incredible range of buildings There are also projects by the world's best contemporary architects Arranged to promote comparison and discussion, each project includes an extended caption providing a perceptive commentary on the building An elegant and informative visual exploration, Stone demonstrates the remarkable variety of creative and innovative structures the material has inspired around the world

Observers Notebook: Astronomy

£13.99

Quantity

A star-filled sky is as mysterious as it is sublime. What are we looking at? How far away and from when? How do I tell the Little Dipper from the Big Dipper? Is that Cassiopeia or Orion? Is the moon waxing or waning? Whether you're an occasional backyard stargazer or would-be astrophysicist, you'll find pages of useful information in the Observer's Notebook: Astronomy Stunning four colour images from the Hubble and ESA space telescopes are interwoven with ruled pages for your own celestial observations, notes and star-based wishes

Moving to Mars: Design for the Red Planet Catalogue

£19.95

Quantity

Edited by Justin McGuirk, Andrew Nahum and Eleanor Watson  Designed by Studio Julia  Getting humans to Mars has become one of the great challenges of our time. It will be an extraordinary technological feat, but also a feat of design. This is the first book dedicated to designing for the Red Planet. From life on a spacecraft to survival on Mars’ inhospitable surface, new forms of clothing, farming and architecture will be needed. This volume looks at the real work designers and architects are generating now – as well as more speculative proposals of what this future might look like. Some ask whether we should go to Mars at all, while others argue that the rigours of such a mission would force us to design a waste-free way of life.  Illustrated with more than 300 images and featuring original essays by leading thinkers in their field, Moving to Mars: Design for the Red Planet includes projects by NASA, SpaceX and the European Space Agency, as well as new work by designers and architects including HASSELL, Konstantin Grcic, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg and RÆBURN. It also includes an interview with the science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson, who addresses why speculative design is the ideal discipline for imagining the ‘material grammar' of a life on Mars

Design for the Real World

£14.99

Quantity

Design for the Real World has been translated into over twenty languages since it first appeared in 1971; it has become the world's most widely read book on design and is an essential text in many design and architectural schools. This edition offers a blueprint for survival in the third millennium Victor Papanek's lively and instructive guide shows how design can reduce pollution, overcrowding, starvation, obsolescence and other modern ills. He leads us away from `fetish objects for a wasteful society' towards a new age of morally and environmentally responsible design