Why Are Most Buildings Rectangular? New to our humble little abode this week is Philip Steadman’s Why Are Most Buildings Rectangular? And Other Essays on Geometry and Architecture. Bringing together “a dozen of Philip Steadman’s essays and papers on the geometry of architectural and urban form, written over the last 12 years…[with] two larger themes: a … Continue reading New Books: Why Are Most Buildings Rectangular?
Just as the semester is coming to close, APL received a bunch of new books. To follow is a selection of the ones that appealed most to me- monographs on Piranesi and The Dakota, respectively, and two works on architectural types, the English Cottage and the Russian wooden church. But you should stop in and … Continue reading So Many New Books at APL!
Hannah Stamier recently blogged about the Bon Marché and Émile Zola on ARTstor’s blog, highlighting images from their collection- which I remembered when I happened across some books on a similar topic. ARTstor is of course an excellent resource; however, I would also encourage you to explore the works in Special Collections on department stores and … Continue reading Friday Finds: Store Fronts
This week, I am highlighting new books on collections- of various sorts. Karch, Fritz, Rebecca Robertson, Jen Renzi. Collected: Living with the Things You Love. Abrams: New York, 2014. Karch and Robertson explain their motivation behind Collected: We yearned for a forum to relate these design methods to a wider audience. To showcase the scope … Continue reading New Books at the Architecture and Planning Library: Collecting
The Battle Hall Architecture and Planning Library at the University of Texas at Austin was designed by architect Cass Gilbert in 1911, setting the stylistic tone for future academic architecture and shaping the distinguished Texas university campus. In preparation for a preservation and improvement campaign of the University of Texas’ first architectural masterpiece and … Continue reading Battle Hall Conservation Study
Each of the following companies presents their products differently, both visually and textually, which led me to speculate about the intended audiences. Universal Catalogue Bureau. Universal Millwork Design Book No. 20. Dubuque, IA: Universal Catalogue Bureau, 1920. It’s a no nonsense book. It begins with a brief introduction and instructions for ordering. Accordingly: In compiling this design … Continue reading Friday Finds: Source Books for Woodwork and Terra Cotta
Sommer und Ferienhäuser aus dem Wettbewerb der Woche: 10 Sonderheft der Woche. Berlin: August Scherl, 1907. This work contains 60 designs submitted for the Summer and Holiday House competition of 1907. The submission categories are broken out by the production cost- a house for 5000 Marks, 7500, 10000, and 20000. There was also a category … Continue reading Friday Finds: Summer and Holiday Rentals
Parker, Charles. Villa Rustica: Selected from Buildings and Scenes in the Vicinity of Rome and Florence; and arranged for Rural and Domestic Dwellings with Plans and Details. London: J. Weale, 1848. In the following pages it is proposed to give…a few examples…of Domestic Architecture of Italy, the ruined edifices of which have so many years engaged … Continue reading Friday Finds in Special Collections: Picturesque and Pattern Books
We’ve got so many great new books this week, it was hard to choose! Here are three I didn’t want to put down: The Air From Other Planets: A Brief History of Architecture to Come by Sean Lally is an intriguing discussion of the future of architecture as the design of energy. In the introduction … Continue reading New Books at the Architecture and Planning Library 9/23/14
Looking for some design inspiration or perhaps an exciting summer read? Check out in full COLOUR: Recent Buildings and Interiors with projects selected by Dirk Meyerhöfer. This book documents a wide variety of projects where use of color, either of colored surfaces, colored light, or both, has a transformative effect on the built environment. These … Continue reading in full COLOUR
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