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Noguchi's Garden

LANDSCAPE AS SCULPTURE

While sculpture remained central to his artistic practice, Isamu Noguchi’s (1904–1988) interests and production spanned an exceptionally broad terrain that included furniture and lamps, stage sets for dance, plazas, courtyards—and gardens. Noguchi made no distinction between design, craft, and the so-called fine arts: in his view all of these could all be considered art should their aesthetic qualities sufficiently transcend those generated by the simple address of need.

Although his gardens include several of the twentieth century’s most iconic landscape designs and have received almost universal praise, Noguchi nonetheless occupies a place removed from the normal practice of landscape architecture. As an artist he relied more on intuition—bolstered by focused study where required—than on objective analysis, and he shaped his landscapes as sculpture, with space as their primary vehicle. To Noguchi landscape design was a spatial and formal art, and from his earliest environmental projects to the works of his later maturity, he succeeded in conceiving and constructing a series of remarkable places.

In this comprehensive and richly illustrated study of Noguchi's gardens, noted landscape historian Marc Treib describes and critiques projects that date from his early unrealized projects for playgrounds and monuments to a large park in Sapporo, Japan, whose construction was completed only posthumously. The story begins with the discussion of Noguchi sculpture that relate in some way to actual landscapes, then moves to the dance set designs for Martha Graham, finally entering the realm of actual landscapes with his gardens for the Reader's Digest offices in Tokyo and UNESCO House in Paris. Many more projects followed in the United States, Japan, and Israel.

Varying in their content and structure, several chapters collectively treat subjects such as landform, water, and the courtyard, while others focus on the major gardens monographically. Accompanied by stunning images from the archives of Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum archives and the author's own photographs, the story of ‘Noguchi's Gardens: Landscape as Sculpture’ will reward those interested in landscape architecture, art history, garden design, and art more broadly.

AI Sapien

VARIATIONS ON ARCHITECTURE AND THE FUTURE

‘AI Sapien’ unveils a paradigm-shifting vision of artificial intelligence (AI) and the future of architecture by merging cutting-edge AI art with insightful dialogues and poems set to Bach's Goldberg Variations. This mixed media approach explores the future of architecture and its relation to these ontologically mysterious machines starting to simulate sentience. Presenting a future where AI and habitat are inextricably linked, this book reveals new insight into AI's enigmatic "Black Box."

Legacy

WORKS FROM 1966 – 2016

David C. Martin was the third-generation design partner for AC Martin Architects. This is a portfolio of significant projects that were designed during the period of 1970s to the 2010s. It includes a number of unpublished photos of award-winning architecture. The treatise includes many of David’s conceptual sketches, his thoughts about design philosophy and describes working relations with his partner Chris Martin and other team members within the dynamics of a large architectural firm. He describes the culture of the firm and how the practice evolved thru the generations. The scale of the work ranges from individual houses to 75-story towers—from houses, churches, aerospace, universities to corporate towers.

What differentiates this monograph from most is that it is a personal expression, illustrated by lush photographs from LA’s best architectural photographers, it includes personal sketches and watercolors that chronical the design process. It deals with teamwork, family, craftsmanship, and the joy of architectural practice.

Salty Urbanism

A DESIGN MANUAL FOR SEA LEVEL RISE ADAPTATION IN URBAN AREAS

Salty Urbanism is a concept that refers to the ways in which cities and urban areas will respond and adapt to rising sea levels and the accompanying increase in salinity of coastal and near-coastal land. This phenomenon is caused by a combination of factors, including global warming, sea-level rise, and human development along coastlines.

'Salty Urbanism' can have a significant impact on urban infrastructure, such as roads, buildings, and water supply systems. As saltwater infiltrates freshwater sources, it can damage pipes and other infrastructure, leading to costly repairs and maintenance.

In response to Salty Urbanism, urban designers are exploring new strategies to adapt and mitigate the effects of rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion. These strategies include elevating buildings and infrastructure, implementing green infrastructure to absorb excess water, and developing coastal ecosystems to act as buffers against storm surges and flooding. Overall, 'Salty Urbanism' highlights the urgent need for cities and urban areas to adapt and prepare for the ongoing and future impacts of climate change.

Socializing the Sky

The book presents the remarkable history of the emergence in the past two decades of a dramatically new design of multi-tower and multi-functional tall building clusters. Based upon a decade of architectural research, the book provides a definition of the new typology, here termed The Tower Cluster, and its major concepts, design characteristics, and the typological knowledge required to design creative sub-variants. It provides the detailed analysis of a large series of outstanding recent case studies of the typology.

In addition, the book categorizes various type of sky amenities such as sky plazas, sky bridges, sky pools, outlook decks, and other functions that have been, in this new typology, distributed through the vertical order of the tower cluster in order to create a vertical campus containing a designed selection of social, cultural, commercial, and entertainment facilities. The various types of advanced amenities groupings within multi-story residential buildings, hotel buildings, office buildings, and high-tech headquarters/research buildings are presented and discussed in detail.

The design knowledge and architectural knowledge of tower clusters and their vertical amenity structures are defined, and the definition and general application of typological knowledge in design provides valuable knowledge base for the future design of creative sub-variants of the tower cluster as well as for their urban and landscape development. The highly articulated knowledge component contained in the book becomes a valuable contribution to the future design of tower clusters as well as to the creation of a model of how to define architectural knowledge. It constitutes a brilliant working guide for the design of new skyscrapers.

LA+ Botanic

ISSUE 19

‘LA+ BOTANIC’ explores our evolving relationship with plants with contributions that reflect on the many natures and relations that are being materialized in plant conservation, botanic gardens, and botanic art today. A wide range of topics is covered, including plant conservation efforts and the challenges posed by global heating and extinction, the limited plant choices imposed by the horticultural industry, and the many representations of plants found in visual, material, textual, and architectural works. Edited by Karen M’Closkey, contributors include Giovanni Aloi, Irus Braverman, Patrick Blanc, Xan Sarah Chacko, Sonja Dümpelmann, Jared Farmer, Annette Fierro, Matthew Gandy, Ursula K. Heise, Andrea Ling, Janet Marinelli, Beronda L. Montgomery, Catherine Mosbach, Katja Grötzner Neves and Bonnie-Kate Walker.

Design Matters

EVERY PROJECT. EVERY BUDGET. EVERY SCALE

LPA Design Studios rose to national prominence by demonstrating that designers can make a real impact on carbon reduction on a large scale. The firm’s integrated design approach breaks down the traditional model, eliminating barriers between disciplines to develop innovative designs that reduce energy and water and create a better human experience. The firm’s diverse body of work has earned the industry’s top awards and set new benchmarks for building performance, proving that there is a better process for designing buildings.

'Design Matters: Every project. Every budget. Every scale.' presents a beautifully curated collection of LPA projects that illustrate what can be achieved through a collaborative design process with architects, engineers, interior designers and landscape architects working together from a development’s earliest stages. The projects cross a wide range of sizes and types, including transformational education, commercial, civic, cultural and healthcare facilities. Each was created through a repeatable process focused on cost-effective research-driven design strategies. As a collection, LPA’s work is an inspirational model for an integrated, inclusive approach that connects design excellence and building performance.

City Making 101

CARD TOPICS WITH URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES

‘City Making 101’ is a base of knowledge for everyone to participate in the design of their cities. It is also a lively role-playing game to co-imagine, debate, then build consensus on design guidelines specific to your public space projects.

‘City Making 101’ is a card game and reference resource for designers and “citizen designers” to imagine, discuss and share ways to realize livable, lovable and walkable cities. The game approach offers each player a dynamic pathway into the complexity of city making. Players gain a base of knowledge about city design and, through reading, reflection, and debate, use the cards to produce a customized design guideline per their priorities and aspirations.

Framed under six categories, the 101 topics focus on fundamental domains of the public realm. Players imagine their ideal urban environment, debate issues on planning and public space, then build consensus on the design guidelines needed to realize their vision, taking into account best practice standards and performance parameters. The game opens up space for conversations, debates on priorities, stakeholder accountability and open-ended proposals on complex physical, social and economic issues.

Shooting for the Stars

SIX DECADES OF TIMELESS DESIGN

This book was created to help lead the next big wave of international design professionals. It is a vast audience full of potential.

It features commercially successful, award-winning design programs from my rewarding six-decade+ independent career. All images note the year designed and are accompanied by stories – with specific teaching roles. 248 pages of dramatic visual presentations, with some 400 four-color images and captions.

Major design programs include: NASA to Fashion Institute, AT&T to Paramount Pictures.

First Additions

STRATEGIES FOR ADDING ON

Like many small residential practices Cohen & Hacker Architects have made a career of doing house additions. In a practice spanning almost forty years they have evolved strategies for making additions that represent both a theoretical and philosophical position about altering older buildings. They believe that recycling existing houses, retrofitting them to meet new energy standards, preserving their embodied energy as well as their cultural significance is the most sustainable way to practice architecture.

The projects included in this book seamlessly and often invisibly extend the fabric of an existing house. Cohen & Hacker’s remodeled architectural interiors while respectful of the character and scale of the existing house, transform these spaces with ideas taken from modern design, creating spatially open floor plans with traditional details based on the existing architecture.

To help illustrate what Cohen & Hacker describe as transformation, this book contains before and after floor plans and often exterior elevation drawings for every project. Almost every residential addition project and remodeling includes photos of new kitchens and bathrooms, a staple typical of small residential practices. From the largest to the smallest project the same care and attention to detail characterizes their work.

Modern, Again

THE BENDA HOUSE AND GARDEN IN CHICAGOLAND

'Modern, Again: The Benda House & Garden in Chicagoland' is equal parts a history of modern residential architecture in America and a rewarding journey of preservation and stewardship. Ambrose and Sabatino—co-authors of this book and co-owners of the Winston Elting designed Benda house—summarize their in-depth archival research and hands-on work undertaken for the restoration of their 1939 International Style house in Riverside, a historic village designed by Olmsted & Vaux in Chicago’s western suburbs. The Benda House was commissioned during a time when excitement for modern architecture, art, and design was very much alive amongst the public in America, partly due to the enthusiasm created by Chicago’s Century of Progress International Exposition held between 1933 and 1934 and culminated with the New York World’s Fair of 1939. This book features archival materials ranging from architectural drawings to historic building product catalogues alongside contemporary photographs taken before and after the restoration process. Finally, the co-authors discuss their addition of a new landscaped garden that re-establishes the relationship between nature and this modern house while extending Olmsted’s vision of idealized suburban living in America.

Survival Through Design

Richard Neutra’s landmark publication 'Survival Through Design,' in print again for the first time in decades, is a cycle of essays providing insights far ahead of their time. With a new introduction by Dr. Barbara Lamprecht and foreword by Dr. Raymond Neutra, it is richly illustrated and intended as a reference for years to come. Neutra’s themes are wide-ranging and he extensively plumbs through history to develop his insights, however, the general theme of man-made environment and its impact on human physiological, neurological, emotional states over time, and the designer’s potential role as mediator of these conditions, is a constant throughout 'Survival Through Design' with ever greater relevance for the present day.

Invisible

'Invisible' is book on St. Louis design practice, Axi:Ome led by Heather Woofter and Sung Ho Kim. A collection of essays, built, unbuilt and conceptual projects which maps the trajectory of last seven years of work from 2015 through 2022. The book covers 24 projects in different cultures and landscapes around the world with varies programs and scales. Nader Tehrani, Eric Mumford, Alan Balfour, Jennifer Yoos, Nanako Umemoto, and Jessie Reiser provides insightful texts supporting and articulating critical frameworks of 'Axi:Ome,' while defining a discourse of complexities in contemporary practice that is emerging from academic expectations. The book documents the invisible ethos that constructs a project in an intricate world that challenges practitioners to re-think and re-examine how they position into architectural spectrum. Invisible cartographs and chronicles the legitimization of architectural practice that engages the pedagogical visions of the profession and the education.

Periurban Cartographies

KOLKATA'S ECOLOGIES AND SETTLED RURALITIES

Periurban Cartographies looks through the prism of the “almost urban” to consider what a “city” is or could be. In doing so, the book challenges assumptions and reconsiders design practices.

The research reported upon in this study draws on thick description of everyday life and diffuse power in periurban Gangetic West Bengal/Kolkata. It does so in the hope of enriching our understanding of incremental modes of political empowerment and the futures they make. The intention is to not just communicate the transformations at work in creating a particular “kind of urban”, but also to point to connections that make us rethink the ways in which change happens.

The book is a contribution to work being done on urban theory-building from elsewhere than the Global North, specifically from Asia, and periurban Gangetic West Bengal/Kolkata. It is not simply a look at a novel and singular condition in and of itself but uses that singularity to better understand periurbanism generally and urban political ecologies particularly. Current scholarship in urban political ecology reminds us of some of the enduring tensions around the conceptualizations of region, socio-natures and agency, and practice. The urban political ecology approach in this book offers a way of moving past some of these tensions.

Island Homes

CASUAL ELEGANCE IN DESIGN

Island Homes and Casual Elegance in Design presents the beautiful yet unpretentious new homes, residential renovations, and commercial buildings designed by Honolulu-based Peter Vincent Architects. A boutique firm founded in 1992, PVA specializes in custom-built architecture in a broad spectrum of styles and genres. Each project responds to the unique needs and vision of its client as well as the physical, social, and environmental opportunities and requirements offered by its site.

In stunning color photography, the book features twenty built works by PVA. Each shows the creative design, quality materials, and exacting proportions that set PVA apart. The text, crafted from interviews with managing partner Peter Vincent, tells an intimate story of each project and discusses the various personal experiences that have influenced his architectural philosophy. A foreword by Malia Mattoch McManus, author of The Hawaiian House Now, discusses how PVA projects respect their surroundings and the culture.

Modern Chinese Architecture

180 YEARS

This is a clear, accurate, readable survey of the dramatic transformation of Chinese architecture from 1840 through 2020. It narrates the change from a predominantly timber-frame tradition to construction in twisted steel and ecologically sensitive local materials. The book places the buildings in historical context.

‘Modern Chinese Architecture: 180 Years’ tells the dramatic story of the transformation of Chinese architecture from a predominantly modular, timber-frame, single-story building system with ceramic tile roofs of anonymous, local craftsmen to skyscrapers designed by internationally acclaimed architects, from temple markets and itinerant peddlers to megamalls, and from open air stages to auditoriums and stadiums with cutting-edge acoustics. The architectural transformation occurs as China transforms from a dynasty ruled by emperors to a republic to a people’s republic, from a country in which fewer than half the male population, and perhaps 10 percent of the female population could read to at least 97% literacy, and from a population that was fewer than 5 percent to more than 60 percent urban.

The development of architecture in China is explained DECADE-BY-DECADE through five generations of architects: foreigners, China’s first generation who study modern architecture abroad, their students who design in China during years of war with Japan, internal warfare, and the Cultural Revolution, the next generation who in the 1980s begin to study abroad again, and designers of this century from every continent who compete to transform the Chinese landscape. Buildings in this book are from every province. Illustrations are superior.

The Mother Tongue of Architecture

SELECTED WRITINGS FROM KAZI KHALEED ASHRAF

A collection of critical essays on abiding and compelling topics in architecture and the culture of architecture. Range of topics are diverse: an architectural phenomenology of water, architecture and landscape rethought, ancient Greece to India, The Buddha’s house to the modern house in India, the architecture and landscapes of Louis Kahn. Le Corbusier in India, the architecture of Balkrishna Doshi, and other original topics such as the destruction of buildings as a ritual necessity.

Delta Design Futures

ENDURANCE FOR NEW FRONTIERS

The Pearl River Delta region has been severely engineered throughout its process of historical emergence. As it is about to confront a new wave of changes in the present century driven by economic growth, industrial activity, and growth of maritime operations, the book proposes “endurance” as a way of urban design in the Pearl River Delta region to organize space around the changing frontiers between territory inhabited by people and South China Sea. The book addresses the urgency to counter the risks posed to the delta city-region by proposing scenarios for urban growth.

The design futures for the Pearl River Delta are formed by acknowledging the socio-political drift towards one direction above another, which influences the future organization or reorganization of space. The historical emergence of the river delta highlights the fact that it is conditioned to multiple directives and multiple transformations, which at the same time makes it exemplary yet idiosyncratic. Therefore, the scenarios of city-region development presented in the book, depict an integration of systems of flows, and the symbiosis of conflicting powers. A series of specific questions lead to principles that drive each future growth trajectory, which is represented through a series of diagrammatic logics in order to organize space through structures of landscape systems and those of new territories and networks.

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Hotel Design

'Hotel Design' presents the beautiful, inviting, and defining hotels and resorts designed by FILLAT+ Architecture. With four studios and over 27 years of experience in hospitality design, the firm was founded in 1992 by Peter Fillat to explore a personal view of how people interact with the environment and to create an Architecture of Permanence, which delights and inspires the human spirit. FILLAT+ specializes in creating places and spaces for people to enjoy life. In the careful planning and sequencing of the interior and exterior spatial experience, the work creates comfortable, inviting spaces that are accommodating, respectful, and memorable. Each project responds to the unique needs and vision of its client as well as the needs of every guest that walks through its doors.

The book features 12 built works and 15 projects on the boards. Richly illustrated, the projects elaborate on FILLAT+’s unique approach to designing new destination hotels and resorts, whether building upon historic foundations or designing icons as key anchors in urban redevelopment master plans. Hotel Design features a foreword by Stacy Shoemaker, editor in chief of Hospitality Design magazine, and contributions by David Ashen and Michael Dennis.

FLUX

ARCHITECTURE IN A PARAMETRIC LANDSCAPE

'FLUX: Architecture in a Parametric Landscape' focuses on the radical evolution of computational and material technologies that, during the last 25 years, have catalyzed one of the most creative and prolific periods in architecture since the early 20th century. The book is organized into eight taxonomies—Stacked Aggregates, Modular Assemblages, Pixelated Fields, Cellular Clusters, Serial Iterations, Woven Meshes, Emerging Surfaces and Catenary Systems, and Multi-agent Systems—each of which explores a dominant logic and set of morphological traits transformed through advanced computational and material practices. These themes are theoretically explored and elaborated through the presentation of 140 built works and experimental architectural projects, which are then expanded through analytical and generative diagrams and models that further the design potential of the logics used to create them. Within the book, the architectures presented are considered as a population of objects responsible for the evolution of something that far exceeds the trajectory of a single project. They are thus explored less as autonomous works than as a collection of interrelated and interacting cultural artifacts in flux, whose formation, methods, and tools, as well as their experience, perception, and meaning are necessarily tied to a broader field of cultural production, contributing to the dynamic generation of new architectural and urban models.

House Precinct Territory

DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR THE PRODUCTIVE CITY

The book departs from a reflection on contemporary issues of environmental and social sustainability. With buildings and cities been one of the primary accelerators of climate change, the tightening of urban environments is one of the mechanisms by which architects and urban planners can affect change. To date, models of urban densification and compact cities have been focused on sites of urban consumption—residential, commercial, civic and social spaces. Little thought has been given to the vast productive hinterlands around the world that support cities, through the growing of food, generation of power, production of goods and disposal of waste.

Working through three scales of analysis, across three cities in the Asia Pacific Region, and deploying varying design research techniques ranging from critical observation to speculative scenario modelling, the book presents a series of projects that seek to retro-fit an existing urban environment with a productive program.

The purpose of this project is to describe a series of models for the folding of production into our cities, with ambition of consolidating all components of human inhabitation within a smaller overall physical and environmental footprint.

Cohabitation Strategies

CHALLENGING NEOLIBERAL URBANIZATION BETWEEN CRISES

'Cohabitation Strategies: Challenging Neoliberal Urbanization Between Crisis' presents twelve years of urban theories, projects, and interventions developed by Cohabitation Strategies, a Rotterdam- and New York City-based non-profit cooperative committed to radical socio-spatial research, design, and development.

Centering on the development of new action-research methodologies, neighborhood-based initiatives, and the facilitation of community-driven transformative interventions, the book offers critical insights and progressive visions on the dramatic impact that neoliberal spatial-restructuring had in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Canada, and the United States.

The book proposes new transdisciplinary methodologies, practices, tools, and strategies to challenge for-profit-driven urban development and the advancement of the right to the city.

Approximate Translation

MEDIA, NARRATIVE, AND EXPERIENCE IN URBAN DESIGN

Cities are infinite cultural hyperobjects that contain layers of history, of contemporary life, of material, capital, infrastructure, of future dreams of what may come. We sometimes call these dreams “urban design plans”—two-dimensional drawings that are meant to capture our aspirations for the future of a place. Yet these plans are often static images—or, worse, building masses without people, narratives, or even nods to contextual histories.

'Approximate Translation' is a poetic and practical rumination on how to incorporate what makes a city a city—stories about place, an unexpected encounter, the immediacy of experience—into practices of urban design. Using a speculative transformation of the Boston neighborhood of Allston as a demonstration, this book proposes that we think seriously about topics as disparate as science fiction, pop art, theme parks, and DJing if we want to better design the cities in which we live.

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

INTEGRATED APPROACHES TO FABRICATION, COMPUTATION, AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

‘Robotics and Autonomous Systems 1: Integrated Approaches to Fabrication, Computation and Architectural Design’ presents design research from the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design’s MSD-RAS program. At present, architectural design and construction approaches are unable to meet immediate and projected societal needs in productivity, affordability, and sustainability or to adequately engage with the diverse conditions found in our built environment. The MSD-RAS seeks to address these challenges through bespoke design solutions that are integral to a critical and creative approach to production. Implied in the term “RAS”, the program seeks to harness the potential of AI and robotic systems to work more adaptively than automation affords. Primarily operating through the development of robotically fabricated prototypes, projects are presented that incorporate custom approaches to generative computational design, machine learning, robot tooling, real-time adaptive robot programming, sensor feedback, material and manufacturing processes or human-in-the-loop activities. Serving as a graphical reflection on the first three years of the program, research projects are presented alongside interviews with some of the program’s graduates together with insights into the exciting career trajectories they embarked on post-study. Essays from the program’s faculty dive deeper into several core topics such as the MSD-RAS’s approach to design research, critical engagement with industrial manufacturing processes, and the integration of semi-autonomous workflows in design and production. Also discussed is the program’s unique integrated approach to coursework and why it is inducive to the creation of novel collaborative work that expands design agency into unchartered territories and careers.

Designing the Regenerative School

‘Designing the Regenerative School’ profiles case studies from around the world that exemplify best practices in creating healthy, climate appropriate learning environments for early learners through high school with designs that are not only beautiful places to learn, but embrace restorative principles—enhancing the lives of the occupants, the environment, and the community they reside in. Each project will be profiled with eight pages of content including multiple photographs, plans, diagrams and approximately 1,000 words of narrative capturing the unique solutions.