Coming Soon/

The Venetian Facade

Michael Dennis

The Venetian Palace is to the art of the facade as the French Hotel is to the art of the plan - the quintessential level of architectural achievement. Unique in the history of architecture, and a product of an equally unique circumstance, the Venetian facade is almost modern in its planar abstraction and lack of structural expression.

California Changing

50 Sites of Climate Change in Augmented Reality

The state of California has emerged as a pioneering force in designing for climate change, yet it has also faced the devastating impacts of numerous climate-related disasters, including droughts, wildfires, and rising sea levels.This book offers a unique climate change tour, delving into architectural scale sites across the state. From innovative houses using sustainable techniques to historical locations ravaged by the combined forces of drought and wildfire, the book explores arange of poignant examples. The main visual contents are a set of architectural site illustrations that are each enhanced by an augmented reality component showcasing the interplay between past, present, and future scenarios. The publication caters to architects, landscape architects, planners, design enthusiasts and general audiences alike, fostering a curiosity about climate change and its relevance to our daily lives.This book takes a small-scale approach seeing the ways that climate vulnerability andresilience has changed and is changing the very places we reside. A cabin at risk of wildfire. A house at risk of erosion. A public walkway that is estimated to be underwater in ten years time. This book is illustrated with 50 sites across California—an atlas of sorts—raising questions about how we live, what we value, and issues we might consider as we plan for the future.

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Design research for uncertain futures

Design Research for Uncertain Futuresassembles a diverse group of thinkers and makers, and thinking-through-makers, to situate design research as a form of knowledge generation that is complementary to science, and especially needed now, given changing climates and uncertain futures. Our model of design research envisions a distinct and powerful role for design researchers to work confidently with uncertainty and to skillfully negotiate contested futures as part of creating more equitable and resilient worlds. Using the tools of design research, knowledge is built through an iterative process of questioning, probing, proposing, building, testing, analyzing and revising. The climate crises that are challenging our collective survival demands—indeed, provokes—bold partnerships among the curious and committed to align creativity, analytic rigor and the plurality of values in the broader contexts of uncertainty and experimentation.

Fountain Safari

We build fountains—those vibrant symbols of life and physical embodiments of beauty—to mark and celebrate our favored places. This act is an honor to all, and like listening to music, it is understood on an intuitive level. We also build fountains to commemorate life. Water is the basis for, and the symbol of, life. Many fountains are articulated to recognize some person, institution, or idea. Those particular recognitions are fused with water’s deeper symbolism to convey everlastingness to the identities being celebrated.

Fountain Safari places on the shelf a sharply focused, comprehensive, useful, entertaining, and hopefully lasting survey aimed to provide a panoramic portrait of the fountain class of artistic endeavor. The material attends especially to the aesthetics of water expression by examining numerous esteemed examples. In the process, a sketch is roughed out of the evolution of fountains over some two millennia and across several cultures. Ultimately, the work attempts to deepen the understanding and appreciation of water features by identifying and clarifying their most essential aesthetic qualities.

Fountain Safari is written for design professionals, architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, students of the arts or the built environment—and everyone else interested in the engaging, one-of-a-kind subject of fountains.

Looking Forward to Monday Morning

Looking Forward to Monday Morning is a collection of essays that weaves together stories from Daniel Frisch’s thirty-year (plus) residential architecture practice. The essays focus on design and technology, anecdote and philosophy, entrepreneurship and culture, and beyond. Taken together, the essays provide a look into the practice of architecture (with insights applicable to any collaborative field), demystifying the complexities of the profession and challenging the elitism for which architects are so well known. In his writings, Frisch works both in the dirt and from a mile high in an entertaining and instructive voice, marrying the practical and the theoretical. His essays on technical issues will help all students, practitioners and homeowners understand the underpinnings of design and construction, while his more personal musings touch on universal themes that speak to the very core of running a client service business and fostering a creative culture. In his practice and his personal life, informed by real-world experience, Daniel Frisch maintains a sense of idealism, candor and wit that shines through on every page of Looking Forward to Monday Morning. Throughout the entire volume Frisch inspires by celebrating his great good fortune in his combining of avocation and vocation.

Value of Design

Creating Agency Through Data-Driven Insights

In the context of architecture and real estate, the value of design—be it financial or social value—remains largely unmeasured, overlooked, and inadequately researched. By failing to acknowledge the potential of design, we miss opportunities to address the wide-ranging social and sustainability challenges at play today. This book acts as a platform to bridge the gap between design and finance, using empirical research to dissect design into measurable features through data-driven methodologies, with New York City serving as the experimental research site. Novel analytical tools such as AI, machine learning, and natural language processing, along with new forms of data like anonymized mobile phone data, social media data, and image data, unlock new dimensions for gauging the impact of previously immeasurable design elements of the built environment on human behaviors. These novel measurements, when integrated into real estate valuation models, establish a financial benchmark for design, catalyzing a shift in the industry's perspective on the intrinsic worth of design and ensuring that future projects properly account for the qualitative impact of design on economic value and social benefits. As we uncover and quantify the inherent value of design, it becomes possible to persuade key stakeholders—real estate developers, investors, and policy-makers—about the significant returns of thoughtful, sustainable, and human-centric design strategies. In essence, we aim to explore how the amalgamation of design and finance via empirical research and innovative data-driven methodologies can lead to a more integrated and holistic valuation practice.

Greatness: Diverse Designers of Architecture

How is greatness in architecture defined? For too long, the contributions of diverse designers have been overlooked — so much so that their absence is notable in a simple online search. GREATNESS: Diverse Designers of Architecture recognizes the often-ignored contributions of today’s industry leaders. The richly illustrated book blends insightful essays, project case studies, and designer profiles, exploring the work of 47 contemporary architects and designers. Through innovative, sustainable, and community-centered approaches, their work is reshaping residential, cultural, institutional, and master plan design. Addressing critical issues such as housing injustice and redlining, GREATNESS also confronts the challenging realities of architectural history while celebrating the transformative potential of the built environment. The book underscores the importance of diverse perspectives, highlighting how architecture can foster dignity, well-being, and belonging. With featured stunning projects from across the US and around the globe, GREATNESS serves as a call to action to embrace a more inclusive and equitable future.

SCDA Architecture

Beyond Boundaries, 2013–2023

SCDA celebrates the acclaimed firm’s extensive portfolio of work across the globe—from Singapore and China to the United States. Through SCDA's diverse array of projects, spanning mixed-use high-rises, hospitality venues, commercial and institutional developments, and residential masterpieces, the monograph showcases Soo K. Chan's mastery of shaping unique spatial experiences that transcend conventional boundaries. At the heart of SCDA's design ethos lies a meticulous attention to detail and a profound understanding of form, light, and scale. Whether it's crafting inviting public landscapes or sculpting dynamic high rises, Chan's architectural visions tell a compelling story of harmony between the built environment and its natural surroundings.

Bridges as Structural Art

Bridges as Structural Artfeatures twenty-five bridges designed by Miguel Rosales and his firm Rosales + Partners, Inc. The firm is characterized by a unique combination of architectural sensitivity, engineering knowledge, and communication skills that allows it to create iconic, cost-effective and technically innovative bridges. These transformational bridges have become a source of pride in the areas in which they have been built and tangible expressions of the art of bridge design.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Will Bruder

In celebration of his 50th year in practice, architect Will Bruder is pleased to share this selection of his most-exemplary projects, presented through hundreds of gorgeous photographs, drawings, and original sketches.

Influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as Paolo Soleri, Bruce Goff and Gunnar Birk erts, Bruder opened his own design studio in 1974. His self-built house/stud io on the desert edge of Phoenix won the 1975 Architectural Record House of the Year award.

A Fellowship in Architecture at the American Academy in Rome was a car eer turning-point permitting several months of intense reflection from a studio overlooking Rome, and tr avel throughout Europe to study historic and contemporary architecture.

Filled with fresh perspective, Bruder won the commission t o design the 280,000sf Phoenix Central Library. It opened in 1995. Cultural, civic and private commissions followed, as did oppor tunities to travel, lecture, and teach. The library was awarded the AIA 25 Year Building Award in 2021.

This superb collection is divided into two sections: pre-Rome Prize projects, presented in black and white, and post-Rome projects dating from 1987 to buildings still currently under construction, presented in color. Scholarly essays and candid conversations with colleagues r ound out this long-awaited Bruder monograph.

To Reach the Source

THE STEPWELLS OF INDIA

To Reach the Source: The Stepwells of India is a photography book about a unique and magnificent architectural form that remains unknown to most people outside (and even within) India.

More than just a shaft dug into the earth to fetch water, these are entire buildings that descend several stories below ground; they are spaces to be entered and occupied, serving functional, social, and ritual purposes. Often, they are as monumental and ornate as a church, and this is intentional. They are a source of water, a gathering space, and a temple all at once, but instead of rising into the sky, they descend below the surface. They create a spatial experience unlike any other, in which one is below ground but remains connected to the sun and sky. Today they lie largely abandoned and overlooked, in various states of preservation or, more often, disrepair.

The photographs seek to recreate the striking ambiance that they elicit. The brief text that follows the images (interspersed with a few architectural drawings) provides a necessary minimum of context, ultimately to reinforce the primarily visual nature of the reader’s experience, one in which the photographs have priority. The photographs seek to give readers some sense of the meditative process of descending into these beautiful structures, of going away from the surface on which we live, but not being cut off from it, instead directed towards the very source of life.

Rustic Architecture in America

1887–1940

Rustic Architecture in America 1887–1940 is a history of a series of misunderstood masterpieces, the log-based architecture that emerged in the Adirondacks and the National Parks between 1890 and 1935. It is a history of how both form and technology of construction were determined by the tourist industry and the railroads who built the buildings and the social and environmental damage caused by the larger process of which they were a part. Many of these buildings were constructional shams driven by romantic pretenses, but there is also in the best of this architecture something truly original. It is also a history of how the rustic aesthetic transcended glib, mythic romanticism to produce a truly original architecture, how the unique conditions of the West merged craft with the industrial, of how its designers drew on the landscape of the West in combination with the European traditions of the rustic to create an original architecture and a unique way of building. Forty buildings are examined in detail. The text and the numerous original drawings unfold the story how the work was actually constructed in relation to its many enduring myths.

Robotics and Autonomous Systems 1

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.

Reimagining Environmental Identity

Selected Works by Atelier Ping Jiang | EID Arch 2015–2023

Reimagining Environmental Identity by Ping Jiang presents a compelling exploration of architectural practice designed to navigate the dynamic urban landscapes of China and beyond. The book showcases 19 diverse projects from Jiang’s studio, reflecting a novel approach to architecture that engages deeply with social, cultural, technological, and environmental issues. Rather than adhering to conventional architectural norms, Jiang’s practice emphasizes the creation of meaningful, context-sensitive designs that foster a profound connection between people and their environment. Through a range of projects, from high-rise buildings to urban interventions and civic structures, the monograph highlights a non-linear design process that blends spatial experience with cultural relevance and environmental sensitivity. It underscores the importance of forging a unique sense of place and identity in architecture, advocating for designs that resonate with both local and global contexts. This collection offers insights into how contemporary architecture can address the complexities of urban life while preserving and enhancing cultural and environmental values.

Rambusch

The First 100 Years, 1898–1998

Rambusch: The First 100 Years, 1898–1998 chronicles the growth of an independent, workshop-based, family business now being run by a fourth generation. This book offers the definitive history of the company started by Danish-born Frode Christian Valdemar Rambusch (1859–1924) in New York. Beginning with his efforts in decorative painting and murals, the story expands into lighting design and continues with a study of subsequent generations building upon—and further expanding—these fields of work into other media. The narrative also provides focus on more than two dozen artisans responsible for making the objects and interiors often requested by well-known architects.

Few American firms have flourished as this company has in the United States. Now in the twenty-first century, the firm inspires similar collaborative efforts between architects, designers, and craft studios to work together for the decorative arts to regain their place in the finishing of our nation’s buildings. Notable for its longevity and still going strong, the story of Rambusch needs to be told, especially while generations who have institutional memory can tell it.

Muzharul Islam, An Architect of Tomorrow

Architecture and Nation-Building in Bangladesh

Muzharul Islam was one of the principal stalwarts of South Asia who established the norms and practices of modernity. Uniquely passionate about architecture and political engagement, Muzharul Islam’s life and legacy contributed to the building up of a vibrant architectural culture in Bangladesh, with an impact beyond the boundaries of that country. The book Muzharul Islam, An Architect of Tomorrow is the first comprehensive book on the architect featuring his works and texts, and essays by notable figures from across the world. Muzharul Islam (1923-2013) was active from the early 1950s in defining the scope and form of modern architecture, first in Pakistan and then, after 1971, in Bangladesh. His task was an enormous one: to create a modern yet Bengali paradigm for architecture. For Muzharul Islam, modernism meant more than an architectural vocabulary; it was part of an ethical and rational approach for addressing social inequities of the region. His steadfast commitment to a modernist ideology stemmed from an optimistic vision for transforming society. Consequently, his commitment for establishing a strong design culture in Bangladesh is paralleled by a deep engagement with the political and ethical dimension of society, with building the nation, so to speak.

LA+ Sense

Issue 21

Ever more technologies are being created to sense our environment, and much is being learned about how animals and plants sense theirs. W e often think of these tools as extending our capacity for sensing what is not available thr ough natural human perception. But what is “natural” about human perception? Not as much as was once believed, it turns out. Many of the contributors to LA+ SENSE consider how our senses have become naturalized, and our bodies and experiences standardized. Topics also include sense and surveillance, sense of place, and whether we can even trust our se nses. Edited by Karen M’Closkey, contributors include Elena Abbiatici, Sarah Coleman, Tim Cresswell Lisa Yin Han, Ai Hisano, David Howes, Mark Kingwell, Jia Hui L ee, Gascia Ouzounian, Kris Paulsen, Sally Pusede, Erin Putalik, Douglas Robb, Chris Salter, Alexa Vaughn, Alexa Weik von Mossner, and Mark Peter Wright.

California Changing

50 Sites of Climate Change in Augmented Reality

The state of California has emerged as a pioneering force in designing for climate change, yet it has also faced the devastating impacts of numerous climate-related disasters, including droughts, wildfires, and rising sea levels. This book offers a unique climate change tour, delving into architectural scale sites across the state. From innovative houses using sustainable techniques to historical locations ravaged by the combined forces of drought and wildfire, the book explores a range of poignant examples. The main visual contents are a set of architectural site illustrations that are each enhanced by an augmented reality component showcasing the interplay between past, present, and future scenarios. The publication caters to architects, landscape architects, planners, design enthusiasts and general audiences alike, fostering a curiosity about climate change and its relevance to our daily lives.

This book takes a small-scale approach seeing the ways that climate vulnerability and resilience has changed and is changing the very places we reside. A cabin at risk of wildfire. A house at risk of erosion. A public walkway that is estimated to be underwater in ten years time. This book is illustrated with 50 sites across California—an atlas of sorts—raising questions about how we live, what we value, and issues we might consider as we plan for the future.

Arturo Mezzèdimi, AFRICA HALL

A Monument to African History

This book is a photographic journey on the origin and life of “Africa Hall” in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia–a building declared in 2015 “Monument to African History” and recently renovated–which was donated in 1961 by Emperor Haile Selassie to the United Nations. Africa Hall was designed by Ar turo Mezzèdimi, a young self-taught architect, to serve as the UN’s continental headquarters and was the birthplace, in 1963, of the Organization of African Unity, now African Union.

The building came to life with an inspiring story of reconciliation at a crucial moment in African history, when the continent was emerging out of the colonial period and making headway into a new era of independence and envisaged unity. Through its architectural composition and the embedded artworks, it embodied a Pan-Africanist vision and its rising ideals.

Edited by the grandson of the architect and representing Italy’s contribution to the renovation project, the book sits at the crossroads of photography, architecture, history, and art and comprises an amplitude of independent essays, contributions and recollections from authors of diverse profiles. Through impacting images and shor t articles, it addresses events of historical relevance on a global scale, for the entire continent of Africa, at a national level for Ethiopia, and locally for the city of Addis Ababa, concluding with an introduction to the life and work of its architect.

Skatepark Design

Skatepark Design is a first-of-its-kind analysis of skateparks, skate architecture, and the culture and rituals that define these unique spaces. People have been building environments and structures for skateboarding for nearly 60 years, and in that time skateboarding has changed as much as the urban environment has. In this book authors Zach Moldof, and Shane Yee detail the history and development of skateparks and skate architecture, with a specific emphasis on what can be accomplished in the public commons.

This history sets the stage for the introduction of narratives, diagrams, and photos that detail intersections of theory, art, design, and skate architecture. Readers will find a systematic and organized presentation of important anthropological and procedural information, and the book serves as an encompassing primer ready to be deployed in a variety of creative and operational capacities.

Skatepark Design is a first-of-its-kind analysis of skateparks, skate architecture, and the culture and rituals that define these unique spaces. Readers will find a syst ematic and organized presentation of important anthropological and procedural information, diagrams, and photos. Skatepark Design is a thought primer for a variety of creative and operational scenarios.

Annina Nosei

Art historian by training, gallerist and art dealer by profession, Annina Nosei is an essential ar t-world figure. While still a student of the celebr ated Giulio Carlo Argan at Rome’s Sapienza University, she took part in the first Happenings to export the cutting edge of 1960s US ar t to Europe. Completing her studies in the early sixties with a thesis on Mar cel Duchamp, she promptly began her professional career at Ileana Sonnabend’s renowned Parisian gallery. Relocating to the United States soon after, she moonlighted as a freelance curator while lecturing at various universities, ultimately leading to the launch of her gallery in 1980: the enterprise that would cement her place among the int ernational art world’s outstanding figures.

When Urbanization Comes to Ground

The prototypical recipe book provides a loose framework for BLDUS’s unique farm-to-shelter architecture in Home on Earth, offering delectable suggestions for healthy modes of human hab itation. Using traditional materials processed with contemporary techniques, BLDUS designs and builds sustainable houses in and around Washington D.C. that pay tribute to their contexts and gain integrity as they age. Home on Ear th showcases built houses alongside material studies and models to propose a healthy building cuisine specific to the Mid-Atlantic Region. These contextual houses are advocates for simple healthy building materials that work well in the Mid-A tlantic region and have low impacts on their points of growth, manufacture, installation, inhabitation, and eventual disposal.