Library Services, Resources, and News: Fall 2025
I'm Randy Souther, the library's liaison for Architecture.
This page highlights recent news, as well as some of the library's services and resources available to support faculty teaching and research. It will be updated ahead of each semester, and periodically in-between.
Selected Services and Resources
Reminders of key resources ahead of each semester—see more in Faculty Resources:
Class Instruction
I will meet with you and your class to provide an overview of library resources and research strategies tailored to specific assignments. (Please request at least two weeks in advance.)
Appointments
If you are new faculty and would like a personal overview of what the library offers—or if you've been around a while and would like a refresher—please schedule a time to meet. I also meet with students.
Course Reserves
The library can place both physical and online materials on reserve for your classes. We encourage you to make arrangements prior to the start of each semester or as soon as possible, and email gleesonreserves@usfca.edu with any questions.
Tip: Items previously on reserve must be renewed ahead of every semester that you wish to have them available.
Research Guides
We curate research guides for a variety of disciplines, topics, and classes. Please consider including a link to the Architecture guide on your course canvas pages for your students.
Book Orders
If you would like us to purchase specific books for the library, please contact me via email with the information: randall.souther@usfca.edu. We're happy to partner with you to build a rich and useful collection.
Streaming Videos for Classroom Use
If you’re planning on using streaming videos from the library, we encourage you to make arrangements prior to the start of each semester.
Tip: Even if you’ve made arrangements to license a specific title in the past, please confirm that the license will be active during the upcoming semester. Many of our streaming videos are licensed for only a year at a time, and we want to make sure you have access when you need it.
More information:
Video and Streaming Media for Faculty guide
Open Access Publishing
Learn about open-access opportunities for your work.
Publisher Agreements
See our current agreements with journal publishers to allow USF faculty to publish their articles open access at reduced or no cost to the author.
USF Scholarship Repository
We encourage you to add your publications to the library's repository of USF scholarship for open access and archiving.
News
August 2025
Library Budget Cut
The library budget has been cut permanently by more than $900,000. Some the outcomes of this cut include the following:
Personnel
1 librarian and 1.5 OPE staff positions eliminated (all presently vacant).
Collections (Journal and Database Subscriptions)
Several databases, journal packages, and individual journal subscriptions will be eliminated. A full list will be available on our Cancellations and Withdrawals web page later in the fall semester. This list will include:
- Cambridge Journals (journal package) — more than 400 journals covering a wide variety of disciplines including Computer Science, Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Medicine, and Physics & Astronomy.
- Compendex (database)
- Sage Journals (journal package) — more than 1000 journals covering a wide variety of disciplines including Engineering and Life & Biomedical Sciences.
Please reach out to me if you wish to discuss in more detail our cancellations and their impacts.
View Cancellations & Withdrawals
New Administrative Position
The library will be hiring for a newly-created administrative position: Director of Operations & Budget.
The two primary areas this new role will be responsible for include Access Services and library-wide budget (non-collections). This position will be funded from one of the two presently vacant Associate Dean lines (or possibly from other vacant lines).
Scopus AI
We now have access to Scopus AI, a premium addition to our Scopus database subscription. Scopus AI is a generative AI tool that provides topic summaries based exclusively on the peer-reviewed literature (abstracts and metadata from 2003 forward) within the Scopus database. Scopus AI identifies the peer-reviewed sources for the claims in its summaries, and indicates its confidence level in addressing your query.
Tip: Just as general AI tools are not replacements for standard research, Scopus AI is not a replacement for a standard Scopus search and hands-on-review of results; but it can be a useful starting point to explore new or unfamiliar topics.
To use Scopus AI, login to Scopus as usual, and click the "Scopus AI" tab above the main search box.
July 2025
Change to Video Orders
Starting August 1, 2025 Gleeson Library will only accept requests to stream licensed videos which are available on the following platforms: Kanopy, Alexander Street, and Swank Digital Campus. In addition, the library has adopted a cap of $150 for a one year license or $350 for a three year license per title. While the library is unable to purchase video files and host them locally or add new platforms, we will carefully evaluate requests to purchase DVDs as long as they don’t exceed $150 per title. Faculty must use the Video Request Form to submit license or DVD purchase requests.
April 2025
New Library Search Interfaces
Gleeson Library will launch new, more intuitive interfaces for Fusion and EBSCOhost databases on June 16. The update offers improved design, accessibility, and features.
Users must manually migrate any saved alerts and folders. See the Fusion and EBSCOhost Database Updates guide for more information, FAQs, and a link to preview the new interface.
In addition to Fusion, 77 EBSCOhost databases will implement the new interface, including:
- Architectural Digest Magazine Archive
- Art & Architecture Source
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
- Engineering Source
February 2025
New transformative agreement with Oxford University Press, and extended agreements with Cambridge University Press and Springer.
Transformative agreements allow you to publish your articles open access with no fees or reduced fees. Our current agreements are with Oxford, Cambridge, Elsevier, Springer, Association for Computing Machinery, and American Chemical Society.
View our Transformative Agreements
January 2025
ProQuest Ebook Central subscription ends February 1, 2025
ProQuest Ebook Central is one of our major ebook providers, and its cancellation will affect more than 250,000 titles in our collection.
If you rely on any specific ebook title for assigned readings in your courses, or for your own teaching or research, please check the ebook status below, and notify me promptly ( randall.souther@usfca.edu ) if the ebook is from ProQuest Ebook Central. Gleeson Library may be able to provide alternate access to frequently used ebooks.
See the link below to check the status of any ebook in question.
See the News Archive to view past news items for this and selected other disciplines.
Selected New Books in Architecture
Book summaries composed with AI-assistance.
The Architecture Book
The Architecture Book offers an engaging introduction to the ideas, movements, and innovations that have shaped buildings throughout history. Part of DK’s acclaimed Big Ideas series, it explains complex concepts in a clear and accessible way, combining concise text with bold graphics, charts, and timelines. With a global perspective, readers can explore architectural styles from ancient temples and Gothic cathedrals to modernist landmarks and soaring skyscrapers. Both newcomers and seasoned enthusiasts will find fresh insights into how architecture reflects culture, technology, and society. Visually rich and informative, this guide makes understanding the built environment both captivating and approachable.
Suspended Moment: The Architecture of Frida Escobedo
This book highlights Frida Escobedo’s innovative approach to architecture, focusing on how her materials-based designs evoke emotional responses and engage with both historical and modern contexts. Surveying her award-winning projects—culminating in her landmark role as the first woman to design a wing for The Metropolitan Museum of Art—the book explores how Escobedo treats space as a layered, responsive language. It includes essays and an interview detailing her influences, such as Mexico City’s dynamic history and traditions, while addressing themes of gender, accessibility, and environment. The book positions Escobedo as a leading architect redefining the boundaries of contemporary design.
Architecture Asia: Chinese Contemporary Architecture
This issue of Architecture Asia explores the evolution of contemporary Chinese architecture. Featuring five essays and eleven projects, it examines architecture’s impact on Chinese life, cultural diversity, and emerging trends. The projects, illustrated with photos and detailed text, showcase how modern Chinese architecture integrates with daily life, embraces environmental responsibility, preserves tradition, and transforms historic structures. Serving as both a platform for presenting Asian architectural identity and fostering global understanding of its diversity, the issue highlights China’s architectural innovation while balancing heritage, sustainability, and modern design.
2024 International Residential Code
The 2024 International Residential Code (IRC) sets minimum prescriptive requirements for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses up to three stories, providing a comprehensive code tailored to typical residential construction. It covers all major systems—structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, insulation, fireplaces, and chimneys—offering a “cookbook” approach while incorporating some performance provisions. Compatible with all I-Codes, the IRC simplifies residential compliance by excluding nonresidential provisions. While it primarily addresses conventional practices, it references other codes for atypical designs or systems. Continuously updated, the IRC allows for innovation in materials and construction while ensuring clarity, accessibility, and applicability to standard housing.
The Master Builder: William Butterfield and His Times
This book explores the life and work of William Butterfield, one of Victorian England’s most daring and influential architects. Across his 60-year career, Butterfield shaped churches, colleges, schools, hospitals, and homes that reflected the era’s social and moral transformations. From parish churches and urban institutions to educational reform and sites of sanctuary, his designs responded to a rapidly modernizing society. Key projects such as All Saints, Margaret Street, Keble College, and Rugby School sit alongside lesser-known but groundbreaking works. Drawing on period literature and vivid accounts of his patrons, the book reveals how Butterfield forged new building typologies and influenced the Arts and Crafts movement.
Building with Earth: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture
Building with Earth is a practical guide to earth as a sustainable, healthy, and economical construction material. Widely used for millennia, earth has gained renewed attention for its durability and versatility when combined with wood or straw. This revised fifth edition explains its physical properties, moisture protection, and design possibilities, illustrated with detailed drawings and international case studies. Highlighting earth’s recyclability and wide range of architectural applications, the manual serves as a comprehensive reference on rammed earth construction, blending technical guidance with real-world examples to inspire environmentally responsible and creative building approaches.
Fragility: A History of Plaster
Historical periods are often defined by dominant materials—Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age. Alain Corbin argues France from 1815-1855 was the “half-century of plaster.” Post-Revolution, this cheap, versatile material appeared everywhere: Napoleon’s death mask, household ornaments, walls, elaborate mouldings. Yet plaster was a “fragile king” that crumbled easily. This age of plaster symbolized the ephemeral, transient, and vulgar—reflecting an era when seven political regimes succeeded each other within decades. People struggled to maintain stability while surrounded by this flaking, impermanent material. Corbin’s brilliant exploration reveals how plaster defined early 19th-century France’s character.
Slow Wood: Greener Building from Local Forests
In a bold call to mend humanity’s fractured bond with forests, Brian Donahue proposes using local, sustainably harvested wood for home building—rejecting global extraction’s harms and concrete’s environmental toll. Drawing from his own timber-frame house built with farm-grown trees like sugar maple and hemlock via “worst-first” forestry, he weaves personal stories with America’s woodland history. Donahue reveals how industrial markets severed this vital link and offers a practical blueprint for renewal: a stewardship model fusing ecology, community, and responsible building to create enduring, planet-friendly homes.
Old Materials, New Climate: Traditional Building Materials in a Changing World
Old Materials, New Climate is a practical guide to understanding traditional building materials—how they were made, why they last, and how climate change is altering their durability. Covering wood, adobe, brick, lime, concrete, metal, and paint, it explains how shifting weather patterns accelerate natural weathering and threaten historic structures. Through expert insights from conservation, science, and environmental studies, plus global case studies, the book offers strategies to protect heritage buildings for future generations. Essential for students, preservationists, architects, and contractors, it bridges historic craftsmanship with modern climate challenges to ensure the resilience of cultural heritage in a changing world.
Incorporating Architects: How American Architecture Became a Practice of Empire
Incorporating Architects uncovers the hidden history of architects within global firms like AECOM, which rose to wield immense influence after World War II. Rather than designing individual buildings, these architects shaped entire urban systems and helped construct the infrastructure of American empire. This forensic account reveals how, through corporate strategy more than design, they navigated and influenced the postwar economy, embedding architecture in global capitalism. The book challenges the myths surrounding the profession, showing how architects have contributed to today’s global inequalities by operating as powerful agents of neoliberalism behind the scenes.
Visual Discoveries: A Collection of Sections
Visual Discoveries: A Collection of Sections explores the power and versatility of the section drawing—traditionally used in architecture—as a tool for visual storytelling across disciplines. Through striking imagery, the book illustrates how the section can reveal spatial, structural, and conceptual relationships in fields ranging from landscape architecture and product design to medicine and geology. Showcasing iconic examples by architects like Zaha Hadid, OMA, and Renzo Piano, alongside historic figures like Leonardo da Vinci and Charles Darwin, this image-rich volume celebrates the artistic and analytical potential of the section beyond its functional role in construction.
2024 International Building Code
The International Building Code (IBC) sets minimum safety standards for building design and construction, ensuring public health, safety, and welfare. It combines prescriptive and performance-based requirements to support innovative materials and designs. The IBC covers all building types—except those specifically under the IRC—and addresses structural integrity, accessibility, energy efficiency, sanitation, lighting, ventilation, and life safety. It applies to both new and existing buildings and includes provisions for exempted work listed in Section 105.2. The IRC governs detached one- and two-family dwellings, townhouses, and small live/work or owner-occupied bed-and-breakfast units with five or fewer guest rooms.
From Forest to Steppe: The Russian Art of Building in Wood
From Forest to Steppe by William Craft Brumfield offers a richly illustrated exploration of Russia’s wooden architecture, from peasant homes and churches to aristocratic estates and Buddhist shrines. Drawing on five decades of fieldwork, Brumfield documents the cultural and historical significance of timber construction across Russia’s vast landscapes. As many buildings decay or disappear, his work serves as both tribute and warning, highlighting the tension between heritage preservation and modern neglect. Featuring over 400 photographs, this volume captures the diversity and resilience of log architecture that transcends time, class, and geography across Russia’s seven time zones.
Practising Wood in Architecture: Connecting Design, Construction and Sustainability
Practising Wood in Architecture examines how wood is emerging as a sustainable alternative in architecture amid the climate crisis. Drawing on two years of research, the book highlights innovative wood-based projects across seven countries, showcasing its affordability, simplicity, and environmental benefits. It explores how architecture students and professionals are learning to design with wood, aligning with global sustainability goals. Through educational case studies and contemporary teaching practices, the book reveals wood’s transformative potential in reshaping architectural design and construction.
Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future
In Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future, architect Carl Elefante urges urgent climate action through the built environment. He outlines how decarbonizing buildings and cities is essential to combating climate change, addressing social injustice, and creating a sustainable future. Drawing from his career in preservation and design, Elefante advocates for reusing existing resources, shifting from expansion to reintegration, and rethinking professional practices. Framed around four imperatives—climate, justice, urban, and beyond modernism—the book is a hopeful yet pressing call for climate-conscious transformation in architecture and urban planning.
Stone: Ancient Craft to Modern Mastery
Richard Rhodes, acclaimed sculptor and stonemason, explores the enduring bond between humanity and stone, revealing the historic and practical secrets behind its millennia of use. Unlocking the Freemasons’ once-hidden “Sacred Rules,” he offers insight into ancient methods that shaped civilizations and modern practices that honor these traditions. Enriched by historical examples and photographs, Rhodes advocates for rediscovering stone’s essential qualities as a guide for future builders. Drawing from his unique apprenticeship in Italy’s ancient masonic guild and his experience as a renowned educator, Rhodes provides a fascinating journey through the artistry, history, and future significance of stonework.
People-Centered Architecture: Design, Practice, Education
People-Centered Architecture: Design Practice Education by Milton Shinberg presents a practical, research-based framework for architectural thinking rooted in human perception, psychology, and neuroscience. Drawing on decades of experience and interdisciplinary insights, Shinberg offers accessible guidance to invigorate design, practice, and education. This book empowers architects, students, and clients to see projects—and each other—more empathetically, fostering better collaboration and creativity. Praised for its clarity and depth, it is an essential read for anyone passionate about architecture, offering fresh perspectives and actionable ideas to create spaces where people truly flourish.
Louis Kahn: the Importance of a Drawing
Louis Kahn: The Importance of a Drawing explores how Kahn’s architectural drawings reveal his creative process and enduring influence. Unlike previous studies focused on his buildings, this book examines his sketches as primary sources, offering insightful essays and over 600 illustrations. Through close readings by leading scholars and architects, it provides an intimate portrait of Kahn and a fresh perspective on architectural representation. Drawing on extensive archival research, this richly illustrated volume is an essential resource for architects and students, highlighting that Kahn’s legacy lies not only in his structures, but also in the way he conceived and designed them.
Don't Build, Rebuild: The Case for Imaginative Reuse in Architecture
Don’t Build, Rebuild: The Case for Imaginative Reuse in Architecture by Aaron Betsky argues that, amid climate and housing crises, reusing and renovating existing buildings is essential. Betsky critiques wasteful new construction and highlights how adaptive reuse—repairing, recycling, and transforming old structures—benefits the environment, culture, and communities. Drawing on examples from around the world, including revitalized industrial spaces and creative urban projects, Betsky champions a circular economy in architecture. He shows that imaginative reuse not only preserves resources but also fosters vibrant, meaningful spaces, offering a visionary alternative to the profit-driven, disposable architecture of today.
Stand Out with Your Scientific Poster: A Step by Step Approach
This book provides you with a step-by-step guide to making a scientific poster that has real impact. Are you a researcher who struggles when it comes to creating scientific posters? Or do you simply want to get better at it? This book provides you with a step-by-step guide to making a poster that has real impact to ensure you stand out from the crowd at your next poster fair. A practical guide that gives you answers to questions like: what to put on a poster (and mainly: what not to)? How do you come up with a title that immediately grabs people's attention? What are the best images to use? How many words can you include on your poster? And much, much more... Everything you need to get started step-by-step and quickly achieve the best result.
Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders
The 13th edition of Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders is a thoroughly updated reference that introduces architects and builders to essential structural design concepts and calculations. Focusing on practical principles like forces, loads, and member analysis, it enables users to estimate design loads and determine structural proportions with minimal math. Expanded sections on wood, steel, and concrete construction, along with a larger page format, enhance usability. Trusted for over 80 years, this guide remains the definitive resource for students and professionals seeking clear, practical knowledge of structural engineering for typical building projects.
Steel, Concrete, and Composite Design of Tall and Supertall Buildings, Third Edition
This revised guide details structural design principles for modern high-rises, aligning with updated codes and advancements like BIM and movement monitoring. It offers practical methods for applying codes to steel, concrete, and composite systems, covering wind/seismic effects, lateral/gravity systems, analysis, and performance-based design. New global case studies from North America, Asia, and Europe illustrate real-world applications. Ideal for engineers, architects, students, and educators, it bridges theory with practice, emphasizing cutting-edge materials, technologies, and construction techniques for safer, efficient skyscraper design.
Poetic Significance: Sài Gòn Mid-Century Modernist Architecture
Poetic Significance explores the unique Vietnamese modernist architecture of mid-20th-century Saigon, blending architectural photography, history, and analysis. Unlike global modernism’s rationality, Vietnamese modernism is vibrant, poetic, and rooted in traditional aesthetics. Emerging during the Second Indochina War, it features micro-climatic strategies that make it lighter and more graceful. Ordinary people adopted and transformed this style into a vernacular tradition, crafting modernist shophouses with elements like louvers and brise-soleil. This book highlights how Vietnam’s architectural identity evolved post-colonialism, merging modernism with cultural authenticity, offering insights for architects, designers, and cultural enthusiasts alike.
Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture: Mid-Century Vernacular Modernism
Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture highlights the remarkable mid-century modernist designs developed in southern Vietnam, blending functionality with tropical adaptability and cultural identity. Amidst war and nation-building, Vietnamese architects created vibrant modernist structures—houses, apartments, and public buildings—that stood apart from colonial or traditional styles. This architecture became a cultural vernacular, showcasing bold mass-void interplay and bridging global modernism’s functionalism with local spirit. American architect Mel Schenck and photographer Alexandre Garel document this overlooked movement through extensive research on 400 buildings and 4,000 photographs, offering a compelling narrative of Vietnam’s modernist legacy and its aspirations for independence and progress.
Site: Marmol Radziner in the Landscape
“Site: Marmol Radziner in the Landscape” showcases 19 houses by architects Marmol Radziner, known for blending interior and exterior spaces. The book features over 200 stunning photographs of homes in desert, urban, canyon, and woodland settings across the American Southwest and the Netherlands. Organized by habitat, it illustrates the architects’ philosophy of erasing boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces. Novelist Mona Simpson provides a personal foreword, while an interview with Marmol and Radziner offers insights into their design process. The expansive format and lush imagery highlight the seamless integration of architecture with its natural surroundings.
2024 International Building Code Illustrated Handbook
The 2024 International Building Code Illustrated Handbook is an essential resource for construction professionals, featuring over 600 illustrations to aid in code compliance. This updated edition incorporates critical new information, including structural load updates based on ASCE/SEI 7-22. It covers key IBC changes, addressing steel, wood, concrete, and masonry standards, guards on retaining walls, sprinkler protection for apartments, egress for occupiable roofs, Type III construction, fire resistance of exterior walls, lithium battery facilities, and temporary public structures. The handbook simplifies complex code provisions, making it invaluable for architects, engineers, contractors, building managers, and municipal officials involved in construction projects.
Re-Thinking the Building Envelope: Lessons from Nature in the Era of Climate Change
This book explores how nature-inspired biomimetic design can revolutionize building envelopes to address climate change. It discusses the shift from static to dynamic, adaptive facades that respond to environmental changes. The text covers climate-adaptive building envelopes, natural adaptation strategies, and biomimetics in architecture. It analyzes case studies, advanced techniques, and materials, illustrating the process of translating natural concepts into architectural technologies. The book serves as a valuable resource for researchers and facade manufacturers, offering insights into innovative approaches that meet contemporary needs in building design and energy efficiency.
Architect: the Evolving Story of a Profession
The architect’s role has evolved significantly over 3000 years, from master builder to principal designer, influenced by societal, technological, and economic factors. This book explores the profession’s adaptation through history, from Ancient Egypt to the 21st century, examining the relationship between architects and patrons. It highlights the visionary aspect of architectural work and discusses the profession’s origins, current state, and future prospects in the Western tradition. The authors argue that architects’ historical ability to adapt will be crucial for navigating future uncertainties, while maintaining the core aspects of design and the human need to shape their environment.
Ernö Goldfinger
Ernö Goldfinger (1902-1987) was a prominent modernist architect known for his pre-war Hampstead house and late 1960s high-rise housing. His career spanned decades, focusing on domestic spaces, urban planning, and architectural construction. Influenced by Auguste Perret, Goldfinger brought Parisian 1920s style to England, offering innovative solutions for post-war buildings. He excelled in composing free-standing building clusters and integrating structures into existing streetscapes. Goldfinger also collaborated with Paul and Marjorie Abbatt on Britain’s first modernist toy business. This book, based on extensive archival research, provides an illustrated account of Goldfinger’s life and work, authored by Alan Powers and the late Elain Harwood.
Pistols in St Paul's: Science, Music, and Architecture in the Twentieth Century
“Pistols in St Paul’s” chronicles the pioneering efforts of scientists, architects, and musicians in 20th-century Britain to understand and develop architectural acoustics. The book explores innovative experiments conducted at various locations, from St Paul’s Cathedral to Abbey Road Studios, aimed at treating buildings as musical instruments. These groundbreaking studies culminated in the 1951 opening of the Royal Festival Hall, the first building specifically designed for musical tone. This comprehensive account highlights the power of international collaboration during challenging times and showcases the evolution of a new scientific field over five decades.
Modern Architecture: The Basics
“Modern Architecture: The Basics” explores the evolution of architecture since the late 18th century, covering technological, stylistic, and sociocultural changes. The book’s 24 chapters examine key movements, figures, and building types, with a focus on urban development in the 19th and 20th centuries. It discusses representation in architecture and its global cultural impact. The text introduces contemporary topics like gender, race, and postcolonialism, offering an accessible and inclusive overview of modern architectural history for students and newcomers to the field.
The Architecture of Urbanity: Designing for Nature, Culture, and Joy
“The Architecture of Urbanity” by Vishaan Chakrabarti presents a compelling vision for addressing global challenges through urban design. Chakrabarti argues that cities are crucial spaces for tackling issues like climate change, population growth, and social division. He proposes an “architecture of urbanity” that can create more equitable, sustainable, and joyful communities. The book explores architecture’s historical role in societal issues and showcases innovative designs from architects worldwide. Through rich illustrations and case studies, Chakrabarti demonstrates how thoughtful urban planning can improve life in various settlements, from refugee camps to megacities, positioning cities as humanity’s best hope for a better future.
Architectural Detailing: Function Constructability Aesthetics
“Architectural Detailing” is a comprehensive guide to designing high-performing buildings. The book emphasizes the importance of aesthetics, functionality, and constructability in architectural details. It systematically describes principles for creating effective details that meet performance requirements, control water and air leakage, manage heat and vapor flow, accommodate movement, and facilitate construction. The fourth edition updates content to align with current building codes and incorporates modern knowledge on materials and construction techniques. It expands on sustainability, high-performance architecture, and resilience, featuring examples of prefabricated assemblies and energy-efficient structures. The guide aims to help architects create well-detailed designs that communicate effectively throughout the construction process.
Living Disability: Building Accessible Futures for Everybody
“Living Disability” is a collection of essays and interviews from 35 disabled writers exploring disability justice and urban systems. The book goes beyond policy and compliance, showcasing how disabled individuals are creating inclusive spaces in cities. It covers various aspects of urban life, from sidewalks to public transit, affordable housing, and park design, highlighting their disproportionate impact on disabled communities. The contributors share personal experiences and strategies, offering insights into overlooked aspects of urban design and addressing major urban challenges. The book aims to inspire change, embracing complexity and community while advocating for a more accessible and equitable urban future.
Graph Vision: Digital Architecture's Skeletons
“Graph Vision” by Theodora Vardouli explores how graphs, a mathematical concept, revolutionized architecture’s relationship with digital computing. The book traces the graph’s influence on architectural representation, design tools, and infrastructure, highlighting its role in shaping the discipline’s digital future. Vardouli examines influential research groups and figures who embraced graphs as a means to challenge traditional geometric depiction. The author argues that this “graph vision” reflected a mid-20th century ambivalence towards visual appearance in both architecture and mathematics, ultimately paving the way for digital approaches in architecture.
Félix Candela from Mexico City to Chicago: Rise and Fall of Experimentation in Concrete
This book explores Félix Candela’s transition from Mexico City to Chicago in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It examines the renowned architect’s iconic concrete-shell structures and the political, economic, and material conditions influencing his work. Through essays based on archival research and interviews with Candela’s associates at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the collection offers new insights into the factors shaping his creations. The book provides a unique perspective on Candela’s career during this pivotal period, shedding light on the complex interplay of innovation, circumstances, and external forces surrounding his architectural achievements.
Architecture. Research. Office.
“Architecture. Research. Office.” is a comprehensive documentation of the AIA Award-winning New York design firm ARO. The book showcases over 30 significant projects, including cultural institutions, public buildings, and residences, while outlining seven guiding principles of the firm’s practice. It highlights ARO’s innovative approach, defined by purpose rather than namesake, and its commitment to continuous learning and addressing social and environmental challenges. The publication features rich illustrations, an introduction by Brooke Hodge, and a conversation with the firm’s partners, offering insights into ARO’s philosophy and impact on the architectural field.
I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture
I. M. Pei (1917-2019) was a renowned Chinese-American architect whose seven-decade career spanned continents and left an indelible mark on modern architecture. This book explores Pei’s life and work through six key themes: transcultural identity, urban redevelopment, art and civic form, material innovation, politics and patronage, and cultural regeneration. It showcases his most iconic projects, including the Louvre pyramid and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, while also revealing lesser-known aspects of his career. Through unpublished archives, commissioned essays, new photography, and personal accounts, the book cements Pei’s legacy in architectural history and popular culture.
Mies Van der Rohe: An Architect in His Time
“Mies van der Rohe: An Architect in His Time” by Dietrich Neumann offers a comprehensive and nuanced examination of the iconic modernist architect’s life and career. The book challenges established narratives, emphasizing the importance of social, political, and architectural contexts in understanding Mies’s work. Neumann draws on overlooked archival sources, presents previously unknown projects, and reevaluates key works. The author provides a balanced perspective, highlighting Mies’s innovative designs while acknowledging their flaws. This richly illustrated volume covers Mies’s entire career, from his early work in Germany to his influential projects in America, offering the most substantial account to date of this pivotal 20th-century architect.
Prior Art: Patents and the Nature of Invention in Architecture
“Prior Art” by Peter Christensen explores the complex relationship between patents and architecture. While patents existed earlier, architects only widely adopted them in the mid-19th century. The book examines how patent culture, traditionally associated with engineering, was adapted to architecture’s artistic and formal concerns. Christensen’s multinational research unifies fragmented global histories of architectural patents, highlighting their impact on building conception, design, engineering, construction, and promotion. This groundbreaking text reveals the significant yet understudied influence of intellectual property rights on architectural innovation in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Also Known As: Uncovering Representational Frameworks in Architecture, Art, and Digital Media
“Also Known As” by Michelle JaJa Chang explores the intersection of architecture and digital media through conceptual frameworks. The book draws analogies between objects and architectural ideas, examining how representation techniques like drawing and imaging act as organizational theories connecting abstract concepts to reality. Chang investigates design technology’s societal impacts through a series of essays and anecdotes, using diverse examples from surveillance blimps to ancient bowls. The fragmented structure of the book offers both in-depth analyses and brief observations, providing a unique perspective on the relationship between architecture, media, and design.
Concrete Century: Julius Kahn and the Construction Revolution
Julius Kahn, a 28-year-old civil engineer, revolutionized construction in the early 20th century by inventing a practical method of reinforcing concrete with steel bars. This innovation enabled the creation of strong, fireproof buildings, addressing the fire-prone nature of industrial structures. Kahn’s company, founded in 1903, popularized his reinforcement system worldwide. Michael G. Smith’s book, “Concrete Century,” explores Kahn’s journey from a German immigrant fleeing antisemitism to a pivotal figure in modern architecture. The book highlights how Kahn’s invention not only improved building safety but also contributed significantly to the development of the modern economy.
Who Are Godwin and Hopwood?: Exploring Tropical Architecture in the Age of the Climate Crisis
“Who Are Godwin and Hopwood?” explores the tropical modernist architecture of John Godwin and Gillian Hopwood in post-colonial Nigeria. This comprehensive monograph by Ben Tosland examines the couple’s six-decade career, highlighting their site-specific, climate-adapted designs that aligned with Nigeria’s aspirations after independence in 1960. The book, organized by building typology, showcases their significant contributions to Nigeria’s architectural landscape through rich illustrations. It also discusses the contemporary relevance of their passive cooling techniques in the context of the current climate crisis.
The Prefabricated Interior
“The Prefabricated Interior” explores the often-overlooked role of prefabrication in interior design. The book examines various typologies of prefab interiors, including bathrooms, kitchens, workspaces, furniture, and mobile spaces, from the 19th century to the present. It highlights how interior prefabrication has influenced architectural techniques and processes, emphasizing sustainability, accessibility, efficiency, and affordability. The author, a leading expert in the field, presents a decade of research, making this comprehensive work an essential resource for students and researchers in interior design.
City of Wood: San Francisco and the Architecture of the Redwood Lumber Industry
“City of Wood” by architectural historian James Michael Buckley explores San Francisco’s rise as the American West’s first major metropolis, driven by the exploitation of California’s redwood forests. The book examines the interconnected network of logging camps, company towns, and urban centers that formed a regional “city of wood.” Buckley illustrates how the redwood industry provided both financial capital and construction materials for San Francisco’s rapid growth following the 1849 gold rush. By analyzing this resource extraction network, the author demonstrates the crucial link between the city’s development and the exploitation of natural resources in its hinterland.
Artificial Intelligence in Architecture
AI in architecture has reached a pivotal point, transforming both design practices and theoretical discussions. From practical applications to innovative tools for morphological studies, AI is reshaping the field. The most profound shift lies in the reevaluation of authorship, as nonhuman agents now generate over 50% of content. This raises urgent questions about the role of human creators in an AI-driven design world. This book explores the evolving relationship between architects and AI, featuring insights from leading voices like Cesare Battelli, Mario Carpo, and Andrew Witt, among others.
Rewi: Āta haere, kia tere
Rewi: Ata haere, kia tere is a tribute to the late architect Rewi Thompson (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Raukawa), a visionary thinker who believed that great architecture is crafted through careful consideration of people and place. This book brings together a breathtaking range of his projects, from conceptual dreamscapes to one-of-a-kind homes. It is written by one of the rising stars of architecture and a well-known commentator on urban issues, and includes interviews with those who worked with him.
Transpecies Design: Design for a Posthumanist World
The UN's 2019 Global Assessment Report warns of impending mass extinction due to human activities. To address this crisis, the book proposes a shift from anthropocentric design to transpecies design. This approach recognizes the interconnectedness of all living beings and aims to regenerate the natural environment while preserving biodiversity. By moving beyond human-centric perspectives, transpecies design offers a new framework for creating sustainable solutions. The book serves as a crucial resource for professionals and students in various design fields, architecture, environmental philosophy, and cultural studies, advocating for a more holistic and inclusive approach to design that benefits all species.
Earth, Sky and Water: Houses in the Nordic Style
Mette Lange's "Earth, Sky & Water" showcases thirteen houses designed with natural materials and human-scale comfort. The book is divided into three chapters: "By the Water," "In the Forest," and "In the Countryside." Lange's unique approach involves camping on-site before designing, ensuring a deep connection with the environment. The book features inviting photography, detailed project descriptions, and highlights Lange's socially responsible work in India. Kenneth Frampton contributes a foreword to this visual feast of Scandinavian summerhouses, which also serves as an inspiration for architects seeking to run sustainable studios.
European Churches and Chinese Temples As Neuro-Theatrical Sites
This book explores how religious sanctuaries across cultures reflect and influence human cognition and behavior. It analyzes over 80 Christian, Buddhist, and other sacred buildings, examining how their designs embody cultural ideals and shape visitors' experiences. The author argues that these spaces serve as "inner theatres" where believers perform their faith, interacting with divine entities and reinforcing group identities. By integrating insights from humanities and sciences, the book demonstrates how architectural elements reflect historical meta-theatrical projections and affect modern visitors' embodied cognition. It compares European and Chinese religious sites, revealing distinct cultural trajectories in individualist/collectivist thinking and performative traditions.
On the Appearance of the World: A Future for Aesthetics in Architecture
How can architecture develop better aesthetic directions for the twenty-first-century built environment? Our world, increasingly defined by efficient but unconsidered architecture and cities, seems to be getting uglier. In On the Appearance of the World, Mark Foster Gage asks why. He imagines a future scenario where architectural design and ideas from aesthetic philosophy align toward the production of a built world that is more humane, habitable, beautiful, and just.
FABRIC[ated]: Fabric Innovation and Material Responsibility in Architecture
FABRIC[ated] explores fabric's role as a catalyst for innovation and transformation in architecture. The book examines how fabric research and development has influenced architectural design, teaching, and practice. It highlights fabric's responsive, flexible, and adaptive qualities, offering innovative solutions and increased material responsibility. The text is divided into foundation and theory chapters, followed by case studies of 14 international projects categorized under Veiling, Compression, and Tension. These projects showcase diverse applications of fabric in architecture, from concrete forming to building skins, demonstrating new methods for addressing sustainability and social justice. The book appeals to both students and practitioners, providing pedagogical and practical models for fabric use in architecture.
Manual of Biogenic House Sections
This book explores sustainable house construction using materials that sequester carbon or have low embodied carbon. It showcases 55 modern houses built with wood, bamboo, straw, hemp, cork, earth, brick, stone, and recycled materials. The book presents detailed cross-sectional drawings, exploded axonometrics, and photographs of each house, demonstrating how these materials influence architectural design. By focusing on modest-sized homes and their role in architectural experimentation, the book aims to transform current building practices and promote environmentally conscious construction for a more sustainable future.
Vernacular Architecture: Critical and Primary Sources
"Vernacular Architecture: Critical and Primary Sources" is a comprehensive four-volume collection of essential readings on traditional building cultures worldwide. Spanning 200 years of scholarship, it offers a framework for understanding vernacular architecture studies. The volumes trace the field's evolution from rural, romantic interpretations to contemporary, interdisciplinary perspectives. This collection connects historical insights to modern urban challenges, making it valuable for scholars, professionals, and policymakers. It serves as a crucial resource for architecture, conservation, planning, material culture, art history, geography, and heritage studies.
Building Bad: How Architectural Utility Is Constrained by Politics and Damaged by Expression
The author contends that architectural functionality is constrained by political and economic forces while being undermined by expressive modes. Utilitarian elements like windows may conflict with energy conservation goals, while expressive systems can overshadow practical considerations. Politics and economics set boundaries for utilitarian functions, evaluated based on wealth accumulation in a competitive global economy. Simultaneously, artistic sensibilities driven by competition often lead to impractical building forms. This tension between functionality, economic constraints, and artistic expression creates a complex interplay in architectural design, challenging architects to balance practical needs with aesthetic and symbolic values.
John Outram
This book offers the first comprehensive study of John Outram, an architect known for his decorative and elemental designs. It explores Outram's innovative buildings, including The New House at Wadhurst and the Isle of Dogs Pumping Station, as well as unrealized projects. The author, Geraint Franklin, examines how Outram's work blends architectural history, metaphysics, and mythology, using storytelling and iconography to communicate shared values. The book delves into Outram's creative approach to building technology and his reconciliation of traditional architectural roles with modern design. Featuring new photography and archival images, it provides fresh insights into this significant late 20th-century architect.
Le Corbusier's Chandigarh Revisited: Preservation As Future Modernism
This book reevaluates Le Corbusier's Chandigarh through a contemporary lens, examining its relevance to modern challenges like climate change, globalization, and technology. The author, a former resident and scholar, employs poststructuralist and postcolonial perspectives to explore preservation, identity, and change in the city. The work analyzes Chandigarh's current state against original plans, questioning the continued relevance of its aesthetics and ethical foundations in urban planning. It examines the city's hydrology, Capitol buildings' symbolism, and the unbuilt Museum of Knowledge, arguing for Chandigarh as an 'open' work designed for future completion. This engaging study appeals to those interested in architecture and urban planning.
World Architecture and Society: From Stonehenge to One World Trade Center [2 Volumes]
This two-volume encyclopedia explores globally significant buildings and sites throughout history, divided into four regional sections: the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Asia and the Pacific. It features regional essays examining architectural development across time and cultures. Entries highlight the unique importance of structures like Stonehenge and Angkor Wat, as well as broader building traditions such as Spanish colonial missions and medieval Islamic universities. The encyclopedia also includes remarkable stories of architectural achievement and memory, like Tuskegee University and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, focusing on both architectural aspects and social significance.
Architecture and Objects
Graham Harman's "Architecture and Objects" introduces object-oriented ontology (OOO) to architectural theory, challenging traditional concepts of form and function. Harman critiques influential philosophers and proposes de-relationalized versions of form and function (zero-form and zero-function) to expand architecture's possibilities. He engages with prominent architects' works and writings, offering a new perspective on architecture's role in revitalizing aesthetic paradigms. The book aims to deepen the dialogue between philosophy and architecture, providing fresh insights into contemporary architectural language and practice.