Kitty’s top 6 architecture books
As a graduate of Architecture, we asked bookseller Kitty to review her top 5 books on the subject but she couldn’t narrow it down to fewer than 6. There were simply too many intriguing gems hidden in our architecture section and around the store to choose from.
(The books below are not linked to our website due to stock levels, so if you’d like to purchase or hold one aside click on the image and you can email the store.)
1.Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Over fifty years since it was first published, Invisible Cities still pulls readers into a world of architecture that is far more than just buildings. This work of fiction interlaces beautifully vivid descriptions of imagined cities with a dialogue between the emperor Kublai Khan and adventurer Marco Polo. This book is a must read for those interested in architecture, and might just change the way you see the city around you.
2. 101 things I learned in architecture school by Matthew Frederick
Don’t judge this book by its cover! Whilst its diminutive size and catchy title might make portray a novelty, it’s jam packed full of architectural concepts, helpful drawing tricks, and nuggets of wisdom. This was the first book I bought when I got into architecture school, and it’s still something I go back to!
3. Houses that can save the world by Courtenay Smith and Sean Topham
A bold title for a bold book! Each chapter delves into a different world-saving architectural concept, exploring cutting edge projects that showcase the best of environmental and social architecture. This book is full of optimism, the case study projects are both exciting and creative, and most importantly show a credible solution to the problems architecture faces today.
4. Feminist City by Leslie Kern
Have you ever felt a pang of jealousy seeing a man walk down an alleyway without a care in the world? Have you wondered how on earth you will be able to continue your career if you have children? Leslie Kern reflects on the inequalities that have been built into the very fabric of our cities, exploring ways in which changes to the urban environment can fix these ever-growing imbalances.
5. Four Walls and a Roof by Reinier De Graff
De Graff takes the romanticised view of the architectural profession and exposes it to the cold reality of a capitalist world. It is the belief of the architect that they can change the world through the built environment, yet their agency is more limited than they would like to believe. Four Walls and a Roof explores the truth of a profession where the word of ‘The Client’ takes precedence, and the consequences that has for the world of Architecture.
6. Stalin’s Architect by Deyan Sudjic
Rich in Soviet history, Stalin’s Architect delves into the life and work of Boris Iofan, State Architect, and mastermind behind the iconic style of Stalin’s Soviet Union. A friend of Frank Lloyd Wright, Iofan navigated Stalin’s tumultuous purges, escaping the fate that befell many architects of the time. Sudjic provides an intimate snapshot of a time when architecture and state were deeply intertwined, and the danger this posed for Soviet architects.