Contract Magazine - December 2019 - 16

THE LIST

December Reading

Nine new books to inspire you.

Canadian Modern Architecture: 1967 to the
Present
Edited by Elsa Lam and Graham Livesey
Princeton Architectural Press, 544 pages, $55

Women in Design
By Charlotte Fiell and Clementine Fiell
Laurence King, 256 pages, $45

Booklovers Guide to New York
By Cleo Le-Tan, Illustrated by Pierre Le-Tan
Rizzoli, 216 pages, $29.95

This book celebrates over a century of exceptional
female creativity and talent within all areas of design,
from fashion, textiles, furniture, lighting, product,
automotive, industrial, graphic, and interactive to
architecture. Featuring more than 100 profiles of
pioneering women designers, some who have
achieved global recognition such as Florence Knoll
Bassett, Charlotte Perriand, and Zaha Hadid, it also
introduces the fascinating and often untold stories
of lesser-known designers, who have also shaped
and enriched the story of design.

An illustrated guide to New York City tailored
for the book-obsessed explorer showcasing the
city's best bookshops; libraries; homes and haunts
of world-famous writers; and scenes from literary
classics with charming drawings by the famed
New Yorker cover artist Pierre Le-Tan. The book
includes contributions by Marc Jacobs, Hamish
Bowles, and Tavi Gevinson, and is perhaps
the best way to rediscover New York
in the most literate way.

City on a Hill: Urban Idealism in America from
the Puritans to the Present
By Alex Krieger
Belknap Press, 464 pages, $35.00

A Chronology of Architecture A Cultural
Timeline from Stone Circles to Skyscrapers
By John Zukowsky
Thames and Hudson, 272 pages, $29.95

Our Happy Life: Architecture and Well-Being in
the Age of Emotional Capitalism
Edited by Francesco Garutti
Sternberg and CCA, 328 pages, $40

A sweeping history of American cities and
towns, and the utopian aspirations that shaped
them, by one of America's leading urban planners
and scholars. Alex Krieger argues that any attempt
at understanding how the country has developed
must recognize the persistent and dramatic
consequences of utopian dreaming. As he traces
this uniquely American story from the Pilgrims
to the "smart city," Krieger delivers a new history
of our built environment. The richly illustrated
narrative reminds us, as we formulate new ideals
today, that we chase our visions surrounded by
the glories and failures of dreams gone by.

This survey examines-together-engineering
and architectural accomplishments. Sites are
arranged within a sociocultural timeline that
examines them in terms of historic events and
trends, social change, economic developments,
and technological innovations-factors that all
helped shape architecture and engineering design
solutions over millennia. Each chapter includes
"In Focus" sections that target sociocultural
observations and technological developments
related to particular sites and people.

How do we design our cities when our most
intimate experiences are incessantly tracked
and our feelings become the base of new modes
of production that prioritize the immaterial over the
material? This book investigates the architectural
implications of the trend of happiness indexes
and lists of wellbeing indicators by dissecting and
questioning the political, economic, and emotional
conditions that generate space today. Organized
as a visual narrative with critical readings by authors
including Will Davies, Simon Fujiwara, and Mirko
Zardini, the book reveals architecture, city, and
landscape as contested surfaces, caught between
the intangible guidelines of happiness indexes, the
new marketplace of emotions, and the relentless
ideology of positivity.

Canada's most distinguished architectural critics
and scholars offer fresh insights into the country's
unique modern and contemporary architecture.
Beginning with the nation's centennial and Expo 67
in Montreal, this fifty-year retrospective covers
the defining of national institutions and movements,
how Canadian architects interpreted major external
trends, regional and indigenous architectural
tendencies, and the influence of architects in
Canada's three largest cities-Toronto, Montreal,
and Vancouver.

John Pawson: Anatomy of Minimum
By John Pawson
Phaidon, 240 pages, $75
This monograph showcases the defining elements
and architectural anatomy at the very heart of
Pawson's work, focusing on the essential details
that mark his distinctive architectural and aesthetic
style. It groups a selection of his recent works into
domestic projects, including his own house in rural
England; extended sacred spaces; and repurposed
structures, such as London's Design Museum.
Throughout its pages, this book explores Pawson's
unique approach to proportion and light and his
precise language of windows, doors, and walls.

Yellow: The History of a Color
By Michel Pastoureau
Princeton University Press, 240 pages, $39.95
Did you know that originally tennis balls were
not yellow, but white, and they were changed
to yellow when color television was introduced
so that viewers could more easily follow the
game? You'll learn about this fun fact and more
in this richly illustrated book. Michel Pastoureau,
a renowned color authority, traces the visual, social,
and cultural history of yellow and tells the story
of the color's evolving place in art, religion, fashion,
literature, and science, illuminated with a wealth
of captivating images.

Cover image by Tamir Ben Kalifa
16

contractdesign.com

DECEMBER 2019
http://www.contractdesign.com
Contract Magazine - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract Magazine - December 2019
