In addition to the firm's commercial and residential work, there is also a section showcasing their furniture work and the design decisions that went into creating their Glenncoe furniture line.

Overall, this is a well designed book that truly captures the creativity and uniqueness of MR+A. Definitely give it a look the next time you're at your local bookseller.

Link: Princeton Architectural Press
Link: Indoor/Outdoor

This book is the result of two years of architectural research. Dynamic facades, ventilated, high-tech or traditional composites with new features. This book shows that currently new skins not only act as an isolating element, besides interact with the environment, optimizing energy exchange with the outside. From Germany to Australia or Korea to Colombia, there are many examples that readers can visit with this publication. With international vocation due to bilingual English-Spanish text and a language away from technicalities, this paper aims to show as an "interactive toy" the evolving field of the facades in architecture.

Architectural styles featured in the book run the gamut from farmhouse villas of the late 1800's to the modern structures of today.

Link: Princeton Architectural Press

Influenced by some of the world's most renowned architecture and design-driven publications, Elemente provides a unique regional platform that focuses on current architectural highlights, key players, products, designs and emerging trends. Singular in personality and voice, Elemente's mandate is to deliver contextually relevant content exclusive to the region that is functional and purposeful, entertaining yet challenging, enlightening and informative, humourous yet inspirational.

Antenna is the first mainstream magazine to target individuals who are on a constant quest for the newest and coolest products on the horizon. And it does so without using celebrities, models, concept shoots, service stories and whatever else we deem superfluous to our mission: to become a guidebook, allowing readers to navigate the most extensive collection of products ever compiled in a single publication, while championing the people who create, sell and collect them—all in one comprehensive, artful, elegant and innovative format.

Link: Antenna

Busting a key economic myth, Interface Engineering of Portland, Oregon (has) engineered a top-level green building on a conventional budget, opening the way for other large scale projects to achieve high performance at standard cost. The firm also released an illustrated guide sharing the secrets and principles behind the project, formally known as The Center for Health and Healing at the River Campus of Oregon Health & Science University.

Over the last decade Jiricna´s contribution to architecture and design has been recognised with personal awards, including being made a Royal Designer for Industry, a Commander of the British Empire for Services to Interior Design, election as a Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts, and induction in the American Hall of Fame. She holds honorary doctorates and professorships at several universities (e.g., Southampton Institute, Technical University in Brno, University of Sheffield, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague). In 2003 she was elected a President of Architectural Association of London. She participates on international juries and lectures widely on her work.

The land in big cities has be used more intensively, but the possibilities are limited. One of the leading options for the future is the use of the flat roofs of residential buildings and office blocks as a building site.

This book analyses and describes the opportunities for realizing projects of this kind, as well as the potential difficulties, using interesting examples of construction on top of existing buildings in the Netherlands and abroad. It will therefore be influential in establishing a benchmark for architecture and urban planning that is a necessity if rooftop architecture is to have a serious future.

Here's a comprehensive directory of green building products for home building and remodeling featuring more than 1,400 descriptive listings for products from ag-fiber panels to zero-VOC paints. All phases of residential construction are covered, from sitework to flooring to renewable energy. Products are grouped by function, and each chapter begins with a discussion of key environmental considerations and what to look for in a green product.

"In an age of "McMansions," this international survey of the latest in residential architecture proves that small is beautiful-and responsible. The houses profiled are designed to make maximum use of the smallest possible footprint in order to protect the environment. The houses profiled here prove that efficiency as well as beautiful, thoughtful design can be had in a tiny setting. Each project includes a case history describing its design challenges and how the architect overcame them, a detailed blueprint for each house, full-color photos of the interior and the exterior, and plans of the layout."

I was introduced to The Great Good Place when I was working on my graduate thesis, but I only read a couple of chapters... back then I had stacks of books I was reading, so many were only given a quick scan. Six years later I am finally getting around to actually reading the whole thing. It is an interesting look at the roll of places (especially unique and authentic places) in social and community life.

The Great Good Place argues that "third places" - where people can gather, put aside the concerns of work and home, and hang out simply for the pleasures of good company and lively conversation - are the heart of a community's social vitality and the grassroots of democracy.

Written by Michael Freeman and published back in August 04, Space explores Japanese architecture and design in size constricted areas.

In their work, Japanese interior designers and architects constantly draw on cultural traditions, while using a modern, even radical approach. Whether in the use of lightweight partitions to create flexible spaces, deliberate profligacy to give a feeling of generosity, or strange perspectives, the results are not mere workaday solutions, but artistic and unusual ones that can turn a lack of space into a surfeit of style.

Eric's forthcoming book, The Inevitable Architect: The Steps to Green Architecture, shows other architects how to become green.

Link: organicARCHITECT - The Inevitable Architect: The Steps to Green Architecture
Via: Enviropundit

Urban living space in the west is becoming increasingnly crowded; conditions that the Japanese have coped with, and their architects have gained much experience dealing with, for quite some time. Japanese design patterns are bound to be adopted by Western architects and this book makes a point to showcase some of the finest small home design that Japan has to offer.

Release Date: May 2005

Link: Amazon
Author: Azby Brown
Publisher: Kodansha International

Around the world abandoned industrial sites, landfills, waterfronts and other tainted lands provide opportunities and challenges. Vancouver is seeking to turn an industrial waterfront into a residential district, Sydney transformed polluted wastelands into their Olympic Park, and outside of London Stockley Park reclaimed an ancient manufacturing site.

Manufactured Sites explores the "reclamation of land and the integration of innovative technologies and design strategies in their redevelopment and regeneration" from the perspective of landscape design professionals, including a chapter/project by Peter Latz. Editor Niall Kirkwood is an Associate professor of landscape architecture, Director of the Masters in Landscape Architecture degree programs, and founder and Director of the Center for Technology and Environment at Harvard GSD.

Editor: Niall Kirkwood
Link: Amazon
Related: Westergasfabriek (Land+Living)

Author: Ian L. McHarg
Link: Amazon

Like The Art Book, this book presents 500 designers in an AZ format that departs from the usual emphasis on genres and time periods. The gardens are carefully selected to choose the appropriate work for key figures which illustrates their influence on the traditions of gardening in many countries around the world. They range, therefore, from the palaces of kings to the all-consuming passions, bordering on obsessions, of amateur enthusiasts."

Link: Phaidon Press
Link: McNally Robinson

An excellent look at small, modernist component built houses by the architect Norman Cherner. Divided into chapters as follows: Plans and intro, Panel Construction, Bent Construction, Girder Construction, Masonary and Foundation Construction, Quonset Construction, Materials and Methods. Excellent isometric drawings and details by the architect. Also sections, elevations, and floor plans. Black and white photos of homes under construction and finished.

This text contains the essence of Thomas Church's design philosophy, as well as practical advice. It is illustrated by site plans and photographs of some of the 2000 gardens that Church designed during his career. Called "the last great traditional designer and the first great modern designer", Church was one of the central figures in the development of the modern Californian garden. For the first time, West Coast designers based their work not on imitation of East Coast traditions, but on climatic, landscape and lifestyle characteristics unique to California and the West. Church viewed the garden as a logical extension of the house, with one extending naturally into the other.

Link: Dig Modern

"Modern Landscape features over thirty international projects, including schemes by both architects and landscape architects, often working in collaboration. Following an introductory essay, the book is arranged into four sections of extensively illustrated case studies, each of which deals with a different aspect of landscape design - Parkland, Architecture as Landscape, Garden Landscapes and Urban Interventions - relating it directly to historical and contemporary precedents."

Author: Michael Spens
Link: Amazon

Author: Shuhei Endo
Link: Amazon

Authors: Charles A. Birnbaum & Robin Karson
Link: Amazon

"When we think of the gardens of Southern California, we tend to think of the enormous semiarid landscapes of the Huntington and Rancho Los Alamitos, often built on the sprawling grounds of former ranches. But there is another garden tradition in Southern California: the modest, rectangular suburban plots designed by the most famous architects of mid-century modernism: Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Gregory Ain, Raphael Soriano, Harwell Hamilton Harris, A. Quincy Jones, and John Lautner. These architects saw the garden as an outdoor extension of the space of the houses they designed, rather than a neo-Spanish fantasy to be added later by a "landscapist." Their modern gardens made use of low-maintenance, drought-resistant plants, and made room for informal outdoor living by children and adults with an emphasis on recreation and exercise."

Acclaimed furniture designer George Nakashima (1905-1990) made boldly original pieces prized for their superb craftsmanship and their organic use of the natural lines and grain of wood. Today his beautiful creations are avidly sought by private collectors and are housed in museum collections all over the world. This survey of Nakashima's life and work-written by his daughter, the noted designer Mira Nakashima-is the most revealing look we have ever had at this woodworking genius and his profound influence on contemporary design. Mira Nakashima chronicles not only the furniture designs for which her father was best known, but also his equally fine work as an architect. Wonderful modern craft furniture

Link: Amazon

"The authors in this book argue that our dedication to maintaining beautiful lawns is contributing to the serious environmental problems facing the planet, and they offer strategies for creating and caring for aesthetically pleasing and ecologically sound lawns. This new edition updates the original text and adds a chapter and illustrations showing what progress has been made in the ecological management of landscapes over the past decade."

Link: Amazon

This first critical assessment of modem landscape architecture brings together seminal articles from the 1930s and 1940s by Eckbo, Kiley, Rose, Fletcher Steele, and Christopher Tunnard, and includes contributions by contemporary writers and designers such as Peirce Lewis, Catherine Howett, John Dixon Hunt, Peter Walker, and Martha Schwartz who examine the historical and cultural framework within which modern landscape designers have worked."

Link: Booklounge.com

"One of the best landscape do-it-yourself guides from the period. Profusely illustrated with drawings and photos, both color and black and white. Well organized with wonderful modernist examples and directions for how to acheive them. Douglas Baylis, Armand Benedek, Thomas Church, just a few of the contributors. Many examples inspired by Japanese gardens. One of our favorites for thoroughness and style."

"A small garden can be beautiful, low maintenance, sheltered, intimate and fun. Good design, both inside and outside the home is timeless and is based on sound principles. Small Space Gardens takes you through the entire planning sequence, providing a progressive organizational sequence that melds interior, exterior and borrowed landscape into an elegant, practical and integrated whole."

Author: Arne Maynard
Link: Amazon UK

Author: Christopher Bradley-Hole
Link: Booklounge.com

Now through the Maloof Foundation, the Maloof's home in Alta Loma, California (east of Los Angeles), is open to the public. The home evolved over many years and was crafted by Sam Maloof as if it were a giant piece of furniture.

Link: Maloof Foundation
Book: Amazon

"Great design ideas are combined with practical tips on transforming an outdoor living space into a personal oasis. Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of examples, this book provides a stunning portfolio of hidden treasures and is packed with innovative and useful suggestions. You will be able to make informed choices for everything from style to plant selection. The book guides you through steps toward composing a sky garden, beginning with key principles of design. Discover endless possibilities for creating a special place, whether a shady nook for relaxation or a dramatic vista for alfresco dining. Bring your airy retreat to life by choosing from eye-catching plant combinations and furniture arrangements. Add the finishing touch with lighting, outdoor sculpture and ornaments, and fountains and other water effects that make a garden uniquely your own. This is an invaluable resource for everyone planning to renovate or build a rooftop, terrace, or balcony garden. With expert advice and images from a leading landscape architect, you will be inspired to express your personality by adapting the ideas to suit your taste, needs, and budget."

Goldsworthy makes site-specific pieces of art using only the materials and tools found on the site where he is working. We were drawn to respect for nature and the sense of place inherent in Goldsworthy's art. Most of his work is created in isolated natural site, but he has also done works in urban environments as well as installation piece such as the current exhibit at the Met in New York. An important aspect of his work is the passage of time and the decay of his art by the forces of nature.

Link: Andy Goldsworthy
Please note that the images across the top of the page are links - slow loading rollovers
Time: Amazon

To say this book is about the power of one person to change the world, though true, would be a cliché. This book is not about David, sustainability, or even green buildings. It is about the mystery of change. Although it is axiomatic that everything changes, it is a mystery as to how things change. What we have here is a first-person and animated account of how things did change. When you read it, you will draw your own conclusions. Yes, his is a story of pluck and determination, to be sure. And it is one of timing, hard work, and manufactured luck. But above all, it is a story of conviction. Not the conviction that makes others wrong, but more an affirmation: of what is right and what is possible.

Inside/Outside (By Anita Berrizbeitia, Linda Pollak) constructs frameworks of interpretation for architecture and landscape architecture, and discloses relations between them which are normally overlooked.

Five intriguing "operations"-- reciprocity, materiality, threshold, insertion, and infrastructure-each initiate an alternative way of looking at the construction and representation of relationships between architecture, landscape, city, and individuals. Twenty-four projects each contribute in a unique way to the definition of an operation.

Included in this book are an exciting mix of well- and lesser-known late modern and contemporary projects from such noted talents as Frank O. Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Carmen Pinos and Enric Miralles, Louis Kahn, Maarten Struijs and Joop Schilperoord, and more.

Link: Amazon

Authors: William McDonough, Michael Braungart Link: Amazon

Link: Barnes & Noble

Authors: Marc Treib, Dorothee Imbert
Link: Amazon

Author: Jill Herbers
Link: Amazon

1968
Hardcover
Volume 2
1 x 9 x 12

Author: Charles S. Terry
Link: DigModern