Chosen Books

Invited designers and commentators have chosen these as the books that inspire them and that have shaped their worldview or their ideas about design.

title a–z

Nonfiction, Urban Design

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75 books

Learning from Hangzhou Mathieu Borysevicz On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	The Levittowners Herbert J. Gans On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Location and Space Economy Walter Isard On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Mayhew’s London On Alan Balfour’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Metropolis: Center and Symbol of Our Times Philip Kasinitz On Zoë Ryan’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Miami Modern Metropolis Allan T. Shulman, ed. On Jeffrey Beers’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Object to Be Destroyed: The Work of Gordon Matta-Clark Pamela M. Lee On Christian Wassmann’s Book List Add to My Reading List	The 100 Mile City Deyan Sudjic On Norman Foster’s Book List Add to My Reading List
The Origins of Modern Town Planning Leonardo Benevolo On Phyllis Lambert’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Paradise Planned Robert A.M. Stern et al. On Witold Rybczynski’s Notable Books of 2013 list Add to My Reading List	Patrick Geddes in India Jacqueline Tyrwhitt On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	People and Plans Herbert J. Gans On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Personal Space Robert Sommer On Niels Diffrient’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Plan of Chicago, 1909 Daniel Hudson Burnham et al. On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Politics, Planning, and the Public Interest Martin Meyerson et al. On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Pop-Up City Jeroen Beekmans et al. On David Rockwell’s Book List Add to My Reading List
The Power Broker Robert Caro On Nancye Green’s Book List On Jaquelin Robertson’s Book List Add to My Reading List	The Private Future Martin Pawley On Norman Foster’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Quotidiano sostenibile Ezio Manzini et al. On Paolo Deganello’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Re-cycle Pippo Ciorra, ed. On Paolo Deganello’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Scarp Nick Papdimitriou On Alan Balfour’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Sense of the City Mirko Zardini, ed. On Phyllis Lambert’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Solution 239–246 Martti Kalliala et al. On Anthony Dunne’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Supercrit #2—Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown Kester Rattenbury et al. On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List
The Making of Classical Edinburgh 1750–1840 Alexander John Brown Youngson On Alan Balfour’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Theorizing the City Setha M. Low On Zoë Ryan’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Three Essays on Town Planning Paul Kriesis On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Tokyo Suburbia Takashi Homma On Florian Idenburg’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Town Planning in Practice Raymond Unwin On Jaquelin Robertson’s Book List On Witold Rybczynski’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Twenty Minutes in Manhattan Michael Sorkin On Paul Goldberger’s Book List On list of Books by Michael Sorkin Add to My Reading List	Twenty Years at Hull-House Jane Addams On Matali Crasset’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Urban Traffic: A Function of Land Use R. B. Mitchell et al. On Denise Scott Brown’s Book List On Robert Venturi’s Book List Add to My Reading List
The Wealth of Cities John Norquist On Andrés Duany’s Book List Add to My Reading List	You Have to Pay for the Public Life Charles, W. Moore et al. On Paul Goldberger’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Zone 1/2 Michel Feher et al. On Terence Riley’s Book List On Neil Denari’s Book List On Greg Lynn’s Book List Add to My Reading List

Announcements

Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister

Now is Better

By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023

Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.

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Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future

By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022

Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.

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Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People

By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022

Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.

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Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber

Milton Glaser: POP

By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

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Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall

By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022

Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”

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Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)

By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023

This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.

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