Weekly Wrap-Up & Preview: September 13
September 13, 2013Books as architectural building blocks, a dozen September reviews of Notable Design Books of 2013, and our interview with fashion authority André Leon Talley were just a few of the features on Designers & Books this past week. We also introduced “Forthcoming Books We Are Looking Forward To,” in which booksellers and editors give us their picks for the to-be-published design titles they are most eager to see. Next week, Canadian Centre for Architecture Founding Director Phyllis Lambert gives her book list and answers some questions, and we visit Donald Judd’s restored SoHo home. Plus, we'll be debuting our new calendar of events as well as a Community Book List, where you can add your favorite design books.
Weekly Wrap-Up

Named “America’s Best Interior Designer” by CNN and Time magazine, the designer talks about the public and personal challenges that made her who she is today.
More...
From Anthropologie stores to Ford’s Theatre in Washington, books are becoming an architectural element in modern designs
More...
Our September dozen features highly regarded British product designer Tom Dixon’s new book, a compendium of Dutch architecture firm MVRDV's buildings, and a comprehensive guide to the art and industry of fashion design.
More...
Fashion editor, author, and icon André Leon Talley (1948–January 18, 2022) talked to Designers & Books in 2013 about the books that inspired him, and the books he wrote, including Little Black Dress (2013, Skira/Rizzoli). His most recent book was his memoir The Chiffon Trenches (2020, Ballantine Books).
More...
Rizzoli Bookstore's Thomas Collins sent 10 books coming out this fall that he is looking froward to seeing on the shelves.
More...Next Week's Preview

Phyllis Lambert, Founding Director Emeritus of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), one of the world’s preeminent museums focused on architecture, has some advice for architects at all stages of their careers: “Young architects, architects tout court, must be deeply and widely engaged in reading—asking essential questions.” Lambert is the winner of the 2013 Designers & Books Design Book of the Year Award for her book Building Seagram.

“Donald Judd was notorious for his dislike of architects,” muses ARO principal Adam Yarinsky. “I tell people I think it was for all of the right reasons.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Popular NowWeekMonth
- The Book We Need Now: New from Stefan Sagmeister
- Quote of the Day: Witold Rybczynski & Paradise Planned
- Summer Reading for Design Lovers: The Story of Architecture
- One Book and Why: Design School Dean Frederick Steiner Recommends . . .
- One Book and Why: Graphic Designer Stefan Sagmeister Recommends . . .
Recent Articles



