Notable Books of 2011

Invited designers (including architects, fashion designers, graphic designers, interior designers, landscape architects, product designers, urban designers, and other design professionals) have chosen these as the most notable design books of 2011. See complete Notable Design Books list

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Nonfiction, Architecture

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26 books

Architecture in Uniform Jean-Louis Cohen On Paul Makovsky’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Bertrand Goldberg: Architecture of Invention Zoë Ryan, ed. On list of Books by Zoë Ryan On Paul Makovsky’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	The Embodied Image: Imagination and Imagery in Architecture Juhani Pallasmaa On list of Books by Juhani Pallasmaa On John Hill’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture John Hill On Justin Davidson’s Notable Books of 2011 list On list of Books by John Hill Add to My Reading List	Rising Currents Barry Bergdoll et al. On list of Books by Barry Bergdoll On Justin Davidson’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Groundwork: Between Landscape and Architecture Diana Balmori et al. On list of Books by Diana Balmori On Julie Lasky’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	California Design 1930–1965 Wendy Kaplan. ed. On Paul Makovsky’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Project Japan Rem Koolhaas et al. On Justin Davidson’s Notable Books of 2011 list On Neil Denari’s Current Reading list On Florian Idenburg’s Notable Books of 2011 list On Alan Balfour’s Notable Books of 2011 list On Aric Chen’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List
Combinatory Urbanism Thom Mayne On John Hill’s Notable Books of 2011 list On list of Books by Thom Mayne Add to My Reading List	Spatial Agency Nishat Awan et al. On John Hill’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	African Metropolitan Architecture David Adjaye On Justin Davidson’s Notable Books of 2011 list On list of Books by David Adjaye Add to My Reading List	Edward Durell Stone Hicks Stone On Paul Makovsky’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Julius Shulman, Los Angeles Sam Lubell et al. On Justin Davidson’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	KieranTimberlake: Inquiry Stephen Kieran et al. On Phil Patton’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Tomorrow’s Houses Alexander Gorlin et al. On Justin Davidson’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	A House for an Art Collector David Adjaye On Justin Davidson’s Notable Books of 2011 list On Stanley Abercrombie’s Notable Books of 2011 list On list of Books by David Adjaye Add to My Reading List
Kissing Architecture Sylvia Lavin On Galia Solomonoff’s Notable Books of 2011 list On Neil Denari’s Notable Books of 2011 list On Greg Lynn’s Current Reading list Add to My Reading List	The Architectural Detail Edward R. Ford On John Hill’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	The Houses of William Wurster: Frames for Living Caitlin Lempres Brostrom et al. On Stanley Abercrombie’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Pamphlet Architecture 11–20 Steven Holl, introduction On John Hill’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Reveal: Studio Gang Architects Jeanne Gang On list of Books by Jeanne Gang On Justin Davidson’s Notable Books of 2011 list On John Hill’s Notable Books of 2011 list On Galia Solomonoff’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Living in the Endless City Ricky Burdett et al. On Justin Davidson’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List	Gerrit Rietveld Ida von Ziji On Stanley Abercrombie’s Notable Books of 2011 list On Gijs Bakker’s Book List Add to My Reading List	By the City/For the City Anne Guiney et al. On John Hill’s Notable Books of 2011 list Add to My Reading List
Wirrwarr Jürgen Mayer H. et al. On Phil Patton’s Notable Books of 2011 list On list of Books by Jürgen Mayer H. Add to My Reading List	Alexander Girard Todd Oldham et al. On Jonathan Adler’s Book List On Wendy Goodman’s Notable Books of 2011 list On list of Books by Todd Oldham 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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