Summer reading: architecture, the lives of architects and their drawings
Summer is the perfect time for architecture lovers to catch up on their reading or explore new publications. In Enero Arquitectura’s blog we have compiled some recommendations for summer reading, most of them recently published and all of them about architecture. Some examples are the lives of masters of architecture, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, and drawings of iconic projects.
ESSAYS WRITTEN BY ARCHITECTS
If you’re interested in essays written by architects, we have selected two: one by the Finn Juhani Pallasmaa and the other by Spaniard Rafael Moneo.
INSEMINATIONS: SEEDS FOR ARCHITECTURAL THOUGHT, BY JUHANI PALLASMAA
The book Inseminations: Seeds for Architectural Thought is an easy introduction to the thought of the Finnish architect and theorist Juhani Pallasmaa. If you are interested in the architecture of the senses and the connection with knowledge like architecture, philosophy, science and art, this work will undoubtedly enlighten some of your queries.
The author of another well-known book The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, Pallasmaa, creates here a conceptual dictionary where he delves into concepts widely addressed in his theoretical work such as biophilic beauty and atmospheric intelligence.
ABOUT RONCHAMP, BY RAFAEL MONEO
In the book About Ronchamp, the architect Rafael Moneo writes about an essential work in his own career as well as gives keys to understanding it and discovering the unique aspects that surround this construction.
The chapel of Notre Dame du Haut, better known as the chapel of Ronchamp (France), is a requisite pilgrimage for any architect or anyone interested in the history of architecture. The chapel represents the unique architecture in Le Corbusier’s career and is a project that defines a new concept of spiritual architecture.
NOVELS ABOUT THE LIVES OF ARCHITECTS
Among other summer reading we have selected at Enero Arquitectura are novels about the lives of architectural masters. Specifically, about the lives of American Frank Lloyd Wright and the Italian Renzo Piano.
THE WOMEN, by T.C. BOYLE
With the novel The Women, the American writer T.C. Boyle portrays the love life of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The setting where all the intricacies of love are uncovered is the famous Taliesin estate in Iowa County (Wisconsin, USA).
The reader observes the architect as if it were an act of voyeurism and discovers his lesser-known facets. With the web of personal relationships laid bare, we meet the different women who were part of his life as well as his collaborators, friends, family and clients.
PLANIMETRY OF A HAPPY FAMILY, BY LIA PIANO
In Planimetry of a Happy Family, the writer Lia Piano, daughter of the architect Renzo Piano, presents a first-person family portrait. Classified as a family novel in the wake of Gerald Durrell’s famous My Family and Other Animals, Piano’s work narrates her childhood in a unique family. With this novel we travel to the magical world of a little girl in the family villa in Genoa (Italy).
EXTRAORDINARY DRAWINGS
Finally, among summer reading on masters of architecture, we could not leave out extraordinary drawings. In this case, by Norman Foster, of Great Britain.
NORMAN FOSTER SKETCHBOOKS 1975-2020, BY NORMAN FOSTER
The drawings of Norman Foster are essential in learning about his projects and understanding the history of contemporary architecture. Edited by Jorge Sainz, Norman Foster Sketchbooks 1975-2020 is the first volume in a series containing drawings from the architect’s sketchbooks from the 1970s. In discovering them, the reader will dive into the master architect’s extraordinary world view.