Several new books on a variety of house design and building topics hit bookstores this summer. We’ve gathered a selection of titles released in the past few months, as well as a few to keep on your radar in coming months.
Great for keeping around the office or handing out to clients, Creating Your Architectural Style (Pelican Publishing Co., $49.95) by George Hopkins Jr., Ph.D., of Houston-based design firm The Hopkins Co., AIA, guides prospective custom home owners through the process of building their dream home, from design through completion. Hopkins explains the design process, walks readers through each step of construction, defines the roles of each design and building professional, and teaches homeowners how to make decisions based on their family’s needs. The book also discusses the relationship between a home’s architectural style and its floor plan and offers advice for planning principal spaces and architectural features.
Modern Sustainable Residential Design—A Guide for Design Professionals (John Wiley & Sons, $80) by Dr. William J. Carpenter, FAIA, details the fundamental principles of sustainable house design and offers practical information for implementing them. The book covers such topics as energy conservation and generation, environmental impact, affordability, and materials selections, and includes chapters written by contributing experts. The residential work of many sustainability-focused architects and firms is featured, including Pugh + Scarpa Architects; Ehrlich Architects; Rick Joy Architects; Ray Kappe, FAIA; Carpenter’s firm, Lightroom LLC; Carter + Burton Architecture; Architectus; Studio 804; and Auburn University’s Rural Studio.
More than 350 beautiful new images of Frank Lloyd Wright’s body of work are featured in Frank Lloyd Wright: American Master (Rizzoli New York, $30). Photos by Alan Weintraub and text by architectural historian Kathryn Smith illuminate more than 100 of the architect’s buildings spanning his entire career, from private homes to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Vernacular Architecture and Regional Design: Cultural Process and Environmental Response (Elsevier, $80.95) by Kingston Wm. Heath, Ph.D., explores the place of vernacular architecture in the design process and delivers an analysis of the vernacular building tradition through a variety of international case studies. In re-examining vernacular architectural theory, Heath shows how local building traditions can become an integral part of a wider architectural and social fabric.
Releasing in October, Frank Gehry: The Houses (Rizzoli New York, $85), by Mildred Friedman with an introduction by architectural history and theory professor Sylvia Lavin, chronicles the residential work of renowned architect Frank Gehry, FAIA, and explores his use of unconventional building materials, radical forms, and digital design tools. The book showcases several of Gehry’s houses, including his own in Santa Monica, Calif.; the Schnabel House in Brentwood, Calif.; the Lewis House in Lyndhurst, Ohio; and the Winton Guest House, originally in Wayzata, Minn., and recently relocated to Owatonna, Minn. (For more on the Winton Guest House, click here.) The authors conducted in-depth interviews with Gehry’s clients to help illuminate each house’s distinctive features; photographs, sketches, and plans also are included.
The English Country House (Rizzoli New York, $85), also due in October, features more than 400 color and black-and-white images of 62 houses in the English countryside, pulled from the photography library of Country Life magazine. Author Mary Miers—along with contributors Jeremy Musson, Tim Richardson, Tim Knox, Marcus Binney, John Martin Robinson, and Geoffrey Tyack—offers insights into the architectural and historical context of these grand homes and their grounds. Six essays explore the social context of the English country house genre and chart the changing tastes in decorating and collecting; the development of ancillary buildings, gardens, and landscapes; and its influence in the United States.
Visit your favorite e-tailer to purchase any of these titles.
