Architecture and Design

A stunning exploration of the beauty and drama of 150 black structures built by the world's leading architects over 1,000 years.

A visually rich book, Black: Architecture in Monochrome casts a new eye on the beauty - and the drama - of black in the built world. Spotlighting more than 150 structures from the last 1,000 years, Black pairs engaging text with fascinating photographs of houses, churches, libraries, skyscrapers, and other buildings from some of the world's leading architects, including Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, and Eero Saarinen, David Adjaye, Jean Nouvel, Peter Marino, and Steven Holl.

Imprint: PHAIDON
RRP: $59.95

Would you still call me a diva if I were a man?' asked Zaha Hadid, challenging as she did so, more than 100 years of stereotypes about female architects. A century in which women were refused entry to architecture schools, were denied degrees when they had completed courses, a century in which even now, women occupy just ten per cent of the highest-ranking jobs in architecture firms. In contrast, BREAKING GROUND is a pioneering, even essential, celebration of incredible architecture designed by women. Featuring more than 150 architects and buildings, and spanning the last 100 years, BREAKING GROUND is both a glorious visual manifesto and a timely record of the extraordinary contribution female architects have made to the profession.

Imprint: PHAIDON
RRP: $59.95

Bruce Rickard was one of the most significant Australian architects of the twentieth century. A key member of the Sydney School, his practice spanned 60 years and he produced some of the most notable and recognisable houses of the period.

In Bruce Rickard: A life in architecture, architects, writers, academics and family members, including Karen McCartney and Anna Fienberg (who have both lived in Rickard houses), Babette Hayes, Philip Drew and Richard Goodwin, share their unique insights into Rickard’s practice.

Featuring never-before-published photographs by Max Dupain and Bruce Rickard’s hand-drawn plans, this stunningly produced book celebrates the pared-back beauty and ingenuity of Rickard’s buildings.

Imprint: NEW SOUTH
RRP: $79.99

The third in a series of three books about the ways in which we can reform society by reconnecting with different forms of self-expression.

In this sweeping study, one of the world's leading thinkers about the urban environment traces the anguished relation between how cities are built and how people live in them, from ancient Athens to twenty-first-century Shanghai. Richard Sennett shows how Paris, Barcelona and New York City assumed their modern forms; rethinks the reputations of Jane Jacobs, Lewis Mumford and others; and takes us on a tour of emblematic contemporary locations, from the backstreets of MedellYn, Colombia, to the Google headquarters in Manhattan. Through it all, he shows how the 'closed city' - segregated, regimented, and controlled - has spread from the global North to the exploding urban agglomerations of the global South. As an alternative, he argues for the 'open city,' where citizens actively hash out their differences and planners experiment with urban forms that make it easier for residents to cope.

Rich with arguments that speak directly to our moment - a time when more humans live in urban spaces than ever before - Building and Dwelling draws on Sennett's deep learning and intimate engagement with city life to form a bold and original vision for the future of cities.

Imprint: Penguin Books
RRP: $22.99

A survey that explores contemporary apartments not as raw canvases for interior decoration but as a building type of growing significance. It features 38 recent and ongoing projects, designed by leading international studios and rising talents. Each project is considered for the way in which it enriches the lives of residents and the city.

Imprint: THAMES & HUDSON
RRP: $80.00

Created by a group of friends who preserve 55 acres of hidden forest in Upstate New York, Cabin Porn began as a scrapbook to collect inspiration for their building projects. It has since grown into a collection of photos of the most remarkable handmade homes in breath-taking landscapes from all over the world, and has attracted a dedicated, obsessive following. In this book the creators of Cabin Porn go further into its most alluring images, with more interior photography and the stories behind some of these unusual and inspiring homes. With their idyllic settings, unique architecture and cozy interiors, the Cabin Porn photographs, are an invitation to step away from our online lives, slow down, take a deep breath, and feel the beauty and serenity that nature and simplicity can create.

Imprint: PARTICULAR BOOKS
RRP: $24.99

Situated in a dress circle position on the slopes of the village of Les Avants, overlooking Lake Geneva in Switzerland, Chalet Monet is the magnificent home of Dame Joan Sutherland OM AC DBE and her husband, Maestro Richard Bonynge AC CBE.

In his charming, eloquent, conversational style, Richard Bonynge takes us inside the home and life he has shared with Dame Joan, and in so doing provides rare insight into two of the greatest international cultural icons in opera of all time.

The Chalet was introduced to Dame Joan and Richard by their close friend Noel Coward who resided in the neighbouring property. The opulence of each of the distinctive rooms over the four floors and vistas from the Chalet is artfully captured in stunning photography. Paintings and objets d'art line the walls and fill the cabinets, each with their own provenance; presented by royalty or celebrities, embroided by Dame Joan or collected by Richard. Through the stories of these artefacts, told by Richard in eloquent conversational style, we learn about the life and times of two of the most formidable figures associated with opera in the 20th Century.

For those fortunate enough to have discovered and experienced the thrill of opera and all the larger than life characters associated with it, to enter Chalet Monet is somewhat of a fairy tale experience that could be taken right out of a Cinderella story ...

Chalet Monet is a house with a thousand stories. It is living history, theatrical, a beautiful home with enormous spirit like its owners. It radiates grandeur yet intimacy with places to sit and contemplate, views to linger over, books to be read, paintings to admire and music to listen to. It is a treasure trove for the senses where many a story has been told or begun. Only its walls and its owners remember the decades of music making here and possibly the odd neighbour and the cows on the grassy slopes ...

Thank you, Richard for allowing us to enter your private and colourful world.

From the Preface by Fiona Janes Artistic Director | General Manager Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation

Imprint: Melbourne Books
RRP: $95.00

As our cities become more and more dense, the competition for space grows increasingly heated, leading to higher real estate costs and greater financial challenges for new buyers. Amid these pressures, however, builders are still finding room for a wide range of design opportunities, continually updating the parameters and experience of urban living. Architects and developers are designing houses around the principles of density, efficiency and flexibility to meet the needs of the modern city's inhabitants. They address environmental, physical, social and economic issues through creative solutions that promote the integration not only of new architectural work into an existing urban fabric, but also the integration of people into a community. The results combine the benefits of city life with the privacy of suburban life. AUTHOR: Lola Gomez is an architect working in Spain. She has worked for the City Council in urban planning and is editorial coordinator of the Architects Foundation in Barcelona. 450 colour photographs, 125 b/w drawings

Imprint: LOFT PUBLICATIONS
RRP: $59.99

Concrete has conviction, strength and directness. It has plasticity, too, which makes the possibilities for form-making almost endless.

Concrete Houses explores the sculptural possibilities of concrete as the material of choice in landmark contemporary houses across Australia, Brazil, Portugal, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands and the USA, from the hands of major international architects including Sou Fujimoto, Tom Kundig, Valerio Olgiati and Marcio Kogan, and Australians such as Peter Stutchbury, Alex Popov, Ian McDougall and Neil Durbach.

Illustrated throughout with exceptional colour photography, and selected plans and drawings, Concrete Houses celebrates the incontrovertible fusion of concrete’s versatility and brute force to make timeless architecture of lyric beauty.

Imprint: Thames & Hudson Publishing
RRP: $75.00

Courtyards have long played an important function in residential design, regulating light, shade and the use of space. With centuries of tradition as inspiration, contemporary architects are now realizing courtyard living afresh. This lavish survey of 25 residences across the Asia-Pacific region features homes from Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

Structured by courtyard function, the book consists of five chapters - on privacy; social spaces; sightlines; air, light and shade; and blurring boundaries - that are richly illustrated with photography as well as architectural illustrations showing the position of the courtyard within the floor plan.

Showcasing the unique lifestyle opportunities afforded by contemporary courtyard design, this is an inspirational resource for anyone interested in indoor-outdoor living.

Imprint: Thames & Hudson Publishing
RRP: $70.00