Reading Architecture: A Visual Lexicon

The language of structures explained in a visual dictionary

The comprehensive language of architecture has been mastered by only a select few. While many of us may have a basic grasp from that freshman survey course, most would be hard-pressed to identify the difference between Roman and Greek doric columns, let alone identify the “squinch” on modern high-rise buildings. Reading Architecture, a new book by Owen Hopkins, aims to demystify the lexicon in a …

Carlo Mollino: Un Messaggio dalla Camera Oscura

A private collection of erotic photographs from the famed designer and architect

Everything we know of Carlo Mollino hints to a man of insatiable tastes. The Italian architect and designer indulged in a life of downhill skiing, stunt flying and race-car driving, augmenting his artistic pursuits with fiction and photography. The extent of his most personal obsession was discovered after his death in the form of some 1,300 Polaroid exposures of girlfriends, prostitutes and other women seduced …

The Future of Architecture Since 1889

A unique history from the perspective of forward-thinking architects

A new history by Jean-Louis Cohen reveals the progression of building through the lens of architects looking toward the future. Tracking the social changes that caused architects to anticipate the demands of urban living that were to come, Cohen retrospectively examines the greatest advances in building from the dawn of industrialization through the postmodern era. The future, in this case, begins in 1889, with the …