Whether you’re at the beach, by the pool, or relaxing at home, summer is the perfect season to get lost in a new book. Take a look at new arrivals at the AIABaltimore/BAF Architects Bookstore.
The Architecture of Happiness, Alain de Botton – One of the great, but often unmentioned, causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kind of walls, chairs, buildings and streets we’re surrounded by. And yet a concern for architecture and design is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. The Architecture of Happiness starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be – and argues that it is architecture’s task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential. Whereas many architects are wary of openly discussing the word beauty, the book has at its centre the large and naïve question: ‘What is a beautiful building?’ It amounts to a tour through the philosophy and psychology of architecture, which aims to change the way we think about our homes, streets and ourselves. (http://alaindebotton.com/architecture/)
Eyes on the Street: The Life of Jane Jacobs, Robert Kanigel – The first major biography of the irrepressible woman who changed the way we view and live in cities, and whose influence can still be felt in any discussion of urban planning to this day. Eyes on the Street is a revelation of the phenomenal woman who raised three children, wrote seven groundbreaking books, saved neighborhoods, stopped expressways, was arrested twice, and engaged at home and on the streets in thousands of debates–all of which she won. Here is the child who challenged her third-grade teacher; the high school poet; the journalist who honed her writing skills at Iron Age, Architectural Forum, Fortune, and other outlets, while amassing the knowledge she would draw upon to write her most famous book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Here, too, is the activist who helped lead an ultimately successful protest against Robert Moses’s proposed expressway through her beloved Greenwich Village; and who, in order to keep her sons out of the Vietnam War, moved to Canada, where she became as well known and admired as she was in the United States.(http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/221724/eyes-on-the-street-by-robert-kanigel/9780307961907/)
Baltimore: Reinventing an Industrial Legacy City, Klaus Philipsen – Baltimore: Reinventing an Industrial Legacy City is an exploration into the reinvention, self-reflection and boosterism of US legacy cities, taking Baltimore as the case study model to reveal the larger narrative. Author Klaus Philipsen investigates the modern urban condition and the systemic problems involved with adapting metropolitan regions into equitable and sustainable communities, covering topics such as growth, urban sprawl, the depletion of cities, social justice, smart city and open data, transportation, community development, sustainability and diversity. Baltimore’s proximity to the US capital, combined with its industrial past, presents the optimum viewpoint to investigate these challenges and draw parallels with cities across the world. (https://www.routledge.com/Baltimore-Reinventing-an-Industrial-Legacy-City/Philipsen/p/book/9781138230361)
Hours and Location
AIABaltimore Architects Bookstore, 11 1/2 W. Chase St., Baltimore, MD 21201
Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm