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Idea Books

New Titles in Architecture, Landscape & Nature

27 May 2025

AV Monographs 273: Renzo Piano

Isbn 9788412903485
Publisher Avisa
Idea code 250248
€ 43.20

More than six decades and a 100 works built on four continents attest to the extensive and prolific career of Renzo Piano at the helm of his ‘Building Workshop.’ The fourth monograph devoted to the oeuvre of Renzo Piano Building Workshop contains a selection of fifteen works and projects presented in a circular itinerary around the globe that begins and ends in Paris. A special tour de force that goes from the sculptural profile of the Courthouse to the transparent compactness of the Paris Nord Hospital, via cities like London (Paddington Square), New York (The Forum), Istanbul (Modern Art Museum), and Geneva (CERN), without forgetting his own country (Bologna hospital).

120 p, ills colour & bw, 24 x 30 cm, pb, Spanish/English

AMAG 38 AFF Architekten

Isbn 9789893602638
Publisher AMAG Publisher
Idea code 250214
€ 53.65

This issue features AFF, an architecture and planning firm based in Berlin and Lausanne that sees architecture as something object-like, with a focus on how a structure relates to its surroundings and function. Enjoyment in observation and creation, along with fresh and imaginative interpretations, is central to their work as they explore existing buildings and traditions, identifying unique qualities while also pushing beyond conventional boundaries. Their design process shapes projects in a fluid and evolving way. By questioning traditional architectural forms and typologies and adapting them to meet contemporary needs, AFF creates architecture that is both meaningful and dynamic.

208 p, ills colour & bw, 24 x 32 cm, pb, Portuguese/English

Architecture Is Construction: Global Award for Sustainable Architecture

Isbn 9783966800358
Publisher ArchiTangle
Idea code 250305
€ 53.10

This publication showcases the work of the 2025 Global Award for Sustainable Architecture winners, embodying the principles of sustainable development through innovative, context-sensitive construction practices. It highlights the transformative potential of architecture that respects cultural heritage, engages communities, and emphasizes environmental stewardship. The book delves into experimental designs, rehabilitation of existing structures, and groundbreaking material usage that prioritize ecological and social sustainability. With in-depth interviews and project analysis, it provides a compelling narrative on how architecture can foster a harmonious balance between human habitation and the natural world, making it a must-read for anyone passionate about the future of sustainable living and architectural innovation.

144 p, ills colour & bw, 25 x 26 cm, hb, English

Anne Geene - Book Of Plants (new edition)

Isbn 9789083359632
Publisher Blind Finch Books
Idea code 250408
€ 49.50

The ‘Book of Plants’ (a new updated edition with fresh work) is a eulogy on plants in all their appearances, a continuation of an oeuvre that is an expression of the remarkable beauty of the unremarkable. Anne Geene’s quest for specimens with various types of appearances and deformations gives the book a teratological dimension. In her work, the photograph itself is rarely the focus. Taken out of context, the pictures are often no more than a registration of an inconspicuous fact. This means that her art is about collection, about the image in relation to other images and the ability to creates new ones by merging and arranging them. Enjoy an expedition through all of the botanical micro- and macrocosms.

430 p, ills colour & bw, 17 x 24 cm, pb, English

Álvaro Siza through the lens of Pedro Cardigo

Isbn 9789893602614
Publisher AMAG Publisher
Idea code 250213
€ 61.30

This project began with the opportunity to photograph Monte da Lapa, one of Álvaro Siza’s last projects in Porto. Its dual simplicity and complexity opened the creative doors to a universe where light, matter, and space dialogue with almost poetic precision. Using black and white was not only an aesthetic choice for photographer Pedro Cardigo but also a tribute to the timelessness of Siza’s work. It emphasises the purity of the forms, the contrast between light and shadow, and the texture of the materials. Featuring photographs of numerous works by Siza, this is both a celebration of the architect’s creative genius and an invitation to the viewer to see them through Cardigo’s eyes.

144 p, ills bw, 24 x 32 cm, hb, Portuguese/English

Saudi Modern: Jeddah in Transition 1938–1964

Isbn 9783966800303
Publisher ArchiTangle
Idea code 250388
€ 50.05

'Saudi Modern: Jeddah in Transition, 1938–1964', edited by Abdulrahman and Turki Gazzaz of Bricklab, examines the development of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, since the discovery of oil in 1938. By exploring the city’s modernist traces, the book examines the transformation from a small walled city and pilgrimage hub into a sprawling metropolis, detailing how this rapid urban growth and the historiographical rupture have reshaped its infrastructure and societal fabric.

336 p, ills colour & bw, 17 x 21 cm, hb, English

Pleasant Place 7: Daffodils (Narcissus)

Isbn 9789083284392
Publisher Pleasant Place
Idea code 250344
€ 13.00

Many bulbous plants have been dubbed “heralds of spring”, but none is more recognisable than those carrying actual megaphones to spread the word: daffodils. Throughout history, painters, poets, and writers all over the world have been inspired by the flower’s various symbolisms. An introduction to the genus ‘Narcissus’ by Lou-Lou van Staaveren, with photographs by Elspeth Diederix, sets the tone for this issue. Other contributors include philosopher Christopher F. Julien, who reflects on how scent mixes with memories, and artist Tina Farifteh, who digs into her personal archive and writes about her memories of growing up in Iran, where daffodils are a symbol of hope.

40 p, ills colour & bw, 18 x 24 cm, pb, English

AMAG PT 09 Ricardo Carvalho

Isbn 9789893602645
Publisher AMAG Publisher
Idea code 250215
€ 26.75

Ricardo Carvalho established his studio in 2018 and is among the few Portuguese architects who consistently maintains a design practice alongside critical reflection and the dissemination of architecture. The works presented here are exemplary in both the programmatic challenges they address and the ways these are tackled, despite the limitations inherent to architectural practice in Portugal. It is a profession with few opportunities to intervene in the city or public space, and is often faced with contradictory administrative constraints. Yet Carvalho manages to root his projects in the local while realising the potential of the context. With a text by Manuel Aires Mateus.

106 p, ills colour & bw, 24 x 32 cm, pb, Portuguese/English

The Kitchen – Where function meets pleasure

Isbn 9782378965785
Publisher Les Presses Du Reel
Idea code 250360
€ 12.90

As part of a wide-ranging reflection on the living environment, addressing design through its various uses and based on concrete cases, curator, urban planner and art historian Jolanthe Kugler explores the historical and societal dimension of emblematic kitchen objects, highlighting the evolution of representations linked to this seemingly banal room. Launched by mudac—the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts in Lausanne—Raddar is a series of texts dedicated to design research. Scholarly and provocative, poetic and disruptive, Raddar presents new interpretations of the defining role of design in today's culture.

128 p, ills colour & bw, 12 x 19 cm, pb, English

The Bathroom – From hygiene to wellness

Isbn 9782378965792
Publisher Les Presses Du Reel
Idea code 250361
€ 12.90

As part of a wide-ranging reflection on the living environment, addressing design through its various uses and based on concrete cases, curator, urban planner and art historian Jolanthe Kugler explores the historical and societal dimension of emblematic bathroom objects, highlighting the evolution of representations linked to this seemingly banal room. Launched by mudac—the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts in Lausanne—Raddar is a series of texts dedicated to design research. Scholarly and provocative, poetic and disruptive, Raddar presents new interpretations of the defining role of design in today's culture.

128 p, ills colour & bw, 12 x 19 cm, pb, English

Peter Thomann: Hors piste

Isbn 9783856764807
Publisher Gta Verlag
Idea code 250237
€ 50.00

The world of Swiss architect Peter Thomann is eclectic, colourful, and full of experimentation. From roofs made of air-filled compartments to bathrooms in blue steel tanks, buildings of almost overwhelming complexity form an inspiring living landscape. His work is characterised by the intricate simplicity of the architectural solutions. In this book, the architects from studio Bruther (Alexandre Theriot and Stéphanie Bru), together with Blanka Major, shed light on Thomann’s multifaceted body of work. It includes extensive archive material complemented by recent shots from three different photographic perspectives, plus four insightful interviews with the architect himself.

450 p, ills colour & bw, 17 x 25 cm, pb, German/English

Souto de Moura 1980-2025

Isbn 9788412903478
Publisher Avisa
Idea code 250249
€ 90.95

Eduardo Souto de Moura wraps up the triad that placed Porto in the circuits of global architecture by virtue of honouring vernacular tradition in combination with geometric rigour, constructive precision, and material solidity. Such a sublayer has enabled him to handle types, scales, and strategies with agility, while still stamping an unmistakable mark on his projects. Celebrating his 45 years of work, Arquitectura Viva presents that same number of projects of his in this book, testimony of a brilliant practice that has been both intensely local and resolutely open to the world. An in-depth article by Kenneth Frampton gives intellectual strength to the monograph, which closes with the Portuguese architect going over his trajectory in an interview conducted by Luis Fernández-Galiano.

344 p, ills colour & bw, 25 x 31 cm, hb, Spanish/English

a+u 655 25:04 More-Than-Human Architecture

Isbn 9784900213173
Publisher Shinkenchiku-sha
Idea code 250286
€ 23.90

This issue features Spanish architect, writer, and curator Andrés Jaque and his international practice, the Office for Political Innovation (OFFPOLLIN), based in New York and Madrid. It presents the office’s investigation of the more-than-human dimension of the built environment through the concept of transspecies architecture, which counters unilateral anthropocentric thinking by imagining architecture as a gathering of heterogenous entities, with permeable layers and varying scales. The issue furthers this critical dialogue by bringing together architects from around the globe, including TAKK from Spain and Studio mnm and Fuminori Nousaku from Japan.

160 p, ills colour & bw, 22 x 29 cm, pb, Japanese/English

An Industrial City

Isbn 9782919380282
Publisher Editions 205
Idea code 250297
€ 29.60

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of French architect and urban planner Tony Garnier (1869–1948) comes this reissued edition of ‘An Industrial City’, a global project for a utopian city he conceived early in the 20th century. The facsimile, a foundational yet lesser-known project in modern urban planning, is republished in a version that is faithful to the scale initially imagined by Garnier. It consists of 171 recently restored and digitised plates, printed on a set of unbound sheets to allow readers to recompose even the most extensive plans by arranging them side by side. Together, the plans, perspective drawings, and watercolours offer an innovative vision of the city.

288 , ills colour & bw, 30 x 40 cm, map, French/Italian/German/English

I'm Only the Housekeeper, but I Don’t Know…

Isbn 9791280336293
Publisher Humboldt Books
Idea code 250324
€ 26.90

In 2022, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Jože Plečnik’s (1872–1957) birth, a key figure of the modernist movement in architecture and creator of numerous buildings and monuments around the city of Ljubljana, Luca Lo Pinto and Olaf Nicolai curated an exhibition in the Slovenian architect’s former home. The contemporary interventions undertaken by the curatorial duo are retraced in this publication. Twenty-five internationally recognised Slovenian and foreign artists were invited to enter the house through their own works, in this way commemorating Plečnik’s oeuvre and positioning its reading into a different and more contemporary context.

48 p, ills colour & bw, 24 x 34 cm, pb, English

77 Fragen zum Architektonischen Raum

Isbn 9783907384206
Publisher Everyedition
Idea code 250325
€ 36.55

Andrea Deplazes ist Professor für Architektur an der ETH Zürich und praktizierender Architekt. International bekannt ist er vor allem durch sein Buch 'Architektur konstruieren: Vom Rohmaterial zum Bauwerk'. Das vorliegende Buch könnte als Vermächtnis seiner Lehrtätigkeit verstanden werden. Es entstand zwischen 2017 und 2025 im Rahmen des Kurses Entwurf und Konstruktion I/II am Departement Architektur der ETH Zürich und versammelt zentrale Fragen, Modelle und Skizzen zur Auseinandersetzung mit den Grundlagen architektonischer Raumbildung. Ergänzt wird das Material durch Bilder von Seminarwochen und Auszüge aus dem persönlichen Notizbuch von Andrea Deplazes. Es ist eine verdichtete Zusammenfassung seines didaktischen Ansatzes und erscheint anlässlich seines Ausscheidens aus dem Lehrbetrieb der ETH.

72 p, ills bw, 24 x 33 cm, pb, German

gta papers 10: Political Histories

Isbn 9783856764920
Publisher Gta Verlag
Idea code 250328
€ 25.55

The first release 'gta papers' in a brand new design, this issue examines how politics fundamentally shapes architectural history writing through case studies that reveal hidden political motivations in canonical histories. The publication expands architectural discourse by including political authors who directly address architecture and urban space. Part of a series dedicated to innovative research in architectural history, theory, and practice, it features work from established scholars to doctoral students. The volume critiques conventional narratives while proposing more inclusive approaches to architectural historiography.

130 p, ills colour & bw, 21 x 30 cm, pb, English

Geological Map of the Pyrenees

Isbn 9782380361285
Publisher Reliefs Editions
Idea code 250337
€ 18.40

Part of this draped map, drawn by the General Staff Corps and published by the War Depot (then the army database), has its origins in the 25th Bulletin of the French Geological Survey Department, founded by Napoleon III in 1868, which merged with the French Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM) a century later. The aim was to ensure 1/80,000° coverage of the French territorial soil and subsoil. From 1887, the engineers responsible for drawing these maps, initially trained at the École Polytechnique, were assigned to the new Army Geographic Service. The reimagined version is part of the Reliefs collection published by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

1 , ills colour, 17 x 33 cm, map, French/English

Thoravej 29

Isbn 9788774071013
Publisher The Danish Architectural Press
Idea code 250345
€ 88.85

Slabs tilt into stairways, facades become pavements, and doors morph into furniture: every element is utilised in Thoravej 29. The project by Pihlmann Architects is a concept beyond a physical building, repurposing itself and showcasing reused components by amplifying what already exists, aspiring to be an experimental approach for societal participation and systemic change. This book traces the transformation of the former factory from 1967 into a vibrant community hub. It documents every stage, from the initial analysis of the existing structure to the retention and repurposing of 95% of its materials, guided by their inherent qualities, resulting in a coherent physical space.

480 p, ills colour & bw, 21 x 28 cm, pb, English

Lisbeth Sachs - Architecture for Life

Isbn 9783856764937
Publisher Gta Verlag
Idea code 250369
€ 45.95

Lisbeth Sachs (1914–2002) made a striking debut by winning the 1939 competition for the Kurtheater Baden soon after graduating. The theatre, opened in 1952, showcased her clear architectural vision and marked her as one of Switzerland’s first independent female architects in a male-dominated field. For Sachs, building was a process - from craftsmanship and material choice to the way people inhabit space. Her architecture sought to blend with the landscape, guided by ecological and social sensitivity. Rahel Hartmann Schweizer’s book on this unconventional architect, researcher, and writer forms part of Switzerland’s contribution to the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, where Annexe is reviving Sachs’ 1958 Saffa gallery.

180 p, ills colour & bw, 23 x 30 cm, hb, English

Michele De Lucchi - Ukko de Ukki - Architect

Isbn 9791254931394
Publisher Corraini Edizioni
Idea code 250170
€ 26.60

"Architecture, the greatest art of all, in these times, it stands most tall." Ukko de Ukki is Michele De Lucchi's conscience that guides us page after page on a journey through illustrations and rhymes to help us discover the wonders of architecture. The great challenges of the present and the future, the changes that are forever changing the face of our world and our cities, and in the midst of all this the role of the architect as a possibility. “Architecture shines when it brings hope anew, for a world of fresh ideas and a visionary view”, says Ukko de Ukki, inviting us to reflect on the importance of building a better future, brick by brick. Together with 'Ideas in rhyme' and 'But who are you?', 'Architect' is one of the books in the series featuring Ukko de Ukki, a journey into the world of architecture seen through the eyes of Michele De Lucchi. For children of all ages.

30 p, ills colour & bw, 18 x 25 cm, hb, Italian/English/Japanese/Korean

Michele De Lucchi - Ukko de Ukki - Ideas in rhyme

Isbn 9791254931387
Publisher Corraini Edizioni
Idea code 250171
€ 26.60

"Ideas come, both good and bad, with trains of thoughts and engines so glad. You find one, and there are a thousand still, you can’t quite believe what your eyes reveal." Where does an idea come from? How can we go looking for it? Ukko de Ukki is the conscience of architect Michele De Lucchi, an alter ego full of wisdom and irony who in this book gives us a glimpse of how his ideas are born. Feeling before understanding, finding the right environment, feeling in tune with the world are just some of his tips, amidst rhyming words and colourful illustrations. What will be your next idea? Together with 'Architect' and 'But who are you?', 'Ideas in rhyme' is one of the books in the series featuring Ukko de Ukki, a journey into the world of architecture as seen through the eyes of Michele De Lucchi. For children of all ages.

20 p, ills colour & bw, 18 x 25 cm, hb, Italian/English/Japanese/Korean

Michele De Lucchi - Ukko de Ukki - But who are you?

Isbn 9791254931370
Publisher Corraini Edizioni
Idea code 250169
€ 26.60

"Ukko de Ukki, but who are you? We searched all the schools, but found no trace. Perhaps a nickname masks your face." Who is Ukko de Ukki? An ironic, wise, future-oriented little fellow. A character with a big beard who resembles a well-known architect... but wiser! Ukko de Ukki is the conscience of Michele De Lucchi, one of the main protagonists of the architecture and design scene inside and outside Italy. A character in constant evolution, just as he is portrayed by the illustrations he has made at the tip of his pencil for this book: colourful, evocative, full of movement and energy. Together with 'Architect' and 'Ideas in rhyme', But who are you? is one of the books in the series featuring Ukko de Ukki, a journey into the world of architecture seen through the eyes of Michele De Lucchi. For children of all ages.

32 p, ills colour & bw, 18 x 25 cm, hb, Italian/English/Japanese/Korean


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