With summer quickly coming to a close, time is running out to squeeze in one last good book. If you're open to suggestions, Metropolis Magazine recently rallied its staff members and a slew of notable architects, designers, and curators to round up an impressive list of summer reads. Amongst the architectural contributors are Mason White of Lateral Office, Donald Chong of Williamson Chong Architects, and Drew Seskunas of The Principals.
The list contains something for everyone — there are works of fiction, biographies, atlases, and collections of essays, projects, poems, and short stories. The majority of the books are contemporary, but some date back much further. One of Chong's picks is Jun'ichiro Tanaka's In Praise of Shadows, which was written in 1933 on the subject of traditional Japanese aesthetics. The book contains 16 essays in which the author timelessly implores his countrymen not to "lose touch with the honesty of well-made things and spaces... already been surrounding them."
One of Seskunas' picks, E.H. Gombrick's A Little History of the World, also deals with the importance of context. For Seskunas, "knowing the history of our planet is a great way to begin thinking about its future. This book puts it all in perspective, moving from local to global scale and magically weaving seemingly disparate parts into a common history of the human race that is both horrifying and inspiring." To check out the full list, click here to head to Metropolis Magazine.
