Image by Midjourney/Archinect

Summer is here, and whether you're on vacation or preparing for one or looking to lay low at home, a summer must is a good book. The Archinect team has curated a list of reading essentials to explore. 

Below is a collection of books organized into five categories – New Releases, Books Every Student Should Read, Books for Motivation and Introspection, Books on Artificial Intelligence and Beyond, and Coffee Table Collectables. We've also included book suggestions from the Archinect team, Archinectors from our forum, and individuals we've interviewed in the last year. 

Editor's Note: This curated list is meant to be used as a reference for suggested reading. Books are listed in no particular order. While there are many other books worthy of being added to our list, the titles listed below are a selection of favorites to read this summer. 

*Books with an asterisk (*) have been recommended by fellow Archinect forum members and previously interviewed firms.

New Releases (recently published in 2022-2023)

An exciting array of architecture and design-themed books have hit bookstores and online retailers within the last year and a half. Below is a list of some must-read favorites ranging from works by esteemed practitioners and academics such as Dana Cuff, Paul Goldberger, and Alexandra Lange, among others. 

The Architecture of Disability by David Gissen (2023)

"A radical critique of architecture that places disability at the heart of the built environment. By recontextualizing the history of architecture through the discourse of disability, this book presents a unique challenge to current modes of architectural practice, theory, and education. Envisioning an architectural design that fully integrates disabled persons into its production, it advocates for looking beyond traditional notions of accessibility and shows how certain incapacities can help to positively reimagine the roots of architecture."

Why Architecture Matters - Revised Edition by Paul Goldberger (2023)

"A classic work on the joy of experiencing architecture, with a new afterword reflecting on architecture’s place in the contemporary moment [...] 'Architecture begins to matter,' writes Paul Goldberger, 'when it brings delight and sadness and perplexity and awe along with a roof over our heads.' In Why Architecture Matters, he shows us how that works in examples ranging from a small Cape Cod cottage to the vast, flowing Prairie houses of Frank Lloyd Wright, from the Lincoln Memorial to the Guggenheim Bilbao. He eloquently describes the Church of Sant’Ivo in Rome as a work that “embraces the deepest complexities of human imagination.'"

Architectures of Spatial Justice by Dana Cuff (2023)

"A field-defining work that demonstrates how architects are breaking with professional conventions to advance spatial justice and design more equitable buildings and cities [...] Organized around projects and topics, Architectures of Spatial Justice is a compelling blend of theory, history, and applied practice that focuses on two foundational conditions of architecture: its relation to the public and its dependence on capital. The book draws on studies of architectural projects from around the world, with instructive case studies from Chile, Mexico, Japan, and the United States that focus in particular on urban centers, where architecture is most directly engaged with social justice issues."

Nothing Permanent - Modern Architecture in California by Todd Cronan (2023)

"A critical look at the competing motivations behind one of modern architecture’s most widely known and misunderstood movements. Nothing Permanent is a nuanced intellectual history of architectural innovation in California between 1920 and 1970. It demonstrates how this prolific era of modern architecture was propelled by divergent views about the dynamic between interior and exterior, the idea of permanence, and the extent to which architects could exercise control over the inhabitants of their structures."

Brutal Outer London by Simon Phelps (2023)

"The first photographic exploration of the post-war modernist architecture of Greater London, from Barking and Brent to Sutton and Waltham Forest. Simon Phipps’ photographs of the modernist architecture of Greater London explores the form and beauty of these post-war buildings. Following on from his iconic first book Brutal London, this sequel expands his survey beyond London’s inner zones through to the outer perimeters of London, encircled by the M25."

Meet Me By The Fountain by Alexandre Lange (2022)

"In her acclaimed The Design of Childhood, Alexandra Lange uncovered the histories of toys, classrooms, and playgrounds. She now turns her sharp eye to another subject we only think we know. She chronicles postwar architects' and merchants' invention of the mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. In Lange's perceptive account, the mall becomes newly strange and rich with contradiction: Malls are environments of both freedom and exclusion--of consumerism, but also of community. Meet Me by the Fountain is a highly entertaining and evocative promenade through the mall's story of rise, fall, and ongoing reinvention, for readers of any generation."

Queer Spaces An Atlas of LGBTQ+ Places and Stories by Adam Nathaniel Furman and Joshua Mardell (2022)

"An independent bookshop in Glasgow. An ice cream parlour in Havana, where strawberry is the queerest choice. A cathedral in ruins in Managua, occupied by the underground LGBTQIA+ community. Queer people have always found ways to exist and be together, and there will always be a need for queer spaces. In this lavishly illustrated volume, Adam Nathaniel Furman and Joshua Mardell have gathered together a community of contributors to share stories of spaces that range from the educational to the institutional to the re-appropriated, and many more besides. With historic, contemporary and speculative examples from around the world, Queer Spaces recognises LGBTQIA+ life past and present as strong, vibrant, vigorous, and worthy of its own place in history. Looking forward, it suggests visions of what form these spaces may take in the future to continue uplifting queer lives."

Soon to be released later in 2023

Softbuilt: Computational Textile Architectures by Felicia Davis - Set to be released in Oct. 2023
(Book Cover Image unavailable)

"The purpose of the book is to examine the role of communication through computational textiles used to create architecture made of lightweight textiles. Computational textiles are textiles that can sense and respond to the environment with embedded electronics and sensors. The term computational textile is not my term but one that has been in use for textiles others call e-textiles, electronic textiles, or smart textiles. These textile systems sense their environment via digital electronic programming through microcontrollers and sensors or are programmed using the quality of the material itself in connection with environmental cues such as humidity, temperature and light."

Be sure to check out Felicia's exclusive interview with Archinect "'AI Is Built on Datasets That Are Already Biased'; A Conversation with Felecia Davis"

Unmasking AI by Joy Buolamwini - Set to be released in Oct. 2023
(Book Cover Image unavailable)

"Unmasking AI goes beyond the headlines about existential risks produced by Big Tech. It is the remarkable story of how Buolamwini uncovered what she calls “the coded gaze”—the evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products—and how she galvanized the movement to prevent AI harms by founding the Algorithmic Justice League. Applying an intersectional lens to both the tech industry and the research sector, she shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity 'excoded' and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. Computers, she reminds us, are reflections of both the aspirations and the limitations of the people who create them. Encouraging experts and non-experts alike to join this fight, Buolamwini writes, “The rising frontier for civil rights will require algorithmic justice. AI should be for the people and by the people, not just the privileged few.”

Books Every Student Should Read

While all the books listed in this summer reading feature can and should be read by students and lifelong learners, below is a selection of books every student should read at least once. A few books suggested below were also provided by fellow Archinectors in our April and June forum discussion threads from this year.

*Lessons for Architecture Students (7th Ed.) by Herman Hertzberger 

"Now in its seventh edition, Herman Hertzberger’s Lessons for Students in Architecture has become a classic for students the world over. In this immensely successful book, the fundamentals of the profession and the ideas underlying Hertzberger’s work are put into words by the architect himself. It presents a broad spectrum of subjects and designs, with practical experience and evaluation of the use of these buildings serving as a leitmotif. With more than 750 illustrations, Hertzberger has provided an essential source of inspiration to everyone involved with the design process."

*New York Review of Architecture

"New York Review of Architecture is a cooperative of working writers, architects, and artists who review architecture in New York. [...] New York Review of Architecture is rooted in New York but interested in architecture everywhere."

*City of Quartz by Mike Davis 

"In City of Quartz, Davis reconstructs L.A.’s shadow history and dissects its ethereal economy. He tells us who has the power and how they hold on to it. He gives us a city of Dickensian extremes, Pynchonesque conspiracies, and a desperation straight out of Nathaniel West—a city in which we may glimpse our own future mirrored with terrifying clarity. In this new edition, Davis provides a dazzling update on the city’s current status."

Read more about the late Mike Davis and previous Archinect here. Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Davis back in 2009.

*The City Observed - Los Angeles by Charles Moore, Peter Becker, and Regula Campbell 

"Charles Moore's classic is in turn knowledgeable, warm, witty, and slightly irreverent. Moore's genius was his ability to tie the disparate built environments of Los Angeles into a coherent whole. We read with pleasure the miniature essays that comprise his entries on subjects as varied as Disneyland, Riverside's Mission Inn, the Gamble House, and downtown Los Angeles. While still a practical guide, Moore's work approaches literature."

*Slow Burn City by Rowan Moore

"In this thought-provoking, fearless, funny and subversive book, Rowan Moore shows how London’s strength depends on the creative and mutual interplay of three forces: people, business and state. To find responses to the challenges of the twenty-first century, London must rediscover its genius for popular action and bold public intervention."

The Feeling of Things by Adam Caruso

"Key writings by a principal of the London-based architecture firm Caruso St. John"

The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Bottom

"The Achitecture of Happiness is a dazzling and generously illustrated journey through the philosophy and psychology of architecture and the indelible connection between our identities and our locations.One of the great but often unmentioned causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kinds of walls, chairs, buildings, and streets that surround us. And yet a concern for architecture is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. Alain de Botton 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."

Hip-Hop Architecture by Sekou Cooke

"As architecture grapples with its own racist legacy, Hip-Hop Architecture outlines a powerful new manifesto-the voice of the underrepresented, marginalized, and voiceless within the discipline. Exploring the production of spaces, buildings, and urban environments that embody the creative energies in hip-hop, it is a newly expanding design philosophy which sees architecture as a distinct part of hip-hop's cultural expression and which uses hip-hop as a lens through which to provoke new architectural ideas. Examining the present and the future of Hip-Hop Architecture, the book also explores its historical antecedents and its theory, placing it in a wider context both within architecture and within Black and African American movements."

A House Needs to Breathe...Or Does It? An Introduction to Building Science by Allison A. Bailes III, PhD

"A House Needs to Breathe...Or Does It? lays out the basic science of residential buildings. When it comes to how houses perform, professionals and homeowners alike believe many things that just aren't true. This book explodes the myths, misinformation, and plain old nonsense that pervade the world of home building, remodeling, maintenance, and operation."

Editor's Note: We are also aware of several reference books that could be included in this list. Such reference books include but are not limited to the writings of Francis D.K. Ching, the Steel Construction Manual, and The Architect's Studio Companion, among others. 

Books for Motivation and Introspection

Regardless of where you are on your career path, everyone reaches a point in their careers where they may feel at odds with where they are professionally. Whether it's battling imposter syndrome, finding new ways and perspectives of thinking, how to be a better leader, or needing to re-evaluate what the meaning of work is may, the following book recommendations offer you a piece of mind and food for thought. 

*Inhabiting the Negative Space by Jenny Odell 

"A hopeful meditation on how periods of inactivity become reimagined as fertile spaces for design and how we might use this strange moment in history [...]Odell unspools this hopeful meditation inInhabiting the Negative Space, where periods of inactivity become reimagined not as wasted time but fertile spaces for a kind of design predicated less on relentless production and more on permitting a deeper, more careful look at what exactly is demanding or tapping our time and attention, and how we might use this strange moment in history to respond."

Scarcity: How It Defines Our Lives by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir

"Busy people fail to manage their time efficiently for the same reasons the poor and those maxed out on credit cards fail to manage their money. The dynamics of scarcity reveal why dieters find it hard to resist temptation, why students and busy executives mismanage their time, and why the same sugarcane farmers are smarter after harvest than before. Once we start thinking in terms of scarcity, the problems of modern life come into sharper focus, and Scarcity reveals not only how it leads us astray but also how individuals and organizations can better manage scarcity for greater satisfaction and success."

How to Hold a Cockroach by Matthew Maxwell

"How to Hold a Cockroach is about discovering and freeing ourselves from the beliefs that cause us to suffer. With a message both surprising and simple, it is a love letter to humankind, a book for those who are free and don't know it.  In this story for all ages, a struggling boy begins a life-changing journey when a disgusting guest disturbs his dinner. Continuing to encounter sources of suffering, the boy must investigate fundamental truths he has believed about himself, love, and life. He confronts some of life’s most persistent questions: What am I? What causes me to suffer? How can I be at peace with the traumas of the past and the uncertainty of the future? What determines how I experience life?"

The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin

"Creative work doesn't come with a guarantee. But there is a pattern to who succeeds and who doesn't. And engaging in the consistent practice of its pursuit is the best way forward. Based on the breakthrough Akimbo workshop pioneered by legendary author Seth Godin, The Practice will help you get unstuck and find the courage to make and share creative work. Godin insists that writer's block is a myth, that consistency is far more important than authenticity, and that experiencing the imposter syndrome is a sign that you're a well-adjusted human. Most of all, he shows you what it takes to turn your passion from a private distraction to a productive contribution, the one you've been seeking to share all along."

Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust & Connection, No Matter the Distance by Erica Dhawan

"Email replies that show up a week later. Video chats full of “oops sorry no you go” and “can you hear me?!” Ambiguous text-messages. Weird punctuation you can’t make heads or tails of. Is it any wonder communication takes us so much time and effort to figure out? How did we lose our innate capacity to understand each other? [...] Digital Body Language will turn your daily misunderstandings into a set of collectively understood laws that foster connection, no matter the distance. Dhawan investigates a wide array of exchanges―from large conferences and video meetings to daily emails, texts, IMs, and conference calls―and offers insights and solutions to build trust and clarity to anyone in our ever changing world."

The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work by Simone Stolzoff

"From the moment we ask children what they want to “be” when they grow up, we exalt the dream job as if it were life’s ultimate objective. Many entangle their identities with their jobs, with predictable damage to happiness, wellbeing, and even professional success. In The Good Enough Job, journalist Simone Stolzoff traces how work has come to dominate Americans’ lives—and why we find it so difficult to let go. Based on groundbreaking reporting and interviews with Michelin star chefs, Wall Street bankers, overwhelmed teachers and other workers across the American economy, Stolzoff exposes what we lose when we expect work to be more than a job. Rather than treat work as a calling or a dream, he asks what it would take to reframe work as a part of life rather than the entirety of our lives. What does it mean for a job to be good enough?"

Books on Artificial Intelligence and Beyond

Talk of AI and its various applications across industries, especially the architecture and design space, has been an ongoing topic of discussion across all media. While some may be overwhelmed or "over" AI talk, the team at Archinect has taken an intentional dive into this hot-button topic with an aim to produce helpful, informative, and nuanced editorial content to inform our community. For this section of our Summer Reading List, we suggest a few books to help strengthen your understanding of Artificial Intelligence and how it can be used to supplement our special Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series led by Archinect staff writer Niall Patrick Walsh.

Computational Formalism Art History and Machine Learning by Amanda Wasielewski 

"How the use of machine learning to analyze art images has revived formalism in art history, presenting a golden opportunity for art historians and computer scientists to learn from one another. Though formalism is an essential tool for art historians, much recent art history has focused on the social and political aspects of art. But now, art historians are adopting machine learning methods to develop new ways to analyze the purely visual in datasets of art images. Amanda Wasielewski uses the term “computational formalism” to describe the use of machine learning and computer vision technique in art historical research. At the same time that art historians are analyzing art images in new ways, computer scientists are using art images for experiments in machine learning and computer vision. Their research, says Wasielewski, would be greatly enriched by the inclusion of humanistic issues."

Be sure to check out Amanda's exclusive contributing feature for Archinect, "The Illusion of Space: Can Artificial Intelligence Understand the Third Dimension?"

Neural Architecture: Design and Artificial Intelligence by Matias del Campo

"The book provides an opportunity to survey the emerging field of Architecture and Artificial Intelligence and to reflect on the implications of a world increasingly entangled in questions of the agency, culture, and ethics of AI. The main goal of Neural Architecture is to understand how to interrogate artificial intelligence, a technological tool in the field of architectural design, traditionally a practice that combines humanities and visual arts. Matias del Campo, the author of Neural Architecture, is currently exploring specific applications of artificial intelligence in contemporary architecture, focusing on their relationship to material and symbolic culture. AI has experienced an explosive growth in recent years in a range of fields including architecture, but its implications for the humanistic values that distinguish architecture from technology have yet to be measured. This book explores the interdisciplinary project that brings the long tradition of humanistic inquiry in architecture together with cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence."

Be sure to check out Matias' exclusive contributing feature for Archinect, "ChatGPT Interviews Matias del Campo: Architecture, Hallucinations, and other Exotic Occurrences" 

Machine Learning: Architecture in the age of Artificial Intelligence by Phil Bernstein

"The profession is changing. A new era is rapidly approaching when computers will not merely be instruments for data creation, manipulation and management, but, empowered by artificial intelligence, they will become agents of design themselves. Architects need a strategy for facing the opportunities and threats of these emergent capabilities or risk being left behind. Architecture’s best-known technologist, Phil Bernstein, provides that strategy. Divided into three key sections – Process, Relationships and Results – Machine Learning lays out an approach for anticipating, understanding and managing a world in which computers often augment, but may well also supplant, knowledge workers like architects. Armed with this insight, practices can take full advantage of the new technologies to future-proof their business. Features chapters on: Professionalism; Tools and technologies; Laws, policy and risk; Delivery, means and methods; Creating, consuming and curating data; and Value propositions and business models."

Be sure to check out Phil's exclusive contributing feature for Archinect, "Autonomous Algorithmic Architects: Wicked Problems of Machine Learning in Architecture"

Artificial Intelligence and Architecture: From Research to Practice by Stanislas Chaillou

"Artificial Intelligence's (AI) encounter with Architecture is still in its infancy. However, current experiments and applications already are a testimony to their gradual intersection. This book provides an introduction to the topic through the triple lens of History, Application, and Theory. A chronology of Architecture's technological evolution first puts AI back in the context of the discipline. The author then presents a collection of AI's applications in Architecture. The book finally gives the stage to contributors working at the forefront of this revolution. From Harvard to Foster & Partners, their perspectives provide a panorama of the discourse surrounding AI's presence in the field. Halfway between research and practice, this book offers to unveil the promise and challenges AI holds for Architecture."

Be sure to check out Stanislas' exclusive contributing feature for Archinect, "When Form Follows Meanings: AI’s Semantic Turn in Architecture"

Architectural Intelligence: How Designers and Architects Created the Digital Landscape by Molly Wright Steenson

"Architects who engaged with cybernetics, artificial intelligence, and other technologies poured the foundation for digital interactivity. In Architectural Intelligence, Molly Wright Steenson explores the work of four architects in the 1960s and 1970s who incorporated elements of interactivity into their work. Christopher Alexander, Richard Saul Wurman, Cedric Price, and Nicholas Negroponte and the MIT Architecture Machine Group all incorporated technologies including cybernetics and artificial intelligence into their work and influenced digital design practices from the late 1980s to the present day."

Be sure to check out Molly's exclusive interview with Archinect, "The Relationship Between AI and Architecture Is Old Enough to Receive Social Security'; A Conversation with Molly Wright Steenson"

Coffee Table Collectables 

Let's face it, everyone needs a collection of art and design books that are filled with visually stunning imagery AND interesting design knowledge. Below is a selection of books to keep your design mind inspired or to have people fawn over when hosting a summer get-together!

Louis Vuitton Skin: The Architecture of Luxury by Paul Goldberger

"Discover the stunning architecture of Louis Vuitton's stores worldwide in Louis Vuitton Skin: Architecture of Luxury. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Goldberger takes readers on an exhilarating journey, exploring the Maison's distinct locations from São Paulo to Seoul. Rather than adhering to a single design, Louis Vuitton's unique approach involves commissioning bespoke buildings with individual skins that evoke emotions and relate to their specific location. Each store's exterior is designed to offer the same appeal as the high-quality products within it, with a focus on creating a powerful visual experience. The book features stores with dramatically different expressions, highlighting the brand's radical rethinking of brand identity. Six different covers are available, each featuring one of Louis Vuitton's most architecturally distinctive stores worldwide: Beijing, Paris, Seoul, New York City, Tokyo, and Singapore."

Videogame Atlas: Mapping Interactive Worlds by Luke Caspar Pearson and Sandra Youkhana

"A dazzling look at modern videogame worlds seen through an architectural lens, utilizing maps, diagrams, and graphic illustrations to offer new perspectives on the art of virtual world-building. Videogame Atlas presents a journey through twelve well-known videogame worlds via panoramic maps, intricate exploded diagrams, and detailed illustrations. The book offers a playful new way of seeing these beloved virtual worlds using the practices and academic rigor that underpins real-world architectural theory. Titles such as Minecraft, Assassin's Creed Unity, and Final Fantasy VII are explored in exhaustive detail through over 200 detailed illustrations of the micro and macro, each with supporting commentary and architectural theory."

Wayne Thom: Photographing The Late Modern by Emily Bills

"The first monograph of photographer Wayne Thom, whose documentation of Late Modern architecture constitutes an architectural/visual archive unlike any other [...] As Emily Bills critically assess Thom’s career, she demonstrates that his photography became inseparable from Late Modernism in the popular imagination, a period of architectural production that ran from the late 1960s through the 1980s. Wayne Thom: Photographing the Late Modern is a celebration of this key architectural photographer and a unique chronicle of the works of this transformative period of architectural expression." 

Happytecture by Anna Devís and Daniel Rueda

"For Anna and Daniel, every unique story needs a unique location to be told in. Luckily for them, there are plenty of beautiful places on our planet waiting to be discovered. Set in all sorts of real-life environments, their images do not only celebrate constructions all over the world but also the cities they were built in. In 'Happytecture', Anna and Daniel challenge us to look at the immediate world around us in a way we’ve never seen it before, unfolding the hidden beauty of street elements such as doors, windows and other urban vernacular to which we might tend not to give a second look. The result is a visual love letter to architecture and urban design that is both personal and relatable."

Designing Coffee: New Coffee Places and Branding by Lani Kingston

"Cutting-edge design and unique spaces created for indulging coffee around the world that make your heart go faster. Over the past few years, the world of coffee has kickstarted a movement of cultural and creative influence. From unique jute bags, logos, or merchandise – cafes, roasters, and coffee shops around the globe are experimenting with new ways to provide spaces and product packaging that stand out from the crowd. Designing Coffee explores what it takes to curate some of the most innovative and eclectic coffee shops of today, from brand identity and packaging, through to interior design and architecture. Celebrating unique spaces, such as the minimalist, tea-house-like coffeeshops of Japan or communist-themed cafes in Vietnam, this book provides advice on how to create a unique space of your own."

Anime Architecture: Imagined Worlds and Endless Megacities by Stefan Riekeles

"Anime Architecture presents the most breathtaking environments created by the most important and revered directors and illustrators of Japanese animated films. From futuristic cities of steel to romantic rural locales, the creators of anime have conjured memorable and painstakingly detailed worlds, the influences of which have been felt across cinema, literature, comic books and videogames for decades. This volume offers a peerless survey of these cinematic arenas – including materials from Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tekkonkinkreet – through original background paintings, storyboards, drafts, sources of inspiration and film excerpts."

Breaking Ground: Architecture by Women by Jane Hall

"A ground-breaking visual survey of architecture designed by women from the early twentieth century to the present day' Would they still call me a diva if I were a man?' asked Zaha Hadid, challenging as she did so more than a century of stereotypes about female architects. In the same spirited approach, Breaking Ground is a pioneering visual manifesto of more than 200 incredible buildings designed by women all over the world. Featuring twentieth-century icons such as Julia Morgan, Eileen Gray and Lina Bo Bardi, and the best contemporary talent, from Kazuyo Sejima to Elizabeth Diller and Grafton Architects, this book is, above all else, a ground-breaking celebration of extraordinary architecture."

Living by the Ocean: Contemporary Houses by the Sea by Phaidon Editors

"An exhilarating collection of today’s most remarkable homes built in awe-inspiring coastal locations around the world. White-sand beaches, jaw-droppingly sheer cliff faces, and secret coves are just some of the stunning sites of the architect-designed contemporary houses featured in this celebration of incredible residences that exist in harmony with the extraordinary power of the ocean. With such unique residences as light-houses, homes built into rocky clifftops, and even rooms that are totally underwater, this inspirational collection includes spectacular homes across the globe including prime examples in countries across 6 continents, from Australia, Canada, Chile, Fiji, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, to the UK and USA. In glorious color with dazzling images throughout, this book brings together the finest examples of residential coastal architecture from 47 of the world’s most revered architects, such as Elemental, Ryue Nishizawa, Pezo von Ellrichshausen, and Fearon Hay, as well as a host of lesser-known creative studios. Each home featured is showcased by glorious exterior and interior photography, and each shares a profound connection to the raw and thrilling beauty of the sea and the shoreline around it."

Have a book suggestion? Share your must-read/must-have book(s) for the summer in the comment section. Happy reading!