Archinect - News

A reading room dedicated to the late Michael Sorkin opens at CCNY's Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture

2022-10-27T11:21:00-04:00

The City College of New York (CCNY) is set to open the Sorkin Reading Room, dedicated to the late Michael Sorkin. The esteemed critic, and architect, who was also a Distinguished Professor of Architecture in the institute’s Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, passed away in March 2020 due to complications resulting from COVID-19.

image credit: Nilda Sanchez-Rodriguez

“The reading room will be used by researchers interested in Michael Sorkin’s criticism, pedagogy, and design practice,” said Joan Copjec, Sorkin’s wife and main proponent of the project. “The room itself, designed by Michael’s colleague Professor Elisabetta Terragni, is beautiful and calm.”

image credit: Nilda Sanchez-Rodriguez

Sorkin joined the school in 2000 as a Professor of Architecture and Director of the Graduate Program in Urban Design. He also established the annual Mumford Lectures during his tenure, whose speakers have included Theaster Gates (2015), Mike Davis (2005) who passed away this week, and J...

Win a copy of 'Buildings in Print,' a new book that compiles 100 of the most 'influential' and 'inspiring' illustrated architecture books

2022-06-02T11:05:00-04:00

Longtime Archinectors will surely recognize the name John Hill as the writer behind one of the oldest architecture blogs on the internet, A Daily Dose of Architecture (changed to A Daily Dose of Architecture Books in 2019). In addition to 23 years of covering architecture and related books online, John has also authored a number of books covering a wide variety of architectural topics. That said, he is arguably one of the most qualified individuals today to author his latest title, Buildings in Print: 100 Influential & Inspiring Illustrated Architecture Books.

Buildings in Print, as the title gives away, is a top-100 list of carefully curated print titles, from Corb's 1923 Vers une architecture to Reinier de Graaf's 2017 Four Walls and a Roof. Consider it a cheat sheet for building the ultimate architectural library.

The book is broken down into nine categories of books: manifestos, histories, education, houses & housing, monographs (architects), monographs (buildings), exhibitions...

MIT offers free access to 34 major architecture books

2021-04-13T16:31:00-04:00

MIT Press has launched an unprecedented digitization program for architecture and design publications, with 34 classic architecture and urbanism books now freely available on its platform. The “MIT Press Open Architecture and Urban Studies” is dedicated to classic and out-of-print titles, providing open access to the public via the MIT Press Direct digital book platform.

Among the titles now available are Moshe Safdie’s “Beyond Habitat” from 1970, Donald Leslie Johnson’s “Frank Lloyd Wright versus America” from 1994, and Mark Jarzombek’s “On Leon Battista Alberti” from 1990. Other titles explore the works of famous architects such as Palladio, Walter Gropius, and Le Corbusier.

The collection is in response to years of requests received by MIT Press for e-book versions of historic, out-of-print publications. As many of these books were published before the internet age, digital versions were often impractical to produce due to the complex design and licensing costs. However, fund...

Writing Women Into History: A Curated Reading List Tackles the 'Imbalance' of Female Voices Within Architecture

2021-03-08T18:00:00-05:00

With information available at our fingertips, discovering resources like a list of female architects, for example, should be a breeze. However, like most professions, these texts and resources were often written and curated by male writers. In 2021, female writers and curators continue to reclaim their place within academia, architectural history, and professional practice by writing themselves into the canon they have been excluded from.

If you look up "female architecture writers" on Google, the first search result is a blog created by architect, writer, researcher, and academic Dr. Harriet Harriss titled "Women Who Write Architecture."

Featured on Archinect: New website champions the remarkable contributions made by 50 pioneering women in architecture. Alice Constance Austin, one of the women featured on the site, showing model of house to Llano del Rio colonists, May 1, 1917. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

In 2019 I interviewed Dr....

Yale University Press offers e-book portal filled with architecture titles

2020-05-11T15:40:00-04:00

The A&AePortal developed by Yale University Press, with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, offers "an authoritative e-resource featuring important works of scholarship in the history of art, architecture, decorative arts, photography, and design" that includes out-of-print titles, backlisted and new releases, as well as a variety of museum and academic publications.

Initially launched in late 2019, the portal has found additional usefulness and relevance during the quarantine period. Included in the archive are "Dozens of architecture and design publications," including publications featuring the work of architects that include Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea Palladio, Antoni Gaudi, Julia Morgan, and Thom Mayne, among others, according to Yale University Press.

Publishing partners for the initiative include the Art Institute of Chicago; Bard Graduate Center; Dallas Museum of Art; Harvard Art Museums; Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University...

Arquine showcases the beauty of Chilean and Mexican architecture in two new books

2020-05-06T13:45:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Arquine

Images of Contemporary Chilean Architecture

In the winter, 15 photographers visited some of the most iconic contemporary architecture projects that have put Chile on the map over the last three decades. A collection of new images presents the singularity of these works that have shaped the recent imaginary and brought visibility to this area of Chile’s cultural development. The photographs hover over details, forms, textures, lights and colors, in spaces, landscapes or natural environments.

Image © Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Arquine

Documentary excerpts show the ways of life, the relations between buildings and cities or natural environments. This new view of these constructions highlights their contributions, intrinsic value, and the possible contemporary currents affecting the local culture. This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition Winter: Images of Contemporary Chilean Architecture within the...

Architecture and Japanese anime shine in the release of a new book by Les Jardins des Pilotes

2020-04-27T09:26:00-04:00

Futuristic megacities and out-of-this-world cityscapes created for Japanese animated films have influenced video games, films, as well as architects and designers. Similar to the work of Syd Mead and his highly influential artwork, Japanese anime has developed a special relationship with how fictional built environments can look and feel. From beautifully hand-drawn sketches, storyboards, and paintings, anime artists and creators have expanded the worlds of Japan's "ultramodern animated films."

AKIRA - Final production background. Image courtesy of Anime Architecture/Les Jardins des Pilotes

The non-profit organization, Les Jardins des Pilotes, has dedicated their time gathering and showcasing the influential worlds of these fictional spaces in their latest book Anime Architecture. Author and curator Stefan Riekeles showcases the work of famous Japanese artists and their iconic cityscapes found in animated films like Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Metropolis, 2001, to name a few.

Metr...

Paulette Singley helps us understand 'How to Read Architecture'

2020-03-06T12:58:00-05:00

On this episode of Archinect Sessions Donna, Ken and I are joined by Paulette Singley. Paulette is a respected architectural historian, educator and author. Her writing and editing expands beyond the world of architecture, looking at connections within the culinary arts and film. In today's conversation we’re focusing on her latest book "How to Read Architecture: An Introduction to Interpreting the Built Environment,” a must read for architecture students, architects, designers and admirers of the built world.

The book's publisher, Routledge, describes the book as exploring three essential ways to help understand architecture: reading a building from the outside-in, from the inside-out, and from the position of out-and-out, or formal, architecture.

Consistent with Singley's approach to looking at architecture from outside of the traditional compartmentalization, this book coalesces related fields of interior design, landscape design, and building design, exploring concepts of ter...

A new children's book tells Phil Freelon's story

2020-01-21T13:01:00-05:00

Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon is a new children's book published by Lee & Low Books that highlights the life and work of the late architect Phil Freelon.

Written by Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrated by Laura Freeman, the 40-page picture book "celebrates a contemporary black STEAM role model, a man whose quiet work enabled the creation of an iconic building reflecting America's past and future," according to the publisher's website, by offering insights into Freelon's youth and personal and professional journeys through life.

A spread from inside the book depicting the design for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History with David Adjaye and Phil Freelon shown on the left. Image courtesy of Lee & Low Books.

The book highlights Freelon's upbringing in an arts-saturated Philadelphia home as the son of a socially conscious businessman who attended the 1963 March on Washington and chronicles Freelon's unexpected path toward architecture. In a...

Archinect Outpost cyberweek sale offers huge discounts on ALL books, monographs and periodicals

2019-12-02T13:03:00-05:00

Now's your chance to get your favorite architecture titles at the lowest prices you'll find anywhere. A perfect one-stop shop for all of your architecture-centric loved ones for this holiday shopping season. Starting today, until Friday, December 6th at midnight PST, we'll be offering all books, monographs and periodicals at Archinect Outpost for 50% off with a coupon code that we'll be including in this week's newsletters. To get the coupon code just sign up to any of our newsletters here, and look out for the coupon code included in any/all of the newsletters sent out this week.

We'd like to thank all of our loyal readers, contributors, clients and customers for another amazing year!

Fred Scharmen joins us on the podcast to discuss his new book "Space Settlements"

2019-08-29T09:00:00-04:00

This week we’re joined by one of our favorite regulars, Fred Scharmen. Fred currently teaches architecture and urban design at Morgan State University's School of Architecture and Planning, and is the Principal and Co-Founder of The Working Group on Adaptive Systems. What brings him on today’s show is his just-released new book Space Settlements. The 400-page paperback contains a visually stunning collection of designs for space colonies from the mid-70’s, including iconic artwork and comparison studies of 20th and 21st century architecture projects. Our conversation talks about his research leading up to this book, the process of writing the book and the fascinating stories discovered along the way.

Painting by Don Davis, courtesy NASA Ames Research Center

Listen to episode 143 of Archinect Sessions, “Space Settlements, with Fred Scharmen”.

iTunes: Click here to listen, and click the "Subscribe" button below the logo to automatically download new episodes.
Apple Podcast App (iOS): c...

Photographers rethink the Eastern Bloc

2019-08-12T13:30:00-04:00

All were built after World War II to cheaply house the masses in a way that jived with communist ideology. Near-identical two- and three-bedroom apartments included amenities like central heat, private bathrooms, and elevators. Standardization and mass production were paramount, though idiosyncrasies—a pop of color here, a geometric motif there—inevitably crept in.

David Navarro and Martyna Sobecka, the dynamic duo that make up the independent publisher/design studio Zupagrafika have trekked the Eastern Bloc in an effort to capture its hidden treasures. Their adventure has been published in a book called Eastern Blocks.

"Eastern Blocks is a photographic journey through the cityscapes of the former Eastern Bloc, inviting readers to explore the districts and peripheries that became a playground for mass housing development after WW2, including objects like houses ‘on chicken legs’, soviet ‘flying saucers’ or hammer-shaped tower blocks," reads the publisher's website.

Is architecture still in a state of denial?

2019-08-02T17:57:00-04:00

In his book Four Walls and a Roof – The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession, Reinier de Graaf paints an honest picture of what it is like to work as an architect today. De Graaf, who is a partner at OMA and director of AMO, the office’s think tank, provides engaging stories about the banal, everyday reality of working for an acclaimed firm.

When pursuing a life of architecture, it's hard not to become jaded by the peculiarities of the profession. A career path not for the faint of heart: architects often dream of using their skills to "change the world." However, as mystical and alluring the profession may appear to be, architects like Reiner de Graaf have expressed strong perspectives on the profession.

Reiner de Graaf speaking during his Strelka Talk. Image still courtesy of Strelka Institute

A partner at OMA and director of the firm's think tank AMO, de Graaf sheds some light on the profession in his book Four Walls and a Roof - The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession. Two years after its publish date, do de Graaf's assertions about the profession still remain true? Having re-read his article and interview coverage by fellow Archinect senior editor Orhan Ayyüce, it begs me to question: Has this sense of denial grown stronger? Have newly licensed architects taken on this method of thinking?

Luxury housing at Holl...

rise International sets to launch first architecture and design library in Lesotho, Africa

2019-05-28T14:32:00-04:00

Blending social impact practices, architecture, and economic development initiatives the non-profit organization rise International aims to build and create Lesotho's first Architecture and Design library. From now until August 1st the African Library Project will be collecting books for rise International which will be shipped on a container to Lesotho in the Fallto.

rise International (Relationships Inspiring Social Enterprise) co-founded by BOND Events uses social impact efforts to help the people in Southern Africa gain resources to create sustainable social businesses and transform communities through design and architecture practices. Since their start in 2016, the organization provides aid through their professional network in the design and architecture industry.

Container conversion project into a computer lab and tuck shop. Image courtesy of rise International

rise links asp...

Archinect Outpost to host Spring Sale May 25th

2019-05-17T18:38:00-04:00

Join us this Saturday, May 25th, 11-2pm for a sale of our curated inventory. Newly displayed and price-reduced items (some as much as 50%!) will be available for purchase at Archinect Outpost, located at 900 East 4th Street, Los Angeles CA 90013.

Archinect Outpost.

Come and have a cup of our Brutal coffee and peruse our books, apparel and limited-time sales. If you can't make it to the sale, check out our online store, where we are featuring the same items as those in the retail shop.

We hope to see you there!

Archinect Outpost

A new book highlights Le Corbusier's secret passion for photography

2019-05-09T18:21:00-04:00

On top of being known as a man of architecture and a man of letters, Le Corbusier can now also be known as a man of photography.

View of Charles IV Bridge, toward castle, Prague, May 1911. Photo by Le Corbusier.

LC Foto, a book released by Lars Müller Publishers, is an archive of the architect's photos taken in secret, given that he publicly stated that he saw little value in photography. Between 1907 and 1917 alone, Le Corbusier took almost 6,000 photographs, bringing his cameras on trips to Istanbul, Brazil and the cargo ships which inspired much of his theories on modern architecture.

LC Foto (Le Corbusier, Secret Photographer. Published by Lars Müller.

Jose Sanchez launched The Blindspot Initiative to a full house at Archinect Outpost

2019-02-21T13:53:00-05:00

We would like to thank everyone that attended the launch of Jose Sanchez's book, The Blindspot Initiative. During the packed-house event Jose spoke about the intention of the book and was followed by Behnaz Farahi, Biayna Bogosian of Somewhere Something and Casey Rehm of Kinch.

Published by Evolo, The Blindspot Initiative contains a forward by generative software designer Casey Reas and texts by Jose Sanchez, David Gerber, Jenny Wu, Kate Davies and Mostafa Elsayed.

Purchase The Blindspot Initiative at Archinect Outpost

Jose Sanchez presenting The Blindspot Initiative

The event was also unique in that it was the first virtual reality demonstration set up at Archinect Outpost. On the virtual reality device set up in the top space, Sanchez presented Block'hood, a city building simulator video game that focuses on ideas of ecology, interdependence and decay. The game invited players to envision a neighborhood, by building structures out of a catalog of 200+ blocks.

Virtual Reality se...

Virginia Savage McAlester's A Field Guide to American Houses is now available in an e-book version

2019-02-11T19:50:00-05:00

In 1984, when Virginia Savage McAlester published the seminal A Field Guide to American Houses, the text she wrote to fill a void became an instant classic adopted by realtors, builders, architects and schools, as well as Americans who wanted to know about their own homes’ architectural style and history [...] But now, McAlester’s field guide is truly user-friendly for the 21st century, available in an e-book version.

Architectural discourse can be quite heavy and dense to those outside of the profession. Especially when it comes to detailed technicalities of design and construction, some claim understanding architecture may not be pedestrian enough. In the hopes of helping other's identify and understand buildings around them, Virginia Savage McAlester published a field guide to aid the public.

In 1984, McAlester's digestible guide to domestic American architecture, A Field Guide to American Homes, hit the market and was quickly adopted and praised by many. The classic coffee table book—now a handy e-book—brings to light the need for architecture to have detailed resource guides the general public can reference. Filled with images and texts cataloging homes built from 1940 - 2010, the guide spurred much interest in the subject of American residential styles.

Architectural style explained - Gothic Revival, Courtesy of Knopf Publishing

For many, living in the built world may be enough when it come...

A children's book to gift to your little aspiring architect

2018-12-28T17:03:00-05:00

Through gorgeous illustrations and a relatable story Norman's Architecture Adventure teaches children how having an imagination is the greatest adventure anyone can have. Nothing holds Norman back, he sees what could be and he creates it. He is unrestricted by age, ethnicity, or preconceptions.

Now published and available for purchase online, Norman's Architecture Adventure is a fun children's book written & illustrated by Joshua P. Sanabria. By following the steps of a young African American boy that aspires to be an architect just like his mom, the book not only hopes to foster kids' curiosity and imagination but also to encourage more African Americans to pursue architecture.

Neil Denari launched his new monograph MASSX at Archinect Outpost last night

2018-11-28T17:34:00-05:00

Thanks so much to everyone that braved the LA rush hour traffic to attend our book launch & signing with Neil Denari last night at Archinect Outpost. As predicted, all of the copies of MASSX we secured were quickly sold. We have heard from many of you out there who wanted to buy a copy, but couldn't attend our event, so we're reaching out to the publisher to see if we can snag some more copies of this very limited release.

During my conversation with Neil we spoke about his early vision for the monograph, the process of producing and editing this giant tome, his approach to communicating his work through print (Neil did all the layout and graphic design for this book!), and his vision for the next monograph, which he promises won't take another 19 years to release. We will be releasing this conversation as a podcast or article very soon, so stay tuned.

Over the course of the next few months we will be hosting more of these events, with local and international architects, to talk ab...

The LA Forum Reader Traces 30 Years of LA's Architectural Discourse

2018-07-06T17:40:00-04:00

The LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design has offered a critical look at the city of Los Angeles since the late 80's. The nonprofit has been providing public programming, exhibitions, and publications through its ever-shifting board of directors and volunteer contributors. To celebrate this 30-year milestone, the Forum has carefully selected a collection of pieces published from its origin to today, and has published these in a book under the themes of Experiments, Detours, Hunches, and Santa Anas.

Today, Los Angeles is a major architectural and urban player, but for decades the city was dismissed suburban and centerless. In republishing three decades of material on architecture and design in Los Angeles, the LA Forum Reader reclaims and reconsiders the city’s architectural and discursive histories. It establishes, or reestablishes, a textual context for critical experimentation and urban investigation. This anthological volume includes essays, interviews, and reproductions of...

Consider, for instance, the humble coffee lid

2018-06-26T00:43:00-04:00

The coffee lid’s entire purpose is to prevent the loss of coffee due to movement of the cup, but it still must have a penetration to enable drinking.’

Back in April, Sam Anderson highlighted a sentence from 'Coffee Lids: Peel, Pinch, Pucker, Puncture' (Princeton Architectural Press, 2018, Page 24), for the series New Sentences.

Any Archinectors read the book? If so share your thoughts in the comments below.

Get to know the publishers represented at Archinect Outpost, Part 3 of 3

2018-06-15T11:00:00-04:00

In anticipation of the launch party of the Archinect Outpost, our new retail initiative in Downtown LA’s Arts District, we present part 3 of the curated collection of small-run, independently published architecture periodicals we will have on display:

Place-Holder

PLACE-HOLDER is a Canadian magazine that attempts to capture the life of architecture and design. It is an active catalogue of design, for contemporary use and future reference, a repository and mediator of ideas that are floating in the collective memories of architects and designers.

Plat Journal

PLAT is an independent architectural journal, supported and edited by students of Rice Architecture, whose purpose is to stimulate relationships between design, production, and theory. Plat operates by interweaving professional and academic work into an open and evolving dialogue which progresses from issue to issue.

POOL

POOL is the student magazine of the Department of Architecture & Urban Design at the University of Californi...

Get to know the publishers represented at Archinect Outpost, Part 2 of 3

2018-06-14T16:00:00-04:00

In anticipation of the launch party of the Archinect Outpost, our new retail initiative in Downtown LA’s Arts District, we present part 2 of the curated collection of small-run, independently published architecture periodicals we will have on display:

Intern Mag

Intern has been providing a contemporary platform for the ongoing debate on internships and those affected by it, to express the current state of the creative industry from a relatively honest and critical perspective. All output is either by or about members of the creative youth, which is enabled by the publication’s open submissions policy and strong ties to creative industries.

LA+

LA+ (Landscape Architecture Plus) explores landscape architecture's interdisciplinary potential, bringing readers a rich collection of work from contemporary thinkers and designers in two lavishly illustrated issues annually. Within its pages are the thoughts of not only designers but also historians, artists, geographers, psychologists, ecolo...

Get to know the publishers represented at Archinect Outpost, Part 1 of 3

2018-06-14T11:00:00-04:00

In anticipation of the launch party of the Archinect Outpost, our new retail initiative in Downtown LA’s Arts District, we present part 1 of the curated collection of small-run, independently published architecture periodicals we will have on display:

Art Papers

ART PAPERS provides an accessible forum for examining, discussing, and documenting the full spectrum of contemporary art and culture, as well as the ways they affect and reflect our lives. They engage online, in print, and through public programming.

Beautifully Banal

Beautifully Banal is a celebration of the beauty that can be found in the ordinary by mixing whimsy and everyday life. It is an exploration of traditional architecture drawing types combined with comic book storytelling, resulting in graphic novel under the guise of architectural discourse.

CLOG

CLOG is an international publication that critically explores one topic at a time from as many perspectives as possible. While online press, blogs, tweets, social media...

Archinect Outpost to open in Downtown Los Angeles, Launch Party June 15th

2018-06-05T12:19:00-04:00

Join Archinect in celebrating the opening of Archinect Outpost and the launch of Ed 2 "Architecture of Disaster" on June 15th, 7-10 PM.

RSVP here to reserve your spot!

Archinect Outpost is an exciting new retail initiative in downtown LA's Arts District, a rapidly transforming creative hub home to SCI-Arc and a number architecture & design practices. Archinect Outpost will launch with a curated collection of small-run, independently published architecture publications including Art Papers, Beautifully Banal, Bracket, CLOG, Concrete Maps, Ed, Flat Out, Fresh Meat Journal, Harvard Design Magazine, Intern Mag, LA+, Log, MASKS, MacGuffin, Migrant Journal, MONU, NESS, PAX, Place-Holder, Plat Journal, POOL, Project Journal, Soiled, and Thresholds Journal.

Archinect Outpost will be located at 900 E 4th St, in the heart of downtown LA's Arts District. Astute locals will notice that it's the same address as the A+D Museum, home to some of the most exciting exhibitions and events in the cit...

Is it a bookstore? Is it a fashion concept shop? Yes!

2017-12-12T15:19:00-05:00

The future of brick-and-mortar bookstores has been in peril for at least a decade. But whether you’re actually shopping for a book or not, you might actually find yourself wandering into a bookstore by accident. Because fashion brands, from French icon Sonia Rykiel to New York City-based Warby Parker, are curating books not as objects to read but as objects of décor.

More and more trendy retailers that used to be exclusively online (think Warby Parker, Glossier, or Everlane) are beginning to open brick-and-mortar concept shops & flagship stores in major cities, and books appear to be front and center in store design — sometimes as mere decoration but more frequently actually for sale; further blurring the line between traditional bookstores and branded experiences.

Books! Books everywhere! MVRDV completes Tianjin Binhai Public Library

2017-11-02T16:02:00-04:00

MVRDV, in collaboration with local architects Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute, has completed the much anticipated Binhai Public Library in Tianjin, China, and first photos reveal a mountainous topography of curved bookshelves creating an amorphous atrium that holds a spherical auditorium inside its center like a precious pearl within the rugged oyster shell.

While renderings from last summer still depict "The Eye" as a volume with a polished, mirrored surface — with the intent of creating a 360 degree panorama that also pulls the image of the park in front of the building into the interior of the atrium — the photos now show the auditorium skin as luminous, almost paper-like translucent.

Read on for more images and a project description from the architects.

Tianjin Binhai Library was designed and built in a record-breaking time
of only three years due to a tight schedule imposed by the local
municipality. Next to many media rooms, it offers space f...

'The Parthenon of Books' is constructed with 100,000 banned books at historic Nazi book burning site

2017-07-10T19:50:00-04:00

The Parthenon of Books in Kassel, Germany is part of the Documenta 14 art festival. With the help of students from Kassel University, Minujín identified over 170 titles that were or are banned in different countries around the world, and constructed the full-size replica of the iconic temple from those books, plastic sheeting, and steel.

Photo: alexgorlin

Created by Argentinian artist Marta Minujín, 74, the monumental replica of Greek Parthenon consists of 100,000 banned books and symbolizes the resistance to political repression.

The Parthenon of Books taking shape in Kassel. Photo by Rosa Ruehling

Win “Mid-Century Modern Architecture Travel Guide: West Coast USA” by Sam Lubell!

2017-07-06T13:10:00-04:00

Any design maven is aware that America's West Coast is chockfull of historic mid-century modern architecture designed by the likes of Charles and Ray Eames, Rudolph Schindler, John Lautner, and Richard Neutra. Of course, there's more than just the most infamous icons, but where to begin? Whether you're planning a big West Coast excursion or want to brush up on your midcentury modern history, “Mid-Century Modern Architecture Travel Guide: West Coast USA” by architecture critic Sam Lubell can help.

Thanks to publisher Phaidon, Archinect is giving away five copies of the book to our readers!

Read on for more, and find out how to enter the giveaway.

Authored by Sam Lubell, this handy travel guide features over 250 Mid-Century Modern projects all neatly organized into color-coded chapters that cover the Pacific Northwest region of Washington and Oregon, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and San Diego. Each entry is accompanied by historic tidbits from Lubell, project data, and ...