my list is archi/design/art related only and only of books i own and in no particular order.

1. nine chains to the moon: buckminster fuller
2. peter zumthor works" buildings and projects 1979-1997
3. problems of design: george nelson
4. smlxl: rem koolhaas
5. survival through design: richard neutra
6. towards a new architecture: le corbusier
7. design for the real world: victor papanek
8. mies in america: edited by phyllis lambert
9. life style: bruce mau
10. the world as design: olt aicher
11. operating manual for spaceship earth: buckminster fuller
12. envisioning information: edward tufte
13. the lancaster/hanover masque: john hejduk
14. alexander clader 1898-1976
15. francis bacon: a retrospective
16. wiel arets: strange bodies
17. piet zwart: the typographical work 1923-1933
18. delirious new york: rem koolhaas
19. typography: wolfgang weingart
20. matrix of man: moholy-nagy
21. synergetics folio: buckminster fuller
22. jean prouve: galeries jousse seguin + enrico navarra
23. supersheds: chris wilkinson
24. alvar aalto: richard weston
25. louis i. kahn: in the realm of architecture: david b. brownlee/david g. de long
26. design by numbers: john maeda
27. industrial facades: bernd + hilla becher
28. light tech: richard horden
29. archigram: edited by peter cook
30. hans scharoun: peter blundell jones

only thirty?

yep.

sorry for the following typo >> #14 should be alexander calder 1898-1976

mies sucks

beta, if you're getting rid of architecture books, i would be more than happy to pay the shipping + extra for your time to pack them up, etc., if you could send em my way.

beta.. what boosk are you getting rid of, and how much you want for them?

(first dibs, by the way, everyone)

so why does Mies suck?

Strawbeary,

get your brains checked out...

i will give you exactly $1 more per book than joed will. :D

i going to give the books to a local child care facility.


seriously, this is real effort to get rid of my gear, i am trying to edit and begin to focus on the truly important texts i may or may not have. it really is difficult to look at my collection and try and figure out what 30 books i have, and if there are other works i am missing in my collection.

for instance i would like to have a hard cover of Frascari's Monsters of Architecture, and Corb's 8 volume - i think - collection [$1,300]+...

yeah, i love to have my hands around corb's 8 too.

oh, and here is a humorous and useless amazon.com deet. amazon.com sales rank of frascari's monsters of architecture at 1,658,487

Mies buildings didn't age very well.

I'm still on the upward swing of collecting books. Probably don't yet have 30.

Carlo Scarpa Architect
The Geography of Nowhere
American House Styles
Introductory Readings in Aesthetics
Abstract Reality and Natural Reality
A Pattern Language
Cradle to Cradle
Architectural Pattern Language
Learning from Las Vegas
The Sand Dollar and the Slide Rule
Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings
The City in Mind

and Not So Big House

wait wait wait... you're giving your books to a child care facility? architecture books? come on man, i need them more than the children...

but seriously, is that the plan? it's cool if it is [i guess :(], but i'm always on the lookout for library acquisitions.

i just wanted to see if i had 30 arch. books, which i do, including text books, but to take out the ones that are not theory driven...i'm still working on my collection...i seem to spend less money on books the further out of school i get, which really is a pattern that should be stopped.
-Architecture Theory since 1968: ed. Hays
-Architecture Culture 1943-1968: ed Ockman
-Rethinking Architecture: ed. Leach
-Home From Nowhere
-Queers in Space: ed. Ingram, Bouthillette, Retter
-Towards a New Architecture
- Discrimination by Design: Weisman
-Architecture and Feminism: ed. Coleman, Danze, Henderson
-10 Books on Architecture
-City of Quartz
-Architecture from Outside: Groz
-Out of Site: Ghirardo
-Ideas and Integrities: Buckminster Fuller
-Trespassers: Ed Van Hinte and Conny Bakker
-Anaesthetics of Architecture: Leach
-Anarchitecture, Works by Gordon Matta-Clark
-S,M,L,XL
-Cremaster Cycle, Matthew Barney: Nancy Spector
-7th International Architecture Exhibition: Less Aesthetics More Ethics
-Antoine Predock:Houses 3: Brad Collins
-Christo: Vaizey

it is both a blessing and a curse that the closest bookstore with any sort of architectural book selection is in either portland or seattle.

come on.. Mies buildings didn't age very well, and you have carlo scarpa on your list?

I like scarpa and mies, but if your argument for why mies sucks is that mies' buildings didn't age very well, that seems weak. Have you seen the concrete at the brion-vega cemetery?

If you mean his buildings didn't age very well aesthetically, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. You and james kunstler can live in your thomas kinkade housing development (sorry, low-blow.. I apologize)

pencrush - i was expecting someone to slam me on exactly that. i have been to the brion cemetary and yes, it wasn't that cool. but that book i have on Scarpa is incredible. the guy could draw!
i am truly just not a fan of mies, never have been, never will be.

stawbeary, if you are ever in barcelona, you should really visit the re-creation of the barcelona pavilion... it might just change your mind about mies. its one of his more 'common' projects, and while its not exactly a 'building,' there is a nice sense of scale to it that you can't understand in pictures. from what i remember, it feels very inviting despite its minimal form and cold modern materiality. it gave me a new opinion of mies.

I'd say that books on space planning, pro practice, structures, construction, et cetera would be the ones I save. Design/theory is more in the eye of the beholder - although I love to read about great architects.

Would have to save my cherished Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere.
Architectural Acousics
Statics & strenghts of materials for building
Architectural Graphic Standards
AIA companion for pro practice
Building construction illustrated
Mechanical systems for buildings

stuff like that. When I pack up and go somewhere I'm going to need those reference books so I can continue to work.

3ifs - i have been to the pavilion in barcelona. it was nice. i actually was more impressed than I thought i would be. but still not my style i guess.

i am glad to see that i am not the only geography of nowhere and home from nowhere fan!

not a lover of kincaid's work - for the record.

Chambers for a Memory Palace is a good reference/read.
Construction Inspection Handbook is a good reference as well.

for all you Mies lovers - I have Louis Sullivan's The Function of Ornament and it's awesome!

Strawbeary, "i have been to the brion cemetary and yes, it wasn't that cool. but that book i have on Scarpa is incredible. the guy could draw!"

...maybe you just need a better book on mies. :)

For a good book on the Barcelona Pavilion try
Fear of Glass by Joseph Quetglas

pencrush, i doubt you will convince her to like mies. if she don't like him, she don't like him. personally i love him [and scarpa]. i went to the farnsworth house a few years ago and the barcelona pavilion about 8 years ago, and they are both breath taking.

Bring the books. Leave the rest.

i didn't really like the farnsworth house. i am too clumsy i guess- have walked into too many glass walls in my day. we went as a class in school and only like one kid even liked it. we were a bunch of punks, dissing mies.

as far as modernism doctrines go, I do like Mondrian, and the book I mentioned above Natural Reality and Abstract Reality is a trilouge by Mondrian. I just don't dig modern architecture, international style, and machine aesthetics in buildings.

you're right. no more convincing, I promise.

yeah, bring the books.

Strawbeary- Yeah, I'm a big fan of Kunstler's thoughts about suburban sprawl. Don't entirely agree w/his assessment of all 20th century architecture. I like modernism.

Chambers for a Memory Palace was one of the worst reads I've ever had. That book I literally used as a door stop in studio.

Another book I hated was "A place of my own." Some elitist moron wrote a book about how he built a shanty to write books in. Halfway through that one I wanted to gouge my eyes out after reading about his idiocy.

a few reference books (with my notes). and i still have my calculus text because it's very well written.

but even the reference books are replaceable.

the world is my library.

boo.

where are the books?

okay, here is a list of non archi/design/art books that i own that top my list in no particular order

1. ameriika: franz kafka
2. ask the dust: john fante
3. the war of the end of the world: mario vargas llosa
4. the life of pi: yann martel
5. post office: charles bukowski
6. the arcades project: walter benjamin
7. race matters: cornel west
8. an underachiever's diary: benjamin anastas
9. sexus: the rosy crucifixion: henry miller
10. six memos for the next millenium: italo calvino
11. junky: william s. burroughs
12. second skin: john hawkes
13. brave new world: aldous huxley
14. of love and other demons: gabriel garcia marquez
15. my education: william s. burroughs
16. the name of the rose: umberto eco
17. doctor faustus: thomas mann
18. all families are psychotic: douglas coupland
19. labyrinths: jorge luis borges
20. the teachings of don juan: carlos castaneda
21. the plague: albert camus
22. a modern utopia: h.g. wells
23. 1984: george orwell
24. the question concerning technology: martin heidegger
25. invisible cities: italo calvino
26. tales of ordinary madness: charles bukowski
27. the trial: franz kafka
28. naked lunch: william s. burroughs
29. travels in hyper reality: umberto eco
30. et tu babe: mark leyner

How to Make Love Like a Porn Star - A Cautionary Tale: By Jenna Jameson

Ah, e, I get it. Categorize them and take 30 of each category.

I'll take 30 of my favorite art books, 30 of my favorite architecture books, 30 of my favorite arch theory books, 30 novels, 30 bios, 30 history...If I play it strategically, I don't get rid of anything.

I wasn't a big fan of Mies until 1) seeing the Barcelona pavilion reconstruction and 2) walking past his relatively minor and derivative but still provocative office bldg in Louisville for almost 10 yrs. He grows on ya.

steven, yes. i like your sub-divisions even better. i have trouble getting rid of books.

i love books and i refuse to get rid of any- although all my friends borrowing then seems to do a fairly good job anyway!

but 30 is too many to read so heres half

1- Scanning - the aberrant architectures of diller and scofidio
2- New York 1960 - stern/mellins/fishman
3. Basquiat - Tony Shafrazi Gallery catalogue
4 Grow your own house - vitra design museum
5 City of darkness - Life in Kowloon walled city
6 Hybrid Space - New forms in digital architecture
7 Tadao Ando - Complete works
8 The art of looking sideways - Alan Fletcher
9. You canfind inspiration in everything and if you cant try harder - Paul smith
10. Peter salter - Building Projects
11. I NY - New york street art
12. Subway art - cooper/chalfont
13. Kosmos - Portrait of the russian space age
14. interiores minimalistas
15. Pen and Mouse - Hyland

soon to be buying
16 Helvetica - homage to a typeface -Lars Muller

Good architecture books are hard to find over here.

1. Treasury of Graphic Design Techniques - Porter/Goodman
2. Architecture and You - Caudill/Pena/Kennon
3. Architecture without Architects - Rudofsky
4. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture - Ching
5. Architectural Graphic Standards
6. The Designer's Eye - Brolin
7. Theory and Design in the First Machine Age - Banham
8. Design With Nature - McHarg
9. A Pattern Language - Alexander
10. Landscape Architecture - Simonds
11. Site Planning - Lynch
12. The Image of the City - Lynch
13. The Death and Life of Great American Citites - Jacobs
14. Problem Seeking - Pena/Marshall
15. The Not So Big House - Susanka
16. Green Architecture - Wines
17. Design with Climate - Olgyay
18. Housing, Climate and Comfort - Evans
19. Renzo Piano Building Workshop - Buchanan
20. The Green Skyscraper - Yeang

...

Here is my 30 books. Given that I am a Landscape Architect I thought that I had better throw a few in.

01.Room 4.1.3 : Innovations in Landscape Architecture, Richard Weller
02.Recovering Landscape, James Corner (ed)
03.Nature and the Idea of a Man Made World, Norman Crowe
04.Lifestyle, Bruce Mau
05.The Enclosed Garden, Rob Aben + Saskia de Wit
06.Formless: A User’s Guide, Yve-Alain Bois + Rosalind E Krauss
07.Taking Measure: Across the American Landscape, James Corner
08.The Anaesthetics of Architecture, Neil Leach
09.The Situationsist City, Simon Sadler
10.Kienast Vogt (Any of the Birkhauser Publications), Dieter Kienast
11.Denton Corker Marshall, Haig Beck + Jackie Cooper
12.Raimund Abraham: (Un)Built, Brigitte Groihofer (Ed)
13.Ruedi Bauer: Integral and Partners, Ruedi Bauer
14.Herzog + De Meuron: Natural History, Philip Ursprung (ed)
15.Reading MVRDV, Veronique Patteeuw (Ed)
16.Urban Flotsam: CHORA, Raoul Bunschoten
17.The Metapolis Dictionary of Advanced Architecture, Susanna Cros
18.Massive Change, Bruce Mau + IWB
19.Theory in Landscape Architecture, Simon Swaffield (Ed)
20.Tangled Destinies: National Museum of Australia, Dimity Reed
21.Architecture + Landscape, Clemens Steenbergen + Wouter Reh
22.Unnatural Horizons: Allen Weiss
23.Carlo Scarpa: Architecture in Details, Albertini, Bianca
24.Architecture of the Jumping Universe, Charles Jenks
25.Guide to Shopping, Rem Koolhaas (or any of the others)
26.Field Event | Field Space, Kevin Rhowbotham
27.A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History, Manuel De Landa
28.Differences, Ignasi de Sola-Morales
29.Architecture and Modernity, Hilde Heynen
30.Enric Miralles: 1983 – 2000, El Croquis

This is my current favs, as it changes every 6 months or so:

1. Frank Israel, Special Issue (can't recall what it is)
2. RM Schindler, Taschen
3. RM Schindler (forget the publisher)
4. Hadid, Complete Works
5. GA Houses - numerous issues
6. Refabricating Architecture
7. Gerhard Richter, numerous books
8. Peter Pran, both books
9. Morphosis, current monograph
10. New American Home

and all the mags I read: Arch Record, Interior Design, Met Home, Metropolis

kinda a side note: how many mac people use Delicious Library to keep track of their books? I started using it about a month or so ago and love it. My library is at 125+ books right now, and its great having a way to keep track of who is borrowing what (I typically forget after a couple months). I'm pretty sure the webpage for it is www.delicious-monster.com

When I get home tonight I'll have to write my top 30 list.

hmm 30 is a big number. Looking at alot of the books mentioned they have similar publication dates...fairly recent as well leading me to believe these are reference books not necessarily those you've read in entirity.

I don't think i could name 30, I move here about 3 years ago and pretty much was limited by weight...the essentials were fairly obvious

GA no6 Steven Holl <- first one I grabbed
I chose to leave my Bill Mitchell's since i read every last one for my M.Arch dissertation - probably for the better too
I left my complete works of Tadao Ando, and regretted it, because most of the overe happens to be in concrete
grabbed a random wallpaper
architecture theory series I grabbed "architecture as Metaphor" by Greggotti, "Constructions" et al <- good way to sleep
Parents gave me a bible tiny as "hell" to fit in my back pocket - hmmm - to send my ass to hell lol (no offense anyone)

Since books have been explored, what about movies?

What do you think the top 30 movies are to architecture...

King Kong (original)...Footloose...Soylent Green

bump

30 eh? i'll play along and say 30 as a max, no sub-catagorizing:

1. song of the dodo - david quammen
2. natural history - herzog and demeuron exhibit catalog
3. studies in tectonic cultures - ken frampton
4. eames design - neuhart, neuhart, eames
5. jean prouve vol 1&2 - peter sulzer
6. labor, work, architecture - ken frampton
7. other criteria - leo steinberg
8. alvar aalto houses (a+u special edition)
9. thinking architecture - peter zumthor
10. herzog and demuron complete works, vol 1-3 - gehard mack
11. peter zumthor a+u extra edition (really folks, you need the color)
12. privacy and publicity - beatriz colomina
13. glass construction manual - birkhauser
14. roof construction manual - birkhauser
15. maison de verre - ken frampton, et. al
16. questions of space - bernard tschumi
17. danish chairs - noritsuga oda
18. complete collected fiction - jorge borges
19. complete works 1990-2002 - david chipperfield
20. the villas of mies van der rohe - tegethoff
21. robert rauschenberg: a retrospective - guggenheim catalog
22. life style - bruce mau
23. chairman - tibor kalman
24. clark and menefee - jensen
25. six memos for the next millenium - calvino
26. the baron of the trees - calvino (one of his most spatial novels, though not so evident on first blush)
27. art and technics - lewis mumford
28. alvaro siza - frampton
29. hans j. wegner - berns jensen
30. bentwood furniture designs - frank o. gehry (catalog)

I liked this one, it died too early. 

So, how much has your library grown over the past 9 years?