I like the architect that possesses the technology and intelligence to post on the NYT website, but can’t do a simple google search for stout books in san Francisco.
But I agree. Peter miller just ain’t the same.
And stout carries used at some really decent rates, as well.
i'd say prairie ave. is equal in most ways - not as driven by a singular person and definitely different. not worse, just different.
outside those two... not sure there's any other really good indie arch bookstores. form zero (the edgemar version) was very cool; cambridge arch books was quirky and the owner a quirky but very passionate guy. both are to be missed as well.
it's always been a small fraternity - depressing to think of how much smaller it's gotten over the years...
yeah, i've been to prairie ave. not as impressed with the offering. i completely agree about the depression associated with the small frat getting even smaller. fucking sucks man. no other way to put it. and holz, I agree with your comments on peter miller. certainly wonderful that we have him, but no comparison to bill. he's in a class by himself. not to mention that he publishes interesting books on architecture and was responsible for starting pamphlet architecture with steven holl. respect.
Pretty talented architect too. I think NYC used to have good place - Jap Reipman (sp) a Dutch guy, but I have never been able to find it again. The Urban Center in NYC was good too as was Perimeter Books. The Strand and St. Marks are also quite good too. In Mpls there are only two places for new books; The Walker and a Barnes and Noble in Roseville, I know, but for a local chain it is quite good. Used book stores and 1/2 Price Books in TC are particular favs of mine, and so far I have found some gems...
How would you rate Hennesey + Ingalls relative to William Stout Architectural Books ?
I've been going there, on and off, since the original store on Osgood Place. A friend, a fellow Easterner, worked there, starting in the early 'eighties. Bill has had a nice group of young employees -- I miss the wit who coined the phrase "Asphalt Shingle Style" and used to slip critical zingers into the periodically-issued store catalog mailer.
Bill bemoaned, ten years ago or so -- in the mailer -- that potential customers were using the store to preview books which they then bought online -- and threatened to close the store, as I recall it. I'm glad he didn't. What a stock, upstairs and down ! I've bought my share of volumes (including the most I ever spent of a book) but I have to admit my favorite finds have been made in the little used-book stores around town -- now sadly dropping like flies, as I suspect is happening all over the world.
i'm not saying peter miller is awful, and i know lots of wealthy architects and patrons that can afford to shop there. i feel guilty using it as a pre-internet browse, but he never really sells used books and i tend to buy a lot of used books. plus peter never really carrries older books, unless they're rare and/or expensive. and then the new books i really want, peter never really gets til later. having said that, i have been known to make a random purchase there. but it's a really limited selection, and just a small storefront.
hennesy and ingalls has a decent selection, as does prarie ave, but both are smaller and less intense than the stout experience. where the books are a lot more haphazard, not as clean and pristine as h&i, prarie ave.
it's the same reason i love powell's, though they've got a dinky architecture section.
oh, i hear you holz. not dissing p.miller at all. i appreciate the offering he provides us. i'm sure bill and peter probably have the utmost respect for one another. how could you not. for me, stout is just something else. the passion shown in his offering is just hard to match.
sdr, can't comment on the differences better stout and hennesy + ingalls. never been to h + i.
the jim jennings 10/10 is a great book. i think i saw it on your shelf. actually, i remember being really impressed w/ your book collection, and that's a rare feat!
I think Bill's first publishing project was the re-issue, with new photographs, of David Gebhard's seminal "Schindler" -- which republication I have yet to acquire, unaccountably. (My paperback of the original volume is rapidly disintegrating into a folio.)
Jim Jennings was in partnership with Bill for a period, you know.
thx holz. that's definitely a complement coming from you. i often feel my book collection is pretty inadequate. i'm sure we all feel that way though. and yes, 10|10 is one i have.
gawd, that store is one of the few places i truly miss about living in sf.
I like Bill Stout Books as well, for the breadth of his collection.
However, I find Peter Miller Books to be better organized, and I find that he has more interesting recent selections out on his display tables. I almost always come away from his store with something in hand—whereas I usually leave Stout Books without anything. Possibly because I'm overwhelmed. Everything is crammed into every nook and cranny.
But in both cases, the books seem way overpriced. I know they're small booksellers trying to make a living. As a poor architect, I can almost always find the books 20% cheaper on Amazon.
I feel guilty about not buying from them exclusively. But it's a shock to turn over an awesome book and have the price be $130. And the same book is $80 on Amazon.
i can understand what you mean about feeling overwhelmed at stout's bookstore. i recently went back to sf and stopped in. didn't have much time and thus could not focus. i left with nothing because of that.
sdr, i remember bill saying that about people using his place to check out books only to go buy them online. amazon will always be able to offer books cheaper than stout and miller. they will never be able to compete with that bohemoth and still turn a profit. it comes down to who you want to support. i pick them because i appreciate what they offer our community. once they are gone, i doubt someone will step up and take their places.
But it's a shock to turn over an awesome book and have the price be $130. And the same book is $80 on Amazon.
it'll be a bigger shock when you turn the corner and your fave bookstore is a Starbucks.
i also heart Builders Booksource, esp. the one in Berkeley on 4th street. obviously cant touch Stout for inventory but still has a great collection of disciplines represented...i get stuck in there every time.
last time i was in Stout was during a holiday party a few years back. just walked by on Thursday though.
hard to disagree with the comments about stout - the one and only time i've been in the store was on my honeymoon. my wife and i were walking along the street and literally chanced upon it. i had no idea it existed (this was pre-internet being the weapon of mass information it is now for you youngsters...) but was so overwhelmed, i think all i left with was bernard tschumi's 'questions of space'. should have picked up more...
as to 'previewing' books at a place like that but grabbing them elsewhere - look, we've all done it, we'll all do it again. what distinguishes that store, though, is not just the used book selection but all the random, indie publications from all over the world that amazon would never know exist, much less carry. you simply aren't going to find the 26 part aalto series of individual monographs anywhere else, right? that's where he has value. selling copies of phaidon world atlas? less so...
Regarding the note from Stout's newsletter about being a "showroom for Amazon:" that was when he (sadly) closed his short-lived store on South Park, which carried architecture but also quite a bit of graphic / industrial design.
Given the amount of the surrounding real estate occupied by web-related companies, the outcome was not surprising...the 2001 dot-com bust was the final nail. And now the neighborhood has a big Borders.
I like hennessey + ingalls for the serendipity factor - something about the way it's organized makes you run across unexpected things.
it's not perfect, but it's a good browsing experience. handy to take visiting family to (helps if they are bookstore fiends to start with) Everybody usually finds something to look at along the lines of their particular obsessions.
plus I usually run into someone I know there ... and with events/signings etc. it plays an important social role in the arch community on this side of town.
I hadn't bought anything for a year; then I found myself at Green Apple here in SF, and there were a couple of interesting used titles. I may have missed a larger cache, perhaps someone's collection -- good thing for my wallet. I surprised myself by paying $75 for a slender 1956 monograph on Gordon Drake, who died in a skiing accident in 1952, at 34, after building about a dozen lovely post-and-beam residences, most of which are unrecognized today beyond this one, his own residence, photographed by Julius Shulman:
Shelf Life: Bill Stout Books
I heart Bill Stout Books. I will there was an equivalent in Seattle.
Shelf Life
Oops. I "wish" there was an equivalent in Seattle.
I like the architect that possesses the technology and intelligence to post on the NYT website, but can’t do a simple google search for stout books in san Francisco.
But I agree. Peter miller just ain’t the same.
And stout carries used at some really decent rates, as well.
i miss stout's beautiful store. mpls sucks for teh arch books.
Yeah, no other architectural book store in the country can touch Stout. Not to mention, he's a hell of a nice guy with a big heart.
He's a great guy.
It's my favorite bookstore.
And it was on the way home from Studios.
i'd say prairie ave. is equal in most ways - not as driven by a singular person and definitely different. not worse, just different.
outside those two... not sure there's any other really good indie arch bookstores. form zero (the edgemar version) was very cool; cambridge arch books was quirky and the owner a quirky but very passionate guy. both are to be missed as well.
it's always been a small fraternity - depressing to think of how much smaller it's gotten over the years...
yeah, i've been to prairie ave. not as impressed with the offering. i completely agree about the depression associated with the small frat getting even smaller. fucking sucks man. no other way to put it. and holz, I agree with your comments on peter miller. certainly wonderful that we have him, but no comparison to bill. he's in a class by himself. not to mention that he publishes interesting books on architecture and was responsible for starting pamphlet architecture with steven holl. respect.
Pretty talented architect too. I think NYC used to have good place - Jap Reipman (sp) a Dutch guy, but I have never been able to find it again. The Urban Center in NYC was good too as was Perimeter Books. The Strand and St. Marks are also quite good too. In Mpls there are only two places for new books; The Walker and a Barnes and Noble in Roseville, I know, but for a local chain it is quite good. Used book stores and 1/2 Price Books in TC are particular favs of mine, and so far I have found some gems...
How would you rate Hennesey + Ingalls relative to William Stout Architectural Books ?
I've been going there, on and off, since the original store on Osgood Place. A friend, a fellow Easterner, worked there, starting in the early 'eighties. Bill has had a nice group of young employees -- I miss the wit who coined the phrase "Asphalt Shingle Style" and used to slip critical zingers into the periodically-issued store catalog mailer.
Bill bemoaned, ten years ago or so -- in the mailer -- that potential customers were using the store to preview books which they then bought online -- and threatened to close the store, as I recall it. I'm glad he didn't. What a stock, upstairs and down ! I've bought my share of volumes (including the most I ever spent of a book) but I have to admit my favorite finds have been made in the little used-book stores around town -- now sadly dropping like flies, as I suspect is happening all over the world.
Thanks for the photo of bill, e.
i'm not saying peter miller is awful, and i know lots of wealthy architects and patrons that can afford to shop there. i feel guilty using it as a pre-internet browse, but he never really sells used books and i tend to buy a lot of used books. plus peter never really carrries older books, unless they're rare and/or expensive. and then the new books i really want, peter never really gets til later. having said that, i have been known to make a random purchase there. but it's a really limited selection, and just a small storefront.
hennesy and ingalls has a decent selection, as does prarie ave, but both are smaller and less intense than the stout experience. where the books are a lot more haphazard, not as clean and pristine as h&i, prarie ave.
it's the same reason i love powell's, though they've got a dinky architecture section.
oh, i hear you holz. not dissing p.miller at all. i appreciate the offering he provides us. i'm sure bill and peter probably have the utmost respect for one another. how could you not. for me, stout is just something else. the passion shown in his offering is just hard to match.
sdr, can't comment on the differences better stout and hennesy + ingalls. never been to h + i.
Just some of the books he's put out though William Stout Publishing
Bill Turnbill
Jim Jennings
Joseph Esherick
Isamu Noguchi
RM Schindler
e,
the jim jennings 10/10 is a great book. i think i saw it on your shelf. actually, i remember being really impressed w/ your book collection, and that's a rare feat!
I think Bill's first publishing project was the re-issue, with new photographs, of David Gebhard's seminal "Schindler" -- which republication I have yet to acquire, unaccountably. (My paperback of the original volume is rapidly disintegrating into a folio.)
Jim Jennings was in partnership with Bill for a period, you know.
thx holz. that's definitely a complement coming from you. i often feel my book collection is pretty inadequate. i'm sure we all feel that way though. and yes, 10|10 is one i have.
gawd, that store is one of the few places i truly miss about living in sf.
bill also did a few projects with his wife, paulett taggart.
I like Bill Stout Books as well, for the breadth of his collection.
However, I find Peter Miller Books to be better organized, and I find that he has more interesting recent selections out on his display tables. I almost always come away from his store with something in hand—whereas I usually leave Stout Books without anything. Possibly because I'm overwhelmed. Everything is crammed into every nook and cranny.
But in both cases, the books seem way overpriced. I know they're small booksellers trying to make a living. As a poor architect, I can almost always find the books 20% cheaper on Amazon.
I feel guilty about not buying from them exclusively. But it's a shock to turn over an awesome book and have the price be $130. And the same book is $80 on Amazon.
i can understand what you mean about feeling overwhelmed at stout's bookstore. i recently went back to sf and stopped in. didn't have much time and thus could not focus. i left with nothing because of that.
sdr, i remember bill saying that about people using his place to check out books only to go buy them online. amazon will always be able to offer books cheaper than stout and miller. they will never be able to compete with that bohemoth and still turn a profit. it comes down to who you want to support. i pick them because i appreciate what they offer our community. once they are gone, i doubt someone will step up and take their places.
it'll be a bigger shock when you turn the corner and your fave bookstore is a Starbucks.
i also heart Builders Booksource, esp. the one in Berkeley on 4th street. obviously cant touch Stout for inventory but still has a great collection of disciplines represented...i get stuck in there every time.
last time i was in Stout was during a holiday party a few years back. just walked by on Thursday though.
True, mightylittle. Very true.
hard to disagree with the comments about stout - the one and only time i've been in the store was on my honeymoon. my wife and i were walking along the street and literally chanced upon it. i had no idea it existed (this was pre-internet being the weapon of mass information it is now for you youngsters...) but was so overwhelmed, i think all i left with was bernard tschumi's 'questions of space'. should have picked up more...
as to 'previewing' books at a place like that but grabbing them elsewhere - look, we've all done it, we'll all do it again. what distinguishes that store, though, is not just the used book selection but all the random, indie publications from all over the world that amazon would never know exist, much less carry. you simply aren't going to find the 26 part aalto series of individual monographs anywhere else, right? that's where he has value. selling copies of phaidon world atlas? less so...
Regarding the note from Stout's newsletter about being a "showroom for Amazon:" that was when he (sadly) closed his short-lived store on South Park, which carried architecture but also quite a bit of graphic / industrial design.
Given the amount of the surrounding real estate occupied by web-related companies, the outcome was not surprising...the 2001 dot-com bust was the final nail. And now the neighborhood has a big Borders.
There's a Borders near South Park?
It's been a while.
I really liked the store and gallery space.
Stout is great. But no one has all the used books. I've good luck with this guy:
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?vci=79824&vcat=6105331&vcatn=Architecture
I like hennessey + ingalls for the serendipity factor - something about the way it's organized makes you run across unexpected things.
it's not perfect, but it's a good browsing experience. handy to take visiting family to (helps if they are bookstore fiends to start with) Everybody usually finds something to look at along the lines of their particular obsessions.
plus I usually run into someone I know there ... and with events/signings etc. it plays an important social role in the arch community on this side of town.
I hadn't bought anything for a year; then I found myself at Green Apple here in SF, and there were a couple of interesting used titles. I may have missed a larger cache, perhaps someone's collection -- good thing for my wallet. I surprised myself by paying $75 for a slender 1956 monograph on Gordon Drake, who died in a skiing accident in 1952, at 34, after building about a dozen lovely post-and-beam residences, most of which are unrecognized today beyond this one, his own residence, photographed by Julius Shulman:
there's a nice bookstore in santa monica too, i forget the name though...
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