June reading list: new-in architecture and design books

“With their parallel lives, animals offer man a kind of company different from what humans can give. Different, because it’s company offered to the solitude of man as a species,” according to John Berger in his essay collection Why Look at Animals? Dealing with the topic from a design perspective is the publication Zoo Buildings (DOM Publishers), the first practical manual that explores zoos as a type of architecture. In over 500 pages, Natascha Meuser examines five generations of buildings, documenting 30 historical and pioneering structures that set new standards in terms of function and aesthetic. From the oldest, in Europe and the world, located in Vienna and opened in 1752, to the most famous and biggest in the world, the one in Berlin. Through floor plans, elevations, cross-sections and photos in large format, the designs of 50 international zoos built in the last 20 years are analysed. Rounding off the manual: 10 design guidelines that can help in building a zoo.

Launched on Kickstarter one year ago and financed in less than 10 days, Raddar – the acronym for Revue Annuelle de Design / Design Annual Review – is a new magazine entirely devoted to design that aims to be “a space for expression on topics important to design theory, for young and expert researchers”. Directed by Claire Favre Maxwell and Marco Costantini, its goal is to create a dialogue between research in French-speaking countries with the international design scene. It is published by mudac in Lausanne and by T&P Work Unit, with graphic design by Julien Mercier. Bilingual (French and English), the magazine is annual. The first issue is dedicated to functions, with a cover designed by Formafantasma and texts by Vincent Beaubois, Jonas Berthod, Gwenaëlle Bertrand, Claire Brunet, François Burkhardt, Roberto Casati, Catherine Geel and Anna-Maria Meister.

With a historical/practical approach, the book edited by Rachel Keeton and Michelle Provoost with the International New Town Institute explores contemporary African city design and the role of city planning. The book offers an atlas that examines 148 New Towns (settlements of at least 10,000 inhabitants) and a series of essays that describe and analyse the historical origins plus a manual.  

The food designer Chloé Rutzerveld explores new food production technologies and translates her multidisciplinary research into future food scenarios. A series of illustrated – and at times even provoking – reflections engage consumers in the debate on potential food futures. From “mini veggie gardens” that offer a complete meal after having been printed in 3D to bacteria farms in search of a new food system in which we digest 100% of nutritional elements (instead of the current 75%).

For two centuries, inflatable objects have continued to amaze (and amuse) architects, artists and designers. The volume Bubbletecture gathers together bubbles of all sizes, shapes and colours: clothes and hats, buildings, chairs, lights, bowls and even egg holders, plus games and provoking art installations. Like the city bench Thor ter Kulve, an inflatable refuge with a solar-powered USB charger, starting with a simple wooden bench. It is made with recycled materials and strips the concept of what a home is down to the bare essentials: shelter from atmospheric agents. And also, the Ark Nova by Arata Isozaki and Anish Kapoor, a traveling concert hall born after the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011.

A unique look into Mediterranean protohistory through the original/detailed lens of material culture, part of the technological and economic view of building logistics and protoscience. The architect from Turin, who lives in the Marches, Medardo Arduino is back with a reading of European culture that sheds new light on the true origins of the Celtic Hallstatt and La Thene.