November reading list: six new-in architecture and design books

For the exhibition at the Design Museum of Helsinki, a publication gathers together, for the first time, the work of Aamu Song and Johan Olin (aka Company), the duo that for 12 years travels the world (Mexico, Russia, Japan, Estonia, Finland and more) to discover, learn and interpret craftmen’s secrets. Secret Universe narrates their journey among artisan techniques, folklore, art and tradition

Through 199 designs, the volume Do it ourselves by Jeroen Junte, a journalist and researcher based in Amsterdam, photographs the new way of design making on the part of the post-crisis Dutch generation. An approach attentive to sustainability – one that is critical and ironic yet sensitive to aesthetics, where craftsmanship and local production are realistic alternatives to the main production and distribution systems.

Besides Dessau and Weimar, beyond Mies and Gropius, Bauhaus 100: Sites of Modernism catalogues over 100 architectures to understand the enormous weight Bauhaus ideas have had across Germany, suggesting an indispensible Grand Tour of the Modern Movement.

An architect and founding partner of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Henry N. Cobb has been one of the most eloquent voices in architecture for over half a century. Henry N. Cobb: Words & Works 1948-2018 is a precious volume (over 500 pages), with graphics by OverUnder, that gathers an analysis of his works, essays, and interviews exploring the past, present and future of architecture.

The new book by Charlotte and Clementine Fiell, Women in Design, covers the role of female designers in the past century, celebrating their success in all design sectors. Famous (Aino Aalto, Ray Eames) and less famous yet pivotal figures alternate to depict a fascinating story of the way women have used creativity and intelligence for innovative designs that are still relevant even after decades.

17 are the objectives for the sustainable development of the UN, to be achieved by 2030. Turin has made them its own, and has added one, the Goal Zero, created by Lavazza, which is a partner of the City of Piedmont in the initiative of street art designed to spread the Agenda 2030. The volume has two souls. On the one hand, the programmatic and popular part, which leaves the vague feeling of self-promotion by the Appendino administration; on the other hand, the photographic story of the 18 murals of TOward 2030 masterfully made by Martha Cooper, world guru of street art photography. Alessandro Scarano