Study Architecture 
ProPEL AALA Column, December 2025
Association of Architecture Librarians and Archivists (AALA)
AALA Column, December 2025
Barbara Opar and Alisha Rall, column editors
Column by Barbara Opar
James Petts from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Sharing with you again some suggestions for holiday book purchases for those interested in architecture. I have tried to include a variety of recent titles, while focusing on those at the lower end cost-wise. However, if your personal library does not include materials by the late Robert A.M. Stern or Frank Gehry, I would recommend considering at least one of the two titles which follow.
Goldberger, Paul. Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry. New York: Vintage Books, 2017. ISBN: 9780307946393. 544 pages. $22.00.
Paul Goldberger’s biography of Gehry is fascinating, providing insights into the mind and work of this important figure in contemporary architecture.
Stern, Robert A.M., David Fishman, and Jacob Tilowe. New York 2020: Architecture and Urbanism at the Beginning of a New Century. New York: The Monacelli Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781580936941. 1488 pages. $ 132.56.
The final volume to Stern’s groundbreaking study.
Here are some other books worth a look- a Baker’s dozen of possibilities.
Blauvelt, Andrew Satake, Bridget Bartal. Eventually Everything Connects: Mid-Century Modern Design in the US. London: Phaidon Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781838669560. 464 pages. Hardcover: $69.99.
Shows the interconnectedness of mid-century design.
Brooker, Graeme. The superREUSE Manifesto. New York: Routledge, 2025. ISBN: 9781032545134. 232 pages. Paperback: $43.56.
Interesting and important topic.
Collins, Sophie. History of the World in 500 Buildings. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781667205229. 400 pages. Hardcover: $27.46.
Informative study, highlighting the world’s notable buildings.
Daniel, Cheryl M. The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers. New York: Atria/Black Privilege Publishing, 2025. ISBN: 9781668033999. 288 pages. Hardcover: $28.99.
Long overdue recognition of this firm’s contributions.
Dimendberg, Edward. Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925–35. Getty Research Institute, 2025. ISBN: 9788887120089. 144 pages. Hardcover: $40.92.
An interesting read about a seminal work of modern architecture.
Fromonot, Francoise, Thomas Weaver. The House of Doctor Koolhaas. Zurich: Park Books, 2025. ISBN: 9783038604075. 224 pages. Paperback: $19.00.
First in a series of literary pieces.
Greenburg, Michael M. The Great Miscalculation: The Race to Save New York City’s Citicorp Tower. New York: Washington Mews Books, New York University Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781479829972. 264 pages. Hardcover: $27.95.
This fascinating title is about an engineer who blew the whistle on himself and kept a disaster of major proportions from happening.
Hunting, Mary Anne. Women Architects at Work: Making American Modernism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2025. ISBN: 9780691206691. 272 pages. Hardcover: $57.72.
Hunting’s work is a notable addition to the scholarship of the field.
Kotsioris, Evangelos, Kisho Kurokawa. Kisho Kurokawa: Nakagin Capsule Tower: MoMA One on One Series. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2025. ISBN: 9781633451735. 47 pages. Paperback: $14.95.
A small but important study in a new series by MOMA.
Pottgiesser, Tostoes. Modernism in Africa: The Architecture of Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda. Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser, 2025. ISBN: 9783035628333. 400 pages. Hardcover: $86.99.
More expensive than most of the selections, but worth considering.
Tinajero, José Luis Alvarez. Gilardi House: Barragan’s Last Witness. Mexico City: Actar, 2025. ISBN: 9781638400370. 240 pages. Hardcover: $44.95.
A beautiful presentation of Barragan’s last work.
Wiencek, Henry. Stan and Gus: Art, Ardor, and the Friendship That Built the Gilded Age. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025. ISBN: 9780374162498. 320 pages. Hardcover: $27.36.
An intimate portrait of two very different yet interdependent artists who helped define the Gilded Age.
Wilson, Marc Anthony, Joel Puliatti, Marc Wanamaker. Frank Lloyd Wright in the Movies: Iconic California Sites on Film. Charleston: The History Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781467159555. 208 pages. Paperback: $24.99.
See some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic buildings through film.
