Study Architecture 
ProPEL A New Holiday Tradition
Column by Barbara Opar, Librarian for Architecture, Syracuse University Libraries
“Icelanders have a beautiful tradition of giving books to each other on Christmas Eve and then spending the night reading. This custom is so deeply ingrained in the culture that it is the reason for the Jolabokaflod, or “Christmas Book Flood,” when the majority of books in Iceland are sold between September and December in preparation for Christmas giving.”¹
Have friends in Architecture? Architects do love books, so this tradition might be something to consider or modify at the very least. Treating yourself? Well, as a librarian I can think of far worse ways to spend your time and money. So, on that note, I am sharing a baker’s dozen of interesting architecture titles from 2022, focusing this time mostly on titles with a modest cost.
The Glasgow Style of Mackintosh and his contemporaries Herbert McNair, Margaret MacDonald and Frances MacDonald is chronicled by one of the best-known writers on the period.
- Billcliffe, Roger. Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Art of the Four. London: Frances Lincoln, 2022, ISBN: 9780711279988. 304 Pages.
Details from 50 Aalto buildings are documented by component in 20 chapters.
- Dietziker, Céline. Aalto in Detail: A catalogue of components. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2022, ISBN: 9783035623321. 432 Pages.
French makes a compelling case for Hitchcock’s engagement with location and the built environment.
- French, Christine Madrid. The Architecture of Suspense: The Built World in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock (Midcentury: Architecture, Landscape, Urbanism, and Design), Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2022. ISBN: 978-0813947679. 274 Pages.
The woman behind the man is presented as both a love story and an engaging study of postwar architectural history as seen through the media.
- Hagberg, Eva. When Eero Met His Match: Aline Louchheim Saarinen and the Making of an Architect, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022. ISBN: 9780691206677. 232 Pages.
Hartman’s book profiles the transformative impact of women like Marion Mahoney Griffin and Jeanne Gang on architecture.
- Hartman, Jan Cigliano. The Women Who Changed Architecture: Women Who Changed Architecture. Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 2022, ISBN: 9781616898717. 336 Pages.
Hartoonian explores the significance of Frampton’s 1960 introduction to modern architecture.
- Hartoonian, Gevork. Reading Kenneth Frampton: A Commentary on ‘Modern Architecture’. London: Anthem Press, 2022. ISBN: 9781839983498. 222 Pages.
While most know the name, few people truly understand the significance of Julia Morgan’s contribution to 20th century American architecture.
- Kastner, Victoria. Julia Morgan: An Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect, San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2022. ISBN: 9781797205632. 240 Pages.
The Arkansas-based Blackwell has produced award-winning designs of various scales often with small budgets and using inexpensive materials.
- MacKeith, Peter. Radical Practice: The Work of Marlon Blackwell Architects. Hudson: Princeton Architectural Press, 2022, ISBN: 9781616898953. 512 Pages.
An important work which explores Alberti’s life, works and writings.
- Pearson, Caspar. Leon Battista Alberti: The Chameleon’s Eye (Renaissance Lives). London: Reaktion Books, 2022, ISBN: 9781789145212. 304 Pages.
An anthology which contains all of Mies’ writings and lectures, many previously unknown or unpublished.
- Pizzigoni, Vittorio, Michelangelo Sabatino. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: Complete Writings 1922–1969. Berlin: DOM Publishers, 2022. ISBN: 9783869223070. 300 Pages.
This AD publication showcases new graphic and virtual forms of architectural drawing.
- Spiller, Neil. Radical Architectural Drawing (Architectural Design), Hoboken: Wiley, 2022. ISBN: 9781119787778. 136 Pages.
Based upon a MOMA exhibit, this catalog discusses the advances in architecture made in post-World War II South Asia, including low-cost, climatic and socially responsive design.
- Stierli, Martino. The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2022, ISBN: 9781633451247. 245 Pages.
Twenty-five building projects of various types from across the globe are presented through photographs and construction details.
- The Plan. Sustainable Architecture: Contemporary Architecture in Detail. Barcelona: Hoaki, 2022, ISBN: 9788417656430, 240 Pages.
