Holiday Gift Books: 05 Edition

After seeing Design Observer's great list of Holiday Reading, I decided to reprise last year's Holiday Gift Books, though this year's selections will be grouped into pairs. Enjoy!


New York Changing by Douglas Levere and The Mythic City by Donald Albrecht

Two great picture books that focus on New York City. Levere's book presents a side-by-side comparison of Berenice Abbott's 1930's images with recent "rephotographs" of his own. Albrecht's book is a collection of lesser known photographer Samuel H. Grottscho's photos of the city from 1925-40.


IDEO Method Cards by IDEO and Oblique Strategies by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt

If inspiration is what you need, these two decks dole it out in unique ways: the IDEO deck presents 51 strategies used by the design company, while the Oblique Strategies are harder to pin down, where each card is a "a suggestion of a course of action or thinking to assist in creative situations."


Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape by Brian Hayes and The Works: Anatomy of a City by Kate Ascher

Two heavily-illustrated guides to the stuff we take for granted.


HONG KONG Front Door/Back Door by Michael Wolf and Burtynsky - China by Edward Burtynsky

Two photography books focusing on everybody's favorite "21st-century country".


Buckminster Fuller: Designing for mobility by Michael John Gorman and Buckminster Fuller T-shirt by FAT American

A book and a shirt about one of the 20th-centuries most innovative thinkers.


Dinner for Architects edited by Winfried Nerdinger and Sketch Plan Build: World Class Architects Show How It's Done by Alejandro Bahamon

Here's two books that show proof that in this day of ubiquitous computer graphics, architects still draw.


Katsura: The Imperial Villa by Arata Isozaki and Modern Japanese House by Naomi Pollock

The Japanese house then and now.


Architourism: Authentic, Escapist, Exotic, Spectacular edited by Joan Ockman and A Guide to Contemporary Architecture in America, Volume 1 by Masayuki Fuchigami

Architecture growing popularity for travelers is analyzed and presented in these two books.


Constructing Architecture: A Materials, Processes, Structures, A Handbook edited by Andrea Deplazes and Material World 2: Innovate Materials for Architecture and Design compiled by Materio

These Birkhauser books attest to the popularity of innovative materials and processes in architecture today.


Josep Lluis Mateo: Projects, Works, Writings by Philip Ursprung and Alvaro Siza: Private Houses compiled by Francesco Molteni and Alessandra Cianchetta

Finally, a couple expensive monographs to round out the list.


Revealing Chicago by Terry Evans and Chicago Architecture: Histories, Revisions, Alternatives edited by Charles Waldheim and Katerina Ruedi

And a couple late Chicago additions.

Some more lists:

:: Design Observer's Holiday Reading
:: Village Voice's Year's Coffee Table Books
:: Amazon.com's Editor Picks: Top 50
:: New York Times' 100 Notable, 10 Best Books of 2005, and Houses and Gardens
:: Fimoculous.com's constantly-updated Lists 2005