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Title:
I. M. Pei: Life is architecture

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$112.00
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Summary:
I. M. Pei (1917–2019) was one of the world's most influential architects. Born and raised in China, Pei trained and worked in the United States, establishing a practice that spanned seven decades and multiple continents. His legacy includes the realization of some of the most high-profile projects of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, from the modernization of the Louvre in Paris to the design of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Going beyond the usual building-by-building format of most architectural monographs, "I. M. Pei: Life is architecture" is organized thematically, exploring Pei's life and work through six topics that were central to his unique approach to architecture: transcultural identity, urban redevelopment, art and civic form, material and structural innovation, politics and patronage, and regenerating cultural and historical archetypes. Bringing together previously unpublished archival materials, specially commissioned essays, new photography, and personal contributions from those who knew and worked with Pei, this book presents both celebrated and lesser-known aspects of the architect's life and career while solidifying his position in architectural history and popular culture.

Title:
How Modern: Biographies of Architecture in China 1949–1979

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$45.00
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Between the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and the implementation of Reform and Opening Up policies in 1979, architecture played a key role in shaping China’s vision for socialist modernity. However, driven by shifting policies throughout these three decades, modern Chinese architecture has largely been perceived as stunted. Many misconceptions of this history persist: that nationalization and collectivism denied architects creative independence, that projects focused on industrial productivity over design quality, and that the promotion of a “national style” limited more modern formal choices. At once a question and a proposition, How Modern: Biographies of Architecture in China 1949–1979 reassesses New China’s architectural production. Reproducing primary sources alongside short essays and interviews with architects, archivists, historians, and residents, the book reflects on issues such as agency, innovation, collaboration, expertise, standardization, craft, and local and international impact. It challenges a monolithic history of socialist modernity by foregrounding the varied conditions under which modernism was conceived, realized, and experienced.

Title:
Futures of the architectural exhibition: Five conversations on the display of space

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Summary:
In recent years, the specific formats and challenges of exhibiting architecture and design, both built and speculative, have often been used as critical devices for identifying, communicating, and convening the public around shared matters of concern. These have increasingly included urgent questions of equity and justice, labor, gender, race, class, community, and lifestyle in relation to spatial issues of density, economy, policy, infrastructure, climate, and sustainability. This book records a discussion of critical approaches to the representation of architecture through conversations with seven contemporary curators working inside and outside of the museum. Mario Ballesteros (Archivo Diseño y Arquitectura), Giovanna Borasi (Canadian Center for Architecture), Ann Lui (Future Firm), Ana Miljacki (Critical Broadcasting Lab, MIT), Zoë Ryan (ICA, University of Pennsylvania), Martino Stierli (Museum of Modern Art), and Shirley Surya (M+, Hong Kong) speculate on the specific challenges and potentials of exhibiting space.