Photograph © 2019 Steve King.
1. Off the Grid
If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of quitting your job, escaping the modern world and living a simpler life, the beautiful buildings in this book might just push you over the edge. From coastal cabins to woodland retreats, all of the homes in Off the Grid are perfect escapes.
Using renewable energy, locally sourced materials and innovative architecture, these off grid homes tread lightly on the natural world and sit comfortably in their surroundings. As well as being eco-friendly, the buildings are also spectacular. Set in some of the most remote and isolated places on Earth, they demonstrate how good architecture can address the challenges of climate change and work in harmony with the landscape.
Read Off the Grid to find your perfect escape.
2. New Nordic Houses
Feel the hygge emanating from the pages of this beautiful and inspiring book. Most of the featured properties are surrounded by Scandinavia’s stunning landscapes. From forests to beaches, these rugged and often remote environments present architects with unique challenges and opportunities.
The climate in Scandinavia is as dramatic as the region’s countryside, and architects have to design for days of endless light and months of darkness. New Nordic Houses features forty of the region’s finest and most innovative homes. Full of inviting saunas, dreamy window seats and enticing verandas, this is one of the best architecture books for those who long for a Nordic escape.
Step inside New Nordic Houses for a real feel of Scandinavia.
3. Architects' Houses
The best way to truly understand an architect is to see the buildings they design for themselves. Independent of clients, collaborators and other outside input, they can let their ideas run wild, often creating truly beguiling homes in the process.
In Architects’ Houses we’re given a tantalising glimpse inside thirty of the most ingenious designs of the past decade. From urban infills to rustic retreats, modernist masterpieces to eco-friendly builds, any one of these sensational properties would make a dream home escape. Discover what inspired the architects, how their projects were realised and how they achieved something truly out of the ordinary.
Read Architects’ Houses to learn more.
4. Concrete Houses
Often overlooked and much maligned, concrete can get a bad rap. In the right hands however, the material can look fantastic. Sculptural, tactile and even welcoming, used well, concrete can bring something special to a build.
Concrete Houses explores and celebrates concrete and its ability to fuse brute force with timeless beauty. Featuring landmark homes from around the world, the book shows how concrete can be reimagined to transform the way we live. The book is illustrated with exceptional colour photos as well as selected plans and drawings, bringing the designs to life and helping you step inside these concrete creations.
Enjoy a little architectural inspiration with Concrete Houses.
5. White Houses
If you like your lines clean and your colours minimal, White Houses is one of the best books on architecture you can find. The first publication devoted to all-white homes, it delves into the unique nature of white houses and looks at how architects have harnessed the power and purity of the colour to accent and enhance their designs.
Compiled and written by Philip Jodidio, one of the world’s leading authorities on contemporary architecture, the book features an incredibly varied selection of homes from around the world. From seaside retreats to country houses and urban builds to mountain top cabins, these brilliant white homes transcend their apparent simplicity to offer us something new, exciting and irresistible.
Browse our full collection of architecture and landscape design books and find your perfect inspiration.
