26 books for the holidays selected by Domus

Founded in 2016 by Joanne Meiyi Chan, Illustoria is an illustrated quarterly magazine, designed for children aged 6 to 12 years and their parents. Each issue deals with a theme – Food, Color, Home are the latest published titles – and, through drawings, comics, stories, interviews and do-it-yourself activities, celebrates the works of established and emerging artists, writers and creators. Ed. Illustoria, 2019  

On the occasion of the exhibition in Como “Vivere alla Ponti: una storia di design” (13.12.2019-6.1.2020), the original volume Gio Ponti Lettere ai Parisi (Nodolibri) was reprinted: this is an affectionate and personal correspondence between Ponti, Ico and Luisa Parisi, where the thought is drawn and words are transformed into a graphic sign. Italian only, Ed Nodolibri Editore

An artist’s book, is a challenge for architects and designers who have eyes trained to instantly grasp and evaluate dimensions and proportions of objects and spaces. Written and illustrated by the young Japanese Ayumi Kudo, who has been transplanted to Italy for several years, it tells with delicate words and signs the extraordinary nature of the non-quantifiable. Ed. Seigensha, 2017

Written in 1934 by the author of the Observer’s crossword puzzles, and now republished by Unbound under the supervision of the Laurence Sterne Trust and a beautiful cover by Tom Gauld, it is one of the most unique examples of Books in the box, intellectual literary objects where the pages are not bound and the text can be leafed through in the order preferred by the reader. In this case, however, we are faced with 100 pages that make up a detective story, the solution to which is obtained only by first putting the chapters in the exact order (i.e. only one of the 32,000,000 possible combinations). Even today, the Observer still rewards with 1,000 pounds those who solve the mystery in the mystery: so far only two people have succeeded. Ed. Unbound, 2019

The first book by the photographer Marina Caneve is the result of a long process of visual investigation on the hydrogeological risk of the Dolomites. Created in collaboration with the geologist Emiliano Oddone and the anthropologist Annibale Salsa, and enriched by a text by Taco Hidde Bakker, it has won the Cortona On The Move Dummy Award 2018 and has now become a beautiful, precious and necessary object, thanks to the Dutch Fw:Books. Ed. Fw:Books/OTM, 2019

Cologne, 1931: Gilgi wants to emancipate herself through work. She works as a typist and listens to jazz with her friend Olga, dreaming of independence. But she meets Pitt, a bohemian writer.... Orma publisher republishes Gilgi in Italy after many years of oblivion: released in Germany in 1933 with great success, in a short time had disappeared with its author, because of censorship. Ed. Penguin Modern Classics, 2019

The story of an illustrator in crisis who seeks existential answers on the roof of the Velasca Tower in Milan, asking advice to a cat, Alda Merini, Bruno Munari, Dino Buzzati... Italian only, Ed. Bao Publishing, 2018

The Lego Architect is a guide to reconstruct in scale the most complex buildings and the most daring skyscrapers in architecture history, only using Lego bricks. Ed. No Starch Press, 2015

Architects Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample tell children about a century of architectural projects, signed by the names of the calibre of Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Aalto and the Eames, among others. Ed. Corraini, 2019

To enter the world of Charlotte Perriand by seeing (or discovering) a beautiful exhibition. Ed. Fondation Louis Vuitton, Gallimard, 2019

Small film sequences and words, sometimes raw but necessary, to listen to those who were “born on the wrong side of Brazil”, as the young and amazing author of the thirteen stories of The sun on my head says.

With over 700 images, detailed drawings, models and prototypes of all the products designed for Braun over 40 years – as well as the seating and shelf system created for Vitsoe in the 1960s – Gestalten's bilingual publication is a sort of Bible about the world of Rams. Less and more honours the brilliant 87-year-old German designer whose visual language is the declared source of inspiration for Apple products, among many others. It is also a beautiful object: its 808 pages, respectful of the colors and aesthetics of the German designer, are marked by an alternation of papers chosen according to how they best support texts, photos and illustrations. The cover is soft, in white PVC, protected by a sober grey box with white writing. Ed. Gestalten, 2015

For lovers of short stories, Zadie Smith has published her first collection with Penguin, containing eleven unpublished stories. Zadie Smith was born in London in 1975 from an English father and a Jamaican mother. Her first book, White Teeth, written when she was only 23, was published in England in 2000 and in Italy the following year, and has become an extraordinary literary case. Ed. Penguin Books, 2019

Meditating is first and foremost about standing still. And poetry serves the soul and needs no motivation. In Italian, Giulio Einaudi Publisher, 2018

Irénée Scalbert brings us a new way of narrating architecture and, not secondarily, of criticizing it. Starting from the direct experience – to which the title of the publication refers – with physical architecture and the people who revolve around it, a transversal, bold and profound vision of the discipline and architectural culture emerges, reaching even the uninitiated. Park Books, 2018

I still remember one of the first lessons of my studies in architecture: the professor said, in a large hall full of students, that “the building site is not a place for women”. In an ideal world there would perhaps be no need for pink quotas, nor for ‘female’ books on art, design and architecture. However, there is still a pressing need for it, and Jane Hall does it very well through this book: a journey that winds through more than 200 buildings designed by women, from Modern to Contemporary. Ed Phaidon, 2019

The Vignelli Canon has become a best seller, designed in A5 format with the precise desire to be downloaded in pdf free of charge (and then printed on an A4 format to get the entire double pages), traces the guidelines of graphic design. The intention was in fact to disclose as much as possible a canon to better understand the meaning of design in general and typography in particular as declared by the authors themselves Lella and Massimo Vignelli. Ed. Lars Muller 

“Historians have rarely talked about colors. Their silence, however, derives from several factors, linked to the course of history and the difficulties that are found in considering color as a historical object in its own right.” Starting from the assumption that the history of color is a social history, Pastoureau’s book uses blue to take us into a world of anecdotes about the lexicon, the chemistry of pigments, dyeing techniques, clothing, art, moralisation and the role of colour in everyday life, from prehistory to the present day. Ed. Ponte alle Grazie, 2018

In times that are thirsty for identity definitions, this classic unmasks the relationship between history and identity, adding a broader category to the abused category of non-place: that of junkspace. This permeates our cities, it is an uncontrolled and anarchic force born from the interstices of the designed space, which can be suppressed with an obsessive aestheticism, but perhaps it is better to observe it and, perhaps, appreciate it. To be read together with the The Third Landscape by Gilles Clément. Ed. Quodlibet, 2006

Known for his criticism of cyper-utopism, Morozov studies the social and political implications of technology and the bigs of the digital scene. Released four years ago, this little book should be read before accepting the terms of condition of our new smartphone. Ed Code, 2016, Italian version

The result of years of research, the latest book by Harvard political scientist Shoshana Zuboff, warns against the pitfalls and pervasiveness of the new economic order that exploits big data for obscure business practices and puts democracy itself at risk. Ed. Luiss University Press, 2019

The director of the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology explains how observing the functioning of the boundless world of plants, man can draw many ideas to develop a new paradigm that safeguards the planet and future generations. In Italian, Ed. Laterza, 2019

Released last year, and not yet translated into Italian, it is worth reading. As always, the author is able to identify the key points of the current debate on design and to describe them in a comprehensible way. The book takes the form of a guide on contemporary design and touches on themes and corners of the world that are among those that have and will have the most impact on our lives. And after opening the Christmas packages, it’s a good opportunity for some reflection. Ed. JRP editions, 2018

In May a tv series produced by HBO and Sky UK and simply titled Chernobyl raised again attention to the worst nuclear disaster in history. The rating of 9.5 on Imdb shows how much appreciated it was. It also drew some controversies: Russian medias criticized Chernobyl for being one-sided propaganda, while it became an instant trend for some “influencers” to take a trip to the surroundings of Pripyat to instagram some genuine post-apocalyptic shots. With Midnight in Chernobyl, British journalist and writer Adam Higginbotham reconstructs the scenario of the disaster, situating it in his historical context and detailing how building up the power plant was a gigantic effort for the Soviet government with the creation from the scratch of a brand new town, the “atomgrad” of Pripyat, which stands out as the real protagonist of the book. Published by Simon & Schuster, 2019.  

For two years in a row, “future cities” has been domusforum's main topic. Writer and researcher Paul Dobraszczyk has written a marvellous book with which he explores a wide range of imagined cities “from” the future, submerged, floating, vertical and ruined. The author goes through them and scans them, highlighting the links between the imagination, possibilities and reality. So, Dubai new skyscrapers intermingle with movies and visual arts, while ancient myths find an actual realization but also a modern transfiguration in SF movies. Published by Reaktion Books 2019, 2019.  

This is not a new book, but one of the few that well decribes what Hong Kong used to be – along with a bunch of wonderful movies and a game, Sleeping Dogs, originally published by Square Enix back in 2012. But this virtual journey through the walled city of Kowloon, which was demolished 25 years ago but whose heritage is still alive – it recently inspired the sprawls of Robert Rodriguez's live-action movie Alita –, is more than just history, as it tells a lot about the soul and the spirit that shape the city-state whose rallies and guerrilla acts against China, a modern political David against Goliath fight in a South-Eastern Asian version, have been among the most dramatic news this year. The book was originally published in 1993, with a Revisited edition following in 2014, after a Kickstarter campaign to crowfound it, published by Watermark.