10 books to read during the holidays

Organized alphabetically, this volume adopts the traditional format of a glossary—a list of terms, concepts, or expressions with accompanying definitions or explanations—intended to clarify specialized, technical, or uncommon words used in a text or in a specific field of study. This volume, just published by Spector Books, takes this function literally, but turns its essence upside down. Instead of establishing norms, it delves into exceptions; instead of defining design as a discipline, it opens it up as a constellation of undisciplined practices. The book presents a necessary act of anarchic creativity, both euphoric and ethical in a field increasingly dominated by marketing conformity.

The publication of a book by Riccardo Falcinelli is always an event. His ability to explain images, their structure and functioning, but also their perceptual and psychological impact is exceptional. Visus is undoubtedly one of his most ambitious and important volumes. The human face, at the center of the investigation, is not simply an image. Sifting through a whole gallery of portraits 'from antiquity to selfies' with finesse and humor, Falcinelli takes us by the hand to the roots of art (not just portraiture) and reveals how, through the representation of the face, we compose our identity. Concurrently he does much more: he shows us that our face is not nature but is already design.

'I have met many people, all the possible and imaginable editors and directors, but no one like her. Really no one,’ Azzedine Alaïa declared about Carla Sozzani. Today, a book celebrates this essential figure in Italian fashion and culture. An extraordinary journey that starts from her childhood in Mantua, lands in Milan via Swinging London, intertwines with her partnership with her inseparable sister Franca - the historic director of Vogue Italiathe  - editorship of magazines such as Elle and special issues of Vogue, collaborations with great photographers and stylists such as Romeo Gigli and Alaïa, the creation of Galleria Sozzani, the launch of the NN Studio brand and the opening of 10 Corso Como, the first concept store that revolutionized the international scene, up to the birth of the Fondazione Sozzani, between Milan and Paris. An eclectic and surprising path animated by inexhaustible energy. Louise Baring retraces the stages of her life in a book that resembles a photo album, capable of telling not only her story, but also a part of our own.

Published to accompany the Vitra Design Museum’s first exhibition on Nike - the world’s largest sports brand - this book traces the history of the iconic brand from its founding in 1972 to today. With a turnover exceeding $50 billion, Nike is both a commercial giant and a design innovator. From experimental designs for iconic sneakers such as the Waffle Trainer, Air Force One, and Shox, to partnerships with sports legends like Michael Jordan, and collaborations with designers such as Marc Newson, Comme des Garçons, Virgil Abloh, Nike has continuously redefined design. Thanks to its rich historical and contemporary iconography - particularly Alastair Wiper’s exclusive photos that showcase Nike’s design process, production areas, and archives at its headquarters - the book allows readers to step behind the scenes of the brand, into the factory of icons. It delves into the beating heart of a system that merges innovation with success, establishing design as its defining hallmark

In the spring of 1966, four Europeans—architects Umberto Riva and Luisa Castiglioni, flâneur Enzo Muzii, and patron Hans Deichmann—traveled across the United States to document modern architecture. Reviving the ancient ritual of the Grand Tour, from San Francisco to New York, via the South and the Midwest, they photographed masterpieces by Mies van der Rohe, Louis Kahn, Frank Lloyd Wright and others, capturing the United States at their peak. The images, in black and white, enriched the renowned issue 17 of Zodiac, Adriano Olivetti’s magazine. Accompanied by analyses from Gabriele Neri and Maddalena Scarzella, as well as testimony from Maria Bottero, a Zodiac editor at the time, the photographs from that journey are now compiled in a compact volume published by Humboldt. This work is not only a chance to revisit cities and architectures that define modernity but also to reaffirm the importance of travel as a tool for knowledge.

It is well known that most of the projects designed by architects, even the most famous ones, are not realized. Due to funding issues, disagreements with clients, technical or logistical challenges, or more dramatic circumstances such as wars and natural disasters, countless projects remain unrealized. Edited by Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin, curators of the celebrated Never Built New York and Never Built Los Angeles exhibitions, this newly published book by Phaidon presents for the first time an extensive mapping of the most spectacular unbuilt architectural projects of the 20th and 21st centuries. They include the skyscraper designed for the Roger Lacy Hotel by Lloyd Wright in 1946, the Qatar National Library designed by Isozaki in 2002, Peter Behrens’ 1928 Atlantropa supercontinent vision, and MVRDV’s urban proposal for the UNESCO heritage city of Liuzhu, China. An atlas of utopias and failures, delusions and ideals, the book turns architecture inside out: as the editors write, ‘in the unbuilt lies the afterlife of dreams.’

Every volume in the Oilà series, edited by Chiara Alessi for Electa with Leonardo Sonnoli’s brilliant graphic design, is a must-read, offering a female-centered counter-history of design. Yet the latest release is even more noteworthy, as it celebrates a pivotal figure in Italian culture: Maria Cristina Mariani Dameno (1924–2020), better known as Cini Boeri. She was not only a great protagonist of architecture and design – famed for creations like the iconic modular Serpentone sofa sold by the meter – but also a woman who fiercely embraced her independence, both as a designer and as a partisan and mother. Through historical documents and firsthand accounts, Cristina Moro – curator of the Cini Boeri and Michele De Lucchi archives as well as a collaborator with Domus – paints a radiant portrait of Boeri. The book extends beyond her artistic achievements, highlighting her lifelong pursuit of dialogue and innovation in tune with the contemporary world.

One year after Andrea Branzi’s passing, this volume brings together, for the first time, around 200 texts the designer published in Interni magazine from 1979 to 2023. This invaluable book showcases Branzi’s multifaceted genius—always fearless, sharp, and unconventional, his ever–shifting gaze explored the transformations of the world, far beyond architecture and design. Tracing Branzi’s seemingly infinite zig–zag—from design culture to education, cities to animism, postmodernity to neo–prehistory—feels like following the thread of a ‘thought in progression.’ Acrobatic, funambulistic, and endlessly surprising, his writing reveals just how deeply Branzi’s insights are missed and how design itself can embody a deep form of wisdom.

No selection of design books would be complete without one dedicated to gardens. Originally published in 1966, this compact volume by renowned Danish architect C.Th. Sørensen quickly became a classic in landscape design. Its concept is both simple and revolutionary: all 39 garden designs presented – from rural courtyards to Renaissance parterres – are meant to be achievable on the grounds of an ordinary house. Now available again in English (following a recent German edition by Lars Müller Publishers), this collection includes an introduction by architect Lodewijk Wiegersma. It serves as a source of inspiration for anyone looking to explore the spatial and poetic potential of domestic landscapes, reaffirming that a garden is not a luxury but a necessity.

CAMPO, a collective comprising Gianfranco Bombaci, Matteo Costanzo, Luca Galofaro, and Davide Sacconi, was founded to reinterpret contemporary architecture and cities through an experimental lens, exposing their contradictions and contrasts. Their newly published book, Zibaldone, compiles ten years of reflections, featuring contributions from over 100 authors – including Didier Fiuza Faustino, Pier Vittorio Aureli, Supervoid, and Bêka & Lemoine. A dizzying kaleidoscope of texts and images, the book is part diary, part anthology. It invigorates architecture – too often stifled by idle, outdated debates – with fresh vitality and boldness.