SOME RELEVANT CONTEMPORARY BOOKS

To study a postgraduate program such as MCH, and to further develop a cereer as architect, it is important to have some of the best architecture books on your bookshelf, as a reference, and also to constantly enrich it with the best samples about contemporary architecture.

Any architecture student or professional in this field should read the most important or relevant architecture books, so we would like to help providing this brief list.

We hope you find this selection stimulating. 

The 4 architecture books that cannot be missing in your bookshelf

Delirious New-York by Rem Koolhaas

This book is an essay that reflects on the architecture of the urban complex of Manhattan at the end of the 20th century. This is one of the classic architecture books, addressing a specific but very stimulating topic.

Delirious New-York reflects on how the architecture of this city could generate and foster culture, stating that the city is a changing group, almost having a life of its own.

It was a controversial book in its beginnings, but it became an essential on any architect's, any student's, or any urbanist's shelf, as it describes a movement of great influence on culture and history.

The Architecture of Happiness - Alain de Botton

Published in 2006, this is a Best Seller of architecture. This book deals with the idea that happiness depends on the view we have of ourselves. This fact is reflected in the objects we surround ourselves with, so depending on the time and context in which we find ourselves, we will have a different idea of ​​beauty.

However, there are a number of architectural elements that have been repeated over the centuries, fulfilling the needs of people and bringing happiness changes for each and every moment.

Ecological Urbanism - Mohsen Mostafavi, Gareth Doherty

Ecological Urbanism - Mohsen Mostafavi, Gareth Doherty

It is, without any doubt, one of the basics that cannot be missing in a list like this. Ecological urbanism is a compilation of essays and symposiums on urban planning and ecological architecture, carried out at Harvard University in 2009, where the sustainable aspects of urban architecture are analyzed from the perspective of engineers, artists, designers or scientists.

It is a book that arises from the need to think critically about the architecture of cities, addressing it from an ecological approach, absolutely necessary for the time we live.

Collective housing architecture - Josep Maria Montaner

If we focus in collective housing architecture books, we have to talk about Josep Maria Montaner, who is one of our guest professors and one of the most prominent experts in the field. His book is a story told in a different ways, with a broad vision. From a contemporary perspective, it reflects on the main aspects of collective housing.

In the first part of this book, the author frames tradition, starting with the existent experiments of the Existezminimun, after which the French grand ensembles came. Later, in the second part he describes the arosen responses to the modern urban crisis, those which became alternatives for the organization of housing afterwards. In a third part, the creation of neighborhoods, as well as the overlapping of plants in buildings designed for housing is issued. Finally, he analyzes possible architectural refurbishment options and environmental architectures, linking this way the past with the present.

We hope you liked this selection of architectural books. There are many more, also essential ones. If you want, you can leave us a comment telling us which other book you would include in this list. We'd love to hear from you!

Master in Collective Housing UPM/ETH

Next edition of the MAS in Collective Housing will start in January 2020, and the application period is already opened, till 31.12.2019 or until vacancies are filled. 

The Master of Architecture in Collective Housing, MCH, is a postgraduate full-time international professional program of advanced architecture design in cities and housing presented by Universidad Politécnica of Madrid (UPM) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). 

Apply here!