NEW
YORK
ARCHITECTURE+ DESIGN
BOOK
CLUB
Join New York’s only architecture and design book club (that we know of!)
The New York Architecture + Design Book Club, organized by Head Hi and the design journal Untapped, is a lively public program and book subscription series that explores remarkable new titles in the field. The books’ authors and industry experts lead a discussion at each quarterly gathering, which seeks to build deeper connections between people, ideas, and the world in which we live.
HOW IT WORKS
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
UPCOMING EVENTS
Join us on Tuesday, December 3, 6-8pm!
The third title for the 2024 New York Architecture + Design Book Club subscription and quarterly event series is Hélène Binet (Lund Humphries Publishers) with contributions by Martino Stierli and Marco Iuliano.
Over a period of forty years, Hélène Binet has photographed both contemporary and historical architecture - this is the complete monograph of her work, with two extensive critical essays. Marco Iuliano details Hélène Binet's background, from her childhood in the Italian fishing village of Sperlonga and in Rome, through her early 'discovery' of architectural photographer Lucien Hervé, to other significant influences, like the collaborations with Daniel Libeskind, John Hejduk and the connections at the Architectural Association (AA) in London where she met Zaha Hadid. The essay highlights in detail Binet's approach to photography, her process and archive.
Martino Stierli sets Binet's work within the conceptual framework of architectural photography, discussing whether an architectural photograph is an inventory of a building or space, a translation into a two-dimensional image or, rather, an image in its own right; an artifact that loosely relates to the original object or phenomenon. Within this context, Stierli argues that Binet's oeuvre seems to oscillate between two obsessions: a desire to translate spatial phenomena into the two-dimensional space of the image and a quest to articulate the modulation of light on a surface. The two essays are followed by a catalogue of Binet's work, which is framed within a series of her recurring themes emerged through dialogues between the authors and the photographer.
The book was published by Lund Humphries Publishers in July 2024.
EVENT GUESTS
For the event on December 3rd, co-author Martino Stierli, the Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA, will talk about the book with designer Danny Kaplan.
UNTAPPED BOOK REVIEW
Ahead of each event, Untapped publishes a review of the featured book, written by a leading design critic. The review of Hélène Binet is be written by Marianela D'Aprile.
Questions about how the book club works? Email us at hello@headhi.net.
PAST NEW YORK ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN BOOK CLUB PICKS
2024
Minerva Parker Nichols, In Search for a Forgotten Architect
American Modern: Architecture; Community; Columbus, Indiana
2023
The Advanced School of Collective Feeling
A Dark, A Light, A Bright The Designs of Dorothy Liebes
Touch Wood: Material, Architecture Future
Stephen Burks Shelter in Place
ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS
Head Hi is an organization dedicated to art and design specializing in publications and cultural programming with an espresso bar located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn by the Navy Yard. We feature a curated selection of publications from around the globe. Working with local and international artists, designers, publishers, community members and organizations in various fields, Head Hi is a space for exploration and interaction that hosts talks, book launches, art shows, music performances and other events.
Untapped is a new design journal that looks back to look forward. Their stories identify the most important knowledge about improving the built environment, and contextualize it for today and tomorrow.
We believe that both the near and distant past hold valuable insights for architects and designers. People have already solved, or are making headway on, many of the challenges the industry currently faces—but such achievements are often overlooked among an excess of data or in the pursuit of innovation, or when they are presented in convoluted ways. Our stories unpack and add a fresh critical perspective to those achievements, explaining why they’re significant and how they can be useful right now.
Untapped is not anti-innovation. We believe that the most efficient path to progress begins with building on what we know. This is the information that the journal is dedicated to gathering, making sense of, and reflecting on, and that we can’t afford to forget.
Collectively, Untapped’s stories form an encyclopedia of ideas: a gateway to knowledge that serves as a timeless, ever-growing resource for all.
www.untappedjournal.com
@untappedjournal