If, like us, you’re getting bored of staring at the same four walls, these six VINTAGE books spanning the worlds of architecture, design and fashion ought to provide some much-needed aesthetic sustenance. From a jaunt through fifties New York with a beloved fashion photographer to a beautifully illustrated exploration of Japanese culture; these books will encourage you to leave your all-too-familiar living room behind and jump into a new world entirely.
Recommendations
6 VINTAGE architecture and design books to inspire you
The See-Through House by Shelley Klein
Shelley Klein’s tender and beautiful memoir about saying goodbye to an extraordinary family home, and an adored yet maddening parent. Her story is told through the prism of High Sunderland – a modernist house of colourful glass panels set against a forest of trees.
In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki
What could be more transporting than this gorgeous, fully-illustrated ode to Japanese culture? Junichiro Tanizaki's wise and evocative essay will gently lead you by the hand through traditional architecture to Noh theatre, from cookery to lighting. Lockdown, what lockdown?
Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington
Whether you’re a slave to fashion or not, you’ll be captivated by this behind-the-scenes peek into a notoriously secretive and closed world. In the charismatic voice that endeared her to colleagues and the general public alike, Vogue’s notorious Creative Director Grace Coddington tells her story, taking us from windswept wartime Anglesey, to sixties London and her twenty five year professional partnership with Anna Wintour.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Missing urban life? Us too. Called ‘magnificent’ by none other than Rebecca Solnit, Jane Jacobs’ classic book might just fill the city-shaped hole in your life. A rallying cry for a rethink of our urban planning, Jacobs will take you on a tour of the endless diversity, teeming street life and human scale of our cities, all without leaving your front room.
Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes
If you haven’t made time for Roland Barthes in your life yet, he deserves a spot on your lockdown TBR pile. This beautiful new Vintage Design edition of Camera Lucida is a fantastic place to start. This is Barthes’ final book and perhaps his most accessible; beginning as an investigation into the nature of photographs, and gradually becoming an exposition of his own mind, this groundbreaking book might just change the way you look at the world forever.
Fashion Climbing by Bill Cunningham
This whimsical memoir charting one man’s love affair with fashion will provide you with a dose of pure escapism. Beloved New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham died in 2016, but this wonderful peek into a life well-lived will make you feel as though he’s in the room with you, sharing his tales of hijinks at fashion galas, high tea in the Hamptons in the fifties and industry drama, all enthused with Bill’s personal ethos that beautiful things can be their own form of sustenance.
