From “Italian Interiors”, from Laura May Todd to “Quasar Khanh – Visionary Designer” by Anthony Vaccarello, from “The Art Deco Style – Great Creators and Collectors”, from Alastair Duncan to “Timeless Residences”, by Wim Pauwels (preface), here is our selection of 6 beautiful books to adopt in your library.
Also read: 6 beautiful design and architecture books to discover
1 – Transalpine magic
What makes Italian style so attractive? These fifty private addresses brought together by journalist Laura May Todd represent a veritable thousand different styles. The past does not seem to weigh on Italian designers who, on the contrary, are inspired by it.
Italian Interiors, by Laura May Todd. DR
Chez Carlo Mollino, in Turin, between the living room of a designer and that of an old countess, the reconstruction of a vanished world is complete. At Roberto Baciocchi, architect of the Prada boutiques, the staircase is worthy of a theater. Each time, the charm works thanks to the culture of these beauty creators. “Italian Interiors”, one of the beautiful books to adopt urgently.
> Italian interiors, by Laura May Todd, Phaidon, 272 p., €59.95.
2 – Art Deco deciphered
What defines the Art Deco style? Difficult to simply answer the question. The decorative arts specialist Alastair Duncan, author of a volume on the subject in 2010, returns to the charge.
The Art Deco Style – Great Creators and Collectors, by Alastair Duncan. DR
This time, it parades the main actors of the movement. Not only creators like Paul Iribe or Armand-Albert Rateau, but also collectors, from Charles Templeton Crocker to Jeanne Lanvin, via the Maharaja of Indore. The erudition of the stories is joined by the richness of the iconography, always relevant.
> The Art Deco Style – Great creators and collectors, by Alastair Duncan, Citadelles & Mazenod, 420 p., €79.
3 – Everything about Rougemont
Guy de Rougemont (1935-2021) was a painter, academician, sculptor, decorator and ceramist. The author of the paving of the entrance to the Musée d’Orsay, often classified between pop art and minimalism, was also a designer. His Nuage table from the early 1970s in steel and Plexiglas has become cult.
Guy de Rougemont, de Gay Gassman. DR
The creator is thus evoked in a choral work composed of those who knew him under the direction of the American art historian Gay Gassmann, for whom Guy de Rougemont represents the figure of the multidisciplinary artist par excellence. “Guy de Rougemont”, one of the beautiful books to adopt for this new school year.
> Guy de Rougemont, by Gay Gassman, Norma Éditions, 256 p., in French and English, €75.
4 – Le grand (Quasar) Khanh
Inflatable furniture, living room, cube car or bamboo bicycle, Quasar Khanh (1934-2016) was a designer for whom everything had to be redesigned. Hence the interest of Anthony Vaccarello, creative director of Saint Laurent, to reissue this portrait book to make it a beautiful object, with the merit of offering substantial content.
Quasar Khanh – Visionary Designer, par Anthony Vaccarello. DR
Khan’s design reflects the era from the end of the 60s to the mid-80s, between experiments and perspectives. The designer Philippe Starck remembers it to the point of seeing in Khanh a true master of thought.
> Quasar Khanh – Visionary Designer, par Anthony Vaccarello, Exclusivité SLRD, 220 p., 110 €.
5 – A not-so-smooth contemporary
Succeed in photographing in 18 cities, including Paris, Brussels or Los Angeles, many predominantly cream interiors, without shaving. Bet successful! Even almost empty, these houses lack neither warmth nor life.
Timeless Residences, préface de Wim Pauwels. DR
They all come from reasoned choices like so many delicate touches. Like in this Palm Beach garage where the owners’ classic car parks right next to their office. What is, however, more Belgian than international, in this book designed in Belgium, is to discover this refinement without an atom of snobbery. “Timeless Residences”, one of the beautiful books to adopt urgently.
> Timeless Residences, préface de Wim Pauwels, Beta-Plus Publishing, 308 p., 99,95 €.
6 – AI paradises
What some people perceive just as the mirages of artificial architecture also, paradoxically, give rise to a number of very real projects. This book is one of them.
Living in a dream – Dreamscapes, Imagined Architecture, and Interiors, collectif. DR
It highlights the extent to which the digital tool excites the creativity of professional studios or students when it rides on the prowess of artificial intelligence. Colors, shapes and surfaces, architecture gets carried away and prances in a universe of limitless and highly stimulating creation, sometimes a bit kitsch.
> Living in a dream – Dreamscapes, Imagined Architecture, and Interiors, collectif, Gestalten, 256 p., 40 €.
Also read: 6 beautiful books to adopt urgently
