24 books like Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays

By Robin Evans,

Here are 24 books that Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays fans have personally recommended if you like Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Venice

Sally Stone Author Of Inside Information: The Defining Concepts of Interior Design

From my list on the future of the interior.

Why am I passionate about this?

For more than thirty years I have been discussing, formulating ideas, and writing about Architecture, Building Reuse, and Interiors. I lead the MA Architecture and Adaptive Reuse programme and direct graduate atelier Continuity in Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture. I am currently the Visiting Professor at the University IUAV of Venice where I am conducting research on the sustainable adaptation of existing buildings with particular emphasis on the environmental concerns within the inherently fragile city of Venice.

Sally's book list on the future of the interior

Sally Stone Why did Sally love this book?

Jan Morris’s book is a fantastic discussion about the evolution of Venice. It explores why the city looks as it does, why the inhabitants behave in a particular manner, it explains how the buildings are constructed, why the boats are shaped as they are, how the navy constructed their Arsenale, what is best to eat, and when, what the climate is like and how this has informed behaviour and so much more...

By Jan Morris,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Venice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Often hailed as one of the best travel books ever written, Venice is neither a guide nor a history book, but a beautifully written immersion in Venetian life and character, set against the background of the city's past. Analysing the particular temperament of Venetians, as well as its waterways, its architecture, its bridges, its tourists, its curiosities, its smells, sounds, lights and colours, there is scarcely a corner of Venice that Jan Morris has not investigated and brought vividly to life.

Jan Morris first visited the city of Venice as young James Morris, during World War II. As she writes…


Book cover of Home: A Short History of an Idea

Sally Stone Author Of Inside Information: The Defining Concepts of Interior Design

From my list on the future of the interior.

Why am I passionate about this?

For more than thirty years I have been discussing, formulating ideas, and writing about Architecture, Building Reuse, and Interiors. I lead the MA Architecture and Adaptive Reuse programme and direct graduate atelier Continuity in Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture. I am currently the Visiting Professor at the University IUAV of Venice where I am conducting research on the sustainable adaptation of existing buildings with particular emphasis on the environmental concerns within the inherently fragile city of Venice.

Sally's book list on the future of the interior

Sally Stone Why did Sally love this book?

Home discusses the complex series of factors that have generated the house as we understand it today. The chapters can be read independently as discussions on, for example, the evolution of comfort or the organisation of the different spaces. However, the book also builds into a fascinating argument for revisiting some of the pre-modern ideas of communal living, shared spaces, and live-work relationships. 

By Witold Rybczynski,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Home as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Walk through five centuries of homes both great and small from the smoke-filled manor halls of the Middle Ages to today's Ralph Lauren-designed environments on a house tour like no other, one that delightfully explicates the very idea of "home."

You'll see how social and cultural changes influenced styles of decoration and furnishing, learn the connection between wall-hung religious tapestries and wall-to-wall carpeting, discover how some of our most welcome luxuries were born of architectural necessity, and much more. Most of all, Home opens a rare window into our private lives and how we really want to live.


Book cover of Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture As Mass Media

Sally Stone Author Of Inside Information: The Defining Concepts of Interior Design

From my list on the future of the interior.

Why am I passionate about this?

For more than thirty years I have been discussing, formulating ideas, and writing about Architecture, Building Reuse, and Interiors. I lead the MA Architecture and Adaptive Reuse programme and direct graduate atelier Continuity in Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture. I am currently the Visiting Professor at the University IUAV of Venice where I am conducting research on the sustainable adaptation of existing buildings with particular emphasis on the environmental concerns within the inherently fragile city of Venice.

Sally's book list on the future of the interior

Sally Stone Why did Sally love this book?

Beatriz Colomina explores how Adolf Loos set the stage for the occupants of a house to live in. Through a lively discussion of the relationship between private and public areas within the homes that he designed, she discusses the relationships between the open spaces, corridors, light, dark, and view. The comparison is between the home as a place to dwell and the home as a place for performance – a theatrical set.

By Beatriz Colomina,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Privacy and Publicity as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Through a series of close readings of two major figures of the modern movement, Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier, Beatriz Colomina argues that architecture only becomes modern in its engagement with the mass media, and that in so doing it radically displaces the traditional sense of space and subjectivity. Privacy and Publicity boldly questions certain ideological assumptions underlying the received view of modern architecture and reconsiders the methodology of architectural criticism itself. Where conventional criticism portrays modern architecture as a high artistic practice in opposition to mass culture, Colomina sees the emerging systems of communication that have come to define…


Book cover of An Illustrated History of Interior Decoration: From Pompeii to Art Nouveau

Sally Stone Author Of Inside Information: The Defining Concepts of Interior Design

From my list on the future of the interior.

Why am I passionate about this?

For more than thirty years I have been discussing, formulating ideas, and writing about Architecture, Building Reuse, and Interiors. I lead the MA Architecture and Adaptive Reuse programme and direct graduate atelier Continuity in Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture. I am currently the Visiting Professor at the University IUAV of Venice where I am conducting research on the sustainable adaptation of existing buildings with particular emphasis on the environmental concerns within the inherently fragile city of Venice.

Sally's book list on the future of the interior

Sally Stone Why did Sally love this book?

Mario Praz’s Illustrated History of Interior Decoration is a wonderful chatty collection of case studies that explores the history of the subject in a well-informed and erudite manner. Interiors are generally lost to the mists of time, remembered only as the backdrop to other activities in paintings and prints, Praz has searched out the best of these to generously illustrate the book.

By Mario Praz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked An Illustrated History of Interior Decoration as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a reference source for anyone with an interest in period styles of furniture and decoration, this book comprises a complete survey of domestic interiors portrayed in art from the ancient world to the late 19th century. A collection of pictures and watercolours from all over Europe, Russia and America record rooms of all periods and their contents; the furniture, fabrics, carpets, pictures and wall-coverings. This text presents a cultural history of man in relation to his domestic surroundings.


Book cover of The Artless Word: Mies van der Rohe on the Building Art

Simon Unwin Author Of Analysing Architecture: the Universal Language of Place-Making

From my list on traditional architecture and its contemporary practice.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a student fifty years ago I struggled with architecture. I have spent my whole career as an architect and teacher trying to understand how it works. All my books are intended to convey that understanding to others as clearly as I can. I believe that architecture is a universal language of place-making, simply and directly expressed in the traditional architectures of different cultures around the world, and lifted into the realms of poetry by some gifted individuals. For many years I taught at the Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff, Wales. I am currently Professor Emeritus at The University of Dundee in Scotland. 

Simon's book list on traditional architecture and its contemporary practice

Simon Unwin Why did Simon love this book?

Two of the biggest names in twentieth-century architecture. Thoroughly researched, Neumeyer’s book explores the thought processes of the first, the generally taciturn German architect Mies van der Rohe. It includes a discussion of his fascination with traditional African architecture and its clear relationship between form and the constructional potential of specific materials (timber, grass, stone, rope, mud…) which of course translates into Mies’s own work with modern materials (welded steel and plate glass). But there is a lot more to this book than that; too much to cover here.

By Fritz Neumeyer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Artless Word as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German


Book cover of The Projective Cast: Architecture and Its Three Geometries

Philip Steadman Author Of Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces

From my list on perspective, optics, and realistic illusion in art.

Why am I passionate about this?

If I was asked to describe the central theme of my life's work in a phrase, it would be 'geometry in the arts'. I'm an architect originally, now a professor in London, and have always loved drawing and the art of perspective. In the 1990s I became fascinated with the idea that Johannes Vermeer used the camera obscura, an obsession that led to my book Vermeer's Camera. I'm now working on Canaletto's Camera. And I have ideas for yet another book, on perspective, to be called Points of View. I've chosen five books on these topics that I've found most thought-provoking and inspiring.

Philip's book list on perspective, optics, and realistic illusion in art

Philip Steadman Why did Philip love this book?

Robin Evans was a versatile architectural historian and theorist who died too young. This highly original and unusual book, published after his death, is about the relationship of geometry to architecture, and how methods of drawing, including perspective and orthographic projection, can influence what is conceived and built. I admire the way in which Evans, unlike many architectural historians, is able to combine deep scholarship with a working practical understanding of how buildings are made, and how they are used in practice. There has been no other recent writer on architecture with so subtle a mind.

By Robin Evans,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Projective Cast as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Robin Evans recasts the idea of the relationship between geometry and architecture, drawing on mathematics, engineering, art history, and aesthetics to uncover processes in the imagining and realizing of architectural form.

Anyone reviewing the history of architectural theory, Robin Evans observes, would have to conclude that architects do not produce geometry, but rather consume it. In this long-awaited book, completed shortly before its author's death, Evans recasts the idea of the relationship between geometry and architecture, drawing on mathematics, engineering, art history, and aesthetics to uncover processes in the imagining and realizing of architectural form. He shows that geometry does…


Book cover of Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else

Philip Nelson Author Of Biological Physics Student Edition: Energy, Information, Life

From my list on have your own science or math ideas.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have taught undergraduate and PhD students physics and biophysics for 36 years, and I never get tired of it. I always look for hot new topics and everyday things that we all see but rarely notice as interesting. I also look for “how could anything like that possibly happen at all?”-type questions and the eureka moment when some idea from physics or math pries off the lid, making a seemingly insoluble problem easy. Finally, I look for the skills and frameworks that will open the most doors to students in their future work.

Philip's book list on have your own science or math ideas

Philip Nelson Why did Philip love this book?

A readable, yet profound tour of what math is really all about.

This book will help you have your own ideas because it opens your eyes to mathematical themes that go to the heart of things you care about yet may never have thought of as mathematical. For me, the analysis of gerrymandering was a sobering prime example.

By Jordan Ellenberg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Shape as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An instant New York Times Bestseller!

“Unreasonably entertaining . . . reveals how geometric thinking can allow for everything from fairer American elections to better pandemic planning.” —The New York Times  

From the New York Times-bestselling author of How Not to Be Wrong—himself a world-class geometer—a far-ranging exploration of the power of geometry, which turns out to help us think better about practically everything.

How should a democracy choose its representatives? How can you stop a pandemic from sweeping the world? How do computers learn to play Go, and why is learning Go so much easier for them than learning…


Book cover of Euclid's Elements

Thomas A. Garrity Author Of All the Math You Missed: (But Need to Know for Graduate School)

From my list on for mathematical inspiration.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love mathematics and truly believe that “Functions Describe the World.” I'm deeply satisfied that I've spent my professional life discovering new mathematics and explaining known mathematics to others. I was an undergraduate at the University of Texas, Austin, got my PhD from Brown University, then spent three years as a G.C. Evans Instructor at Rice University, before moving to Williams, where I've been ever since. Besides writing All the Math You Missed (But Need to Know for Graduate School), I've also written Algebraic Geometry: A Problem Solving Approach (with a number of co-authors) and Electricity and Magnetism for Mathematicians: A Guided Path from Maxwell’s Equations to Yang-Mills, and a number of research articles.  

Thomas' book list on for mathematical inspiration

Thomas A. Garrity Why did Thomas love this book?

This is the bestselling textbook of all time. Euclid’s Elements has been the model for correct thinking for thousands of years. The traditional year-long course on axiomatic reasoning about geometry was easily my favorite course in high school. In fact, I sort of assumed that I was slow in that I could not “see” the underlying axioms in other classes. I simply did not realize that the other high school subjects were not axiom-based. 

The story goes that as a young prairie lawyer, Abraham Lincoln carried around with him a tattered copy of the Elements so that he could learn how to think (even though he never really had much formal education). I hope this is true. Even more so, I want to believe that he developed his profound oratorial skill from the power behind Euclid.

By Dana Densmore (editor), Thomas L. Heath (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Euclid's Elements as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The classic Heath translation, in a completely new layout with plenty of space and generous margins. An affordable but sturdy sewn hardcover student and teacher edition in one volume, with minimal notes and a new index/glossary.


Book cover of The Three Golden Keys

Maxine Rose Schur Author Of Finley Finds His Fortune

From my list on children’s stories with the magic of three.

Why am I passionate about this?

I teach writing for children and I’ve analyzed the elements that make a winning story. One of these elements is the magic of three. My idea for Finley Finds his Fortune, was sparked by a desire to write a folk tale with the magic of three and also by my visit to Whitechurch, the last working watermill in England. I was awed by the power and beauty of its water wheel so I wove a water mill into my story. To do this, I had to first study how a mill works. That’s what I love about writing children’s booksthat I can explore my own personal interests and passions.

Maxine's book list on children’s stories with the magic of three

Maxine Rose Schur Why did Maxine love this book?

Peter Sis is an acclaimed international writer, artist, and filmmaker. He’s created several award-winning children’s books. In The Three Golden Keys, Sis recaptures his lost childhood in Prague and takes the reader on a dark, mysterious adventure through Prague to find the three keys that will unlock the three rusty padlocks of his childhood home and of his own childhood memories.

I like his art more than his storytelling which is often so personal as to be cryptic. So why am I recommending this book? Because his illustrations of Prague are so beautifully detailed, surreal, and mysterious. It’s a work of art that’s personal, poignant, and poetic. It’s a gorgeous book but perhaps enjoyed by adults more than children.

By Peter Sis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Three Golden Keys as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“The Three Golden Keys” is professional contortionist Samuel Palmer’s method of correcting and maintaining perfect body alignment, which enables him to continue to perform at top physical condition. It is a technique for reconfiguring the body’s neuromuscular patterns to enable one to achieve the greatest precision and efficiency in both posture and movement. These principles of alignment are based in geometry and are demonstrated mathematically to show the definition of correct alignment. This information serves as the ideal foundation for all forms of physical training, as well as basic health care.


Book cover of Anno's Math Games III

Ben Orlin Author Of Math Games with Bad Drawings: 75 1/4 Simple, Challenging, Go-Anywhere Games--And Why They Matter

From my list on math books with genuinely good drawings.

Why am I passionate about this?

Explaining math demands great visuals. I should know: I explain math for a living, and I cannot draw. Like, at all. The LA Times art director once compared my cartoons to the work of children and institutionalized patients. (He printed them anyway.) In the nerdier corners of the internet, I’m known as the “Math with Bad Drawings” guy, and as a purveyor of artless art, I’ve developed an eye for the good stuff: striking visuals that bring mathematical concepts to life. Here are five books that blow my stick figures out of the water. (But please buy my book anyway, if for no deeper reason than pity.)

Ben's book list on math books with genuinely good drawings

Ben Orlin Why did Ben love this book?

I stumbled on this in a used bookstore. What a find! The old-school, kid-friendly illustrations lead swiftly from simple beginnings (“What happens when you stretch a painting?”) to the depths of undergraduate topology. I haven’t used this in the classroom yet, but honestly, I could imagine busting it out with anyone from first-graders to first-year PhD candidates.

By Mitsumasa Anno,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Anno's Math Games III as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Picture puzzles, games, and simple activities introduce the mathematical concepts of abstract thinking, circuitry, geometry, and topology


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in geometry, privacy, and math?

Geometry 12 books
Privacy 9 books
Math 276 books