To coincide with the publication of the issue 463 The House, Revolutions of a Model, AA is offering a selection of books and magazines that explore the different ways of living, both today and in the future. This selection of books invites us to rethink the relationship between people and the place where they live, and opens up a critical and forward-looking perspective in response to contemporary ecological and social challenges.

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Suburban Alternatives: Survey of Low-Rise High-Density Housing Projects in the United States

‘The expression ‘low-rise high-density’ refers to the ensembles of grouped housing units that maintain characteristics of the individual home, but whose density facilitates collective services and amenities, thereby reducing the consumption of land. These hybrid projects also generate a variety of housing typologies and forms of agglomeration. They propose an urbanism linked to the American ethos and open up more sustainable, more ecological alternatives, suited to current times. As forms of resistance to the dominant architectural model of the single-family home, these proposals for low-rise high-density housing have accompanied suburban development in the United States from the 1920s until today. Florian Camani and Mathilde Luguet deliver their observations through an atlas of fifty projects from across the United States: a set of rich and inventive tools, contextualized by essays from French and American researchers specialized in suburban area. Suburban Alternatives is both a contribution to the debate on housing density in the United States and a general, open reflection on the future of suburban living.’

Florian Camani & Mathilde Luguet
Building Books, Paris, 2024, 288 pages
www.buildingbooks.fr

The Grand Domestic Revolution. A History of Feminist Designs For American Homes, Neighborhoods, and Cities

‘The Grand Domestic Revolution reveals the innovative plans and visionary strategies of these persistent women, who developed the theory and practice of what Hayden calls ‘material feminism’ in pursuit of economic independence and social equality. Their ambitious goals of socialized housework and child care meant revolutionizing the American home and creating community services. They raised fundamental questions about the relationship of men, women, and children in industrial society. Hayden analyzes the utopian and pragmatic sources of the feminists’ programs for domestic reorganization and the conflicts over class, race, and gender they encountered. This history of a little-known intellectual tradition challenging patriarchal notions of ‘women’s place’ and ‘women’s work’ offers a new interpretation of the history of feminism and a new interpretation of the history of American housing and urban design.‘

Dolores Hayden 
The MIT Press, 1982, 376 pages 
www.mitpress.mit.edu

Houses that Can Save the World

‘Featuring nineteen home-building and design strategies that are direct, original and often surprisingly simple, this inspirational sourcebook presents a mix of new technology and time-tested vernacular methods that will change the way we think about ‘home’. With strategies and houses that span the globe, including developing regions in Asia, Africa and South America, the book shines a spotlight on everything from wholly new techniques to creative reuse of existing buildings and materials.’

Courtenay Smith, Sean Topham
Thames & Hudson, 2022, 256 pages
www.thamesandhudson.com

Domesticity at War

‘When American architects, designers, and cultural institutions converted wartime strategies to new ends, the aggressive promotion of postwar domestic bliss became another kind of weapon. Domesticity at War shows how postwar American architecture adapted the techniques and materials that were developed for military applications to domestic use. Just as manufacturers were turning wartime industry to peacetime productivity—going from missiles to washing machines—American architects and cultural institutions were turning “weaponry into livingry.” This new form of domesticity itself turned out to be a powerful weapon. Images of American domestic bliss—suburban homes, manicured lawns, kitchen accessories—went around the world as an effetive propaganda campaign. Even the popular conception of the architect became domesticated, changing from that of an austere modernist to a plaid-shirt wearing homebody. A book to examine, with interlocking case studies and an army of images, the embattled and obsessive domesticity of postwar America.’

Beatriz Colomina
The MIT Press, 2007, 280 pages 
www.mitpress.mit.edu

Philosophy of the Home.Domestic Space and Happiness

‘A bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom – are these rooms all that make a home? Not at all, argues Emanuele Coccia. The buildings we inhabit are of immense psychological and cultural significance. They play a decisive role in human flourishing and, for hundreds of years, their walls and walkways, windows…’

Emanuele Coccia
Editions Rivages, Paris, 2021, 150 pages 
www.penguin.co.uk

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Texts from press releases issued by the various publishing houses.