September heralds the start of the school year, but for those who haven’t seen the inside of a classroom in ages, this season’s selection of design tomes will inspire even long-lapsed students to hit the proverbial books.
Carrier and Company: Positively Chic Interiors opens with a word from Anna Wintour. Replete with over 275 photos from Eric Piasecki, Francesco Lagnese and others, the book chronicles the work of Carrier and Company principals Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller. The duo has worked on homes for Bob Pittman, Jane Rosenthal, Catie and Donald Marron, Jay Fielden of Town & Country, and Jason Wu, among other notables.
Rooted: Creating a Sense of Place: Contemporary Studio Furniture, which was released in tandem with last week’s What’s New What’s Next event, features 150-plus examples of arts and crafts pieces. Produced by the Furniture Society with editors Steffanie Dotson and Douglas Congdon-Martin, the tome chronicles the work of more than 70 contemporary furniture makers, exploring the role of place and how makers interact with their locales via materials, inspiration and customers.
What If Textiles: The Art of Gerhardt Knodel spotlights the inner workings of the celebrated textile artist. The book also features contributions from Janet Koplos, Shelley Selim, Douglas Dawson and Rebecca A.T. Stevens. More than 400 images tell the tale of Knodel’s art form, from 1969 through 2014. Known for creating larger-than-life “environments of cloth,” Knodel has devised creations such as 44 Panel Channel, a china-silk panel that people can walk through, and a three-story-tall installation at the Xerox headquarters composed of Mylar, nylon and wool.
Ike Kligerman Barkley’s The New Shingled House chronicles 14 seaside spots throughout Martha’s Vineyard, Watch Hill, Block Island, the Hamptons, California and North and South Carolina, each explored via imagery from acclaimed interiors photographer William Waldron.
Three decades, and about 30 significant projects, unfold over the pages of Jeffrey Bilhuber: American Master, Notes on Style and Substance. With a foreword from celebrity Mariska Hargitay, the Rizzoli tome captures Bilhuber’s high-profile work via anecdotes, photos and the designer’s own philosophy.
A selection of interiors, ranging from a Manhattan penthouse to a Mediterranean-esque resort take center stage in the book In Pursuit of Beauty, Timothy Whealon’s first-ever monograph. Each profiled project features a common theme: Whealon’s layered approach to design, which has been exemplified in projects that have appeared in Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Veranda, Architectural Digest and The New York Times.
