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Books and Films

Editor-in-Chief Sam Grawe: Although I gave up writing Christmas lists long ago, the following is what I would ask for if I were writing to Santa today. I can quite literally spend many hours happily browsing in bookstores, record stores, and video shops (sometimes much to the chagrin of those I am with), and those interests inspired this list. Media has played a hugely important role in shaping who I am, and I love to be surrounded by the things that I like—what I enjoy listening to, watching, or reading. Hopefully there’s something here that will inspire you too.

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Alvar Aalto: Ten Selected Houses

Because my father lives in Finland, I have had the opportunity to visit many of Aalto's buildings. In downtown Helsinki you can barely throw a rock without hitting an Aalto, but those public buildings are, in my opinion, of much less interest than the architect's houses—which are truly masterful. The ten homes in this book are exquisitely photographed, and a great effort is made to document both context and minute details.
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Kraftwerk: The Catalogue

If you are lucky enough to have the complete Kraftwerk catalog on vinyl, good for you, but this new release of their primary albums (sadly missing are their two eponymously titled albums, and 1973’s dazzling Ralf und Florian) is a marked sonic improvement over any previous digital editions. Always pushing the boundaries of technology while exposing the humanistic side of those very machines, Kraftwerk’s music is truly for the modern world.
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Koolhass Houselife

This is one of the most entertaining films about architecture I have ever seen—kind of like a true life Mon Oncle, although unlike Mon Oncle, this film actually is funny. The filmmakers follow the housekeeper of Rem’s famous House in Bordeaux, to get an unvarnished glimpse of what it really takes to take care of a masterpiece.
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79 Short Essays on Design by Michael Bierut

A very well written, witty book that should find its way into any truly nerdy Dwell reader’s bathroom.
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Harry Bertoia – Sonambient LP's

What would the pages of Dwell be without Bertoia’s classic furnishings? Much less well known are his sound sculptures and the 10 full length LP's that he recorded. Beautiful minimalist sleeves and wonderful otherworldly sounds make this real metal machine music. Worth seeking out.
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Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made

For Kubrick fanatics this is probably one of the most interesting books (actually ten books tucked into a carved out tome) ever conceived. Of course, I would rather have the actual film, but this meticulously crafted collection shows the remarkable depths to which Kubrick explored the material he would then synthesize into a two to three hour movie experience. It’s not often that you can just be bowled over by someone’s mind, but that is how I feel about Kubrick—here it is on display.
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The Adventures of Tintin: Collector’s Set

Growing up without a television Tintin was my nightly primetime entertainment. Now with this (almost) complete collection, armchair adventurers can travel the world with the intrepid Belgian reporter, his dog Snowy, Captain Haddock, and the curious cast of characters that make these books worth returning to at any age.
gaudi square book Hiroshi Teshigahara

Antonio Gaudi - Criterion Collection (1984)

Hiroshi Teshigahara has made some intense films (like Woman In The Dunes and The Face of Another) but this meditative tone poem on the architecture of Antonio Gaudi paints an ethereal portrait of the mystical Catalan architect. This is the next best thing than a trip to Barcelona.
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Building a New Europe: Portraits of Modern Architects, Essays by George Nelson, 1935-1936

As a recent architecture graduate and winner of the Rome Prize a young George Nelson traveled to Europe between world wars to study. He also managed to work his away across the continent interviewing major and minor modern architects for Pencil Points magazine—those essays are anthologized here for the first time. Even as a young man Nelson is witty and insightful.
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AK 100: 25 Films of Akira Kurosawa

What better way to celebrate December 25th than with 25 films by Japan’s undisputed master? Kurosawa is one of the silver screen’s most emotive and inventive storytellers, as this exhaustive box set will surely attest. My personal favorites here include: Ikiru, The Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, The Bad Sleep Well, and High and Low. The Bad Sleep Well, a sort of re-imagining of Hamlet for salarymen, features what is arguably the greatest architectural cake to ever appear on film.
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