1950

birkhäuser basel : in the years 1942 to 1948, le corbusier developed a system of measurements which became known as “modulor”. based on the golden section and fibonacci numbers and also using the physical dimensions of the average human, modulor is a sequence of measurements which le corbusier used to achieve harmony in his architectural compositions. le modulor was published in 1950 and after meeting with success, le corbusier went on to publish modulor 2 in 1955. in many of le corbusier’s most notable buildings, including the chapel at ronchamp and the unité d’habitation, evidence of his modulor system can be seen. these two volumes form an important and integral part of le corbusier’s theoretical writings.

1781

penguin: a seminal text of modern philosophy, immanuel kant’s critique of pure reason (1781) made history by bringing together two opposing schools of thought: rationalism, which grounds all our knowledge in reason, and empiricism, which traces all our knowledge to experience. published here in a lucid reworking of max müller’s classic translation, the critique is a profound investigation into the nature of human reason, establishing its truth, falsities, illusions, and reality.

1935

harvard university press: benjamin’s famous “work of art” essay sets out his boldest thoughts—on media and on culture in general—in their most realized form, while retaining an edge that gets under the skin of everyone who reads it. in this essay the visual arts of the machine age morph into literature and theory and then back again to images, gestures, and thought.
this essay, however, is only the beginning of a vast collection of writings that the editors have assembled to demonstrate what was revolutionary about benjamin’s explorations on media. long before marshall mcluhan, benjamin saw that the way a bullet rips into its victim is exactly the way a movie or pop song lodges in the soul.

1961

routledge: in this classic account of madness, michel foucault shows once and for all why he is one of the most distinguished european philosophers since the end of world war ii. madness and civilization, foucault’s first book and his finest accomplishment, will change the way in which you think about society. evoking shock, pity and fascination, it might also make you question the way you think about yourself.

1966

routledge: when one defines order as a sorting of priorities, it becomes beautifully clear as to what foucault is doing here. with virtuoso showmanship, he weaves an intensely complex history of thought. he dips into literature, art, economics and even biology in the order of things, possibly one of the most significant, yet most overlooked, works of the twentieth century. eclipsed by his later work on power and discourse, nonetheless it was the order of things that established foucault’s reputation as an intellectual giant. pirouetting around the outer edge of language, foucault unsettles the surface of literary writing. in describing the limitations of our usual taxonomies, he opens the door onto a whole new system of thought, one ripe with what he calls exotic charm. intellectual pyrotechnics from the master of critical thinking, this book is crucial reading for those who wish to gain insight into that odd beast called postmodernism, and a must for any fan of foucault

1974

wiley-blackwell: the book is a search for reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live). in the course of his exploration, henri lefebvre moves from metaphysical and ideological considerations of the meaning of space to its experience in the everyday life of home and city. he seeks, in other words, to bridge the gap between the realms of theory and practice, between the mental and the social, and between philosophy and reality. in doing so, he ranges through art, literature, architecture and economics, and further provides a powerful antidote to the sterile and obfuscatory methods and theories characteristic of much recent continental philosophy. this is a work of great vision and incisiveness. it is also characterized by its author’s wit and by anecdote, as well as by a deftness of style that donald nicholson-smith’s sensitive translation precisely captures.

1975

vintage: in this brilliant work, the most influential philosopher since sartre suggests that such vaunted reforms as the abolition of torture and the emergence of the modern penitentiary have merely shifted the focus of punishment from the prisoner’s body to his soul.

1976

routledge: this book is an unrivalled indictment of the banality of mass culture – adorno’s finest essays are collected here, offering the reader unparalleled insights into adorno’s thoughts on culture

1977

mit press: learning from las vegas created a healthy controversy on its appearance in 1972, calling for architects to be more receptive to the tastes and values of “common” people and less immodest in their erections of “heroic,” self-aggrandizing monuments.

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1980

university of california press : michel de certeau considers the uses to which social representation and modes of social behavior are put by individuals and groups, describing the tactics available to the common man for reclaiming his own autonomy from the all-pervasive forces of commerce, politics, and culture. in exploring the public meaning of ingeniously defended private meanings, de certeau draws brilliantly on an immense theoretical literature in analytic philosophy, linguistics, sociology, semiology, and anthropology–to speak of an apposite use of imaginative literature.