Three New Architecture Books

Books are my Achilles heel. Largely rare, out-of-print architecture books. In my defence, I really do use them, and they’re often invaluable when researching my Perambulations series. Every now and again, though, new books catch my eye — but they need to work hard to be worthy of the rare space on my bookshelf. Three due to be published this autumn might just make the cut:

Modernist Scotland

by Bruce Peter Published by The Modernist (October 2025) £48

I’m really looking forward to this one. I’ve been meaning to write either an Edinburgh Perambulation or one focused on Morris and Steadman. I went up there in 2020, during the pandemic, and spent a week visiting all their houses. I often daydream about moving to Scotland (could I run my business from somewhere remote?) and waste hours on property portals looking at mid-century houses there — usually a fraction of the price of my one-bedroom London flat. So no doubt this beautifully designed 416-page volume of 150 post-war buildings will provide plenty more daydreaming.

As I wrote this, I received an email confirming that they have just reached their Crowdfunding target, hooray! — help them raise even more here.

Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925–35

Edited by Edward Dimendberg Published by Lund Humphries (September 2025) £39.99

A bit of a disclaimer: I actually designed this book. I don’t take on many design projects these days, but I can’t resist one where the subject truly interests me. I first delved into the work of Richard Neutra — the Austrian-born architect who became one of the defining figures of twentieth-century modernism — when I was writing Modernist Escapes. That’s when I came across the Lovell Health House in Los Angeles. Built between 1927 and 1929, it was radical in its use of concrete and steel and in its ideals of hygienic, open-air living. At the time it was widely published, from Berlin to Tokyo, becoming an icon of the international modern movement and helping launch Neutra’s career. This book gathers new and historic texts alongside extraordinary photography documenting its construction.

Pre-order it here.

At Home in London: The Mews House

Published by The Architecture Foundation / MACK (November 2025) £55

I’ve been waiting for this book ever since Ellis Woodman mentioned it on Instagram a few years ago. There’s something about a mews, isn’t there? I love them. You can be walking through a busy part of London, full of buses and noise, then turn a corner and suddenly you’re in a mews — a completely different world, full of charm and unusual architecture. This book documents seventeen mews houses from the 1960s to today, photographed by Matthew Blunderfield, with projects by John Winter, Ted Cullinan, Peter Barber and Al-Jawad Pike. I’m delighted to see David Wild’s Kentish Town house included, I think it might be my favourite house ever — one day I’ll pluck up the courage to ask if I can look around — but for now I’ll happily pore over the pages of this book instead.

Pre-order here.