QUIET SPACES  by the celebrated London architect William Smalley is a beautifully illustrated volume that places his work alongside spaces that have inspired him. Places of private contemplation—calm spaces to read a book or listen to music in, to walk through, or simply be in—they are spaces that achieve a rare sense of repose and peace. 

From Smalley’s own Bloomsbury Apartment to a modernist London house, an Oxfordshire farmhouse, a chateau in the French Alps, and an apartment in New York, the book expands to include the work of other architects, such as: a sixteenth-century villa in the Veneto by Andrea Palladio, Geoffrey Bawa’s own homes in Sri Lanka, Luis Barragan’s house in Mexico City, and the Secular Retreat in Devon by Swiss master-architect Peter Zumthor. 

QUIET SPACES also showcases places for the making and displaying of art, including Barbara Hepworth’s Sculpture Garden in Cornwall and Kettle’s Yard gallery in Cambridge. With specially commissioned photography by Harry Crowder and a foreword by acclaimed potter and writer Edmund de Waal, this book celebrates the quietude of spaces that are hallmarks of Smalley’s work.

This is an elegant and inspiring presentation of interiors for introverts, extroverts and all lovers of fine design published by Thames & Hudson.

NOW IS BETTER is the latest project from celebrated designer Stefan Sagmeister fostering radical positivity, aesthetic pleasure and a fact-driven world. Published by Phaidon, this body of Sagmeister’s work is a thrilling exploration of human progress throughout the ages which urges its audience to choose gratitude over pessimism and despair.

NOW IS BETTER looks at quality of life issues combining art, design, history and quantitative analysis and he transports data sets into stunning artworks. In the end we see his point: despite how we may feel on a day-to-day basis, things are actually much better than they used to be and we should think about the future with much-needed hope. This is a book that will touch people’s hearts and improve their minds. ENTREE found it refreshingly optimistic and unpretentiously wise. To purchase: https://www.phaidon.com/store/design/now-is-better-9781838666965/