April Reads: Green Covers are the Theme

Fresh off my fairly successful TBR pile from March, I'm looking at April with Spring in my head, and it's reflected in the color green.  Pretty much every book I'm going to read and review this month has some shade of green in the cover.  This wasn't deliberate at all, but just a happy accident.  And I just realized I'm wearing a green t-shirt as I compose this post.  Hmm.  I guess I have Spring fever!

It may look like I'm unambitious this month, but there are other books I'm waiting on from the library.  If they come in April, I'll try to make room for them.  But for now, I'm sticking with a few that will hopefully keep me entertained and turning the pages in April:

Academia, libraries, and the Holy Grail!

A bit of British fun

Publisher review; new author for me

Recommended by a friend

 Here's to April, warmer weather, spring flowers, and a chance to keep the windows open wide.  I'm already dreaming of my cozy summer reading spot on my front porch.  Can't wait!

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World's first DIY watch by TRIWA now available via Dezeen Watch Store

Seriously Swedish tick-tock brand TRIWA has launched a series of self-assembly watches, which are now available through Dezeen Watch Store. Read more

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Intersticial Arquitectura emphasises local materials in Mexican home

Mexican firm Intersticial Arquitectura has built a home on the outskirts of Querétaro, using local materials such as light-coloured bricks, rough masonry blocks, and an exposed concrete frame. Read more

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Luxury Manhattan apartment tower by S9 Architecture cantilevers over low-rise neighbour

The unusual massing of this 21-storey residential building by US firm S9 Architecture responds to development rights that were purchased for airspace next to the New York tower. Read more

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Stefano Boeri envisions entire cities filled with tree-covered skyscrapers

Our first Dezeen x MINI Living Initiative video explores Italian architect Stefano Boeri's radical proposals to build "forest cities" to combat urban pollution. Read more

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10 homes illuminated by skylights from Dezeen's Pinterest boards

This week we're highlighting 10 popular home interiors from our Pinterest boards that use skylights to make compact spaces seem larger, including a loft apartment in New York and a windowless garage conversion. Read more

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And Anti Matter debuts lighting and "domestic sculptures" at DesignMarch 2017

Icelandic studio And Anti Matter has launched its first collection at this year's DesignMarch, conceived as a series of concrete objects and lamps that bridge the gap between art and design. Read more

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Visualisation reveals how the Los Angeles skyline might look in 2030

A glimpse at the future of LA shows a growing number of skyscrapers that will spread southwest from the Downtown cluster. Read more

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Join Dezeen and MINI for a talk with SO-IL, Assemble and Carlo Ratti in Milan

Architects SO-IL, Assemble and Carlo Ratti will discuss the future of sustainable urban architecture at our first Dezeen x MINI Living Initiative talk in Milan next week, and Dezeen readers are invited to join us. Read more

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Frank Gehry's Philadelphia Museum of Art renovation breaks ground

Work has officially started on Frank Gehry's plans to "unclog the arteries" of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a major renovation that will transform the layout of the historic building. Read more

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Tokujin Yoshioka and LG to create huge light installation during Milan design week

Dezeen promotion: Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka is collaborating with LG to create an installation of illuminated chairs during this year's Milan design week. Read more

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Snarkitecture and Faye Toogood debut wallpaper designs for Calico

Giant soap bubbles, ultra-minimal grids and hand-painted houses feature in wallpaper created by Faye Toogood, Snarkitecture, Ana Kraš and BCXSY for Brooklyn brand Calico Wallpaper.
Read more

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Eight trends to look out for at Milan design week

Milan design week is a few days from kick-off, but a number of trends are already emerging from the world's biggest and most important design fair. Read more

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Dezeen x MINI Living Initiative launches

How will we live in the future? How do we tackle the issues facing our cities? Today we launch Dezeen x MINI Living Initiative, a year-long exploration of how architecture and design can contribute to a brighter urban future. Read more

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Foster + Partners to design seven new stations for Sydney Metro

Foster + Partners has won a competition to create a chain of seven stations along an extension of the Sydney Metro, which will tunnel beneath the city's harbour. Read more

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Jaime Hayon's Showtime furniture for BD Barcelona now available in new finishes

Dezeen promotion: Jaime Hayon's popular Showtime furniture collection, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, is now available from Spanish brand BD Barcelona Design in new materials and fabrics. Read more

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A House Full of Daughters: A Memoir of Seven Generations by Juliet Nicolson

It has been a race to the end of March to try and get all of my March reads in, and I'm just one shy.  I can't find the energy to finish that book, so I'll talk about that DNF in my next post. 

I was picking up a book at the library earlier this month, when I happened to see this in the new releases.  Curiosity had me flipping it open, and just a few minutes later I was adding it to my check out pile.  I'm so glad I saw this, because it was such a tremendously satisfying memoir.  And I finally learned something about Vita Sackville-West.  

Juliet Nicolson is the granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West, and the daughter of Nigel Nicolson, who was a well respected British politician, lecturer, author, and guardian of Sissinghurst, his mother's beautiful country home famous for its gardens.  You can visit and tour the buildings, extensive gardens, and spend the day wandering in a stunning bit of English countryside.  I've heard of Sissinghurst, and saw books on the gardens, but never really knew what it was, who owned it, and especially, who Vita Sackville-West was and why she was so scandalous.  Juliet explains it all, and explains the women in her family, starting with her great-great grandmother Pepita,  a famous Spanish flamenco dancer during the mid-19th century.  Pepita was beautiful, mysterious, and doing quite well financially touring Europe when she met and fell madly in love with Lionel Sackville-West, a British politician.  Only problem was, Pepita was married, and in 19th century Spain, divorce was pretty much impossible for women.  That didn't stop Pepita and Lionel; they ended up having five children together, with Pepita living in France with her children, and Lionel visiting.  She suffered the scorn of her neighbors, and when she died in childbirth, she left her children orphans in France; left to be raised away from their father. Years later,  Lionel and Pepita's eldest daughter Victoria eventually became his shining star in Washington, D.C.; organizing dinners and social events for her political father, and becoming so famous for her charm and beauty that proposals for marriage came fast and furious.  But Victoria was afraid of marriage; after all, she'd seen how loving a man not only made a pariah out of her mother, but ended up killing her in childbirth.  No thanks. 

But, Victoria eventually became smitten with Lionel Sackville-West, her first cousin.  He pursued her relentlessly.  She finally agreed to marriage because Lionel was the heir to her father's country estate Knoles, and Victoria loved that home with all her being.  Her marriage crumbled, though, after Victoria gave birth to Vita.  The whole ordeal of childbirth terrified her so that she forbade her husband to ever have sex with her again, and that began the slow decline of their marriage, and another bit of dysfunction to add to the Sackville-West family.

Oh, there is so much more to tell you!  I found this all fascinating.  So many strong women, but each was also so fragile in their own ways; there is a definite pattern of neglect/smothering love/frustration in each generation.  It was sad to see how damaging it was to everyone, especially the children.  Juliet also suffered from an unhappy mother; her mother married into the Sackville-West family through Juliet's father Nigel, the son of Vita Sackville-West and Henry Nicolson.  Both were famous in their time; mostly because Vita was a gifted author, and notorious for her affairs with women.  Henry also fooled around with men, but somehow their marriage lasted until Vita's death; quietly devoted to each other.  

What this memoir struck in me was the realization that I don't have the luxury of talking to my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.  They're all gone, and I have no way of knowing what they were like, what they went through as young women.  They didn't keep diaries; there are only pictures to help piece together what life was like for them all those years ago.  Juliet is incredibly lucky; lucky that she is a gifted writer; lucky that she has the family papers,  Sissinghurst and Knoles to visit and discover little bits of history tucked into attics and drawers.  But Juliet understands all of that, and has crafted a memoir that is a love letter to all the women who came before her, and to her daughters and granddaughter who follow.  

Rating: 5/6 for a memoir that reads like a novel, about the generations of women in one family and how they shaped each generation to follow. This was so good! 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

 

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Invisible Studio builds fibreglass prototyping workshop at its growing woodland campus

British practice Invisible Studio has completed a model-making shed beside its self-built studio in the Bath woodland, using a combination of timber grown and milled on site, and corrugated fibreglass.

Read more

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Job of the day: curator of digital design at the V&A

Our job of the day from Dezeen Jobs is for a curator of digital design at London's V&A museum, which recently acquired a range of  headline-making designs, including a tile from Grayson Perry's House for Essex and the flag of the Refugee Olympic Team. More ›

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COS celebrates 10th anniversary with 10-piece capsule collection

Fashion brand COS turns 10 this year, and to celebrate it is releasing a capsule collection of 10 pieces inspired by Japanese silhouettes. Read more

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A House Full of Daughters: A Memoir of Seven Generations by Juliet Nicolson

It has been a race to the end of March to try and get all of my March reads in, and I'm just one shy.  I can't find the energy to finish that book, so I'll talk about that DNF in my next post. 

I was picking up a book at the library earlier this month, when I happened to see this in the new releases.  Curiosity had me flipping it open, and just a few minutes later I was adding it to my check out pile.  I'm so glad I saw this, because it was such a tremendously satisfying memoir.  And I finally learned something about Vita Sackville-West.  

Juliet Nicolson is the granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West, and the daughter of Nigel Nicolson, who was a well respected British politician, lecturer, author, and guardian of Sissinghurst, his mother's beautiful country home famous for its gardens.  You can visit and tour the buildings, extensive gardens, and spend the day wandering in a stunning bit of English countryside.  I've heard of Sissinghurst, and saw books on the gardens, but never really knew what it was, who owned it, and especially, who Vita Sackville-West was and why she was so scandalous.  Juliet explains it all, and explains the women in her family, starting with her great-great grandmother Pepita,  a famous Spanish flamenco dancer during the mid-19th century.  Pepita was beautiful, mysterious, and doing quite well financially touring Europe when she met and fell madly in love with Lionel Sackville-West, a British politician.  Only problem was, Pepita was married, and in 19th century Spain, divorce was pretty much impossible for women.  That didn't stop Pepita and Lionel; they ended up having five children together, with Pepita living in France with her children, and Lionel visiting.  She suffered the scorn of her neighbors, and when she died in childbirth, she left her children orphans in France; left to be raised away from their father. Years later,  Lionel and Pepita's eldest daughter Victoria eventually became his shining star in Washington, D.C.; organizing dinners and social events for her political father, and becoming so famous for her charm and beauty that proposals for marriage came fast and furious.  But Victoria was afraid of marriage; after all, she'd seen how loving a man not only made a pariah out of her mother, but ended up killing her in childbirth.  No thanks. 

But, Victoria eventually became smitten with Lionel Sackville-West, her first cousin.  He pursued her relentlessly.  She finally agreed to marriage because Lionel was the heir to her father's country estate Knoles, and Victoria loved that home with all her being.  Her marriage crumbled, though, after Victoria gave birth to Vita.  The whole ordeal of childbirth terrified her so that she forbade her husband to ever have sex with her again, and that began the slow decline of their marriage, and another bit of dysfunction to add to the Sackville-West family.

Oh, there is so much more to tell you!  I found this all fascinating.  So many strong women, but each was also so fragile in their own ways; there is a definite pattern of neglect/smothering love/frustration in each generation.  It was sad to see how damaging it was to everyone, especially the children.  Juliet also suffered from an unhappy mother; her mother married into the Sackville-West family through Juliet's father Nigel, the son of Vita Sackville-West and Henry Nicolson.  Both were famous in their time; mostly because Vita was a gifted author, and notorious for her affairs with women.  Henry also fooled around with men, but somehow their marriage lasted until Vita's death; quietly devoted to each other.  

What this memoir struck in me was the realization that I don't have the luxury of talking to my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.  They're all gone, and I have no way of knowing what they were like, what they went through as young women.  They didn't keep diaries; there are only pictures to help piece together what life was like for them all those years ago.  Juliet is incredibly lucky; lucky that she is a gifted writer; lucky that she has the family papers,  Sissinghurst and Knoles to visit and discover little bits of history tucked into attics and drawers.  But Juliet understands all of that, and has crafted a memoir that is a love letter to all the women who came before her, and to her daughters and granddaughter who follow.  

Rating: 5/6 for a memoir that reads like a novel, about the generations of women in one family and how they shaped each generation to follow. This was so good! 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

 

from Bookalicious Babe Book Reviews http://ift.tt/2noWNud

Record number of skyscrapers completed in London in 2016

More skyscrapers were constructed in London last year than ever before, with 26 opening their doors and 455 more in the pipeline, according to new industry research. Read more

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SAW inserts variation of old San Francisco home into its roof

San Francisco architecture firm Spiegel Aihara Workshop has extended a 1930s hillside residence by duplicating its layout and stacking it over the original structure, raising the home so it looks over the city's landmarks. Read more

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This week's Dezeen Mail features BIG's Panda House and a skyscraper hanging from an asteroid

This week's Dezeen Mail features a yin-and-yang-shaped Panda House designed by BIG and conceptual plans to suspend the world's tallest skyscraper from an asteroid. Subscribe to Dezeen Mail›

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Patchwork of stone, brick and glass fronts Chicago townhouse by HBRA Architects

HBRA Architects drew inspiration from historic Chicago residences by Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan and Henry Hobson Richardson while conceiving this contemporary urban residence in the city's Lincoln Park neighbourhood. Read more

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