BOOKSHELF
Small House Living
Australia: Smart design
in homes of 90 m2 or less
BYCatherine Foster
(Penguin Random House
Australia, 2017)
PP 240 • RRP$39.
A sequel of sorts to Catherine
Foster’s previousSmall House
Livingeffort, looking at projects
in New Zealand, this book
celebrates the primacy of the
small. It presents diverse projects
designed across Australia, from
witty insertions on tiny infill
sites to secondary dwellings
in suburban backyards. While
an introduction discusses the
environmental and social
benefits of building small, Foster
is not evangelical here; rather,
she lets the architecture speak
for itself. Alexandria Duplex
by David Langston-Jones
Architect, for instance, is an
accomplished example of what
good architecture can achieve
on a small, difficult block. David
Weir Architects’ Exploding!
Shed House also makes the
most of an awkward block while
ingeniously combining a house
with a workshop. Together,
the beautifully presented
projects in this book show that
small size need be “no barrier
to architectural magic.”An Unfinished Experiment
in Living: Australian
Houses 1950–
BYGeoffrey London, Philip Goad
and Conrad Hamann
(UWA Publishing, 2017)
PP 450 • RRP$
From James Henry Esmond
Dorney’s tiny – now destroyed- Dorney House (1949–1950),
to Robin Gibson’s International
Style Mocatta House (1966),
this ambitious book chronicles
150 of the most significant
modernist houses built in
Australia. A serious and
handsomely presented work,
An Unfinished Experiment in
Livingtraces the way architect-
designed houses between 1950
and 1965 responded to the
social, economic and climatic
conditions of postwar Australia
while embracing the aspirations
of modernism. Based on new
research, it postulates that the
most significant houses of the
period represent an “unfinished
and undervalued experiment
in modern living.” In a climate
where housing affordability and
a lack of diversity in housing
types are a major concern, an
examination of this experimental
period can only be beneficial.
Or, as Glenn Murcutt puts it in
a preface to the book, “There are
lessons here for all of us.”
Take a Bath: Interior
Design for Bathrooms
EDITED BYRobert Klanten
and Sally Fuls
(Gestalten, 2017)
PP 255 • RRP$
The bathroom, the authors of
Take a Bathposit, is one of the
most complex spaces in the
contemporary home. Not only is
the bathroom a place for personal
ablutions (or, as Rem Koolhaas
declared, the space where humans
and architecture interact on “the
most intimate level”), it is also a
place for sanctuary, for intimacy,
and a place for preparation. With
this complexity in mind,Take
a Bathpresents a diverse range
of projects that transform the
bathroom from a functional box
into an “experiential realm where
all the senses are called into play.”
The projects are loosely grouped
according to materiality. One
bathroom by A+Z Design Studio
uses eclectic ornaments sourced
from flea markets to transform
an abandoned weapons factory
in Budapest. Another, by designer
Guillermo Santomà, uses vibrant
shades of pink throughout. Jesse
DeSanti’s bathrooms, on the other
hand, boast a clean, uncluttered
style, while Hecker Guthrie’s
elegant reworking of a Victorian
house in Melbourne reveals its
heritage character.Plant Society: Create an
indoor oasis for your
urban space
BYJason Chongue
(Hardie Grant Books, 2017)
PP 192 • RRP$29.
Tailor-made for the coffee tables
of Fitzroy’s and Newtown’s
share houses, this achingly hip,
beautifully designed book is a
comprehensive guide to indoor
gardening. Written by Jason
Chongue, a Melbourne-based
architect, interior designer and
plant cultivator,Plant Society
aims to make gardening less
intimidating. “I want to show
that it doesn’t take much to
create your own green spaces at
home,” Chongue writes. Along
with profiles of indoor plants,
organized from the most easy-
to-maintain species through to
more exotic and labour-intensive
plants, it offers instruction and
tips on basic propagation, re-
potting, plant styling and more.
There are also interviews with
“plant people” from around the
world, who offer insights and
discuss their relationship with
plants. Informative and useful,
with beautiful photos of indoor
plants – from the ubiquitous
devil’s ivy (Epipremnum aureum)
to the rare and unusual tassel
fern (Huperzia)–Plant Societyis
enough to inspire anyone to start
their “personal plant journey.”READING