NEW
YORK
ARCHITECTURE+ DESIGN
BOOK
CLUB
Join New York’s only architecture and design book club (that we know of!)
The New York Architecture + Design Book Club, organized by Head Hi and the design journal Untapped, is a lively public program and book subscription series that explores remarkable new titles in the field. The books’ authors, contributors and industry experts lead a discussion at each quarterly gathering, which seeks to build deeper connections between people, ideas, and the world in which we live.
HOW IT WORKS
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
UPCOMING EVENT
Join us on Monday, June 30, 6-8pm!
The first title for the 2025 New York Architecture + Design Book Club subscription and quarterly event series is Jasper Morrison, A Book of Things (Lars Müller Publishers).
Known for his "Super Normal" approach to design, Jasper Morrison looks to find the exceptional in the world of the ordinary. Underpinned by his principle that "objects should not shout," Morrison's designs are defined by beguiling simplicity, ready familiarity and a distinctive playfulness. While he made his name with the Thinking Man's Chair in 1985, he has won devotion for a broad spectrum of projects, from cell phones to lights, tea sets and door handles as well as for his interiors, exhibitions, books and photography.
A Book of Things is a guide to Morrison's intense examination of the world of things that accompany our lives and shape our environment. It presents the highlights in his long and varied career, showing projects from draft sketches to finished product, accompanied by his personal anecdotes on the genesis of each design. This revised and extended edition of the original 2015 publication adds his most recent designs, including a bakery in Majorca, a magazine cover and a bicycle. At the same time as it emphasizes the diversity of his practice, this edition brings to the fore Morrison's feel for interiors. For Morrison, an object's success rests not in isolation but in its ability to create an atmosphere in a setting. This new edition manifests his sensitivity to settings as well as his approach to objects, his process of design and his eye.
The book was published by Lars Müller Publishers in June 2025.
Questions about how the book club works? Email us at hello@headhi.net.
EVENT GUESTS
For the event on June 30, we thrilled to be joined by Nick Olney, President at Kasmin Gallery where Jasper had his first solo gallery exhibition in North America, and Jonathan Olivares, Creative Director at Knoll.
UNTAPPED BOOK REVIEW
Ahead of each event, Untapped publishes a review of the featured book, written by a leading design critic. Read the review here of A Book of Things written by George Kafka, an interdependent writer, editor and curator based in London.
PAST NEW YORK ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN BOOK CLUB PICKS
2025
Jasper Morrison, A Book of Things
Featured Guests: Nick Olney and Jonathan Olivares
Review by George Kafka forthcoming
2024
Minerva Parker Nichols, In Search for a Forgotten Architect
Featured Guests: Margaret (Molly) Lester, William Whitaker, Heather Schumacher and Elizabeth Felicella
American Modern: Architecture; Community; Columbus, Indiana
Hélène Binet
Archigram Ten
Featured Guests: Barry Wark, Winka Dubbeldam and Michael Young
2023
The Advanced School of Collective Feeling
Featured Guests: Nile Greenberg, Matthew Kennedy, and John Sorensen-Jolink
A Dark, A Light, A Bright The Designs of Dorothy Liebes
Featured Guests: Susan Brown, Alexa Griffith Winton and Juan Jofre Lora
Touch Wood: Material, Architecture Future
Featured Guests: Carla Ferrer, Thomas Hildebrand, Celina Martinez-Cañavate and Neil Pederson
Stephen Burks Shelter in Place
ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS
Head Hi is an organization dedicated to art and design specializing in publications and cultural programming with an espresso bar located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn by the Navy Yard. We feature a curated selection of publications from around the globe. Working with local and international artists, designers, publishers, community members and organizations in various fields, Head Hi is a space for exploration and interaction that hosts talks, book launches, art shows, music performances and other events.
Untapped is a design journal that looks back to look forward. Their stories identify the most important knowledge about improving the built environment, and contextualize it for today and tomorrow.
We believe that both the near and distant past hold valuable insights for architects and designers. People have already solved, or are making headway on, many of the challenges the industry currently faces—but such achievements are often overlooked among an excess of data or in the pursuit of innovation, or when they are presented in convoluted ways. Our stories unpack and add a fresh critical perspective to those achievements, explaining why they’re significant and how they can be useful right now.
Untapped is not anti-innovation. We believe that the most efficient path to progress begins with building on what we know. This is the information that the journal is dedicated to gathering, making sense of, and reflecting on, and that we can’t afford to forget.
Collectively, Untapped’s stories form an encyclopedia of ideas: a gateway to knowledge that serves as a timeless, ever-growing resource for all.
www.untappedjournal.com
@untappedjournal