Modernism in Scandinavia: Art, Architecture and Design

Parallels and differences: Dr Charlotte Ashby and Modernism in Scandinavia 05.09.2017 – Posted in: Inspiration

When did you last really learn something new about the history of ideas in Scandinavian design? What do you actually know about 20th-century art and architecture in the Nordic countries? Anni Vartola from bookm-ark.fi interviewed Dr Charlotte Ashby, the author of Modernism in Scandinavia: Art, Architecture and Design (Bloomsbury Academic, 2017). Charlotte Ashby’s new book doesn’t repeat the old myths but gives a fresh and comprehensive view of the topic through carefully chosen case studies. Let’s hear what…

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FAQ: How do we trade used architecture books at Bookmarchitecture? 17.08.2017 – Posted in: Inspiration

“So, tell me, Anni, how do you actually operate your book business?” Since launching our tiny architecture bookshop last year, I hear this question more and more often. As used architecture books and an online business have their own peculiarities, I thought it might be a good idea to unfold our trading practices here on our shop blog. So, here we go, let’s take a sneak peek at the back office. Q1: Where do you get…

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Getting organised with a new notebook 29.07.2017 – Posted in: Inspiration

How do you visualise the annual cycle in your head? I perceive the progress of time as a spiral. The new year begins in August; then it gradually gravitates down to the silence of domestic cosiness of the dark Christmas time. Around February, the loop starts climbing towards the spring. The high summer marks the high peak and a standstill. Consequently for me, these last days of July mark the beginning of a new annual…

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Books build history 20.06.2017 – Posted in: Inspiration

The Nordic branch of art libraries network Arlis had their annual conference in Helsinki last week, and I was invited to give a speech at the event. What could be more rewarding an audience than a roomful of librarians to talk about old books and the meaning of libraries! The conference focused on library customers, and I was asked to tell about how I used libraries when I worked a few years ago on my…

Kaupungin piirteet, Stadens prägel, Outlining A City

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New book about Helsinki: Outlining a City 01.06.2017 – Posted in: Inspiration

The Pro Helsingfors Foundation has just published a fantastic new book about Helsinki: Kaupungin piirteet – Stadens prägel – Outlining a City. It is published by a small quality publisher AtlasArt and the editor is my distinguished colleague Juha Ilonen, architect, photographer, designer, educator, and author of several Helsinki books such as his intriguing urban study The Other Helsinki: The Reverse Face of Architecture in the City (2014). The hefty new book is outstanding both in…

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From Helsinki with love 12.05.2017 – Posted in: Inspiration

Mother Nature seems to have forgotten Finland altogether. The last few weeks have been exceptionally cold – so cold that our famous weatherman recently burst into laughter in the middle of his daily forecast. Well, that’s Finnish spring for you, dear friends. Welcome to Helsinki, the city of warm hats, scarves and mittens in May. Should you seriously consider a visit to Helsinki, or should you be one of those fascinating freaks who collect guidebooks,…

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Inspiration from New York 21.02.2017 – Posted in: Inspiration

I just returned home from a few days trip to New York, and although I should hastily update our shop shelves with our new acquisitions, I thought to first share some books & architecture related inspiration. The purpose of my trip was to give a paper at the 105th annual conference of the College Art Association, which is the largest professional association for visual artists and art historians in the US. What an awesome event…

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Focus Marc Aulén and The Helsinki Book 21.11.2016 – Posted in: Inspiration

The Helsinki Book is a brand new guidebook to the cool capital of Finland. Anni had a quick chat with the author, Marc Aulén, about the book and his relationship with Helsinki. Please also check out the Helsinki Book web pages for more information about this great new opus. Marc, I’ve understood that you were not born in Helsinki. What brought you here in the first place? — My father used to work for Ford…

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The wisdom of architecture 15.10.2016 – Posted in: Inspiration

In my work as an architecture critic and theory teacher, I have come across many ideas about architecture that have no relevance whatsoever in what I personally perceive and experience. On many occasions, such ideas seem to stem from addressing architecture from the perspective of philosophy, literature theory, social sciences, or from another similar extra-architectural discipline. The great architectural theory boom that we have witnessed to sweep over architecture since the 1980s has created some…

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Mass intertwining 02.09.2016 – Posted in: Inspiration

The last few weeks have been an exciting time for our start-up business. Our new (hopefully soon-to-be-opened) web shop for second-hand architecture books has received an overwhelmingly warm reception among all prospective business partners with whom I’ve met recently. This is just great! Lesson number 1: Trust your instincts, listen to your intuition. I thought I knew this already, but still: it’s been an exceptionally uplifting month. It’s as if our tiny shop would have…