Books
Author, co-author, and editor of books on architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and interior design.
Books
Author, associate author, and editor of books on architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and interior design.
Forthcoming
Image: Edouard Vuillard, Place Vintimille, 1911, © National Gallery of Art
Promenades of Paris: Adolphe Alphand and the Double Function of Landscape Architecture (forthcoming)
Gideon Fink Shapiro
The idea that landscape architecture is crucial to urban design and to livable cities is not a 21st-century invention. It is the essential theme of the work of the French engineer-gardener Adolphe Alphand, who, starting in 1854, spearheaded the newly created Paris parks department and authored an influential book, Les Promenades de Paris (1868–1873). Paris in these years was the first modern city to systematically integrate the art of gardens into urban design. The story of the promenades—including parks, gardens, squares, and tree-shaded thoroughfares—includes notable design achievements as well as a colorful record of public reception, as seen in the works of writers and artists who sought to make sense of the new urban landscape.
Rizzoli New York
248 pages
April 2021
Photo © Andrew Pielage
50 Lessons to Learn from Frank Lloyd Wright
Aaron Betsky and Gideon Fink Shapiro. Photography by Andrew Pielage.
This book began with a simple question. What lessons can designers today learn from Frank Lloyd Wright? Unlike recent books focusing on Wright’s tumultuous personal life and the Taliesin Fellowship, and equally unlike certain works that paint Wright as a mythical hero or genius, this book aims to reveal some of the design tools Wright used to create exceptional architecture, interiors, and landscapes.
The Monacelli Press
336 Pages
February 2018
Design: Pentagram
The New Residential Colleges at Yale: A Conversation Across Time
Robert A.M. Stern with Gideon Fink Shapiro. Foreword by Paul Goldberger.
Robert A.M. Stern Architects was commissioned to design Yale's first new residential colleges in 50 years. This book examines the historic role of the residential college system and the evolution of Yale's urban campus in New Haven as the basis for Stern's contextual design approach. An extensive archive of original drawings, models, material samples, as well as extensive color photography of the completed buildings, illustrates the story. I worked closely with Stern and his partners to help research and write the book.
Re-Living the City: UABB 2015. Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture.
Edited by Gideon Fink Shapiro. Curated by Aaron Betsky, Alfredo Brillembourg, Hubert Klumpner, Doreen Heng Liu.
This book documents and reflects upon the work presented at the 6th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB), organized around the theme of "Re-Living the City." The projects and essays herein portray the city as the incremental product of its inhabitants and designers, who provisionally make and remake its fabric through various means at their disposal. Hosted primarily at the former Dacheng flour mill complex in Shekou, Shenzhen, the biennial also included a series of national and independent pavilions. The book represents the contributions of dozens of international architects, designers and artists; and highlights the adaptive transformation of the exhibition venue. It also offers twelve original essays by the curators and guest authors including Pedro Gadanho, Justin McGuirk, and Renny Ramakers. I was responsible for editing all content and coordinating with the curatorial and graphic design teams to realize the final publication.
Actar Publishers
656 Pages
November 2016
Design: Thonik
Rizzoli
239 Pages
2008
Design: Pentagram
Gabellini: Architecture of the Interior
Michael Gabellini with Donald Albrecht, Paola Antonelli, and Hans-Ulrich Obrist. Foreword by Roni Horn. Copy writing by Gideon Fink Shapiro.
The theatrically minimal spaces designed by Michael Gabellini and Kimberly Sheppard unfold as stages for the interaction of volume, light, and materials. Their luminous aesthetic is the centerpiece of this monograph, featuring the alluring retail interiors and provocative art installations that initially brought them renown, together with their highly sought-after residences and large-scale, public spaces, such as the widely acclaimed Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center. As an employee of the firm, I assisted Michael Gabellini with the writing and editing of project descriptions, and coordinated many editorial and production-related tasks with the publisher and graphic designer.