"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with two- or three-sentence first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that make their way into my library. These briefs are not full-blown reviews, but they are a way to share more worthwhile books than I'm able to review.

This installment features six books published by Actar, most of them coming from schools of architecture in the United States.

Abstract 2015 edited by Jesse Seegers | Columbia GSAPP, distributed by Actar D | 2016 | Amazon
Of all the architecture school annuals, Columbia GSAPP's Abstract is the one I know the best. The first one I bought was from 1993/94, when I was in architecture school (not at Columbia). Then the books were pretty straightforward and consistent from year to year. But things got interesting when Stefan Sagmeister started designing them, treating them differently each year. The 2009/10 Abstract, for instance, has an acetate slipcase, gold cover, and layouts with small text and big images for the student projects. Things didn't always go smoothly, as in 2013 when Abstract went digital-only and students protested by throwing the "book"'s plastic cases out the windows of Avery Hall and using them as ashtrays (you'll have to trust my memory on this last point, since I can't find a photo documenting such). The latest Abstract (designed by Common Name) is a spiral-bound "post-internet book" with four sections, each with diffe...