"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with short first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that make their way into my library. These briefs are not full-blown reviews (though some might go on to get that treatment), but they are a way to share more books worthy of attention than can find their way into reviews on this blog. This installment features a half-dozen books I picked up at the Venice Biennale last month.

Architectural Ethnography edited by Momoyo Kaijima, Laurent Stalder, Yu Iseki | Toto | 2018 | Amazon
I'm a big fan of the books of Momoyo Kaijima and Atelier Bow-Wow. I came across Made in Tokyo and Pet Architecture Guide Book many years ago and have since been lucky enough to obtain a few of their monographs and their amazing Graphic Anatomy. One thing linking much of their printed output is drawing, which is most pronounced in the guidebooks and in Graphic Anatomy. The thinking of Made in Tokyo ? understanding a place through drawings ? informs the Japan Pavilion curated by Kaijima with Laurent Stalder and Yu Iseki. The exhibition and book of the same name consist of 42 drawing projects ? many culled from books such as Cities Without Ground ? that illustrate how we can learn about architecture, cities and the lives within them through the act of drawing. The compact book includes drawings from the exhibition as well as detailed sections highlighted by round apertures in the vein of the magnifier in t...