Thinking About Books

I'm an architect, and enjoy geeking out on architecture books. I have far too many, and know many other architects who have far more than I do. It's something we enjoy doing in our profession - growing our home libraries. (I have a feeling this might have something to do with the fact that if you amass enough books in shelves on a wall, it can almost feel architectural - like the books cover such space that they become divisions of space. Difficult to move, almost structural. It's got little to do with the information within the pages - because really, who has time to read?)

The first book that I ever truly got excited about was a book that I purchased WAY too late - that I had already genuine knowledge of before I bought it. It is a book entitled S,M,L,XL by Rem Koolhaas. This book has around 1,000 pages, composed of large photos, random conversations, dictionary-type diatribes, and some really wonderful contemplations on architecture and design. Anyway, when I was in undergrad, this book was HOT. It was the book that everybody was geeking over. I never bought it because I could barely feed myself on the measly pittance I was making at the architecture library. Oh, I also didn't buy it because I WORKED AT AN ARCHITECTURE LIBRARY. One of the perks. Virtually endless selection without having to pay. Anyway, at some point, the book went out of print. So the prices absolutely skyrocketed for used copies. We're talking 800-1000 dollars per copy. That's how popular this book was.

Well, fast forward about 3 years, and I'm in grad school in Los Angeles. I'm walking through an independent book store, when I happen to come across this book, on sale for 70 bucks. So I natural begin to sweat. I think they made some mistake in pricing this gem, and think that since it's just an architecture book that nobody knows about except us nerds, they'd just give me this thing without thinking twice. PLUS - the cover art is in a new color that I hadn't recognized before, so I get REALLY greedy and sweaty...and the words "limited edition" go streaming through my head in neon colors. This is my lucky day. I'm about to buy a book worth at LEAST $1,500 bucks (if I play my cards right) for like 50 bucks!! So of course, I beg my now-wife to let me buy it and explain to her just what value this thing is. (She is also an architect, but not quite the nimrod I am over bound paper.) So we buy it, I become proud again, and I go home to find out that they've just re-released this book, and within 1 month, every retard at my school has a copy - probably bought for much less than I paid. So now I'm both a geek AND a loser. Mouth shut, Jaimee. Mouth shut.

So now, there's this architect that I love named Peter Zumthor. He won the Pritzker Prize last year, so you should all know him. Well he has a fascination with releasing books in limited quantities. So if you see something you like of his for under $100, you better snatch it up. I have a couple small works of his, which are absolutely wonderful. I was also given a big picture book of a single building that I visited a few years ago, as a gift. These are three of my favorite books. Anyway, there's an old one called Peter Zumthor: Works which I don't have, but was just put on alert that somebody is selling a library bound copy of...so I went on Amazon to see how much the used, out of print version is - One thousand, eight hundred dollars. No, not BETWEEN 1,000 and 800, but $1,800.00. For a book. It's paper.

Now, this guy is my favorite architect. He's one of the most gifted architects of the last few hundred years. He's honestly the real deal. And his books are gorgeous. But almost 2 grand for 200 pages of dried pulp? Even I can say - ARE YOU MENTAL?

Who's with me?