2025 at a Glance – the first 10 months of castello books
70 architecure books, two book evenings and lots of new reading friends! Our Instagram channel will soon have 200 followers, and there is more to come in 2026. Which books were the most popular on castellobooks.com?
Here is our Best of 2025. Thank you for your enthusiasm for books!
1. OMA/AMO Presents Diagrams as Narrative of Knowledge
Diagrams explain the world, sorting, organising and telling stories. They make complex everyday life clear and construct a truth. By putting diagrams at the centre of their exhibition at the Fondazione Prada in Venice, AMO/OMA are striking a chord with the spirit of the times.
2. Brutalism in Berlin
The Mouse Bunker and the Hygiene Institute – a Berlin experiment featuring two brutalist icons of architecture in a new publication from Jovis.
3. In the Archives of Herzog & de Meuron
Stanislaus von Moos and Arthur Rüegg explore the architecture of Herzog & de Meuron. ‘Twenty-five x Herzog & de Meuron’, published by Steidl Verlag, explains individual buildings – selected case studies for the architects' concepts and design approach.
4. All the Houses that Josef Frank's Life
All the houses Josef Frank designed during his lifetime: the lines of his architecture consciously create spatial and visual references. Spaces, published by Park Books, showcases the art of capturing the spatial complexity of Frank's houses on paper.
5. How Le Corbusier Organised the World for Himself
The exhibition at Zentrum Paul Klee Bern and the catalogue of the same name ‘Le Corbusier. Die Ordnung der Dinge’, published in German by Scheidegger & Spiess, traces Charles-Édouard Jeanneret's everyday understanding of himself, his work and the world.
6. Activism and Urban Repair: Assemble
Seit 15 Jahren agiert Assemble zwischen Aktivismus und Architektur, Kulturarbeit und Maker-Movement. Heute gilt das Kollektiv als Pionier einer neuen Generation an Architekt:innen. Aaron Betsky zieht Bilanz in „Assemble Building Collective“ bei Thames & Hudson.
7. Five Houses by Frank Gehry
Swedish photographer Johan Dehlin visited five lesser-known residential buildings by Frank Gehry, which were built in the 1970s and early 1980s. His photographs have now been published in a book by Walther König.
8. From Ornamentation to the Ruins of Everyday Life
Imitation of antiquity as a contemporary phenomenon: Lux Merx has documented Kairos' stucco workshops in several series of impressive photographs. The images in Cairo's Plaster Casts (Ruby Press) are complemented by essays from various authors, forming a broad cultural, theoretical, sociological and historical tableau.
9. The Biennale Catalogue: Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective
The 19th International Exhibition La Biennale Architettura in Venice counts more participants than ever before - a record. Two days are barely enough for a tour of the Giardini and the Arsenale - and then there also are pavilions scattered around the city. There are too many exhibited installations, models, photos and experiments. Many of them are not self-evident, so a spirit of enquiry is required, even from visitors. Those who leave the exhibition with the impression that they want to delve deeper into some of the topics will certainly consider whether the catalogue is worthwhile.
10. At last! Carlo Scarpa's Complete Oeuvre
The first monograph on the architect's entire oeuvre shows the details of his diverse projects in impressive photos by Cemal Emden. Even the unknown smaller conversions are documented – right down to door handles and fountains. It is high time for this standard manual published by Prestel.
