White Houses

by Philip Jodidio, Thames & Hudson,$85

One might think that there is only so much to be said about a colour, but, White Houses fills almost 275 pages with thoughts on a single hue. Though the term ‘white house’ may conjure images of the Santorini hills or Donald Trump’s current abode, this book covers much more diverse ground within its pages.

From traditional to sculptural forms, urban dwellings to countryside retreats and antipodean to Nordic, these homes show just how far the white-washed, minimal trend reaches. The striking imagery housed within this book proves, perhaps, its entire thesis: that white offers the perfect canvas with which to view light, shadow and reflection. As author Philip Jodidio puts it, “If any architectural volume can be at once assertive and still make way for the observation of nature and the propagation of light, then white it should be.”

Full of photographs composed of stark white forms juxtaposed against bright-blue skies or blending naturally into snowy backgrounds, and exposing the reader to unique geometries set against the timelessness of white walls, White Houses makes the perfect addition to any respectable minimalist’s coffee table. 

– Ashley Cusick

Courtyard Living: Contemporary Houses of the Asia-Pacific

by Charmaine Chan, Thames & Hudson, $80

The courtyard is the home’s most underrated room. It’s a connection point, an amorphous one, which constantly remoulds itself – from acting as a link between walls to being an open-aired retreat, a shelter, a showcase and a modest social hub – as effortlessly as does any expert costume-changer. 

Charmaine Chan’s compendium of 25 houses from the Asia-Pacific, all completed in the 2010’s is as much a quiet appreciation of these internal, malleable gardens as it is an examination of the ways in which they fit within a home’s context (complete with floor plans). While the courtyard in each case is not necessarily the centre of a property’s arrangement, it nevertheless reigns in this book as a leafy, tranquil, sometimes tropical, mini-paradise that has become intrinsic to the way home-owners bring inside two wholly intangible but necessary factors: movement and stillness. 

For anyone looking to garner ideas for a wellness space or veritable pocket park, or simply see how one can connect better with nature, this book, written in clear, intelligent prose, is fertile soil.

– Julia Gessler

This article first appeared in Houses magazine.

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