Want to know what books Stephen Bayley recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Stephen Bayley's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Stephen BayleyAh ha! Yes, well, I put this one in to show what a wacky, fascinating and fun individual I am. I read this at school too. I loved art and poetry but I also loved racing cars. I thought I was going to be an architect so I did maths and physics and was absolutely hopeless at them both. Truly hopeless. With what little talent I did have I used to design engines. (Source)
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2
"An excellent book by a genius," said Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., of this now classic exploration of the 1960s from the founder of new journalism.
"This is a book that will be a sharp pleasure to reread years from now, when it will bring back, like a falcon in the sky of memory, a whole world that is currently jetting and jazzing its way somewhere or other."--Newsweek
In his first book, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (1965) Wolfe introduces us to the sixties, to extravagant new styles of life that had nothing to do with the "elite" culture... more "An excellent book by a genius," said Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., of this now classic exploration of the 1960s from the founder of new journalism.
"This is a book that will be a sharp pleasure to reread years from now, when it will bring back, like a falcon in the sky of memory, a whole world that is currently jetting and jazzing its way somewhere or other."--Newsweek
In his first book, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (1965) Wolfe introduces us to the sixties, to extravagant new styles of life that had nothing to do with the "elite" culture of the past. less Stephen BayleyTom Wolfe is the living writer I most admire. I used to read this book on my knee in maths at school. He does things with words that make me think: ‘How did he do that?’ He made me realise that writing for newspapers and magazines was a great calling. I never tire of reading Tom Wolfe. He is also a man of supreme personal style and irreverence; he never cares who he offends. (Source)
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3
First published in 1960, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age has become required reading in numerous courses on the history of modern architecture and is widely regarded as one of the definitive books on the modern movement. It has influenced a generation of students and critics interested in the formation of attitudes, themes, and forms which were characteristic of artists and architects working primarily in Europe between 1900 and 1930 under the compulsion of new technological developments in the first machine age. more First published in 1960, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age has become required reading in numerous courses on the history of modern architecture and is widely regarded as one of the definitive books on the modern movement. It has influenced a generation of students and critics interested in the formation of attitudes, themes, and forms which were characteristic of artists and architects working primarily in Europe between 1900 and 1930 under the compulsion of new technological developments in the first machine age. less 
Hal FosterThis is still a very important book today. Reyner Banham revised what we understand as modern architecture. (Source)
Stephen BayleyHe was in love with America and Americana and he showed me that you can be an academic and have an intellect but you can still write about cars. He legitimised the study of pop culture. (Source)
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4
Stephen BayleyYes! This is the best book ever written about an individual city. Hughes was an architect, a conservationist and a soldier. There are these fabulous, grainy, evocative photographs in here. He shows the 1960s Liverpool slums in the most romantic possible way, and you have to remember that you had Allen Ginsberg hanging out there at the time. Hughes describes Liverpool as the centre of the... (Source)
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5
One of the most widely read books on modern design, Nikolaus Pevsner’s landmark work today remains as stimulating as it was when first published in 1936. This expanded edition of Pioneers of Modern Design provides Pevsner’s original text along with significant new and updated information, enhancing Pevsner’s illuminating account of the roots of Modernism. The book now offers many beautiful color illustrations; biographies and bibliographies of all major figures; illustrated short essays on key themes, movements, and individuals; a critique of Pevsner’s analysis from today’s... more One of the most widely read books on modern design, Nikolaus Pevsner’s landmark work today remains as stimulating as it was when first published in 1936. This expanded edition of Pioneers of Modern Design provides Pevsner’s original text along with significant new and updated information, enhancing Pevsner’s illuminating account of the roots of Modernism. The book now offers many beautiful color illustrations; biographies and bibliographies of all major figures; illustrated short essays on key themes, movements, and individuals; a critique of Pevsner’s analysis from today’s perspective; examples of works after 1914 (where the original study ended); a biography detailing Pevsner’s life and achievements; and much more.
Pevsner saw Modernism as a synthesis of three main sources: William Morris and his followers, the work of nineteenth-century engineers, and Art Nouveau. The author considers the role of these sources in the work of early Modernists and looks at such masters of the movement as C.F.A. Voysey and Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Britain, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright in America, and Adolf Loos and Otto Wagner in Vienna. The account concludes with a discussion of the radical break with the past represented by the design work of Walter Gropius and his future Bauhaus colleagues.
less Stephen BayleyWell, all these books are things I read at school in my teens 40 years ago and, like girls and beer and learning to drive, they’ve stuck with me. Nothing I’ve read since has made such a great impression on me. I grew up in Liverpool looking at the architecture. You can’t not notice the architecture in Liverpool, for good or for bad. Even Jung wrote about it without even going there. I picked this... (Source)
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