Find the Perfect Christmas Gift at the RIAI Bookshop
The RIAI is delighted to announce a number of new books just in time for Christmas.
Ireland’s only Architectural and Design Bookshop is open to the general public from 9.00am - 5.00pm (Monday - Friday). If you are looking for innovative design ideas or architectural inspiration to delight friends or family, look no further than the RIAI Bookshop. Pop in for a visit and the team will be happy to help you find the perfect Christmas gift.
The bookshop’s carefully curated collection of books accommodates all ages, interest and budgets with books on home design, travel, landscape and garden design as well as an exciting range of children’s books on architecture. There are also stunning limited edition architectural prints on offer from the Murray Collection. Whether you're looking for the perfect present for a design lover, a homeowner, or an architecture enthusiast, you will be sure to find it from the RIAI bookshop’s vast selection.
Examples of the best books on offer at the RIAI books are listed below:
The Mellons Build an Eco-house
€16.00
The Mellons Build an Eco-house is a hugely enjoyable picture book centred on the Mellon family building a new eco-house. With amazing warm, inclusive illustrations this children’s book takes the reader step-by-step through house design and build. Throughout there are lots of different facts such as the difference between topsoil and subsoil, how concrete is made and what a heat pump system is for. There is also the explanation for each stage as to what environmental decisions have been made. A timely and essential read for aspiring young architects and construction-enthusiasts.
Baby’s First Eames
€14.50
Baby’s First Eames – the ABC of modern architecture and design playfully illustrated board book offers a delightful A-to-Z overview of modern design icons for the toddler set. This architecture and design book makes timeless structures and styles fun and accessible for aesthetes of all ages.
A Dictionary of Colour Combinations
€17.00
A Dictionary of Colour Combinations is a book of sample colour combinations created by the Japanese artist, teacher, costume and kimono designer Sanzo Wada (1883-1967). Wada was ahead of his time in developing traditional and Western influenced colour combinations, helping to lay the foundations for contemporary colour research. The perfect book for art students and professionals to use with 348 colour combinations.
The Happy Design Toolkit
€42.00
The Happy Design Toolkit is exactly what it says on the tin, with easy-to-understand tips, real-world examples and over 100 hand-drawn illustrations, this book helps you to create happier places - from individual homes and workplaces to landscaping and urban design. All the essential factors such as lighting, comfort, control over our environments and access to nature, exercise and social interaction, are explored throughout. This book leaves you feeling inspired and ready to start your new projects.
Turning Corners
€150
Turning Corners book is a collection of works by Dublin artist Gerard Byrne. Byrne’s first publications charters his journey during the three Lockdown phases of the Covid 19 pandemic, spanning the period Spring 2020 to Summer 2021. Featuring 150 stunning artworks with accompanying text by Susan Stairs.
SCANDI Style
€24.00
SCANDI Style showcases the latest interior design trends in the accustomed teNeues quality. With a foreword by renowned expert Claire Bingham and furnishing recommendations from well-known interior designers.
Thinking on Paper
€25.00
Thinking on Paper reminds you the reader on the importance of maintaining pocket sketchbooks, an essential tool for creativity and expression. The book itself contains hundreds of sketches and watercolours from a collection spanning decades. It investigates the value of using drawings to explore ideas, designs and concepts, record architectural observations, and retain experiences of places, languages and cultures encountered on one’s travels. The sketchbook is the ever-present silent companion, a sounding board which reflects the echo of one’s own thoughts and reverberations of conversations with oneself.
First Quarter
€15.00
First Quarter by John Tuomey is a reflective and enriching memoir on the inspiring John Tuomey. The wonderfully written book navigates the places and memories of his life over the scope of twenty-five years reflecting on what moulded him in becoming one of Ireland’s leading architects.
Limited edition prints from the RIAI Murray Collection
A special treat for architecture aficionados is the limited edition RIAI Murray Collection print series. The Murray Collection contains approximately 1,230 architectural drawings spanning 160 years, and is one of the most outstanding collections of architectural drawings in Ireland. It was presented to the RIAI by Albert Murray in 1923, being the last of three generations of his family to have practiced as Architects in Dublin.
The limited edition series features four buildings from the collection (150 prints each): Armagh Courthouse, Armagh by Francis Johnston (1805); Kings Inns, Dublin by James Gandon (1800); Town Hall, Cork by Murray & Denny (1851); and The GPO, Dublin by Francis Johnston (1814-1825).
The original artworks are reproduced in beautiful, high-quality lithographic art prints, printed on 260gsm premium ivory recycled uncoated paper, embossed and uniquely numbered. The prints are available for purchase at €175.00 from the RIAI Bookshop.