OMA sent us an absolutely fascinating book that tells the history of the Japanese architecture movement known as Metabolism. “Between 2005 and 2011, architect Rem Koolhaas and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist interviewed the surviving members of Metabolism, together with dozens of their mentors, collaborators, rivals, critics, proteges, and families. The result is a vivid documentary of the last avant-garde movement and the last moment that architecture was a public rather than a private affair…” You can see a few of the iconic buildings from the Metabolism movement here on ArchDaily: works by Kenzo Tange and Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower.

We recently received a monograph of DP Architects‘ work. Started in 1967 DP Architects have become internationally acclaimed architecture firm with 1200 employees in 12 offices worldwide. DP Architects have devoted themselves to “improving the quality of the city,” whether it is a small residence in Singapore or a large complex in Dubai. The paucity of the work featured on ArchDaily should not be a reflection of this firms reach and breadth. You can check out the ones we have featured, but be sure to take a look inside this book after the break. We think you’ll want to see and read more about their work once you are properly introduced.

In Form Follows Nature, edited by Rudolf Finsterwalder, you are treated to “an outline of the history of the human examination of nature and presents a perspective for further possible lessons from nature.” Wilfried Wang, for examples, gives a particularly scathing review of the Enlightenment and it contributions. From these critiques and histories a base is built to demonstrate how the forms and process of nature can be used to generate form. The book stresses that copying nature is charlatanism and misses the point. Architects must understand the underlying principles and not the end product to achieve success.

Have a look inside after the break.

We just received the lastest edition of MARK Magazine, one of our favorite publications. There are some absolutely arresting projects and articles in this issue. A personal favorite is a piece on Jean-Francois Rauzier’s art work. Rauzier builds unique worlds out of thousands of photographs. (If you are not familiar with his work visit website, no seriously go.) On a more practical note this issue has a piece on the advantages of smart phones and why and how they can help architects increase their workflow or procrastinate in style. If you want to know what Bjarke Ingels’ reads there is an article on that too, pretty interesting. Among his favorites is Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars and he is currently reading Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves; I love knowing what architects are reading for some reason, what are you, our readers, reading? As always MARK’s project selection is great; some we have and others we don’t. Those we do have are shown in greater depth or from a different angle.

If you want to check out 14 projects featured in this issue you can view our articles on them, click here.

Get a peak inside the issue after the break.

If you are a fan of Hans Hollein then we have the book for you. Edited by Peter Weibel, this large format book gives you a vivid and detailed look at the 1985 Pritzker Prize recipient’s work. Hollein, an Austrian trained architect, did everything from architecture to design and art. Hollein said, “architects have to stop thinking in terms of buildings only.” The book describes Hollein as the universal artist who “has transposed the machine-based architecture and art of modernity into the era of media-based communication and information technology.” The large photographs featured in this publication make for a great for a coffee table book, and yet the depth and breadth of his work can spur much more interesting conversation than the average coffee table book.

We are super excited about receiving the next magazine in the a+t strategy series. The series as a whole “analyzes the strategies undertaken in the projects of urban landscaping in order to achieve the set objectives.” This issue specifically deals with Tactical Urbanism. The topic takes on how to address the conflict and fog created in many of the occupy protests, making the issue relevant to the larger discussion taking place among society all over the world. Many of the ideas trend toward an open-ended approach of what Rem Koolhaas might have called, “specific indeterminacy.” The common denominators of the eight collectives this issue covers are “the criticism of the consumerism present in modern society, the instigation of individual participation in collective and spontaneous projects to transform the city, non-recognition of intellectual property, the inclination towards libertarian and hedonistic projects, the struggle against alienating work and in particular merging daily activity, leisure and fun into one workload with the aim that each person might construct their own life differently and according to their desires and personal preferences.”

LEGO® has just announced the newest building in their Architecture series, the iconic Sydney Opera House designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon.

Sydney Opera House is not only a building with great beauty but it has also become known throughout the world as a symbol for not only a city, but a whole country.

The LEGO version of the Sydney Opera House seeks to capture the essence of this grand building in a small scale. Like the other models in the series it was created by Adam Reed-Tucker.

The set will be available in stores on March 1st at a suggested price of $39.99. More images after the break:

It is such a great pleasure for ArchDaily to promote David Stark Wilson’s photographic exploration Structures of Utility. We have feature Wilson’s firm WA Design on ArchDaily, but this book offer something uniquely different. Wilson traveled the back roads of California’s Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada foothills and captured the haunting beauty of utility buildings. These are buildings that would not otherwise be featured on ArchDaily, unless an architect did a remodel, but the photographs bring home the obvious point that design inspiration often lies far outside the realm of award winning and highly publicized buildings. The photographs are absolutely gripping. For a peak inside see more after the break.

A short time ago we received the book Alvar Aalto: The Mark of the Hand. Before you Aalto fans get jealous of our newly acquired treasure, we want you to know that we received several copies and will be doing a giveaway in the near future. So keep yours eyes out, here and on our facebook page. The book is a collection of conversations recorded between members of Aalto’s atelier. It is a unique view into the process of this great architect and his team. It shows the personal side of Aalto, both the bad and good. Sometimes we get lost in the artistry of his works, and it is nice to see the context in which the works were developed.

We recently came across an opportunity to work with a friend of ArchDaily to expand our Tokyo Architecture City Guide that we could not pass up. Carlo Fumarola shared with us his knowledge and photographs of Tokyo. Today, we bring you twelve buildings from his list. Check them out after the break.

Also be sure to check out the previous Tokyo City Guide with 12 additional buildings.

To check out other cities visit our world map or our Architecture City Guide page.

The following text comes from Powerhouse Company‘s book Ouvertures. We found this excerpt to be particularly engaging and they graciously gave us permission to share this short piece with you in its entirety. Enjoy!

Our exhibition Rien ne va plus researched and discussed the impact of the 2008 economic crisis on architecture. The simple question that led to this research was the question why, after bankers, architects were the first to be fired en masse as the crisis hit? How had we architects become so entangled with the money market?

We are pleased to bring attention to the book Dutch Mountains that focuses on Francine Houben from Mecanoo Architecten and her inspiring work that spans the globe. We have featured Mecanoo Architecten before and you can see them here. Houben came to architecture like many great young architects who are driven by social idealism. “Uplifting the people, contributing to quality of life—that was the great goal.” Among being named Business Woman of the Year in Netherlands in 2008, Houben still works for social idealism. Houben says about her Birmingham library, “I want to create cohesion among the ethnic diversity of the city and the traces of its industrial past.”

The Morpholio Project seeks to create a new platform for presentation, critique, and collaboration relevant to all designers, architects, artists, or members of any image driven culture, through a dedicated mobile app for iOS devices. Created by a group of five architects, and academics, the app explores to re-image the portfolio: “Although essential to design culture, the current methods of creating and sharing design portfolios and presentations still ultimately rely on fixed notions of time, media and outdated technologies of sharing.”

Landscape Urbanism is the new black in architecture and this magazine, part of a+t strategy series, has heads turning. There are a dozen projects and hundreds of ideas in this edition. A recurring them is the manipulation of time throughout a project’s life. “In public space, time becomes the first tool to work with. Meaning that the process is a timeline in which the objectives are implemented at different times intervals. Dealing with this long timeline requires a great deal of forward planning.” It is interesting to see how each project deals with aspect in similar but different ways.

This past Fall, ROMA Design Group proudly announced the completion of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington D.C. In 2000, ROMA won the international design competition among nearly 1,000 entries. ROMA Design Group worked for several years to develop the design. The memorial has now been built and was officially dedicated by President Obama on October 16, 2011.

Architect: ROMA Design Group Location: Washington D.C., USA Illustrations: Christopher Grubbs Photographs: Courtesy of ROMA Design Group

As you well know already we like MARK Magazine, and this issue fails to disappoint. It has projects from many of the architects we have featured here on ArchDaily such as, StudioGreenBlue, Heri&Salli, Clavel Arquitectos, Kengo Kuma, Colboc Franzen, Studio Velocity, Takeshi Hosaka, Fuhrimann Hachler, Toyo Ito, Nieto Sobejano, L3P Architekten, and more. The notice board gives a shout out to the Keret House by Centrala, which was one of our most viewed projects this year.