Design is not just how something looks
Four books that won't build your house — but will build the foundations of your design thinking.
Design surrounds us every second — from the cup we drink our morning coffee from, to the structure of the city we walk through. We often perceive it only through our eyes. But the best designs emerge from much deeper places — from thinking, observation, and understanding context.
I've selected four books that helped me see design differently. Not as decoration, but as a way of thinking about the world.
Let's turn the pages from the courage of the nineties to the roots of modernism.
01 — DEVADE
Between Austerity and Disco
Forget nostalgia — this is a sharp probe into the architecture of 1989–2004. The book maps an era when foreign capital rushed into Prague, bringing with it the courage to build differently. Through period and contemporary photographs, it reveals the fates of iconic and forgotten buildings that shaped the face of the capital after the fall of communism. It's a visually powerful guide to a time when architecture was one big, bold experiment.
02 — Rukověť urbanismu
Architecture of Perceiving and Designing Environments
How do you design a city? Forget dry definitions.
Rukověť urbanismu is a structured guide divided into three key pillars: Environment, Settlement, and Design. Jan Jehlík poured decades of practical and academic experience into it, interwoven with his own diagrams and drawings. That this is an extraordinary achievement is confirmed by a review from Adam Gebrian.
An ideal book for students, professionals, and curious laypeople who want to uncover the hidden laws of space.
03 — Funkcionalismus, design, škola, trh
Fourteen Texts on Problems of Theory and Practice of Modern Design
Do you believe that form follows function? Jan Michl will set you straight. In this book, he takes fourteen shots at the myths we inherited from the modernists.
It's a fascinating and critical look at how design actually works in the real world and in the marketplace — not just in textbooks. If you want to think deeply about the things around you and not be sold on the idea of "functional aesthetics," this is the book you need to hold in your hands.
04 — Fenomén Bauhaus
This book shows you that the ideas of Bauhaus are alive even more than a century later. Through the lens of three Czech authors, comic strips, and illustrations by David Vávra, you'll discover the intense connection between the global and Czech avant-garde.
It's a visually rich guide for anyone who believes that good design has its foundations in the courage to experiment and break old rules.
Investing in education is the best design accessory you can get.
Which one will end up in your library?
"Design is not just what it looks like.
It's how it works."