Michael Palin

Dan Cruickshank

Jay Merrick

Kings Cross station is one of Londons iconic buildings. Its tough, functional exterior is a prototype of modern architecture in the 20th Century, and stands in stark opposition to the neo-Gothic extravagance of its neighbour St Pancras. After many decades of partial-neglect, Kings Cross has finally received the renovation it has always deserved by John McAslan and Partners, the architects behind such notable projects as the Camden Roundhouse, the De La War Pavillion and Dalston Junction. With a fabulous new concourse and a painstaking restoration of original features hidden for far too long behind botched 1970s extensions, in March 2012, Kings Cross will be revealed in all its sparkling new (and old) glory. Discovering Kings Cross pays tribute to this magnificent building. Aimed at older children and adults, it brings the history and context of the station to life with fantastic illustration and collage by Lucy Dalzell, bright and accessible text by Jay Merrick, interactive elements throughout and a single, spectacular pop-up of the station by one of the most established paper engineers in the country.

Kings Cross PopUp

Nicholas Grimshaw

This survey of one of the world's leading architecture firms celebrates three decades of design excellence, environmental sustainability, and architectural innovation, and explores some fascinating proposals for the future of the practice. In the areas of transportation, commercial, recreational, residential, and educational design, Grimshaw excels at delivering workable spaces that will serve its clients' needs for years to come. Among the many British projects featured in this book are the International Railway Terminal for Eurostar trains at Waterloo, the Eden Project in Cornwall, the Financial Times building in London Docklands, and the Regional Headquarters for the RAC at Bristol. The practice has also completed projects in Germany, such as the Frankfurt Exhibition Hall and VITRA furniture offices; the Ijberg Bridge in Amsterdam; the Plant Science Center in St Louis; and the Southern Cross Railway Station in Melbourne, Australia, for which the practice recently won the Lubetkin Prize. Other projects in Spain, Mexico, and Zurich are included as well. Beautifully presented, these projects reveal the evolution of a firm that is quickly growing in influence, and clearly shows that the ideals of economy, sustainability and integrity continue to inform their work.

Architecture : the First 30 Years

Grimshaw

A Heart of Darkness for our times. Freyn is 106 and has a final story to tell. He lives in the Delta where Stansted Airport used to be -- a wasteland where all London's unwanted end up, sloshing around in the chemical spills. Walter is out there from the city gathering information on strange new lichens, but it is Freyn's story that fills his days -- the story of his fall. Freyn had been washed up once before -- in Roraimia in 1939, a colonial outpost in central America where he was working for a shipping company. He is instructed to journey into the jungle to collect two thoroughbred horses from Luchenne. Everyone is afraid of Luchenne. At the Temhari Club they say he's gone 'native'. Freyn's dangerous journey into the interior, his audience with the mad Luchenne and rescue of the horses is the core of Jay Merrick's extraordinary first novel, a frightening tale of madness and despair.

Jay Merrick

Books

Your next favorite book is out there