Le Corbusier Le Grand

  • Introductory essay by Jean-Louis Cohen More like a movie than a monograph, this mammoth volume packs 2,000 pictures and weighs in at 20 pounds. Captions weave a story around the collage of archival material-photos, personal correspondence, newspaper clippings, and early sketches of projects with Corbu's notes scribbled overhead like the bubble quotes in comics. (An accompanying volume translates French notes into English.) Josephine Baker, Pablo Picasso, and other friends make appearances in snapshots and the architect's scrappaper doodles. Phaidon; $200

    Credit: Charlie Brown

    Introductory essay by Jean-Louis Cohen More like a movie than a monograph, this mammoth volume packs 2,000 pictures and weighs in at 20 pounds. Captions weave a story around the collage of archival material-photos, personal correspondence, newspaper clippings, and early sketches of projects with Corbu's notes scribbled overhead like the bubble quotes in comics. (An accompanying volume translates French notes into English.) Josephine Baker, Pablo Picasso, and other friends make appearances in snapshots and the architect's scrappaper doodles. Phaidon; $200

Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America, and the Railway, 1830–1960

  • Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo. Sept. 13 through Jan. 18 Masterworks celebrating the rise of the railroad come to a city defined by the same. Previously at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England, the exhibition shows the steam train barreling into modern society, bringing wonder, fear, and the cinematic experience of countryside flitting by railcar windows. Paintings, photos, and rarely seen plans document the changing landscape: gorges and tunnels cut through hills, viaducts constructed overhead, and new stations that became city hubs. nelson-atkins.org

    Credit: Nelson-Atkins

    Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo. Sept. 13 through Jan. 18 Masterworks celebrating the rise of the railroad come to a city defined by the same. Previously at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England, the exhibition shows the steam train barreling into modern society, bringing wonder, fear, and the cinematic experience of countryside flitting by railcar windows. Paintings, photos, and rarely seen plans document the changing landscape: gorges and tunnels cut through hills, viaducts constructed overhead, and new stations that became city hubs. nelson-atkins.org

Out There: Architecture Beyond Building

  • Biennale Architecture, Venice, Italy Sept. 14 through Nov. 23 Aaron Betsky curates the architectural offerings at this year's Venice Biennale and chooses the theme: an architecture liberated from buildings. Alternatives to the human-made environment come from more than 50 firms in sitespecific installations, manifestos, and other visions of a new world, including snippets of sci-fi movies shown in the Hall of Fragments by David Rockwell with Casey Jones and Reed Kroloff. labiennale.org

    Credit: Aedes

    Biennale Architecture, Venice, Italy Sept. 14 through Nov. 23 Aaron Betsky curates the architectural offerings at this year's Venice Biennale and chooses the theme: "an architecture liberated from buildings." Alternatives to the human-made environment come from more than 50 firms in sitespecific installations, manifestos, and other visions of a new world, including snippets of sci-fi movies shown in the Hall of Fragments by David Rockwell with Casey Jones and Reed Kroloff. labiennale.org

Mosques in Germany

  • EXHIBIT Mosques in Germany -- Aedes, Berlin -- Sept. 10 through Oct. 16 -- An exhibition and related panel discussions examine mosques and migration in Germany. Architectural photographer Wilfried Dechau shows the shift from mosques in converted garages and factory halls to new construction. Also on display are models and plans for new mosques by Paul Böhm, Alen Jasarevic, and Koller Heitmann Schütz. aedes-arc.de

    Credit: FONDAZIONE LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA

    EXHIBIT Mosques in Germany -- Aedes, Berlin -- Sept. 10 through Oct. 16 -- An exhibition and related panel discussions examine mosques and migration in Germany. Architectural photographer Wilfried Dechau shows the shift from mosques in converted garages and factory halls to new construction. Also on display are models and plans for new mosques by Paul Böhm, Alen Jasarevic, and Koller Heitmann Schütz. aedes-arc.de