A Great Summer Read.

We've had an incredibly crazy summer. Honestly, it's been non-stop since the new year but when June rolled around it just got plain nuts. Between the Woody and various projects we've been working on, our time has been stretched thin. And unfortunately with everything going on the blogging had to give, but we hope to be back up and running on a regular basis soon. In the meantime we wanted to highlight a new resource we discovered this week that we're super excited about. We were walking along 22nd street minding our own business when we couldn't help but notice what appeared to be a bright yellow staircase/art installation/bleachers scenario in a small storefront on the south side of the street. We walked in to do a little more investigating only to discover that it's the centerpiece to an incredible architecture and design bookstore.

Van Alen Books is New York City's new center for architecture and design publications where books are read, sold, discovered, and discussed. They have over 1,000 recent releases, classics, and rare and out-of-print titles. There's also a public reading room on the 6th floor in the same building stocked with another 1,000 architecture and design titles for your reading pleasure.

VAB is made possible through seed funding from Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, as well as support from VAI's Van Alen Circle members. The new shop was designed by the architectural firm LOT-EK and we strongly encourage you to check it out not just for the smart design, but also for the store's noteworthy and comprehensive selection of architecture and design books. (photos courtesy of Inhabitat)