Jan 26, 2026
Top 10 Books to Read in 2026
How best to preparing your minds for actions in the new year? My 2026 book picks focus on one mindset: Reinvention. A cycle of continuous learning, unlearning, and rethinking how we shape the built environment.
Whether you’re in leadership looking for fresh ideas to help your team grow, or simply curious about sustainable materials and systems, these books are worth exploring:
Revisiting the Foundational Classics
Healthy Buildings by Joseph G. Allen & John D. Macomber - A classic on how our indoor environments shape productivity and wellbeing. It leaves you convinced: how we design interiors matters as much as what we put inside them.
Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough & Michael Braungart - The original blueprint for circular design.
The Upcycle by William McDonough & Michael Braungart - Challenges the idea that “less bad” is enough. Instead, it asks us to turn waste into opportunity and create positive impact.
Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth -Shows how economic systems can meet social needs without breaching ecological limits.
Materials Innovation & Regenerative Practice
Sustainable and Regenerative Materials for Architecture by Will McLean and Pete Silver— A sourcebook of low‑ and no‑carbon materials with real-world applications that inspire action.
Circular Materials by Joe Gibbs— Practical strategies for circular material systems that actually work in the built environment.
Critical, Contemporary Voices
Don’t Build, Rebuild by Aaron Betsky — Rethinks material lifecycles and the power of imaginative reuse in architecture.
Show Me the Bodies by Peter Apps — A clear, powerful investigation into how policy failures, cost-cutting, design decisions, failures in emergency response, and ignored warnings led to the Grenfell disaster.
Which books are on your 2026 reading list? And what’s been most transformational to you?
