We’re always checking on the Phaidon website for the newest art, architecture, and design books that we love to salivate over. We’re even more excited when one of this publisher’s lovely books arrive in our office, and we were lucky enough to get some copies of Phaidon’s most recent coffee table books–just in time for those of us racking our brains for the perfect Father’s Day gift. Here’s just a small selection that we can’t seem to get over and realized even if you’re not a father, it makes a lovely gift for yourself as well.

Phaidon Design Classics

This three-volume set by the Phaidon Editors features a comprehensive collection of the 999 most influential design products from the past 200 years and was compiled by a selected panel of experts that span from journalists, academics, critics, architects, auctioneers, designers, and curators. Each of the 999 objects is accompanied with text from one of the 50 experts. It’s a comprehensive volume set, to say the least. Phaidon never fails on providing a plethora of illustrations, and this set isn’t a let-down; with 3,300 pages, your dad could easily sit back and enjoy a few hours of his day just flipping through this Phaidon gift.

Steve McCurry: The Unguarded Moment

One of the most admired photo journalists of today, Steve McCurry (probably most famous for his infamous National Geographic cover photograph of “the girl with the striking eyes”) has compiled a new portfolio of his work from Africa, Southeast Asia, and Europe. It’s a book certainly for those fathers interested in landscape and portrait photography, but also for those who love looking at page after page of color photography at its best and from one of the best.

10 x 10_3: 100 Architects, 10 Critics

The third book in this series compiled by the Phaidon Editors hasn’t hit the shelves yet, so you can’t hand over the physical book to your father on Sunday, but it could still work as a belated Father’s Day gift or an early early holiday gift–either way, we wanted to give you a preview of what Phaidon has in store for September publishing. With work from 100 rising architects curated by such names as Ai Weiwei, Kengo Kuma, and Carlos Jimenez, the book is arranged alphabetically by architect and shows projects and work from the past five years. It’s a much needed update from the 10×10_2, with the new advances in green architecture, said to “have gone from novelty to necessity, walls have gone from necessary to optional, and hula hoops have become a building material.” It’s a book that understands how “local is the new international, and architecture is more artistic than ever before.” Come September, we forsee this third volume going fast.

Posted by Kyra Shapurji