NON-FICTION

THE ART OF THE ARCHITECTURAL MODEL by Akiko Busch (Design Press/TAB Books; $39.95; 128 pp.). Here is a book for anyone who ever coveted a doll’s house with exquisite tiny wainscoting. Catch the bird’s-eye view of familiar buildings (like New York’s Citicorp Center, above) without the clutter of cars and crowds, or admire the oil-drum garbage can outside a perfectly broken down miniature house-trailer. While the book contains elegant essays on formal topics (landscaping, interiors, illumination and so on), even the most hard-bitten structural engineer must agree that the cunning models and stunning photos are this book’s true raison d’etre . The author herself points out that for centuries early American cultures lovingly produced children’s toys with wheels--without ever seeing the necessity for rolling anything life-size about.