Brutalism or Blobism? Two isms of architectural style in case you don't know (I didn't). Isms: Understanding Architecture is a guide to "the significant 'isms' of architectural history (and) spans from the ancient Greeks, Romans, and the Renaissance up to the present day.". The book is a follow up of Isms: Understanding Art, a pocket-sized guide for art lovers who don't have a formal education in the visual arts but who want to recognize and intelligently discuss the significant movements that have shaped the world of art. Same format, different subject, this time architecture. Each chapter, there are sixty, addresses a distinct architectural movement and explains when it first emerged, the historical period to which it applies, the principal disputes over its applicability, and illustrates important structures, practitioners, key words, and distinctive features. Paperback, 160 pages, $11.02 at Amazon.

+ Isms: Understanding Architecture at Amazon

This week's MoCo picks + submissions.

+ Former IDEO product designer Takeshi Ishiguro’s smoke rings, emotional trees and other conceptual products @ PingMag.

+ FutureFactories designed Entropia lamp "is believed to be the first mass produced" digital manufactured product. It's part of Kundalini's 2006 collection. <DESIGNSPOTTER>

+ Rock stars are minted in LA, designers in Milan. Watch the iSalone video @ Cool Hunting.

+ Industrial Facility's "In Progress" product/project video. <Dezain>

+ Jo Scholar's Corners photoetched Daliesque doilies add detail. <imedaGoze>

+ No space? Live on top of your stuff. AptTherapy shows you how. Watch the video.

+ Eero Koivisto's Ghost for Offecct, a classic sofa with a computer-generated design. <scandinaviandesign.com>

+ Emily Carr students show what can be done with re-used and recyclable materials @ teejay's backsplash.

Finally! Now you can comment on the items we post on MoCo Loco. Just click on the ‘comments’ link beneath the post title, write and submit. The comments will be actively moderated, so be nice. Eloquent remarks, useful tips, insightful debate is encouraged and will be rewarded. Write well and often and we’ll take notice, maybe even re-post. But more importantly, we will choose a monthly 'Best Comments' winner and send them a gift. For May that gift will be the book “Handwritten, Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age”, the paperback version due out on May 15th (more info at Amazon). A sumptuous book from publisher Thames & Hudson, a profusely illustrated survey that for the first time offers “a complete overview of handwritten typographics, imploring myriad examples from around the world such as the Calvin Klein campaign designed by M/M, Paris, the self-inflicted body marks of Stefan Sagmeister, and the painstaking illustrations of Pentagram partner Paula Scher”. A book for type fans but really an art book in my opinion with 500 illustrations packed into 192 pages. Worth writing for.

+ milan design week 2006. 107 pages. 1575 pictures. @ designboom.

As part of his studies at the University of Alberta, Adam Maitland created the Slouch Dog Den. A simple and small indoor space for his canine friend that fits contemporary settings and livens a room with a bit of modest whimsy. The cloth shell snaps on over a knock down baltic birch frame. Thanks Chet! JGB

First Ron Mueck, now Nina Levy. It’s just a matter of time before the giant baby heads take over the world, not just the galleries.

The pen and ink drawings of rope that mark out the human form exquisitely done by Joan Linder are often life-sized, making the work all the more astonishing.

Everyone loves a parade, especially Franco Dellerba whose ceramic animals are again part of his new show in Bari.

Edgar Gomez’s collages are a light-hearted mix of urban, pop and retro, with a little naughty thrown in.

And Jörg Sasse pushes the artistry of the photographer to another level when he plays with amateur photos and turns them into dazzling objects of beauty. SM

More at Art MoCo.