A BOOKSHOP’S SHELF LIFE

Rare shop for architecture, design, art

catalog, Stout explained. The customer hesitated, then grinned. “I’ll take it.”

When Stout started bringing books from Europe to San Francisco, selling them became a way for him to share his passion for architecture. “He has picked architecture books as his way to demonstrate his incredible knowledge,” Serraino said.

When the store moved to Jackson Square in 1984, the neighborhood was an architects ghetto, said Stout. “There were probably 50 or 60 offices around here.”

For architects, the store became an essential stop during lunch breaks. Beyond the magazines, journals and books, Stout cultivated a salon-like atmosphere.

Posters advertised events, lectures and book signings. Exhibitions featured the early work of architects who are now well known, including Holl, Frank Gehry and Jim Jennings. Stout also fostered a circle of designers who went on to launch publications, including Pamphlet Architecture and Archetype. He also established a publishing house that focused on West Coast architecture books.

“Especially in the days before the internet, that place was just where every architect met every other architect,” Holl said.

The store continues to hold events, but its essentiality as meeting place has diminished. Today, young designers can find likeminded people, discussions and inspiring work online or through events like Design Week.

Anyone curious about a building, an architect or a movement can also quickly find quality images and articles online.

“Young people don’t buy books,” Stout said. “Not in the way they used to.”

When people do buy books, the bookstore cannot compete with the deep discounts Amazon offers online. But Stout said San Francisco’s local market was never enough to sustain the store.

For years, libraries and scholars purchased from a catalog the bookstore published. Today, an email newsletter and the store’s website allow customers from around the world to search its collection of hard-to-find books.

“It’s a lot more work than it was 20 years ago, and less profit,” said Stout. But money has never been his ambition.

“He doesn’t do this as a job,” Serraino said. “The bookstore is an extension of the love he has for architecture.” For Stout’s peers, the feeling is mutual.

At a ceremony last month in New York, the American Academy of Arts and Letters recognized Stout’s contribution to the culture of architecture. It awarded him its 2018 architecture prize.

Andy Bosselman is a San Francisco freelance writer. Email: style@sfchronicle.com.