Though they’re often purchased as gifts, souvenirs, or home accents, there’s more to great “coffee table books” than pretty covers. Here are just a few of the unique and visually immersive publications released by Columbia alumni over the last two decades.
The Stanley Kubrick Archives
Edited by Alison Castle ’95CC
Originally published in 2008 and released with a new edition in June 2026, The Stanley Kubrick Archives takes readers behind the scenes of the filmmaker’s notoriously perfectionist process: Shooting schedules, set designs, and original texts (including a searing letter from Kubrick to The New York Times in response to a negative review of A Clockwork Orange), as well as interviews with Kubrick and essays by film scholars, offer die-hard fans a lens into the mastermind at work. Perfect for the cinephile’s coffee table, the book also features vibrant film stills and production photos from across Kubrick’s oeuvre.
The Black List
By Timothy Greenfield-Sanders ’74CC and Elvis Mitchell
Known for his up-close, minimalist portraits of famous figures shot in large format, photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders broke into the mainstream with the 1998 PBS documentary Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart, followed by XXX: 30 Porn Star Portraits, a 2004 photo book that made for a guaranteed conversation starter.
Greenfield-Sanders went on to make the 2008 HBO documentary The Black List, a series of interviews with famous African Americans including Colin Powell, Toni Morrison, and Slash, and published an accompanying book of portraits that were later showcased in the National Portrait Gallery. The critically-acclaimed project inspired several follow-ups, including The Latino List in 2011 and The Boomer List in 2014.
Art Record Covers
By Francesco Spampinato ’06GSAS
From the iconic Andy Warhol banana on the Velvet Underground & Nico’s eponymous 1967 debut album to Jeff Koons’ erotic sculpture-collage on the cover of Lady Gaga’s 2013 Artpop, visual and musical artists have collaborated on attention-grabbing record covers for decades. In his 2017 book Art Record Covers, contemporary-art historian Francesco Spampinato selects 500 highlights going back to the 1950s — other heavy hitters include Barbara Kruger, Robert Rauschenberg, and Banksy — and explores the intersections between high art, mass media, and popular culture.
Made in America
By Christopher Payne ’90CC
Colored pencils, airplanes, grand pianos, marshmallow peeps: Christopher Payne’s Made in America collection takes readers on a visual tour of the American industrial sector, revealing a strange, vivid beauty in how everyday “things” are made. Whether going inside an old textile mill or a hydrogen-cooled generator factory, Payne’s large-format photos capture the craft, ingenuity, and human labor behind these objects. Prints from the collection are currently on display at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum through September 2026.
The Tennis Court
By Nick Pachelli ’19JRN
Journalist, photographer, and competitive tennis player Nick Pachelli traveled the world to find 200 of the world’s most beautiful and fascinating courts — despite a standardized design, no two are truly the same when factoring in wind, acoustics, and other variables. From the storied Centre Court at Wimbledon to tropical havens in the Maldives to New York’s own Arthur Ashe Stadium in Forest Hills, The Tennis Court reveals a sublime simplicity in the rectangles and nets.
Mexico’s Day of the Dead
By Luisa Navarro ’13JRN
In Mexico’s Day of the Dead, Luisa Navarro, a journalist and the owner of Brooklyn gift shop Mexico in My Pocket, takes readers on a deep dive into an often-misunderstood November holiday. Complete with colorful photos by Christine Chitnis of altars, marigolds, skeletons, and more, the 2025 book weaves the history and significance of Día de Muertos in Mexico with anecdotes from Navarro’s own life and provides instructions, tips, and recipes for anyone who wants to celebrate.
New York 2020
By Robert A.M. Stern ’60CC, David Fishman ’82CC, and Jacob Tilove ’98GSAPP
Shortly before dying at age eighty-six, architect Robert A. M. Stern — best known for designing 15 Central Park West, Philadelphia’s Comcast Tower, and other urban monoliths — capped off his legacy with New York 2020, an encyclopedic survey of New York City architecture of the twenty-first century. The weighty (literally, at over ten pounds) 2025 book coauthored with fellow Columbia grads David Fishman and Jacob Tilove examines the supertall skyscrapers, glass facades, and whimsically geometric designs that dot our cityscape today.
Stern is also the coauthor of New York 1880 (with Fishman and Thomas Mellins ’79CC), New York 1900 (with Gregory Gilmartin ’81CC and John Massengale), New York 1930 (with Mellins and Gilmartin), New York 1960 (with Fishman and Mellins), and New York 2000 (with Fishman and Tilove).
Gilded Age Fashion
By Elizabeth L. Block ’04GSAS
Bustles, elaborate bodices, and fine French silk are some of the hallmarks of women’s fashion from the Gilded Age, a period of booming industry and exorbitant wealth (as well as wealth inequality) in the 1870s through 1900. In her 2026 book Gilded Age Fashion, Elizabeth L. Block, an art historian and senior editor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s publications and editorial department, highlights fifty exemplary dresses and accessories from the Met’s Costume Institute and other collections.
