Jean-Louis Cohen wins the first Art Book Prize

The Art Book Prize is awarded to the best book on art or architecture published in English in 2012

Jean Louis Cohen was presented with the £1,000 prize last night for Architecture in Uniform: Design and Building for the Second World War (Editions Hazan, dist. Yale).

'Cohen's argument is shockingly vivid and illuminating in such notable chapters as his analysis of the impact of potential bombing on Le Corbusier's conception of urban design,' said chair of judges Giles Waterfield.

The rest of the shortlist was:

• David Coke and Alan Borg, Vauxhall Gardens: A History (Yale)
• Mark Godfrey, Alighiero e Boetti (Yale)
• John Goodall, The English Castle (Yale)
• Vaughan Hart, Inigo Jones: The Architect of Kings (Yale)
• Nicholas de Monchaux, Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo (MIT)
• Paul Shaw, Helvetica and the New York City Subway System: The True (Maybe) Story (MIT)
• Rachel Weiss, Making Art Global: Third Havana Biennial 1989 (Afterall)

Formerly the Banister Fletcher Prize, the Art Book Prize is administered by the Authors' Club and Whitechapel Gallery. It has been given an ambitious rebranding with the intention of becoming the leading award for contemporary visual art publishing.

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