101 Things I Learned in Architecture School

I was going to call this a terrific LITTLE book, but it is simply a terrific book. When I ordered it, I didn't know what to expect, but figured the $10 wouldn't kill me. Then I found some sample pages on the publisher's website and thought it looked really cool. When it arrived, I read through it right away (doesn't take too long), and have been rereading it ever since. The format is perfect for rereading -- no chapters, just 101 illustrated lessons I can look at in any order. Whichever one I open it to, I feel like I either learn something new or am reminded of something I need to better integrate into my professional practice. Every architecture student should have this book -- it is more helpful than Ching's, even though much shorter. Every architect should probably have one too.

One of those fantastic books that makes you feel smarter for reading it. The 101 little rules or principles that the author distills from his time as an architect are undoubtedly of use to an architect, but are also mind-openers for any curious and design- or art- inclined person.

Each principle is stated in a sentence or two, with an accompanying illustration. Some are specific little rules (the pointlessness of spitting a room with a single step; people are wider in the Winter); some are perspective shaping (about negative space; about meandering ways of getting to somewhere often beating direct ways). The illustrations are elegant and compliment each principle perfectly. You'll find yourself idling over each, as the lessons behind the lessons sink in.

If you have any asthetic inclinations but find yourself dealing too much with words, open this beautiful little book and feel those old synapses firing up.

Great gift too.

"101 Things I Learned in Architecture School" is stealth information for the spatially challenged (me.) Each lesson is presented in a two-page format: line drawings and text. The book is written in direct and unpretentious style, making it accessible to professionals as well as the general reader, and the drawings are wonderful. In format, approach, and information, this book reminds me of Norton Juster's forgotten 1963 classic "The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics."

I am an architecture student, and with every project in studio, this book is a reference to keep my mind in check. This book should be in every architecture students hands. Simple as that, if your an architecture student this $12 that the book costs is the best $12 you will ever spend.

I don't remember ever having a textbook for design studio - undoubtedly because this book hadn't been published yet. If it had, I would have had a wonderful little book that breaks down five years worth of architectural wisdom into 101 pages. I recommend reading it (about a ten minute read) before and a couple of times during the design process to refocus yourself. If nothing else, it should be required reading for first year students because it will teach you to speak architect. 'Parti' 'Figure/Ground' 'Positive Space' 'Negative Space' and all the other jargon architects tend to use are all defined here.

The book contains advice on both the technical and the intellectual. Hints for everything from lettering to post modern theory share page space with reminders as varied as 'design in section' to 'if you can't explain your design in terms your grandmother understands, you don't understand your own design.'

Nearly everything in the book is a hit. Even the cover is made from chip board. If you're a poor architecture student, scrape together some coffee money and get a copy. If you're already an architect, get a copy and remember a time before design problems were strip malls and warehouses.