101 Things I Learned in Architecture School
by Matthew Frederick
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Book Summary Information
Author: Matthew FrederickEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-31
ISBN: 0262062666
Number of pages: 216
Publisher: The MIT Press
Book Reviews of 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School
Book Review: Missing the point, pretentious, scanty, waste of money
Summary: 1 Stars
The book is cute but small, large type, with few words and lots of empty spaces. Even pages include drawings, most of them useless (believe me; you don't need a sketch of a triangle, a rectangle and so, to know that those are "figures"; or a guy sitting on a desk to imagine he is an architect) being there for the sole purpose of pumping the book up to reach a minimal number of pages.
One page contains just this: "Architecture is the thoughtful making of space.", opposite to a sketchy profile portrait of Louis Kahn. Amazing. But for short, the record goes to page 62: "Less is a bore" (A too known already epigram from Arch. Robert Venturi)
Several pages are dedicated to the cool-sounding and totally vague idea of the "parti" [par-TEE] which, freed from verbal garbage, means a sketch of the general concept of a building. (Take note of this buzz word to impress laypersons). Lots of other pseudo philosophical mumbo-jumbo: zeitgeist, holistic, a little Chinese... The usual Kung-Fu gobbledygook wisdom, coming from a book introduced as presenting "in clear and simple language things that tend to be mystified in the classroom".
Simple often is. To the point of being crass: Roll your plans face outward so they will stay put on the table when you unroll them. (Remember: this you learn in Architecture School; a deep discipline, I gather). One page takes 85 words to say this: Make 3D models.
Another can be condensed into: Exert pressure at the beginning and the end of a line. More: "When lettering, slant your horizontals slightly upwards". (Both advises as if everybody is drawing with a pencil these days) ...
Other: When elements or spaces are not explicit but are apparent, they are said to be implied (Wow!. But how I am going to practically use this invaluable breakthrough of information?). More practical info: "Sense of place. Genius loci literally means genius of place. It is used to describe places that are deeply memorable for their architectural and experiential qualities." (Go ahead, use it in your next project). More immediately applicable data on page 35, which just quotes Gertrude Stain: "I like my view but I like to sit with my back turned to it". (Now that I know it, I cannot stop myself from start designing houses). I would say that on an even keel, all quotations here are useless.
I suspect that those individuals giving 5 stars to the book are friends of Frederick, helping him to sell his little (ultimately pathetic) book to fools such as me.
If this is what Mr. Frederick learned in Architecture School, he wasted his time. And mine.
Summary of 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School
101 THINGS I LEARNED IN ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL is a book that students of architecture will want to keep in the design studio and in their backpacks. It is also a book they may want to keep out of view of their professors, for it expresses in clear and simple language the things they tend to make murky and abstruse. These 101 concise lessons in design, drawing, the creative process, and presentation--from the basics of how to draw a line to the complexities of color theory--provide a much-needed primer in architectural literacy and make concrete what too often is left nebulous and open-ended in the architecture curriculum.Like all books in the popular and celebrated 101 THINGS I LEARNED® book series, the lessons in 101 THINGS I LEARNED IN ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL utilize a unique two-page format, with a brief explanation and accompanying illustration. A lesson on how to draw a line is accompanied by examples of good and bad lines; a lesson on awkward floor level changes shows the television actor Dick Van Dyke in the midst of a pratfall; and a discussion of the proportional differences between traditional and modern buildings features a building split neatly in half between the two.
Written by an architect and instructor who well remembers the fog of his own student days, 101 THINGS I LEARNED IN ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL provides valuable guideposts for students navigating the architectural design studio and the rest of the architecture curriculum. Architecture graduates, from young designers to experienced practitioners, will turn to the book as well for inspiration and a guide back to basics when solving complex design problems.
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