101 I learned in Architecture school - objective, clean, sober, direct,splendid book, specially for architects, as I am. Even though, philosophically, it can be read by everyone. It will teach a lot. Congratulations for the author.

Maria Thereza de Barros Camargo
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Not Only for Architects

"101 Things I Learned in Architecture School" is an enjoyable, well-designed little book.

As a registered architect since 1968 I sometimes wish I could do a better job of making others understand why we do what we do. Matthew Frederick has captured the essence of what makes most of us tick. Lend this book to non-architect friends and to clients. If you don't get it back, buy another.

From No. 1 "How to draw a line", to No. 101 "Architects are late bloomers", and my favorite, No. 72 "Design with models", this book is a gem.

This is a cute little book. I wouldn't recommend it for students, because they should be learning most of the content of this book. If you are not being taught this stuff then you are not in your architecture library enough and your professors should be teaching better. Still if you get a chance to peruse it in the bookstore and like it, then go ahead. You should probably be purchasing Architecture: Form, Space and Order by Francis D K Ching, or another of his books.

This book is more for the out of touch architects, who have been doing complicated geometries for absurd reasons or the ones who want to do complicated geometries for absurd reasons. This book is like the 5-minute university concept. It brings you back down to earth with brief one page concepts and "realities." Like a summer person is 22" wide and a winter person is 24" wide. The gist being winter clothed people are wider. Or architects typically reach their prime later in life! Something a student might want to know so they can adjust their mindset now! It doesn't have everything you may need, but this book is refreshing for those a little out of touch with design and architecture.

Was expecting a little more from this book. It doesn't go into a lot of depth and some points hardly scratch the surface.

It does have things that every student should know, but at the same time there's no explanation or reasoning. Some pages are included in the "101" that are simply quotes that do not bear a lot of significance

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.

Little book which can be read in a few hours but that left you a lot of food for thought. A great reading for all kind of designers, not only architects.

I've owned this book for two months now, and after skimming through it a few times early on, I've come to where I'm reading it regularly, and with expanded purpose and meaning. Although I'm not an architect, I do work with them, and find architects to be fascinating people. This book brings to life many of the under-pinnings of how architects think and see the world. These foundational aspects of the profession are also quite useful and stimulating to life in general, and therein lies the beauty of this book. #81 is striking to me: "Properly gaining control of the design process tends to feel like one is losing control of the design process." Often, designing our lives requires just such a sense of losing control before the clarity has arrived.

Since we all inhabit designed spaces and visit them daily, this book can offer a tremendous amount of perpsective to enrich that otherwise typically mundane or ignored opportunity of simply noticing how an architect has thought about greeting us. Let "101 Things..." wash over you, and I think you'll find it joyful and meaningful.

Fantastic book for architecture students. Lots of short, simple lessons that make clear all the stuff my instructors never fully explained. What's a "parti?" What is postmodernism? What do positive and negative space have to do with anything? Those and a lot more, plus some well chosen quotes give you a lot to think about and build upon. Highly recommended purchase for beginning students and maybe architects too.

This book has little tid bits that every student should know but its not going to make you a better student or give you to much more insight on architecture. You learn these things when the time comes. Its a cute book but not a whole lot to it.

This is one of those "learn everything in 10 seconds" books
"catchy" but only superficial.
A complete waste of money

Great little book that takes me back to my college days. It's fun and a great conversation piece.

The book contains 101 ideas and concepts that are explained through text on one page and a simple -pen and ink- sketch on the opposite page. The concepts discussed vary widely from simple drawing techniques to positions of architectural theory through enlightened ideas of form and space composition. The book is a good use for students specially in 1st and 2nd years. And could work as a good reminder for graduated practitioners. But actually not a good use for researchers.

You can end reading this book in less than 20 mins. However you will need to re-read it again and again to explore the ideas more.

My advice to the reader: get use of it -but- not to take it for granted... After all there are some ideas that are controversial and anyone would adapt different "accepted" positions toward it.

Very insightful, informative and funny! A humoristic, light-hearted take on the architectural education, which sometime tends to be dry... Well, except for studios hours! Frederick's book is quick read that will quickly become any good student's basic reference to answers that sometime we're afraid to ask, such as are my graphics and texts too small on my panel? See 67. Or, is this a good idea to incorporate in my project? See 28. Or, will be a good architect? See 101.

The book's format and presentation makes it easy to grasp the idea or intention of each of the 101 things to be learned, or remembered (pending where one is in his or her architectural education). Its simple and effective drawings convey the message, just like Ching's architectural design guidebook Form, Space and Order. Frederick's book should be placed next to Ching in every student's library... may be even as its author suggests should be kept in plain view in the studio so other can use it!

My only regret is that I didn't see this book until now. Wish I had discovered it sooner. Worth every penny.

A very good book. Very direct and to the point. Each page takes you on a different design concept. Easy to understand and very well done. Concepts can be used for areas other than architecture. I've recommended this to other friends already.

Great book with funny and very serious tips. I am an Interior Design major and I look at it for ideas as much as I can. I received it quickly and enjoyed every minute of it.

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.