etymology dictionary

i'd say relax and just wait til architecture school starts because your mind will change and you don't really get a real education without actually being in studio and being fired at by critics.

which arch school are you going to?

I’d agree with Justin_hui in that once you've begun university you'll be given reading lists by your studio tutors and lecturers. If you know what school you will be going to you could contact them and try get a copy of 1st Year reading lists. But in the meantime, if you're looking for something for Christmas here are some suggestions:

Architecture: Form Space & Order by Frances D.K. Ching; this is useful for a general understanding and overview of architectural principles and design.

Lesson For Students in Architecture by Herman Hertzberger; this one will probably be on your 1st Year reading list. The pictures may seem somewhat dated but the textual content is still as relevant.

Delirious New York by Rem Koolhaas; a fascinating read and not just for those in the architectural field. It details the historical & proposed future development of the NYC from the unique viewpoint of one of today’s leading architects.

I wouldn't really say wait until school starts. I say the more prepared the better. But maybe keep it light. Pick up a copy of Architecture Now (I believe they are on volume 3) by Taschen and get aquainted with all the names of people that are going to be repeatedly tossed your way over the next couple of years. Perhaps Architect? A Guide.. has already done that for you, I am not familiar with that book. Also might want to check out William Curtis's "Modern Architecture Since 1900" or Kenneth Framptons's "Modern Architecture: A Critical History". Of the two, I recomend the curtis book, but I think it may be more expensive. Last but not least, get a subscirption to a good publication. I am pretty sure Architectural Record gives student discounts, and it is a good way to keep up with what is happening right now.
I say the more prepared you are the better. Have fun.

Robert Irwin's Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees.
Anything by Italo Calvino. Read stuff by your favorite artists. Try to read things that are going to inspire you creatively.

You'll have plenty of time to pick up stupid reference books of important buildings and reference books about classical orders later. These things are important to know, but I wouldn't worry so much about it right now.

"Labyrinths" by Jorge Luis Borges, or anything by him...

graphic standards

you won't be expected to have read or studied much about architecture before your first year if you're a high school student. if you're passionate about architecture, though, you'll want to read about it and look at pictures of it. you'll find that your profs will be lobbing names at you so why not get a little of a head start?

for my money, curtis' "modern architecture since 1900" is the single best book on 20th century architecture there is. it's well-written, only gently biased/critical, and the color plates are awesome.

if you can read through this before you go into studio, you'll know not just about wright and maybe philip johnson or louis kahn or le corbusier -- you'll know about behrens, mendelsson (not the composer), melnikov, lubetkin, meyer, aalto, bryggman, the smithsons (not the band, but knowing about the band might help you relate to the more regressed of your 40-something profs), niemeyer, team X, archigram, hertzberger, erskine, bofill, plecnik, correa, barragan, piano, rogers, foster, and yes, koolhaas. and many more architects, many major ones i didn't mention.

Anything non-architectural, because once at school you will eat-sleep-drink architecture. Go now, Freebird! Enjoy your freedom while you can!

francis d.k. ching - architecture, form, space, and order. i think this is the most important book i bought during architecture school. explains architecture very clearly. beautifully hand drawn, and most of the book is graphic with text explanations. cannot stress how good this book is. don't sleep on this one.

I'd sign off on ochona's overview mode -- plus then I'd pick a few that catch your interest and try some biographies... I've got Jenck's LeCorbusier bio right now...

funny that so many people love ching. we also had to buy his books but never had a use for them. way too lite and sooo old-fashioned.

kenneth frampton has some good overview books as well, but that's just history.

the best architecture book i read was a treatise on contemporary evolutionary theory (algorithms, bottom-up-ness, etc), written by a philosopher/scientist. for you it will likely be something else. reading about architecture is good but the best thing you can do is read about everything else, and do it continuously.

for my money, you can do without starchitect monographs. until you truly understand the nature of architecture, they will just tempt you to copy their styles, not formulate your own. That's not to say one cannot learn something from these great masters of architecture, you should just first learn something about yourself. Buy a copy of Christopher Alexander's 'A Pattern Language' and read it cover to cover. Learn how people interact with their physical environment at various scales, and the architectural forms will follow.

If you feel the need to get some books on starchitects, might i suggest:

Louis Kahn
Alvar Aalto
Charles Moore
Wright
Renzo Piano
Norman Foster
Mario Botta
..and of course, A Pattern Language.

Good luck!

this is actually a very good book for what it is, by the great Hellman...

a pattern language,tzaar? really? alexander was so right when he said a city isn't a tree, and i loved it when he told pete eisenman he was fucking up the world, but a pattern language is pure dogma. most of christoper's built projects are also not very good, or inhabitable (from what i have read and from the one project by him that i visited in japan; the latter really quite dissapointing, if an interesting experiment). do yourself a favor and only read it after you know enough to see it for what it is. the book is anyway too expensive to lay on a student. read the school's copy.

If you're going to subscribe to a "good publication," don't subscribe to Architectural Record. That magazine is pretty garbage... small and too few pictures with weak writing. Try Azure or Metropolis for a well-rounded design magazine with great presentation and solid architectural content. I have always enjoyed Dwell but, as a student just getting off the ground I might warn not to get sucked in by their "Nice Modernism."

In general, though, I believe that looking at/reading anything having to with architecture, even if you disagree with it or don't understand it, will help you. I have really found that, for myself, the most effective way to increase design intelligence (other than actually being in the studio, obviously, which everyone does anyway) is to READ. Read, read, read, and you will have a serious edge over almost all of the students in your classes because you will understand why you (and they) are doing what you (and they) are doing, and you'll always be a step ahead of the game. So just go out and buy what looks interesting, or some of the things that these people are suggesting, but don't limit yourself to any type of book (monograph, theory, magazine, etc)...

I'd agree with that, Jump -- this thread strikes me as similar in a way to the "Age in Architecture" thread... it all takes time. Somewhere along the line, one needs to just start -- reading, thinking, assimilating, formulating, and on and on... I don't, either, see Pattern as the roadmap for all that...

Really, in addition to reading, I'd go visit in person every interesting building one has time to visit. Also, try learning to actually build something yourself -- also gives an indispensible insight --

In general, everyone was initially thrilled by something about architecture -- find that thing. Everything else is secondary.

go old school. it's what all the cool kids do:

vitruvius - ten books
alberti - de re aedificatoria

well, i would say if you read A Pattern Language trying to figure out how to design, you will in fact end up with the second rate that alexander himself has built. that said, his message about society and its relationship to our built environment is incredibly important, and, quite interesting. if you've read this book and didn't get it, i'd suggest going back and taking it less literally.

much of his tips on actual construction can be skipped over, for they deal more with the vernacular than actual design. as far as price is concerned, you can pick up a used copy on amazon for 30 bucks, while whatever crap rem and zaha have will set you back three times that.