Hey Archinect, figured I can get some advice here. My firm gives us an annual 'education' fund to spend on mainly architecture books and NCARB/AXP study materials. As I am leaving for grad school in a week, I have 3k left of this 'slush fund' to spend. Obviously I don't need NCARB materials yet and would rather spend it on quality books on/about architecture.
My question is, what are some books that every emerging architect should have, or lesser-known books by down-to-earth designers? I have a specific interest in local community engagement and social justice. Monographs, compilations, photo books, manifestos, literally everything is on the table. What's on your bookshelf??
archiwutm8
Jul 23, 21 11:49 am
TheDesign of Everyday Things
Book by Don Norman
Kinsbergen
Jul 23, 21 11:50 am
You have 3k to spend on books?! Would you please marry me?
_N8_
Jul 23, 21 1:02 pm
Lol, it's because I am still on my parent's health care plan, so I get to use that money instead on books. But yeah I'm single ;)
Kinsbergen
Jul 23, 21 4:20 pm
Get some old Birkauser books. Since they shut, these have become rather special collectibles. Also, FYI, I am a dude and not even slightly gay, so it will be a marriage of convenience.
Jay1122
Jul 23, 21 12:45 pm
3K just for book funds? What a nice firm. I don't even get 3K for end of the year bonus. I would recommend you spend those funds on the ARE referenced textbooks first. There is a reason why they are textbooks. Not just for the exams. Simply a must have for fundamental architecture knowledge.
randomised
Jul 23, 21 1:02 pm
Only 3k? Too bad, you could’ve gotten FLW’s Selected Drawings Portfolio Volume 1-3
Non Sequitur
Jul 23, 21 1:27 pm
A first edition of one of Vitruvius' books perhaps?
SneakyPete
Jul 23, 21 2:08 pm
Ramsey and Sleeper would like a word.
atelier nobody
Jul 23, 21 3:03 pm
Not something I'm really pursuing, but every time I run across an edition I don't have for cheap I pick it up. Maybe someday I'll have a full collection of every edition.
SneakyPete
Jul 23, 21 4:27 pm
I love it.
joseffischer
Jul 23, 21 2:16 pm
I've liked these, wife has been getting them for me, a bunch for different materials.
Some of the most helpful books I had for the ARE were ones I'd held onto from school. If you don't yet have them, I'd start buying the textbooks you might need in the future or for studying for the ARE. Downside to doing it now would be if newer editions are published, but studying from a book one or two editions out of date wasn't a big deal in most cases. The content doesn't usually change, rather the organization of it does.
In no particular order I'd recommend some of the following:
Sun, Wind, and Light
Heating, Cooling, and Lighting
MEEB
AHPP (spring for the full edition cause you have the cash, otherwise the student edition is fine)
Architect's Studio Companion
Architectural Graphic Standards
Problem Seeking (architectural programming textbook)
Programming for Design
Building Codes Illustrated
Building Construction Illustrated
Fundamentals of Building Construction: Materials and Methods
That simplified engineering textbook from Ambrose and Tripeny (Not sure the exact name ... don't buy it just for the ARE. Only get it if you have structural courses left to take)
CSI's Project Delivery Practice Guide (updated replacement for the CSI Manual of Practice cited by NCARB for a reference material)
SneakyPete
Jul 23, 21 2:26 pm
I also love Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture
If you can’t manage to spend it all, pick up something by John hedjuk… that will burn some cash
luvu
Jul 23, 21 11:37 pm
Every architect and their dog own this ... If you havent had it already.
S M L XL
sameolddoctor
Jul 24, 21 2:56 am
If your story is actually true, you should stay close to this firm. Sounds like a really good place. Regarding ARE, so you even need books anymore for it?
ham17
Jul 24, 21 4:13 am
Siegfried Ebeling's Der Raum als Membran (Space as Membrane)
Hey Archinect, figured I can get some advice here. My firm gives us an annual 'education' fund to spend on mainly architecture books and NCARB/AXP study materials. As I am leaving for grad school in a week, I have 3k left of this 'slush fund' to spend. Obviously I don't need NCARB materials yet and would rather spend it on quality books on/about architecture.
My question is, what are some books that every emerging architect should have, or lesser-known books by down-to-earth designers? I have a specific interest in local community engagement and social justice. Monographs, compilations, photo books, manifestos, literally everything is on the table. What's on your bookshelf??
TheDesign of Everyday Things
Book by Don Norman
You have 3k to spend on books?! Would you please marry me?
Lol, it's because I am still on my parent's health care plan, so I get to use that money instead on books. But yeah I'm single ;)
Get some old Birkauser books. Since they shut, these have become rather special collectibles. Also, FYI, I am a dude and not even slightly gay, so it will be a marriage of convenience.
3K just for book funds? What a nice firm. I don't even get 3K for end of the year bonus. I would recommend you spend those funds on the ARE referenced textbooks first. There is a reason why they are textbooks. Not just for the exams. Simply a must have for fundamental architecture knowledge.
Only 3k? Too bad, you could’ve gotten FLW’s Selected Drawings Portfolio Volume 1-3
A first edition of one of Vitruvius' books perhaps?
Ramsey and Sleeper would like a word.
Not something I'm really pursuing, but every time I run across an edition I don't have for cheap I pick it up. Maybe someday I'll have a full collection of every edition.
I love it.
I've liked these, wife has been getting them for me, a bunch for different materials.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/18...
Some of the most helpful books I had for the ARE were ones I'd held onto from school. If you don't yet have them, I'd start buying the textbooks you might need in the future or for studying for the ARE. Downside to doing it now would be if newer editions are published, but studying from a book one or two editions out of date wasn't a big deal in most cases. The content doesn't usually change, rather the organization of it does.
In no particular order I'd recommend some of the following:
I also love Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture
Watkins is better.
Why not both?
With that kind of scratch, you might be able to afford a copy of the essential reference: Baker, Maxwell C. Roofs: Design, Application and Maintenance. National Research Council of Canada, 1980. If you can find a copy.
Seriously, though, the book I recommend to everyone starting out in this profession is: Wiggins, Glenn E. A Manual of Construction Documentation: An Illustrated Guide to Preparing Construction Drawings. Watson-Guptill, 1989.
5th edition Architectural Graphic Standards
El Croquis subscription
If you can’t manage to spend it all, pick up something by John hedjuk… that will burn some cash
Every architect and their dog own this ... If you havent had it already.
S M L XL
If your story is actually true, you should stay close to this firm. Sounds like a really good place. Regarding ARE, so you even need books anymore for it?
Siegfried Ebeling's Der Raum als Membran (Space as Membrane)
start with this