Two of my very favorite books on architecture come from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

 

Master Builders - A Guide To Famous American Architects and What Style Is It? A Guide To American Architecture are both easy-to-read, informative guides on American architects and architecture, with excellent photos, illustrations and diagrams. Both are terrific resources for those who have studied or are studying architecture and design. Individuals with interest in architecture, but with no formal training, will likely also find the books to be very enjoyable and informative.

 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation was founded in 1949, and is dedicated to "saving historic places and revitalizing America's communities".

 

The organization's website offers some excellent resources, including e-newsletters and blogs, a calendar of events, volunteer and advocacy opportunities, green / sustainable information, and info about historic destinations and tours.

One can also sign up to receive the "Preservation" print magazine when joining as a member. Definitely an organization worth our time and attention..

 

For many interior design and architecture students and professionals, books by Francis D. Ching have proven to be extremely useful resources. His Design Drawing and Building Construction Illustrated are often required or recommended reading material for design students.

 

Ching's illustrations, descriptions and discussions on the topic of drawing basics in Design Drawing reflect an ease and simplicity that certainly gave me confidence in my own sketches and drawings, and his coverage of building construction provides a common sense and practical overview of building technology, emphasizing that one must be familiar with construction practices before one can actually design something that would be feasible or buildable.

 

One of the first books required as part of my four-year interior design studies at Cornell was Ching's Building Construction Illustrated which emphasized the important relationships between construction, technology, and design.

 

Ching's books have been updated over the years to reflect changes and advances in sustainable practices, building technology, building code, and in CAD software applications. A number of Ching's books are available with a companion CD-ROM which adds three dimensional demonstrations and applications of the material covered in the books. The timelessness of his drawings and written content keep the material fresh and relevant.

 

Other Ching classics, Architecture: Form, Space and Order and A Visual Dictionary of Architecture present invaluable written and visual information regarding the vocabulary and elements of architecture and design. These books offer budding architecture and design students, as well as practicing professionals, a review of the fundamental principles of architecture, and describe the relationships between components of building, architecture, and design.

 

The books I've listed are but a few of his works.

 

Francis Ching is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington's Department of Architecture. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame in 1966, and began his teaching career in 1972 at Ohio University. Mr. Ching has taught at the University of Washington for the past 20 years, teaching design studio and drawing courses. Here's his profile.

It's hard to believe that it's been over 10 years since The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka first arrived on the scene. On the closing side of a decade filled with oversized homes, oversized rooms and oversized furniture, The Not So Big House created a breath of fresh air for the building, architecture and design industry.

 

Susanka's newest not so big book is Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live. Based on the reviews, the book asks homeowners to consider how they live, what they need in terms of space, and teaches them how to renovate their existing spaces in an efficient, sustainable, and meaningful manner, paring down to the basics but not giving up on quality or good design practices. I'm looking forward to reading it in detail.

 

On the same note, I always enjoy Renovation Style magazine. The features consistently include reasonably scaled projects, straightforward design solutions, interesting materials, and well written articles.

 

When looking through magazines with clients to help them realize their design, style and color preferences, I'd have to say that Renovation Style is probably the one magazine that elicits the most responses from my clients. Renovation seems to embrace the same "build better, not bigger" philosophy that Sarah Susanka shared with us over a decade ago.

 

Many (probably most) interior designers graduate from school ready to take on the design world, but not the business world. Design firms do not typically require newly hired fledgling designers to use much business expertise, but if a designer decides to strike out one's own, it's a whole new ballgame. Running a business can be quite challenging. Taking a course in basic business management or consulting with someone to help manage ones design firm can be of great benefit.

 

A very useful resource that I've gone back to time after time is Mary Knackstedt's Interior Design Business Handbook: A Complete Guide to Profitability. The topics covered in this well written and very informative book address all aspects of professional practice, including contracts, types of compensation, setting up a well functioning office, marketing, and much more. I refer to it whenever I need a refresher on aspects of running my business. My copy is an older edition, but the content is still very pertinent. The most recent (fourth) edition includes updated sections with information on software tools for interior designers.

 

Ms. Knackstedt's blog also features helpful and encouraging information for designers.

 

One of the first book assignments for many aspiring young architecture and design students is The Master Builders, which was first published in 1960 yet is still very relevant today. The book focuses on three pioneering masters of modern architecture: Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright, and provides a great introduction to architecture of the 20th century.

 

 

The author, Peter Blake, was himself an architect, and lists among his many accomplishments throughout his storied life his appointment as curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in 1948 and 1949.

 

In 1950, Mr. Blake started as an associate editor of the now defunct but once widely popular Architectural Forum magazine. He ultimately served as editor in chief of the magazine from 1965 to 1972. Mr. Blake wrote extensively and taught and lectured both here in the United States and abroad.