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Hi Janet –

Thanks for hosting me this week – I enjoyed meeting your group.

I promised to send you a reading list to forward to your group, which you will

find below. If I can help in any way, or if anyone in your group has questions I

can shed light on, please do not hesitate to let me know.

With best regards,

Matt

FREDERICK DESIGN STUDIO

199 Mount Auburn Street, Suite 1

Cambridge, MA 02138 / 617.576.0030

www.frederickdesignstudio.com

Suggested Readings

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (1977)

The Timeless Way of Building (1979)

(Oxford University Press)

by Christopher Alexander, et al

They may seem ancient, but they remain two of the classics on understanding our

built environment. In particular, the authors attempt to demonstrate why some

rooms, buildings, and towns are wonderful places to be and others are not. Some

might find these "not enough to the point," but anyone who appreciates the value

of "background reading" will benefit enormously from them. A Pattern Language is more practical, while The

Timeless Way engages a more humanistic or spiritual discussion of how our

experiences in the built environment help us to feel "whole."

Home by Design: Transforming Your House into Home

(Taunton Press, 2004)

by Sarah Susanka

Well known for The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live

(1999), the prolific Susanka illustrates and explains specific principles and

examples of good design: well-placed versus poorly-placed windows, when symmetry

and asymmetry work and don’t work, and many others.

The Good House: Contrast as a Design Tool (1990)

Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design (2002)

(Taunton Press)

by Max Jacobson, Murray Silverstein, & Barbara Winslow

These books are written by colleagues of Christopher Alexander. The Good House

describes how contrast can enrich architectural space and form. For example, if

you want to make a bright, open space, it usually will be best realized when thoughtfully counterpointed by a smaller, dimly

lit space.

Patterns of Home is a smart, color-illustrated update of the authors’ more

recent thinking on successful residential design.

The Essential House Book: Getting Back to Basics

(Crown Publishers, 1994)

The founder of the Conran’s store chain demonstrates his unique, no-nonsense,

and always interesting approach to solving design problems in the home.

House as a Mirror of Self: Exploring the Deeper Meaning of Home

(Conari Press, 1995)

by Clare Cooper Marcus

Explores the bonds between our psychological life and our physical environment,

in particular the feelings of attachment, warmth, alienation, etc., we may have

with our past and present living spaces. It’s based on a great idea, although it

is a bit too "New Agey" for some readers.

How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built

(Penguin Books, 1994)

by Stewart Brand

A building is not a final solution, argues the author; it is simply a momentary stage in a never-ending process

of physical and dynamic change.

A Field Guide to American Houses (Alfred A. Knopf, 1988)

by Virginia & Lee McAlester

A fun, informative, extensively illustrated manual on American houses that will

help you identify every style of American house and the features commonly

associated with it.

House (1985)

by Tracy Kidder

A Pulitzer Prize-winning author chronicles the real-life frustrations and

successes of a young couple engaged in designing and building a home in central

Massachusetts. Available in paperback. (Houghton Mifflin)

Gutted : Down to the Studs in My House, My Marriage, and My Entire Life (2004)

by Lawrence LaRose

A first person account of a young couple’s attempts to salvage their home,

marriage, and finances while renovating their new home. A quick read, less

sophisticated that Tracy Kidder’s book.

Professional Architectural Journals (various)

I discourage taking a picture-book approach to architecture, but if you must, skip

the magazines at the supermarket check-out and check out Residential Architect,

Fine Homebuilding, and other professional publications. You will find ideas and

products less commonly found in the mainstream press. At better newsstands and

public libraries.