I paused at the stoop and thought this could be the basis of a good book. The story of a young man who went deep into the bowels of the academy in order to understand architecture and found it had been on his doorstep all along. This had an air of hokeyness about it, but it had been a tough couple of days and I was feeling sentimental about the warm confines of the studio which had unceremoniously discharged me upon the world.--from Down Detour RoadWhat does it say about the value of architecture that as the world faces economic and ecological crises, unprecedented numbers of architects are out of work? This is the question that confronted architect Eric Cesal as he finished graduate school at the onset of the worst financial meltdown in a generation. Down Detour Road is his journey: one that begins off-course, and ends in a hopeful new vision of architecture. Like many architects of his generation, Cesal confronts a cold reality. Architects may assure each other of their own importance, but society has come to view architecture as a luxury it can do without. For Cesal, this recognition becomes an occasion to rethink architecture and its value from the very core. He argues that the times demand a new architecture, an empowered architecture that is useful and relevant. New architectural values emerge as our cultural values shift: from high risks to safe bets, from strong portfolios to strong communities, and from clean lines to clean energy.This is not a book about how to run a firm or a profession; it doesn't predict the future of architectural form or aesthetics. It is a personal story--and in many ways a generational one: a story that follows its author on a winding detour across the country, around the profession, and into a new architectural reality.
Down Detour Road: An Architect in Search of Practice
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This down-to-earth critique of the profession is important for the future of architecture . . ." - Charles Holland, RIBA Journal
"This book is highly unusual for an architecture opus: it is well written, it is funny, and it is wise in so many ways. I literally 'couldn't put it down," as the old book review-saw goes, and read it in one sitting.... Cesal finds useful parables for architects and their predicament in the most unusual places: the relationship of bartenders to bar owners, how prostitutes are and are not like architects, and how a good architect is like a fire extinguisher.... Cesal offers a unique, refreshing take on the profession."-Michael Crosbie, Architectural Record
"Down Detour Road is an essential roadmap to the present architectural scene and the challenges that it faces. With a tragicomic eye, Eric Cesal exposes the hubris that has led so much architectural education and practice into an impotent cul-de-sac, and succinctly presents a pragmatic and hopeful way out." Jeremy Till, Dean of the School of Architecture and the Built Environment, University of Westminster, and author of Architecture Depends
"This manifesto-memoir comes none too soon to rescue Architecture from the trash bin of postmodernism. Lucid, intelligent, and visionary, this small book is destined to become a guide for 21st century architects. Cesal reconnects his profession to the humanities from which it is becoming estranged, and to the economy, culture, and technology of an America radically different from the one built by previous generations. This tract cuts the knot of the confounding jumble all humanities and academic disciplines face, with the swift blade of an Emerson or de Tocqueville. And let me tell you: a real human being wrote this, he breathes warmly from every page." Andrei Codrescu, author of The Poetry Lesson
About the Author
Amanda J. Dory was a 2002--2003 Council on Foreign Relations International AffairsFellow at CSIS when she wrote this article. She is now working in the HomelandDefense Office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
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Eric Cesal totally just wrote a book. He didn't mean to. It just sorta came out. And now its on Amazon so you should buy it. He will sign a copy for you just as soon as he gets back from Haiti, assuming that he does come back. Or you could come down to Haiti. I could really use some help down here.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I just finished reading Down Detour Road by Eric J. Cesal, literally moments ago. I can say, without trepidation, that this was the single best book I've ever read about the profession of architecture. I had no doubt that I would like it from the start.
I came across the book completely by chance. I was wandering the shelves at the local national-chain bookstore and, as I often do, came upon their steadily shrinking selection of architecture books. Having perused most of the titles in the past, it didn't take me long to spot the handful of new titles that had arrived since my last visit. Among them was Down Detour Road. I spent a few minutes reading the introduction. Here in my hand was this book that immediately struck me. The author was writing about issues that plague my mind. It makes sense. He graduated from architecture school five months before I did, so he was stumbling through the same economic minefield as I was. He was also older than the average architecture graduate, much like myself. I felt I had found a kindred spirit. It seemed the book held a world of possibility. So naturally I put it back on the shelf and walked away. I don't have a job, nor the steady supply of money that comes from such an endeavor. So I waited until I got home to order it online.
The book does a wonderful job of explaining how the economic crisis happened, how it affected architecture, and how it highlighted a litany of problems that already existed. From the rubble it works to help refocus what it is to be an architect and how we might empower the role of architecture for the good of the profession. With a wonderful combination of comedy, tragedy, and personal anecdote, this book gives a direction for the role of architecture without suggesting it's form or aesthetics. It is a manifesto for the service that is architecture rather than the product often called architecture. This may be a bold statement, but I think any and every architect and architecture student out there should read this book. Read this book, you won't be sorry.
I came across the book completely by chance. I was wandering the shelves at the local national-chain bookstore and, as I often do, came upon their steadily shrinking selection of architecture books. Having perused most of the titles in the past, it didn't take me long to spot the handful of new titles that had arrived since my last visit. Among them was Down Detour Road. I spent a few minutes reading the introduction. Here in my hand was this book that immediately struck me. The author was writing about issues that plague my mind. It makes sense. He graduated from architecture school five months before I did, so he was stumbling through the same economic minefield as I was. He was also older than the average architecture graduate, much like myself. I felt I had found a kindred spirit. It seemed the book held a world of possibility. So naturally I put it back on the shelf and walked away. I don't have a job, nor the steady supply of money that comes from such an endeavor. So I waited until I got home to order it online.
The book does a wonderful job of explaining how the economic crisis happened, how it affected architecture, and how it highlighted a litany of problems that already existed. From the rubble it works to help refocus what it is to be an architect and how we might empower the role of architecture for the good of the profession. With a wonderful combination of comedy, tragedy, and personal anecdote, this book gives a direction for the role of architecture without suggesting it's form or aesthetics. It is a manifesto for the service that is architecture rather than the product often called architecture. This may be a bold statement, but I think any and every architect and architecture student out there should read this book. Read this book, you won't be sorry.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Every architect should be required to read this book; when our industry recovers (and it will although not next year but by the mid-decade), things will be different - very different. This book examines why things must change if the profession of architecture is to survive. We can only do this by offering value and worth to our clients, our communities and society as a whole; then and only then will we be compensated and rewarded for our dedication, efforts, redeeming qualities, abilities, training and talents.
Jack E. Andersen, AIA
Jack E. Andersen, AIA
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Heartbreaking Book of Staggering Genius: One Architect's Detour of Duty
October 10, 2010
Format:Paperback
The consensus: This may well be the best book by and for architects ever written. And (to my wife's chagrin) I own and have read them all.
Who should read this book: Out of work architects. Architects thinking of leaving the profession. Architects who have left the profession but want back in. Former architects who have left the profession for good but on deep, dark nights lie sleepless in bed wondering if they made a wise choice. Neighbors of out of work architects who wonder why they wear a tie when taking the dog out for a walk. Anyone who has ever had to wear a tie. Katherine Darnstadt would like this book. Parents who find their recent grads living once again under their roof. Or in their tent. Employers. Architect's spouses, friends, relatives and roommates. Architects who think they might have a story to tell but question whether anyone will care to listen. Architects who are considering doing a tour of duty helping the world in some selfless way while they wait out the Great Wake. Architects who think they may be the next to be let go. Architects who sometimes wish they were the next to be let go. Architects who read architecture blog posts in hopes of finding someone who deeply, passionately understands their situation. Architects.
Why you should get it: This book speaks to you where you hurt. Cesal is wise beyond his 31 years (33 today) and whip smart. He knows what matters and he (and no doubts his talented editors) cut to the chase.
Why you should get it now: The sooner you read it, the sooner we'll all be out of this mess; the sooner you'll decide to stick it out in architecture; the sooner you'll find a place for yourself in this new world.
Author's espoused purpose in writing the book: "We want to find ways for the architecture profession to prosper as our world economy transitions." p. 42
Why you should read it: Cesal wrote the book during a period of unemployment. Nearly every architect - employed, underemployed and unemployed - can relate.
Why else you should read it: Cesal names the Great Recession the Great Wake.
What will linger long after you're done reading the book and give it to your colleague to read: The author's voice.
What this book could also be used for: Like a commonplace book that soldiers used to carry around with them for reassurance and companionship on the front lines, you can keep this book nearby on your own detour of duty.
Why I love the book: Interjected throughout the book are short personal essays describing the author growing up, personal incidents and events that helped shape the architect/ author/ artist/ humanitarian he has become today. I love how the book captures timely subjects (the co-opting of our title by others) and timeless ones. I am most impressed by the way the author maintains a line of thought, without jumping around from subject to subject: a real feat and welcome revelation in contemporary writing. Like the late, great architect and author Peter Collins, Cesal asks hard questions and isn't afraid to linger in them until he offers a solution.
Why this book may not be appropriate for all audiences: There's an excruciatingly painful scene involving a tooth being pulled. Alcohol plays a part in a number of chapters.
The author's eye for detail: How Cesal knew the recession had reached his city: "The coffee shop I usually passed by seemed to have too many people in it."
Why I think Eric J. Cesal is architecture's answer to Dave Eggers: Down Detour Road: An Architect in Search of Practice is A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius if it were written for architects.
Favorite passage from the book: The author's attempt to find work at a temp agency. (p.117) Priceless.
The author's education: Three master's degrees in four years: business administration, construction management and architecture from Washington University in St Louis.
What book you might compare Down Detour Road with: During the deep recession of the 1970's we had Harris Stone's incomparably endearing and well-illustrated Workbook of an Unsuccessful Architect (available here for a penny.) But let there be no doubt: Down Detour Road is our age's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by Walker Evans and James Agee. This book is our The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.
Someone famous the author hangs with but doesn't once mention in the book (very classy): Cameron Sinclair, co-founder and `chief eternal optimist' (CEO) for Architecture for Humanity.
Representative quote from the book: "For all the things I had intended my life to be, for all of the things I thought I would be doing at 31, I was sitting in the dirt, on the side of an empty, unlit road, jobless, homeless, cold and hungry, lusting after a street sign."
The author's solution: Cesal recommends that we have to come to some hard truths about the limits of what we do "and then leap beyond those boundaries." He goes on to describe 10 types of architects.
What are the ten architect types he writes about? The financial architect; The value architect; The risk architect; The paid architect; The idea architect; The knowing architect; The named architect; The citizen architect; The green architect; The sober architect. He refreshingly doesn't over-use capital letters and dedicates a chapter to each architect type.
Where you can find the author today: Port-au-Prince, managing and coordinating Architecture for Humanity's design and reconstruction initiatives in Haiti until 2012.
No, really, where can you find him: You can find him here. But seriously, he lives in Haiti with a family of two dogs, 11 chickens, 5 cats and a goat named Newfie.
What's next up for the author: As Cesal explains on his webpage, "Two projects are currently in slow, agonizing, one-sentence/week progress: NCARB & I, a chronicle of architectural licensing, and Lets Just Finish These Beers and Go, a semi-autobiographical romp about how to become an architect while making every self-defeating effort you can."
Likelihood that the book will be made into a movie: Very good odds. I'm not a betting man but I'd bet on it.
Final thoughts: Someone get this guy a MacArthur Genius Grant. And a second one to The MIT Press for having the foresight and gumption for publishing this staggering piece of exceptional writing from an otherwise little known entity. Cesal may very well be doing wonderful, necessary work in Haiti but we very much need him here back home with us.
What to do while you wait for your copy of the book to arrive: Tell everyone you know to read Down Detour Road: An Architect in Search of Practice.
Who should read this book: Out of work architects. Architects thinking of leaving the profession. Architects who have left the profession but want back in. Former architects who have left the profession for good but on deep, dark nights lie sleepless in bed wondering if they made a wise choice. Neighbors of out of work architects who wonder why they wear a tie when taking the dog out for a walk. Anyone who has ever had to wear a tie. Katherine Darnstadt would like this book. Parents who find their recent grads living once again under their roof. Or in their tent. Employers. Architect's spouses, friends, relatives and roommates. Architects who think they might have a story to tell but question whether anyone will care to listen. Architects who are considering doing a tour of duty helping the world in some selfless way while they wait out the Great Wake. Architects who think they may be the next to be let go. Architects who sometimes wish they were the next to be let go. Architects who read architecture blog posts in hopes of finding someone who deeply, passionately understands their situation. Architects.
Why you should get it: This book speaks to you where you hurt. Cesal is wise beyond his 31 years (33 today) and whip smart. He knows what matters and he (and no doubts his talented editors) cut to the chase.
Why you should get it now: The sooner you read it, the sooner we'll all be out of this mess; the sooner you'll decide to stick it out in architecture; the sooner you'll find a place for yourself in this new world.
Author's espoused purpose in writing the book: "We want to find ways for the architecture profession to prosper as our world economy transitions." p. 42
Why you should read it: Cesal wrote the book during a period of unemployment. Nearly every architect - employed, underemployed and unemployed - can relate.
Why else you should read it: Cesal names the Great Recession the Great Wake.
What will linger long after you're done reading the book and give it to your colleague to read: The author's voice.
What this book could also be used for: Like a commonplace book that soldiers used to carry around with them for reassurance and companionship on the front lines, you can keep this book nearby on your own detour of duty.
Why I love the book: Interjected throughout the book are short personal essays describing the author growing up, personal incidents and events that helped shape the architect/ author/ artist/ humanitarian he has become today. I love how the book captures timely subjects (the co-opting of our title by others) and timeless ones. I am most impressed by the way the author maintains a line of thought, without jumping around from subject to subject: a real feat and welcome revelation in contemporary writing. Like the late, great architect and author Peter Collins, Cesal asks hard questions and isn't afraid to linger in them until he offers a solution.
Why this book may not be appropriate for all audiences: There's an excruciatingly painful scene involving a tooth being pulled. Alcohol plays a part in a number of chapters.
The author's eye for detail: How Cesal knew the recession had reached his city: "The coffee shop I usually passed by seemed to have too many people in it."
Why I think Eric J. Cesal is architecture's answer to Dave Eggers: Down Detour Road: An Architect in Search of Practice is A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius if it were written for architects.
Favorite passage from the book: The author's attempt to find work at a temp agency. (p.117) Priceless.
The author's education: Three master's degrees in four years: business administration, construction management and architecture from Washington University in St Louis.
What book you might compare Down Detour Road with: During the deep recession of the 1970's we had Harris Stone's incomparably endearing and well-illustrated Workbook of an Unsuccessful Architect (available here for a penny.) But let there be no doubt: Down Detour Road is our age's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by Walker Evans and James Agee. This book is our The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.
Someone famous the author hangs with but doesn't once mention in the book (very classy): Cameron Sinclair, co-founder and `chief eternal optimist' (CEO) for Architecture for Humanity.
Representative quote from the book: "For all the things I had intended my life to be, for all of the things I thought I would be doing at 31, I was sitting in the dirt, on the side of an empty, unlit road, jobless, homeless, cold and hungry, lusting after a street sign."
The author's solution: Cesal recommends that we have to come to some hard truths about the limits of what we do "and then leap beyond those boundaries." He goes on to describe 10 types of architects.
What are the ten architect types he writes about? The financial architect; The value architect; The risk architect; The paid architect; The idea architect; The knowing architect; The named architect; The citizen architect; The green architect; The sober architect. He refreshingly doesn't over-use capital letters and dedicates a chapter to each architect type.
Where you can find the author today: Port-au-Prince, managing and coordinating Architecture for Humanity's design and reconstruction initiatives in Haiti until 2012.
No, really, where can you find him: You can find him here. But seriously, he lives in Haiti with a family of two dogs, 11 chickens, 5 cats and a goat named Newfie.
What's next up for the author: As Cesal explains on his webpage, "Two projects are currently in slow, agonizing, one-sentence/week progress: NCARB & I, a chronicle of architectural licensing, and Lets Just Finish These Beers and Go, a semi-autobiographical romp about how to become an architect while making every self-defeating effort you can."
Likelihood that the book will be made into a movie: Very good odds. I'm not a betting man but I'd bet on it.
Final thoughts: Someone get this guy a MacArthur Genius Grant. And a second one to The MIT Press for having the foresight and gumption for publishing this staggering piece of exceptional writing from an otherwise little known entity. Cesal may very well be doing wonderful, necessary work in Haiti but we very much need him here back home with us.
What to do while you wait for your copy of the book to arrive: Tell everyone you know to read Down Detour Road: An Architect in Search of Practice.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Every architect who cares should read this.
Every architect should also have their friends and loved ones read this so they can understand what's going on in the architect's life. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Scootrr
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wake up call for Architect
Down Detour road is an amazing and exact book for Architect who still care about the profession of architecture. Read more
Published 15 months ago by michael
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent review of the profession
This book puts into words the mental conversations that I have been having with myself for years. a must read for anyone contemplating a career in Architecture
Published 18 months ago by Eman Ismaiel
5.0 out of 5 stars
Real life view
I think all architecture students and those in the profession will find themselves somewhere in this writer's book. I would say a must read.
Published on March 30, 2011 by Laura T. Garmendia
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fresh, Wise, Timely
As the cigarette smoke, the stench of stale champagne and perfume clears and all those monographs of parametrically generated pavillions in the form of flying Prada handbags slowly... Read more
Published on February 2, 2011 by Schinkel
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