Customer Reviews

Think Like an Architect (Roger Fullington Series in Architecture)

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As someone who has an interest in architecture but whose knowledge of architectural theory and history are superficial and spotty, I found Hal Box's book Think Like an Architect an especially rewarding read. Written with the confidence earned from a long, successful, and satisfying career, his book is a straightforward explanation of both the intention and process of producing the kind of buildings that are life-affirming and enduring. His writing is entirely free of the thornscrub argot that makes most architectural criticism an impenetrable thicket closed to "outsiders" and hostile to dialog. Thus unarmed, Mr. Box may therefore be vulnerable because he dares to use old-fashioned words like beauty, graceful, charming, and harmony. But to me, watching my local landscape erased and replaced by generic chain stores and anonymous neighborhoods, this language is as welcome as a summer thunderstorm falling on parched ground.

It was especially interesting to me to learn how a post-war generation of eager young architects were "brainwashed" by Modernism's cerebral rationality. This I can understand, as the enthusiasm followed their experiences of the Great Depression and World War II. Something new was certainly in order. But even newness can become stale and lifeless. Today, as a new generation of architects meets perhaps the even greater challenge of designing buildings that are "sustainable" or "green", we may be seeing another great age of inspired innovation, expanding the smaller scale vernacular experiments of Sam Mockbee, the elegant shelters of Glen Murcutt, and the social works of Cameron Sinclair's Architecture for Humanity Foundation, to influence and shape the mainstream market. I hope that architects, planners and consumers will avail themselves of the wisdom in Mr. Box's book as they participate in this great new adventure.

I am not an architect; merely someone who appreciates the end results of good architecture. I do not routinely read books about architecture, or books written by architects. But as a long-time admirer of Hal Box's architectural work, I was curious how a book titled Think Like an Architect might read.

Short answer? Terrifically! I learned something interesting about the history, art and science of architecture in every chapter.

As I finished the book, which I accomplished faster than I would have liked or imagined, it occurred to me that Hal Box accomplished with this book what Vitruvius, the first century BC Roman architect, espoused as the goals of good architecture: commodity, firmness, and delight. The book accomplished its program of encouraging me to think more like an architect (commodity); the ideas and illustrations are thoughtfully and artfully presented in a sturdy format which will withstand years of referencing and re-reading (firmness); and Professor Box puts forth his ideas and opinions, earned over a long and distinguished career as an educator and practicing architect, clearly and entertainingly (delight).

Whether one plans to build or is simply curious about how to do it right, Think Like an Architect is a must.

Are you about to build a new home, serve on a school building committee, or design a public park for a client? Or do you just like to be in and around jewels of architecture? If you answer "Yes," get Second Day delivery on your new copy of Think Like an Architect.

This is a rich compendium of letters (chapters) written to friends and colleagues, replete with drawings, photographs, and tools such as "10 ways to explore and understand a building," plus a thorough Seeing List, as well as a Reading List. A blend of architectural history and 21st Century reality -- deftly connected by Dean Box's passion for and knowledge about the importance of architecture in our daily lives and our cultural legacies - these are two hundred of the most helpful and inspiring pages you'll read. It also is a fast read. Yesterday in fact an active aficionado friend who has been intimately involved with half a dozen projects in recent years excitedly told me that he'd, "just finished, the best, most enjoyable book on architecture. I lost sleep because of it, staying up to read it at night and awakening early to continue." I knew the title he was about to tell me.

Think Like an Architect opens the door to those of us who love space, love to think about space and building houses we love to live in. As someone who has built many homes and lived inside those spaces he conceived and created, Hal Box is able to not only share his love of the creation of places we want to be but to tell us how to get there on our own--clearly.
I am building a second home in Mexico and find that reading and re-reading this book--especially the considerations--continues to inform and clarify my thinking about the project.
Margaret Keys

This title is useful in that it explains design concepts in lay person's terms w/o fussiness. Written by an architect, who has hands on experience building houses, I appreciated that much of what was said about the art of creating beautiful spaces is applicable to landscape design which is my area of interest.

If you are one of that rare breed, the do-it-yourself house designer and builder, then "Think Like An Architect" by Hal Box should be considered an essential guide. Architect Box explains the many aspects of building design in a clear and thoughtful way. He achieves reader understanding in a field that sometimes become obscured in a sea of jargon. We learn that "professional architects build only about 5 percent of what is built."

The advice and information contained here will be of direct, practical, value for any one or any couple planning a new house. The pictures are clear and large enough to easily see the details. The advice is specific and applicable to one's own design. I am not an architect, but my wife and I did design and build our own house, over a period of about six years. We have more than a hundred architectural books. I know of no better book on the design process for any prospective home builder. "Think Like An Architect" would also be my first choice for a gift to a new student of architecture.

machines for living
and god is in the details.
form follows function...

Bought this book as a consolation prize after a small hike to a local bookstore in (a failed) search of a tome on Richard Meier's houses. Written by a long-time University of Texas architecture dean and published by UT Press, it's truly a gem. Covering the totality of architecture, from its history to its practice, this book gives a great overview of it all with a lot of practical pointers. The book is somewhat autobiographical and includes Box's views and opinions on this and that. It's organized as a series of hypothetical letters, which is a little cheesy and unnecessary (and almost caused me not to buy it). But after the initial Dear Johns and Dear Janes that start the chapters, the goofiness fades quickly.

Box's professorial pedigree shines in how he organizes the essence of his message in well-worded and thoroughly-explained lists. The writing is clear and concise and slides across the palate like a fine wine (or a cold glass of Dublin Dr Pepper). Although Box is a professor, he started out as a practicing architect (and practiced while proffing) and keeps his feet solidly on a practical foundation. In fact, he states that the primary job of the architect is to "...satisfy the client's program within the budget in a timely manner." Amen, brother! He goes on to say "[t]he budget is a prime reality of the project. It is value. When your project is finished, no matter how good the architecture, it will be only real estate to much of the world." And furthermore: "You begin the design process by exploring three worlds that are about to meet: One world is the site, a place in the community or landscape; another world is the program, the owner's list of needs and desires; and the third world is the budget." It's good to know that some architects actually take budget (and the owner's needs and desires) into consideration with their work...

For the most part, Box keeps his architectural ego in place, indirectly noting (by omission) that he is not one of the geniuses. However, the arch-ego slips out for a little sunshine and mooning when he writes that "...architecture is the most comprehensive of all visual arts and has a right to claim a superiority over the others." Take that, Ansel Adams...

The chapters of most interest to me were those on the design process and making design decisions, chapters I've already read a few times (and will surely read a few times more). Box notes that these chapters are his ideas and thoughts on the design process; nonetheless, it's neat to get an inside view into the architectural magic.

Box is not a fan of undiluted modernism (pointing out that it's been around for over a hundred years now) and instead trumpets regionalism that fits in with the neighborhood, local climate, and local materials. He shudders at architectural interventions, where the architecture stands out from the crowd like Lady Gaga at a Catholic sisters retreat in Abilene (Gehry is a gaga interventionist, I reckon...). My inner punkrocker doesn't agree with this, but I understand the motivation and concern.

Finally, Box provides a substantial reading list to learn more about the history and process of architecture. All in all a worthy book for anyone thinking about becoming an architect, looking to hire an architect, or simply wants to know more about the built world about us.

Hal Box's book, "Think Like an Architect," is one book I wish I had read prior to entering, or while still in, graduate school, studying architecture. While the book is indeed helpful to anyone that is an architect, or aspiring to become one, it is also targeted to those who aren't in the profession but are involved in the built environment. It is interesting how so much of what's built today is NOT the work of architects, nor is it deemed architecture - but Box goes to show how a building can be something masterful, even from someone who is not trained nor licensed in architecture. Box also addresses how architecture relates to the city - how in the modern built environment, especially in the United States - you can go miles before seeing quality works of architecture - unlike the cities of old, which are/were chock full of solid architecture. Box poses this conundrum as an ideological clash between community and independence- and how the notion of independence has come at a cost to both community and architecture.

The book shares a glimpse of what it takes to become an architect, as well as how the profession developed, and where it is headed. While published before the 2008 recession, and having since passed this past May, Box provides timeless advice for those concerned with the evolving field that is architecture.