How to Architect

The word "architect" is a noun, but Doug Patt uses it as a verb--coining a term andmaking a point about using parts of speech and parts of buildings in new ways. Changing the functionof a word, or a room, can produce surprise and meaning. In How to Architect,Patt--an architect and the creator of a series of wildly popular online videos aboutarchitecture--presents the basics of architecture in A-Z form, starting with "A is for Asymmetry"(as seen in Chartres Cathedral and Frank Gehry), detouring through "N is for Narrative," and endingwith "Z is for Zeal" (a quality that successful architects tend to have, even in fiction--see The Fountainhead's architect-hero Howard Roark.)

Howto Architect is a book to guide you on the road to architecture. If you are just startingon that journey or thinking about becoming an architect, it is a place to begin. If you are alreadyan architect and want to remind yourself of what drew you to the profession, it is a book ofaffirmation. And if you are just curious about what goes into the design and construction ofbuildings, this book tells you how architects think. Patt introduces each entry with a hand-drawnletter, and accompanies the text with illustrations that illuminate the concept discussed: a fallenHumpty Dumpty illustrates the perils of fragile egos; photographs of an X-Acto knife and other handtools remind us of architecture's nondigital origins.

How toArchitect offers encouragement to aspiring architects but also mounts a defense ofarchitecture as a profession--by calling out a defiant verb: architect!

Doug Patt is a registered licensed architect in Pennsylvania and has taught architecture at Pennsylvania State University and Northampton Community College. He has a popular Web site and a widely viewed YouTube channel, both also called "How to Architect."