A Pattern Language

Christopher Alexander

Christopher Alexander’s ground breaking book first published in 1977. It is part 2 of a 3-part trilogy about the nature of the built environment. A Pattern Language includes 253 universal patterns of human nature. Selecting and organizing the relevant patterns to solve a design problem forms “a pattern language”. Each pattern consists of a problem statement, a discussion of the problem with an illustration, and a solution.

How Buildings Learn

Stewart Brand

Written by Stewart Brand, who brought us “The Whole Earth” catalog, “How Buildings Learn” explores what happens to buildings after they’re built. These post construction insights allow us to “design-in” the inevitable evolution of our rooms and spaces.

The Ultimate House Book

Terrance Conran

The third edition of Terrance Conran’s well-organized approach to designing, engineering, and organizing your home environment. Conran’s well illustrated book is is based on simplicity and common sense combined with clean modern design.

Residential Energy

John T. Krigger

The 6th edition of Residential Energy is a complete reference book on home energy conservation. The fundamentals of buildings science are well organized and clearly explained.

The Ecology of Commerce

Paul Hawkin

Paul Hawkin defined modern sustainability by simply stating that “you can make money without wrecking the environment”.

PREFAB

Allison Arieff

A good introduction to prefabricated houses from Allison Arieff, the editor of Dwell magazine. Prefab includes a brief history of prefabrication and over 25 modern cases studies in factory built housing.