Since 1985, Architect?
has been an essential text for aspiring architects, offering the best
basic guide to the profession available. This third edition has been
substantially revised and rewritten, with new material covering the
latest developments in architectural and construction
technologies,digital methodologies, new areas of focus in teaching and
practice, evolving aesthetic philosophies, sustainability and green
architecture, and alternatives to traditional practice.
Architect? tells the
inside story of architectural education and practice; it is realistic,
unvarnished,and insightful. Chapter 1 asks "Why Be an Architect?" and
chapter 2 offers reasons "Why Not to Be an Architect." After this
provocative beginning,Architect? goes on to explain and critique
architectural education, covering admission, degree and curriculum
types, and workload as well as such post-degree options as internship,
teaching, and work in related fields. It offers a detailed discussion of
professors and practitioners and the "-isms" and "-ologies" most
prevalent in teaching and practicing architecture. It explains how an
architect works and gets work, and describes architectural services from
initial client contact to construction oversight. The new edition also
includes a generous selection of drawings and cartoons from the author's
Washington Post column, "Shaping the City," offering teachable moments
wittily in graphic form.
The author, Roger Lewis, has taught, practiced, and written extensively about architecture for many years. In Architect?
he explains — for students, professors, practitioners, and even
prospective clients — how architects think and work and what they care
about as they strive to make the built environment more commodious, more
beautiful, and more sustainable.
