I entered the Department of Architecture with dreams of great success!
A cool character with everything a drama could want, a drawing case slung over his shoulder that catches the eye, a cool sketch that will soon become a home, and a fantastic job as an architect who creates a space for someone to live in!

He entered the architecture department with dreams of becoming a successful businessman, but after taking his first design class, he was soon embarrassed.
All I do is draw lines during class.
Why is drawing a line so difficult that they even give us homework?
The submitted assignment was immediately rejected.
They don't even explain why.
In the second lesson, we are asked to select and analyze a site.
They give us another assignment without explaining which site to select or how to conduct the analysis.
There are professors who occasionally explain things, but I can't understand what they're saying at all.
It's a word I'm sure I know and have heard, but it doesn't seem to have a meaning I know.

If you ask a question because you don't understand, the answer is more difficult.
If you happen to understand something and start designing based on that, it soon becomes a labyrinth again.
After a long, arduous all-nighter, I finally submitted my assignment and gave my presentation, and the professor barraged me with questions: "What is your design concept? Do you think the space fits your concept? Do you think the site you've chosen is suitable for your project? Which magazine did you see it in? Where is the name of the drawing? Why did you use that typography?"

Even if you study hard at school, you can't get started right away at work.
All kinds of chores, from pulling all-nighters to staying up all night every day.
There is still a long way to go before you can become the great architect you have always dreamed of, and how to get your skills recognized.

From “This is how lines are drawn” to “Architects are chronically ill.”
This is something that any architecture student has experienced and pondered at least once.
This book was published for people who are struggling with these difficulties.
From the very basics of design, “This is how to draw a line,” which is the first item, to the final 101st item, “Architects are late bloomers,” everything that architecture students need to know is explained one by one in simple, clear sentences and sensible illustrations.

There is no particular order to the 101 items.
When you're designing or listening to a class, if you get bored, just open any page.
Color theory, symbols based on direction, things to keep in mind when designing, tips for impressing people who come to visit your building, presentation techniques that make them listen to you, how to create drawings that stand out from others, etc.


Open to any page, anytime, anywhere!
If you feel like you lose focus when you only give presentations, you can turn to item 57, “To present a design project effectively, start with general information and move on to specifics,” and item 67, “To present effectively using graphic materials, follow the 3m rule.”
Then you will know what your mistake is.
If you want to make your sketches stand out from others, look at item 36.
“A sketch with light and shade conveys a wider range of emotions than a sketch drawn with only lines.” Also, if you have a good idea and try to apply it to an ongoing project but it doesn’t work out, you should look at item 28, “A good architect can discard even a good idea without regret,” and think again.


I also advise against learning the vague language of architects who are inconsiderate of others.
“If you can’t explain your ideas in terms your grandmother can understand, you don’t know your subject well.” Some architects might disagree with this statement.
But this entry points out exactly why people are reluctant to talk to architects and why they find architecture difficult.

Beyond these specific points, if you like the master of modern architecture, Mies van der Rohe, and want to learn from his design guidelines, you can look at point 61, which claims that “less is more,” or, on the other hand, point 62, which claims that “less is more, the more boring it becomes,” by Robert Venturi.


Good buildings are built that way for a reason!
Anyone who has ever visited the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Gwacheon by public transportation knows that the entrance to the museum is quite far away.
The architect could have created a shortest route from the bus stop to the art gallery, but he didn't do that.
The reason for this can be seen in item 10, “The experience of an architectural space is greatly influenced by how one arrives there,” and item 11, “Use ‘rejection and reward’ to enrich the path through an artificially created spatial environment.”
One of the reasons is the 53rd item, “A good building reveals different aspects depending on the distance from which it is viewed.”

As soon as you get off at the bus stop, the first thing that catches your eye is the overall appearance of the art museum sitting quietly in the mountains.
If you walk for a while while looking at the art museum, you will only see the pedestal and not the building.
A little later, when we look from the bus stop, we see a large art gallery of a scale we never expected, but our eyes are already drawn to the lake, the bridge, and the surrounding sculptures.
After enjoying these, when I stood at the entrance to enter the art museum, I realized that I had experienced a new space and that I had come back with my eyes filled with the cute little ridges of Cheonggyesan.
And you will enter the art museum satisfied, forgetting the fatigue from walking a lot.
All of this is the architect's intention.
The architect has provided us with a very enjoyable experience using 'rejection and reward'.

A good building not only offers such a variety of spatial experiences, but also has a clear reason for its shape, the direction of its entrance, and even how it stands on the ground.
This book explains these reasons well in one sentence.
After reading the book, even people who have not studied architecture will be able to walk down the street and understand, at least a little, why each building stands in that shape.
Some people might even consider becoming architects.


Instructions on lettering methods, sketching, and the meaning and use of colors to create striking graphic materials will be useful in any situation.


Advice from an ordinary architect like me
The author, Matthew Frederick, is not a master or a virtuoso, but just an ordinary American architect.
What sets me apart from others is that I have experience teaching at a university.
But considering that most architects who run their own offices have taken a design class at least once in college, this is nothing new.


This is why the 101 items discussed in this book are quite realistic and contain specific concerns.
If it had been the words of a famous architect, it would have been somewhat burdensome.
There will be many items that we cannot follow, items that the author himself uses to promote his own fame.
The advice of an ordinary architect to ordinary students who dream of becoming famous, if not a master, is all the more resonant because the author himself has experienced the same mistakes.