Exercises in Architecture: Learning to Think as an Architect

Simon Unwin is Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of Dundee, Scotland. He has lived in Great Britain and Australia, and taught or lectured on his work in China, Israel, India, Sweden, Turkey and the United States. Analysing Architecture's international relevance is indicated by its translation into various languages and its adoption for architecture courses around the world. Now retired, Simon Unwin continues to teach at The Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff, UK.

Prelude: the essence of architecture Introduction Section 1: fundamentals Exercise 1: the substance without substance Exercise 2: flipping perceptions Exercise 3: axis (and its denial) Exercise 4: doorway places Section 2: geometry Exercise 5: alignment Exercise 6: anthropometry Exercise 7: social geometry Exercise 8: geometry of making Exercise 9: geometry of planning Exercise 10: ideal geometry Exercise 11: axial symmetry Exercise 12: playing with geometry Section 3: out into the real world Exercise 13: making places in the landscape Exercise 14: making places just by being Exercise 15: geometry of making Exercise 16: responding to conditions Exercise 17: framing atmospheres Exercise 18: measured drawing Exercise 19: setting down space-time rules Section 4: additional exercises Exercise 20: place descriptions in literature Exercise 21: architecture without sight Exercise 21: eliciting an emotional response Exercise 22: framing Acknowledgements Bibliography Index