An Architectural Programming Primer
by William Peña, et al
Cahners Books International, 1977
Comments: It's been many years since I read this book, but I consider it to be one of the most important of my life. It was a college textbook on architectural programming -- how to identify the program requirements and conceptual responses for a building's design. But even more fundamentally it's about how to methodically think through problems to find good solutions. In other words: how to design well. Everything I've designed or created since then has been influenced by these principles. It gave me a set of tools that have been extraordinarily useful far beyond architecture.
Several years ago I sold my college copy and I've recently been looking to replace it. I wanted the original edition, but all the copies I kept finding were very "distressed" and over-priced. Then one day at my favorite bookstore I was surprised to find a pristine used copy -- marred only by the inscribed name of the original owner -- and priced at $5. Needless to say, it did not go back on the shelf. Thank you Leland K. Turner, wherever you are.
Copy Notes: Hardback, fourth printing, illustrated
