Tiptoe through the Tulips with Mies

So currently my house is somewhere between the minimalist De Stijl designs (empty and full of bright colors) and, how can I accurately put this, a garbage can (all my junk is piled into a corner). It has been said that if you want peace, you must prepare for war. Similarly, if I want to move out of this house, I must prepare to spend the rest of my life as a hoarder. 3. 3 copies of Zoolander. Who needs that many? No one, That's who.

But I digress.

In the process of boxing up the books, I was reminded of the good reads that have taken place during the 3 years I've lived here. So here - because you didn't ask for it - are my top ten favorite design books (today. right now.)

In the hope of not being too anecdotal I'm just going to put gifs down to sum up how I felt when I first read each of these books.

Why? Because it's the Internet.

#10) Phenomenology of Perception - Maurice Merleau-Ponty

#9) A Good Chair is A Good Chair - Donald Judd

#8) The Ice Palace that Melted Away - Bill Stumpf

#7) Architecture: Form, Space, Order - Francis D.K. Ching

  
#6) S,M,L,XL - Rem Koolhaas

#5) The Architecture of Happiness - Alain De Botton

#4) Philip Johnson: Life and Work - Franz Schulze

#3) History of the Future - Donna Goodman

#2) Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture - Robert Venturi

#1) 101 things you learn in Architecture School - Matthew Fredrick

Honorable Mention: Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995 - Kate Nesbitt (technically a 'Best Of')

How about you guys? What were are your favorite design books?

Thanks to Whatshouldwecallme for the gifs.  

Freelancing

Even before I got into architecture, I have always wanted to own my own company. When I was a wee lass I would refer to my bedroom as my office and have my sister "call" me with a phone-shaped walkie talkie. I would pretend to bill her for products or services and issue her an invoice, of sorts.

Now that I have passed through the bulk of the design education that prefaces earning the title "architect," I am finding that my old dream is slowly but surely resurfacing.

To temporarily satiate my returning entrepreneurial desire, I have decided to submerge myself in some freelancing and business-related reading. One book I highly recommend is:

Creative, Inc.

The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business

by Meg Mateo Ilasco & Joy Deangdeelert Cho

It is a concise breakdown of the simple concepts involved in starting your own business. I will offer that much of the beginning of the book I feel I had already learned, either through my college education or just from being involved in the design industry. The later chapters, particularly when it gets into billing, invoicing, networking, hiring, etc. becomes quite informative.

It's a pretty quick read and offers some case studies to illustrate the important points. I'm keeping it on my shelf as a reference.

I have begun to dabble in some "freelancing," this year. I suppose technically it falls under the category "consulting." Either way, it's fun!

A Place of My Own, by Michael Pollan

First, allow me to acknowledge my absence of late. The weather has been too gorgeous for me to mull about in blog entries. However, I would like to plug some nuggets your way in the future, especially with the coming of our first annual architectural road trip!

Today's nugget is a book recommendation. As you may recall, last summer I designed and constructed a small studio space for myself in my parents' backyard. It is made of modest materials, save the corrugated transparent roof to the North. It not only provides me glorious atmospheric conditions for painting, but also some privacy and resolve from the day to day. The reason I am reminiscing about my structure is because this book is about someone who did something very similar to what I did, and for similar reasons. While I have only yet read part of the preface, I did scan it briefly and I expect that it will be an excellent read. I would also like to note that a gentleman at work recommended it to me after I shared with him some memorable photos of the "shanty" during the snowstorm in February.

I just received my "used" copy from Amazon today and I am quite excited to begin reading it. Looks like I paid $7.40 for it (including shipping), which is not half bad for an essentially brand new book.

Take a peek at its reviews online and let me know what you think! I'll keep you updated if I can make it through this summer... I've been spending a lot of time volleyballing, though, so we'll see!