This is a book that students of architecture will want to keep in the studio and in their backpacks. It is also a book they may want to keep out of view of their professors, for it expresses in clear and simple language things that tend to be murky and abstruse in the classroom. These 101 concise lessons in design, drawing, the creative process, and presentation--from the basics of How to Draw a Line to the complexities of color theory--provide a much-needed primer in architectural literacy, making concrete what too often is left nebulous or open-ended in the architecture curriculum. Each lesson utilizes a two-page format, with a brief explanation and an illustration that can range from diagrammatic to whimsical. The lesson on How to Draw a Line is illustrated by examples of good and bad lines; a lesson on the dangers of awkward floor level changes shows the television actor Dick Van Dyke in the midst of a pratfall; a discussion of the proportional differences between traditional and modern buildings features a drawing of a building split neatly in half between the two. Written by an architect and instructor who remembers well the fog of his own student days, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School provides valuable guideposts for navigating the design studio and other classes in the architecture curriculum. Architecture graduates--from young designers to experienced practitioners--will turn to the book as well, for inspiration and a guide back to basics when solving a complex design problem.
After years of micromanaging his environment and serving as the facilitator of an international money laundering system for some of the world's most notorious crime families, Gordon Dessler's criminal empire is in trouble.
When past indiscretions and current enemies begin to erode his comfort zone, Dessler responds by creating a chilling game. With the proper motivation, be it money, power, or love, Dessler believes that human beings will kill one another to attain their desires. Thus, the Assassination Game is born-and Dessler plans to broadcast it on the Internet.
In Dessler's home on Wilhelmina Island, a haven for the rich and privileged, eight strangers must fight against one another in a game to the death. The participants come from a variety of occupations from professional criminals and murderers to everyday working people.
With the game a runaway hit on the Internet, Dessler believes his empire is secure. But he doesn't count on the effect of personal relationships that develop between the players. And one relationship in particular may just ruin everything .