#matthew frederick

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

Have you read 101 Things I Learned in Law School by Vibeke Norgaard Martin and Matthew Frederick (2013)?

yes

no

I've read parts of it

I've never heard of it

Voting ended onJun 2, 2025

[kkintle]

101 Things I Learned in Architecture School by Matthew Frederick; Quotes

The shapes and qualities of architectural spaces greatly influence human experience and behavior, for we inhabit the spaces of our built environment and not the solid walls, roofs, and columns that shape it. Positive spaces are almost always preferred by people for lingering and social interaction. Negative spaces tend to promote movement rather than dwelling in place.

Our experience of an architectural space is strongly influenced by how we arrive in it.

Denial and reward can encourage the formulation of a rich experience. In designing paths of travel, try presenting users a view of their target—a staircase, building entrance, monument, or other element—then momentarily screen it from view as they continue their approach. Reveal the target a second time from a different angle or with an interesting new detail. Divert users onto an unexpected path to create additional intrigue or even momentary lostness; then reward them with other interesting experiences or other views of their target. This additional “work” will make the journey more interesting, the arrival more rewarding.

The more specific a design idea is, the greater its appeal is likely to be. Being nonspecific in an effort to appeal to everyone usually results in reaching no one. But drawing upon a specific observation, poignant statement, ironic point, witty reflection, intellectual connection, political argument, or idiosyncratic belief in a creative work can help you create environments others will identify with in their own way.

Any design decision should be justified in at least two ways.

“Science works with chunks and bits and pieces of things with the continuity presumed, and [the artist] works only with the continuities of things with the chunks and bits and pieces presumed.” —ROBERT PIRSIG, ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

A good designer isn’t afraid to throw away a good idea.

“A proper building grows naturally, logically, and poetically out of all its conditions.” —LOUIS SULLIVAN, KINDERGARTEN CHATS

The most effective, most creative problem solvers engage in a process of meta- thinking, or “thinking about the thinking.”

Frame a view, don’t merely exhibit it. Although a “wall of windows” might seem the best treatment for a dramatic view, richer experiences are often found in views that are discreetly selected, framed, screened, or even denied. As a designer, work to carefully shape, size, and place windows such that they are specific to the views and experiences they address.

“I like a view but I like to sit with my back turned to it.” —GERTRUDE STEIN, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B. TOKLAS

Any aesthetic quality is usually enhanced by the presence of a counterpoint.

Three levels of knowing SIMPLICITY is the world view of the child or uninformed adult, fully engaged in his own experience and happily unaware of what lies beneath the surface of immediate reality. COMPLEXITY characterizes the ordinary adult world view. It is characterized by an awareness of complex systems in nature and society but an inability to discern clarifying patterns and connections. INFORMED SIMPLICITY is an enlightened view of reality. It is founded upon an ability to discern or create clarifying patterns within complex mixtures. Pattern recognition is a crucial skill for an architect, who must create a highly ordered building amid many competing and frequently nebulous design considerations.

If you can’t explain your ideas to your grandmother in terms that she understands, you don’t know your subject well enough.

The altitude, angle, and color of daylighting varies with compass orientation and time of day.

Beauty is due more to harmonious relationships among the elements of a composition than to the elements themselves.

A good building reveals different things about itself when viewed from different distances.

“Less is more.” —LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE

“Less is a bore.” —ROBERT VENTURI, LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS

How to sketch a one-point perspective of a rectangular interior space: 1 Draw the end wall of the room in correct proportion. In the example, the end wall is 8 feet wide by 12 feet high, so its width is one and a half times its height. 2 Lightly draw a horizon line (HL) across the page. The HL is the height of your eye above the fl oor. If you are 5 feet 6 inches tall, the HL will be about 5 feet (fi ve-eighths of the way) up the wall. 3 Mark a vanishing point (VP) on the horizon line. The VP represents your location, as the viewer of the scene, relative to the side walls. Here, the viewer/VP has been established 3 feet from the left-hand wall. 4 Lightly draw lines from the VP through the four corners of the end wall, then 71 extend them more heavily toward the edges of the paper. The heavier portions of these lines depict the outer limits of the space. 5 To include a person of similar height to the viewer, place the center of his or her head on the horizon line, then increase or decrease the size of the person for foreground or background placement.

“The success of the masterpieces seems to lie not so much in their freedom from faults—indeed we tolerate the grossest errors in them all—but in the immense persuasiveness of a mind which has completely mastered its perspective.” —VIRGINIA WOOLF, “THE DEATH OF THE MOTH”

Two points of view on architecture ARCHITECTURE IS AN EXERCISE IN TRUTH. A proper building is responsible to universal knowledge and is wholly honest in the expression of its functions and materials. ARCHITECTURE IS AN EXERCISE IN NARRATIVE. Architecture is a vehicle for the telling of stories, a canvas for relaying societal myths, a stage for the theater of everyday life.

Limitations encourage creativity.

The Chinese symbol for crisis is comprised of two characters: one indicating “danger,” the other, “opportunity.”

[indiemusicdiscovery]

(Matthew Frederick)

[pearl-princess]

Three Levels of Knowing

SIMPLICITY is the world view of the child or uninformed adult, fully engaged in his own experience and happily unaware of what lies beneath the surface of immediate reality.

COMPLEXITY characterizes the ordinary adult world view. It is characterized by an awareness of complex systems in nature and society but an inability to discern clarifying patterns and connections.

INFORMED SIMPLICITY is an enlightened view of reality. It is founded upon an ability to discern or create clarifying patterns within complex mixtures. Pattern recognition is a crucial skill for an architect, who must create a highly ordered building amid many competing and frequently nebulous design considerations.

The 45th of Matthew Frederick’s “101 Things I Learned in Architecture School”

[afilmmakingblog-blog]

After the climax, get out fast!

This is not what you think it is.. It is a quote from '101 Things I Learned in Film School' - Number 99.

"After the plot reaches its climax, there are few places for a film to go that won't feel superfluous. Resolve the plot and primary subplots satisfyingly, but don't feel obligated to tie up every loose end. Leave the audience wanting more. Often, a suggestion of how the characters end up is more powerful than showing exactly how they do end up. Nonetheless, when creating an ambiguous ending, have a clear point-of-view with which the viewer may agree or disagree."

My own conclusion to this is that if you cannot tie up all the subplots, maybe create a small web series and use the internet to show what happens. Millions of people stream hours of content all the time. It makes me think of the Ubisoft teaser with Far Cry 3. That was a good marketing ploy, I loved it! And doing something similar with films might work too. Who knows?

[hoomananvar]

An architect is a generalist, not a specialist-the conductor of a symphony, not a virtuoso who plays every instrument perfectly. As a practitioner, an architect coordinates a team of professionals that include structural and mechanical engineers, interior designers, building-code consultants, landscape architects, specifications writers, contractors, and specialists from other disciplines. Typically, the interests of some team members will compete with the interests of others. An architect must know enough about each discipline to negotiate and synthesize competing demands while honoring the needs of the client and the integrity of the entire project.

Matthew Frederick’s 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School

[hoomananvar]

An architect knows something about everything. An engineer knows everything about one thing.

Matthew Frederick’s 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School

[saintdhome]

Sneak Peak: Here is a preview of one of our favorite artists, Matthew Frederick, and what he is working on. We predict fish will be the new trend this year!