I stumbled on the Cool Tools review of the book “A Pattern Language” a couple of years ago. Knowing then that we’ll soon be planning and building our house, I was excited to learn of a book that could help me build-up some basic knowledge and understanding of architecture.

“A Pattern Language” is fantastic! The amount of practical yet easy-to-digest information is staggering, and the book’s structure makes it very easy to use. The authors describe 253 patterns with varying importance, spanning across three main sections (Towns, Buildings, Construction). Each pattern references the patterns it’s built on top of and the patterns it affects.

Reading through “A Pattern Language” (and going back to it again and again) has given me the confidence I needed to critically look at our house plans, noticing how the patterns are applied (or not!). If you’re ever going to be involved in a construction or serious remodeling project, I recommend getting yourself a copy.