TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HUCKABEE COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE
ARCH 1311 Design Environment and Society

Assignment 01

SELECTION OF A BOOK - DRAWING OF YOUR DESK SPACE

Professor Urs Peter "Upe" Flueckiger

Given: Wednesday September 9, 2026
Due: Wednesday September 30, 2026 Before Beginning of the Lecture in Class.

Description: 
You are at the beginning of your career as students in architecture or another design related discipline. One of the key ingredients of being and becoming an architect is to read books, become familiar with them.

We also learned “How to See”. George Nelson says: “To see is to think”. Drawing and sketching is a way of seeing and observing. To quote Robin Evans: “Architects do not make buildings, they make drawings of buildings”.

Assignment:`
You have three weeks for this assignment. You need to make time outside of the slotted lecture time for this project.

Please go and visit the Huckabee College of Architecture Library on the 9th and 8th Floor of the College of Architecture Building. On the 9th floor, you will find a section with the “New Books” currently some 50 new books are shelved there. Pick a book from the “New Books Area” one which is interesting and speaks to you. You also can pick a book of your interest from the “stacks of the HCOA” library or an architecture book you might have acquired bevor beginning your college career at TTU.

Take a photograph of a page which you are interested in.

Write down the books title, subtitle, author, editor(s) translator(s), publisher, place of publication and year of publishing.

Example:
Wellington, Paul. Black Built History and Architecture in the Black Community Copyright by Wellington, Paul, 2019. Coppel, TX 2020.

On a separate, letter size (8.5" x 11") format sheet of paper, please describe what interested you in the book you chose. One written paragraph about 250 words typed in an electronic word program (computer).

On the second page, letter size (8.5" x 11") make a line drawing as explained in the lecture of your desk where you study. Look at your desk as a site with objects. You probably have a computer, pen and pencils, perhaps a coffee cup and other items on the desktop. Most importantly, incorporate the architecture book of your choosing into your desktop landscape. Either draw the book of your choosing in color, or if you have the technical ability, Photoshop your book into your drawing.

Submission:
Hand your assignment in person your respective S.A. Sections (A, B, C, etc.) in person at the beginning of the class Wednesday, September 30, 2026 in room 281 of the Media and Communication Building.

Library Tours:
Your Architecture Librarians will organize library tours by each section of ARCH 1311 DES. Sign up sheets will be in the Architecture Library on the 9th Floor. Part of this assignment is to have the tour completed by September 30, 2026.

Tours according to DES Sections:

Friday, September 25th

Sec. A 8:30-9am

Sec. B 9-9:30am

Sec. C 9:30-10am

Sec. D 10-10:30am

Sec. E 10:30-11am

Sec. F   1-1:30pm

Sec. G 1:30-2pm

Sec. H 2-2:30pm

Sec. I    2:30-3pm

Sec. J   3-3:30pm

Sec. K 3:30-4pm

Sec. L   4-4:30pm

Please arrive 5 minutes ealry for your time slot and sign in.

If you cannot attend your section’s tour time, please email your section’s student assistant. They will reserve a makeup time slot for you.

Make Up Time Slots:

Monday, Sept 28th

3-3:30pm

3:30-4pm

4-4:30pm

Safety and HCOA Library Protocols:
When visiting any public place, educational facility on campus, or anywhere else please keep appropriate social distancing.
General Architecture Library Information & Protocols: https://guides.library.ttu.edu/ld.php?content_id=56482592
Safety Protocol for Physical Books & Journals: https://guides.library.ttu.edu/ld.php?content_id=56498530

Goals and Learning Objectives:
To visit the HCOA Library in person and to familiarize yourself with the world of architecture books and to have completed the Architecture Library Tour.
To make a careful line drawing/sketch and how to abstract. Drawing the essential.
To learn how carefully choose, place, and layout image and text information onto maximum two pages.
To write one paragraph, about 250 words.