A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction

Christopher Alexander's brilliant, classic work on architecture and its meaning for actual human beings who live with it contains the 253 elements he considers essential for workable houses, neighborhoods, and cities.

top design & drafting books

The Design of Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman +w How and why some products are satisfying to use while others are maddening.  read more

2.  Design Your Self - Karim Rashid +w 3.  A Pattern Language - Christopher Alexander +w 4.  The Green Imperative - Victor Papanek +w 5.  Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture - Martin Fowler +w 6.  Design Like You Give a Damn - Cameron Sinclair +w 7.  The Hand-Sculpted House - Ianto Evans +w 8.  Emotional Design - Donald Norman +w 9.  The Nature and Art of Workmanship - David Pye +w 10.  The Evolution of Useful Things - Henry Petroski +w

top semiotics & theory books

Characters and Viewpoint - Orson Scott Card +w A lengthy, non-fiction essay by science fiction and fantasy writer Card.  read more

2.  The Curtain - Milan Kundera +w 3.  Scrutiny - F.R. Leavis +w 4.  John Calvin And the Grounding of Interpretation - R. Ward Holder +w 5.  Write Great Fiction - Nancy Kress +w 6.  The Judith Butler Reader - Judith P. Butler +w 7.  In the Palm of Your Hand - Steve Kowit +w 8.  The New Testament and Mythology and Other Basic Writings - Rudolf Karl Bultmann +w 9.  Mimesis - Erich Auerbach +w 10.  Metaphors We Live by - George Lakoff +w