Diagramming the Big Idea cover

Diagramming the Big Idea

by Jeffrey Balmer

"A beginning design student needs to learn to think like a designer, to visualƠize ideas & concepts as well as objects. In Diagramming the Big Idea, Jeffrey Balmer and Michael T. Swisher illustrate how student architects can create and use diagrams to clarify their understanding of both particular projects and organizing principles and ideas. With accessable, step-by-step exercises that interweave diagrams, drawings and virtual models, the authors clearly demonstrate how to compose meaningful and useful diagrams. As they follow the development of the four projects groups drawn from the authors' teaching, readers will become familiar with architectural composition concepts such as proportion, site, form, hierarchy and spatial construction. In addition, description and demonstration essays extend concepts with further examples of the methods used in the projects. Whether at 3:00 AM during an all-nighter, while preparing for a desk critique or any time when a fundaƠmental insight can help to resolve a design problem, this book will serve as an essential studio resource"--

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?