How Architecture Tells : 9 Realities That Will Change the Way You See

The general reading public is likely to think of architecture as buildings. But, with this book, Robert Steinberg would like to help readers understand that architecture shapes lives. Architecture can help communities integrate and thrive. Architecture can touch us, influencing how we feel, and how we interact with others. In short, architecture can fundamentally improve our quality of life.

As a young graduate architect fresh from Berkeley, Steinberg began to discover the potential of architecture to shape communities. Working with his father, an architect who had studied with Mies van der Rohe (and whose father was also an architect), one of Steinberg’s first projects was to draft and redraft a parking garage in downtown Silicon Valley, CA. As he mediated between the two architects in charge of the project―his father and the city architect―he noticed that with each evolution, the garage became more beautiful and refined. And with each improvement, this garage became more able to succeed in the goal of reviving the dying downtown core of Silicon Valley.

The garage was a huge success, and Steinberg began to codify what he had learned. Thanks to the garage, he wrote the first of what would become the 9 Realities of Architecture: Architecture is the Pursuit of Perfection ― a magnificent take-away from a humble parking garage project. As Steinberg eventually rose to become CEO of his firm and grew it into a global practice with six regional offices including Austin and New York, and a major office in Shanghai, he used his drive for creating thriving communities to eventually touch the lives of countless people around the world.

Robert Steinberg, FAIA, is chairman of the global architecture firm Steinberg Hart. He is a Berkeley-trained, third generation architect. Steinberg transformed his father’s primarily residence-focused practice in Silicon Valley into a global powerhouse that has, among other achievements, greatly impacted the Chinese approach to housing their senior population.

Gerald Sindell, co-author, is the author of The Genius Machine, New World Library (2009), and founder of Thought Leaders Intl.

The Hon. Penny Pritzker was the United States Secretary of Commerce during the Obama administration, is the founder of Vi Senior Housing, PSP Capital Partners, and Pritzker Realty Group.

Adam and Catherine Hooper of Hoop Design have designed for the Tate Gallery in London, and Phaidon Publishing among many others. Among their titles is Phaidon Design Classics (three volumes, Phaidon, 2006).