A colleague who is heading back into academia recently asked what ten books she should catch up on if she wanted to be up to speed with what students were reading/talking about. Here’s a quick scan of student desks, with a couple thrown in that should be part of the discourse:

1. David Leatherbarrow, On Weathering
2. Kenneth Frampton, Studies in Tectonic Culture
3. William McDonough, Cradle to Cradle
4. Bruce Mau, Massive Change
5. Richard Sennett, The Craftsman
6. Cecil Balmond, Informal
7. Farshid Moussavi, The Function of Ornament
8. Stephen Kieran, Refabricating Architecture
9. D’Arcy Thompson, On Growth and Form
10. Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture

I’m curious to hear what’s on student desks elsewhere–read, examined, or just serving as paperweights…