Matthew Frederick

Matthew Frederick is an American architect, urban designer, and author who serves as the creator, editor, and illustrator of the 101 Things I Learned series. His debut book, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School (2007), became a Los Angeles Times bestseller and has been translated into over 25 languages.^[1] The series is widely regarded as a "household classic" within design education.^[2]

Education and career

Frederick is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based architect and educator who has taught at the Boston Architectural College and Wentworth Institute of Technology.^[3] While serving as a program head in Boston, he pioneered a "normative master-apprentice" teaching style to distill complex architectural theories into clear, foundational directives.

In 2007, he published his first book, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School, through MIT Press. Grounded in his classroom handouts and a philosophy of "informed simplicity," the volume earned a Silver Medal at the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards.^[4][5] Following this success, the series was acquired by Crown Publishing Group, where Frederick collaborates with various discipline experts to expand the "101 Things I Learned" brand.^[1]

Selected works

• 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School (2007) – Author and illustrator
• 101 Things I Learned in Urban Design School (2018) – Author (with Vikas Mehta)
• 101 Things I Learned in Film School (2010) – Author (with Neil Landau)
• 101 Things I Learned in Engineering School (2013) – Series Editor and illustrator (with John Kuprenas)
• 101 Things I Learned in Law School (2013) – Series Editor and illustrator (with Vibeke Norgaard Martin)

References