Mark Alan Hewitt, FAIA is an architect, historian and preservationist working in the New York area. He has taught architecture at Rice University, Columbia University, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is the author of six books and numerous articles on American architecture, architectural practice, and building conservation.
"""By the age of two, a toddler has started to recognize letters. Add six more months and the ability to match shapes will have developed. Having perfect 20/20 vision may be present, but it takes practice to learn the vital skills that will lead toward good reading and writing. That is where Arches To Zigzags comes in. It offers a unique exercise through architectural imagery for a preschooler to experience visual spatial relationships in the built environment. Through changes in figure ground, form, closure and novelty, an identification of colors, shapes and patterns is possible. As for the adult who purchases the book, it is a catalyst for easy storytelling."" --Frederick Marks, AIA, President, Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture ""Filled with rich illustrations and imagery, Draw In Order to See: A Cognitive History of Architectural Design is a valuable addition to the (sadly limited) ground-breaking works of the recent past connecting the latest research on neuroscience, representation, and its historical impacts on architectural education, practice, and design. It forces a strong reconsideration of 'embodied' practices of the past often: practices often slandered by contemporary ""high culture"" theorists. It also clearly expresses the critical importance of understanding the cognitive impacts of different forms of representation. Too frequently, new design technologies and methods are fully embraced by schools and practitioners alike, without appreciating their broader impacts. Simple put, Draw In Order to See is a must-read for all architects and designers. One can only hope that his plea for more research into the subject does not fall on deaf ears, but instead inserts new life into a discipline whose many oversights are becoming ever more apparent."" --Spacing"