Unlike books that concentrate on the monuments and other artefacts that architects produce, Constructing the Architect focuses on architecture as a disciplinary and professional process, an institution of society, and a career of learning and mastery. In doing so, it offers a lens into the architecture of architecture.

Mapping architecture as a coherent whole, Leonard Bachman shows that the field must be understood as four mutually reinforcing modes of inquiry: design, research, strategy, and education. Within this framework, he explains how institutions and actors hold differing perspectives on the critical discourse that advances architecture and identifies the various tensions and leverage points for change within the discipline.

Featuring over 100 illustrations to support understanding of this highly visual subject, this is an essential introduction for any student seeking to understand what it means to be an architect and to enter the professional discourse.