業餘閱讀 - 讀書會和2025回顧
Amateur Reading — An Architecture Research Group & 2025 Review
明年開始我要弄一個讀書會，一個研究討論社群。
今年幾乎每週日早上都和蔡翰寧學長跑步，雖然跑步很認真，但更多時候是出去聊天。內容不外乎與建築高度相關的話題。我們也會分享最近看的書，以及這些書如何影響並幫助我們的建築工作。這些對話引發了許多新觀點，也促使我想找人一起深入研究更多建築理論和案例。
Next year, I am launching a reading group—a research collective.
This past year, Sunday mornings were dedicated to running with Han-Ning Tsai. While the running was serious, the dialogue was critical. The conversation rarely strayed from architecture. We exchanged books and dissected how they informed our practice. These dialogues triggered new perspectives and an urgency to find others willing to deeply interrogate theory and case studies.
1. Why this, why now
今年讀了一些書，其中 How to Take Smart Notes 改變了我對讀書和知識的理解。起初只是為了解決「如何產出有效筆記」的問題，最後卻因接觸了新工具，連帶改變了我理解世界的方式。
一直以來，我都是以「記錄」和「記憶」的方式做筆記。
因為從小的訓練是以考試為中心的方式做筆記，是為了回答題目，記住考試內容。但這樣的方式有兩種缺陷，其一、是隨著時間前進，訊息變多，普通人很難記住所有看過的東西。其二、不同的資訊無法彼此交流，缺乏連結。若看不見事物間的連結，就無法啟發聯想，也就無法生產出新的東西，自己的東西。
為了建造我自己的網絡我開始學習 The Zettelkasten method 並開始使用 Obsidian（如附圖）。我將案例、書籍、文章、藝術作品等都視為一則則獨立的筆記（Entry），有時候臨時想到的靈感也可以是一則筆記。藉由思考大主題間的關連性，導出新文章的主題；有時候反過來，先有個模糊的主題，再藉由關聯性回頭尋找可用的資訊與圖面。
Reading How to Take Smart Notes this year fundamentally shifted my epistemology. It began as a functional search for “how to produce effective notes,” but it ended up altering how I decode the world.
Historically, I treated note-taking as “recording” and “memorizing.” This is a legacy of exam-centric education: memorizing answers to pass a test. This method has two structural flaws. First, as time progresses and data accumulates, the human brain cannot retain everything. Second, isolated information cannot communicate. Lacking linkage, there is no association. Without association, there is no synthesis—no production of something truly yours.
To construct my own network, I adopted the Zettelkasten method and started using Obsidian (see attached). I treat case studies, books, articles, and art as independent “Entries.” A fleeting thought becomes a node. By interrogating the connections between macro-themes, I derive arguments for new articles. Conversely, I can start with a vague concept and use these connections to reverse-engineer the necessary evidence and drawings.
2. 關於這個讀書會 The Protocol
雖然輪廓還很模糊，但我想應該先開始。以下是關於讀書會的構想：
這不是什麼：這不是一個純閱讀的讀書會。閱讀是一種孤獨、私密的行為；它需要的是隱私，而非觀眾。這不是一個藏書社。買書並不代表智慧能自動滲透轉移給你。我們拒絕那種「買了等於讀了」的妄想。這不是一個被動的檔案庫。我們不為了做筆記而做筆記。
問題所在：在演算法的時代，我們每個人都有獨特卻孤立的資訊流，將我們變成了數位網絡中的被動節點。我們淪為內容的消費者，而非知識的生產者。當新的建築案啟動時，我總是倉促地從零開始拼湊理論背景，處於被動反應而非主動引領的狀態。我們希望逆轉人與演算法的關係。 我相信每個人都是一個獨特宇宙，藉由讓這些宇宙在實體空間中相互碰撞，我們對彼此的網絡進行交叉參照（Cross-reference）。我們批判，我們整合。
方法：我們將書籍視為原料。我們分析書的結構 ，包括建築圖、概念圖、照片、論證，藉此理解如何建構我們自己的體系。做筆記時，也會加入影片、展覽、廣播節目所激起的想法。我們專注於筆記之間的連結，以此生成新的知識。
目標： 將消費者轉化為生產者。打造一個「隨時可用」的理論引擎，好讓下一個案子來臨時，我們無須從零開始。我們將從既有的基礎上出發。
形式：每月一本書。擷取部分段落進行解釋與詮釋、提出問題、分享各自聯想到的案例並記錄。目前以紐約的實體聚會為主，穿插線上討論。內容將整理並透過電子報寄給訂閱 Substack 的人，未來也可能會有 Podcast 分享。
The outline is still fluid, but execution takes precedence over perfection.
Here is the framework:
【What This Is Not】 This is not a reading group. Reading is a solitary, intimate act; it requires privacy, not an audience. This is not a book collection society. Buying a book does not grant you its wisdom by osmosis. We reject the delusion of unread libraries. This is not a passive archive. We do not take notes just to fill pages.
【The Problem】 In the era of the Algorithm, we are fragmented. Our screens feed us unique, isolated streams of information, turning us into passive nodes in a digital network. We are consumers of content, not producers of knowledge. When a new architectural project begins, we scramble to invent a theoretical background from scratch, reacting rather than leading.
【The Solution】 We are reversing the relationship between the human and the algorithm. We acknowledge that every architect is a unique universe of pre-selected data. By colliding these universes in the physical world, we cross-reference our networks. We critique. We synthesize.
【The Method】 We treat books as raw material. We analyze the structure of the book—the drawing, the diagram, the argument—to understand how to construct our own. We incorporate films, exhibitions, and broadcasts. We focus on the linkage of notes to generate new knowledge.
【The Goal】 To turn consumers into producers. To build a “Ready-to-Use” theoretical engine so that when the next project arrives, we don’t start at zero. We start with a foundation.
Format: One book per month. We extract, interpret, interrogate, and record specific passages. The primary locus is physical meetups in NYC, interspersed with online discourse. The content will be synthesized and broadcast via Substack. A future Podcast is possible.
3. 請加入我們 Join Us
請推薦書單: 請大家留言推薦今年看到的好書，讓我在規劃書單時有更多選擇。雖然以建築為主，但不限於建築！
保持聯繫：有興趣但沒空參與的朋友，請免費訂閱 Substack，我會定期分享讀書進度和新發現！ 有興趣實體參與的朋友，請直接留言或私訊！
感恩，2026見。
The Reading List: Please comment with the most vital books you read this year. Help me engineer the syllabus. Architecture is the core, but not the boundary.
Stay Connected: If you cannot attend, subscribe to the Substack for free. I will transmit our progress and findings regularly. For those interested in physical participation in NYC, DM me directly.
Gratitude. See you in 2026.
4. 書 The Index
今年看過和正在看的書/文章：
Books/Articles consumed or currently in rotation this year:
Less is Enough by Pier Vittorio Aureli
How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens
Translations from drawing to building by Robin Evans
Five Good Swiss Plans by Kate Finning (Editor), Guillermo Fernández Abascal (Editor)
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
Element of Venice by Giulia Foscari Widmann Rezzonico
The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda
The Formal Basis of Modern Architecture by Peter Eisenman
Rewriting Alberti by Peter Eisenman
Learning from Las Vegas by Denise Scott Brown, Robert Venturi, and Steven Izenour
Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is the Beginning & End of Suffering by Joseph Nguyen
Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari
Four Walls and a Roof: The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession by Reinier de Graaf
Dirty Old River by Tom Emerson
三體 The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣 Liu Cixin