Announcing My New Book: A Treatise on Modern Architecture
Architecture Is in Crisis. This Book Offers a Way Forward.
I’m excited to share the release of my new book, A Treatise on Modern Architecture—a work born from years of building, observing, questioning, and ultimately, reimagining how we design and live in the homes around us.
This book is not just a history lesson or a style guide. It’s a wake-up call.
We are surrounded by homes that claim to be modern, yet are hollow imitations—boxy forms masking shallow design, built for resale rather than for living. Somewhere along the way, architecture stopped asking the deeper questions. What is beautiful? What is functional? What is true?
This treatise is my attempt to start asking again.
Inside, I trace the roots of modernism and its early promise—from Le Corbusier to Frank Lloyd Wright—and then confront the slow dilution of that promise by mass production, market pressures, and our collective retreat into "transitional" safety.
But it’s not all critique. The book ends with a call to action: a pragmatic framework for better residential design, beginning with materials, methods, and meaning. It also introduces the vision of The High Performance Home (HPH)—an initiative to restore integrity, sustainability, and beauty to how we build.
Who this book is for:
Architects, builders, and designers seeking a clearer path through the noise
Homebuyers tired of choosing between square footage and soul
Readers who believe that how we build reflects who we are—and who we aspire to be
Architecture matters. Not because of how it looks. But because of how it makes us live.
You can preorder or purchase the book now here: FixYourWhy.com
Let me know what resonates with you. And if it sparks new thoughts, I’d love to hear them.
With care,
Bill Ryan
Author | Builder | Humanist
theBillRyan.com