Sarah Susanka Click photo for larger image.

Sarah Susanka learned the principles of good design while getting her master's degree in architecture in the 1980s from the University of Minnesota. But she didn't have the words to explain why some houses instantly feel "right" -- and some don't.

"It didn't necessarily correlate with what made me feel good or bad in a place," she says. "So I decided to give language to what my body told me worked."

Over the next several years, Susanka gathered hundreds of photos of houses and rooms and sorted them into categories. Eventually, she laid all the images out from each stack and asked the question: What am I intrinsically responding to?

The answers -- space, light and order -- are revealed in her fourth and latest book, "Home by Design: Transforming Your House Into Home" (Taunton Press, $35). On May 20, the British-born architect will be in Pittsburgh to discuss those elusive but oh-so-important design principles in a lecture and book signing at Carnegie Mellon University.

"This is the book I've wanted to write for a long time," says Susanka, who first gained national attention in 1998 with the best-selling "The Not So Big House." "It's about what's underneath not only my books but what a lot of architects talk about."

Susanka's visit comes courtesy of Shipley Brothers Development, which is re-creating the show home she designed for the recent International Builders' Show in Las Vegas as a model home at Lake MacLeod, a new 152-acre lakeside community in Pine.

Tim and Neal Shipley were familiar with Susanka's "Not So Big" philosophy, which favors quality and character of space over square footage. They even give a copy of her book to each buyer at Lake MacLeod, so people understand what their options are when it comes to designing a custom home.

An illustration in Sarah Susanka's book "Home By Design" shows how framed openings and varying ceiling height can give a home more character. Click photo for larger image.

But when the Wexford-based developers saw her speak at the builders' show in January, they were blown away. They suggested she come to Pittsburgh as part of her 10-city book tour, a visit co-sponsored by American Institute of Architects Pittsburgh and Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

"Her thinking is really cutting edge," says Tim Shipley. "Her homes are designed for the way a family lives, not to impress the neighbors."

Builders tend to follow the path of least resistance, he says. It's necessary to inform home buyers about what options are available so builders can give them something "a little more thoughtful."

Susanka's first three books in the "Not So Big" series -- which includes the sequels "Creating the Not So Big House" and "Not So Big Solutions For Your Home" -- drove her less-is-more philosophy into our collective consciousness and sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. Her latest tome explains the architectural concepts that go into crafting a beautifully designed house, with more than 300 color pictures and easy-to-understand language. Speaking from her home in Raleigh, N.C., Susanka describes the new book as a dictionary explaining architecture to non-architects.

"My mission is to give a connecting language that allows professional architects, builders, homeowners and spouses to say what they like and don't like," she says.

She should know. Susanka, who worked as an architect in Minneapolis for 21 years before moving to North Carolina in 2001, has designed upward of 400 houses and done close to 1,000 remodels, mostly in the Twin Cities area.

	Click photo for larger image.

The book's 27 chapters each address a specific design principle, such as "Sequence of Places," "Light to Walk Toward" and "Pattern and Geometry." Photos of 28 different homes across the country, most designed by other architects, illustrate those concepts.

Pictures from a house in Connecticut, for example, illustrate the difference framed openings make in a receiving area. And a house Susanka designed in Minneapolis shows how varying ceiling heights can define spaces for different activities.

Such details might seem subtle but they can change the entire feel of a house. Good design and architecture, says Susanka, are just as important as good nutrition, and have just as much impact on the quality of our lives and well-being.

"You're more capable of doing the things you want to do if your house is nurturing," she maintains.

Susanka concedes that a home designed according to her philosophy will usually end up costing more than a comparable production home, in large part because there is an emphasis on better building materials and craftsmanship. Varying ceiling heights and adding built-ins and architectural details can also add to construction time.

She stresses, however, that many of the book's concepts can be applied inexpensively, whether you're starting from scratch or planning a remodel. For example, it doesn't cost any more to place a window directly adjacent to a perpendicular wall rather than in the middle of the wall. Similarly, aligning a window with a door at the other end of the house "has a wonderful way of pulling you all the way through the house."

Even something as simple as placing a light over a painting in a hallway will make your home feel more comfortable, pulling visitors toward it.

"My joke is I like to move toward the light," she says with an easy laugh.

Critics might say that Susanka's principles, which tend to create an open, contemporary look, can't easily be applied to Pittsburgh's older housing stock.

"People think style is the bottom line, but this is what underlines style," she says. "It doesn't matter what kind of clothing, so to speak, your house is wearing."

That's why she included illustrations from different styles of houses in the book......

So how can typical homeowners communicate to an architect exactly what they're looking for (other than dropping a copy of "Home by Design" in his or her lap)?

For starters, advises Susanka, bring a bunch of photos of what you like to your meetings and indicate on each one with a sticky note what about it works for you. It also helps to make a list of the spaces in your current home that are comfortable and well-used and the ones that aren't.

However you articulate your desires, Susanka says the most important thing is to choose an architect who is not only talented but can work with you.

"I can't overstress how important it is to do your homework and find somebody you click with," she says. "If you don't have chemistry, don't do it."

While Susanka is currently taking a break from designing -- her speaking schedule eats up much of her time -- she hasn't stopped writing. Her fifth book with landscape architect Julie Moir Messervy, "Outside the Not So Big House," is due out in January 2006, and another, "Inside the Not So Big House," is also in the works.

"It's about the special details [like latticework and plate rails] that make a Not So Big House sing," says Susanka.

Sarah Susanka's lecture begins at 7 p.m. May 20 at Carnegie Mellon University's Philip Chosky Theater, Purnell Center for the Arts, Oakland. A book signing will follow. Tickets -- $20 for the general public, $10 for students -- are available at 412-394-3353 or www.proartstickets.org.