Ching's 'Architecture: Form, Space, and Order' will surely help you. It is simple, quite visual and straightfoward. See if you can get hold of a PDF and let me know if it helped.

It gets mentioned a lot, but 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School is a great book if you can get your hands on it. Also, for beginners the Francis Ching books are great, especially Architecture: Form Space and Order, and Simon Unwin's Analyzing Architecture.

Another tip is, sadly, take this subreddit with a grain of salt. Many here seem to want to emulate professors who gave them a harsh beat down in critiques, and architecture generally has a very negative culture. You are not in architecture school, you don't need to be judged to the same standard. Especially if you are doing this as a hobby. Keep finding out what you like and be open to learning more.

Great question, and great idea! Off the top of my head:


The Basics

Landscape Architect's Portable Handbook - This one does get a bit technical, but it's a good guide.


Sociology/Psychology

Social Life of Small Urban Spaces - Just a good book about how people experience spaces

Design with People in Mind - An older film, but a classic. Funny and with great observations about how people use spaces and interact with their environment


Design Theory

Architecture: Form, Space and Order - This is a great guidebook for architects and landscape architects alike


History of Landscape Architecture

Illustrated History of Landscape Design - A great intro to the history of landscape architecture.


Urban Planning/Design

Death and Life of Great American Cities - It's a classic and should be a required read for anyone in landscape architecture or architecture


This is the short list - I'll add to it as I think of more!

Ching's Form, Space and Order would be a fun introduction to the basics, particularly if you enjoy hand rendered illustrations.

Draw. Draw. Draw.
When you're tired of drawing, draw some more.
Focus on light and proportion. learn from the classics. learn about hierarchy. Visit buildings or even streets or neighborhoods that have some significance. Take a lot of pictures and then draw those pictures. Buy this book and draw the pictures and diagrams inside it.
Blogs are nice to help you build a vocabulary and to help you figure out what you like, but for now you should focus on only the greatest works by the greatest architects. The only modern architecture you need to look at is Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies Van der Rohe, and Le Corbusier. Look at different scales of design. You might find yourself more interested in furniture design or interior design, or you could gravitate towards landscape architecture or urban design.

Also, do some research about the schools you are applying to. Are they focused on construction or design? Theory or built works? conceptual collage or technical drafting? is there a style that is preferred by the professors? Where I went to undergrad, Corb was the messiah and Gehry is the antichrist. Every school has a different pedagogy, and its important to find one that you can work with. You will spend many sleepless nights in studio so try to find the best fit for you.

Other than that, enjoy your freedom while you still have it! Good luck and have fun!

Francis Ching has some good reference books for a starter: Building construction illustrated and Architecture: Form Space and Order. It might be a good idea to regularly visit sites like ArchDaily to see what contemporary architects are doing. If you want to start learning design programs, try downloading SketchUp or Rhino (both have free versions). Good luck!

Frank Ching's Form, Space, and Order

EDIT: Added a link

Very cool how much you want to support him.

The biggest misconception about the industry is probably how little math we actually use. There is of course a spectrum to our field that spans from sculptors and artists to programmers and engineers. By and large, however, we are visual people who hone our skills by practicing art. I was happily surprised in my first term of college to find out how much time we'd spend sketching and drafting. Hopefully that's appealing to him!

As far as what skills to learn: I took a CAD drafting class in high school that gave me a good head start in college. Sketchup is easy to pick up and I'd encourage him to get comfortable with Rhino to really be able to model digitally. I would not recommend Revit at this early stage as it's extremely technical. Physical modeling is also helpful. I grew up on Legos before moving to paper / cardstock / cardboard sketch modeling. Messy and fast and gives three-dimensional insight you can't get from a page or a screen, plus having the ability to make clean models is a great way to impress professors early on.

Regarding reading material. These books made an enormous impression on me:

• 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School
  
• The Fast Guide to Architectural Form
  
• Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language
  
• Francis D.K. Ching's Form, Space, Order
  
• and Architect? A Candid Guide to the Profession
  
  I would highly recommend each and every one to him. All very approachable reading for a 14 year old already sketching commercial spaces.
  
  And Bjark Ingel's Yes is More is a fun read in graphic novel form.
  
  Lastly— reach out to your local AIA chapter. They can connect you and your brother with resources specific to your area including firms to check out / potentially shadow at, scholarships to apply for, and summer programs and other workshops to attend.
  
  ​
  
  Best of luck to you both! It's quite a journey and a rewarding one if it fits.
  I'm happy to talk more if you'd like to message me.

For a first project, this looks really good. Others have said some of the stuff that I'm going to say, but there's a couple other comments I haven't seen others make.

First, learn how to export images. Every arch program I've used has the ability to do this and it makes things look much nicer than taking a picture of a screen, which leads me to...

Learn how to Google efficiently. If you don't know how to do something, think of what you're trying to do, take the keywords out of it ("I want to build a wall that is sloped outward in Google Sketchup" turns into "slope wall sketchup"). In high school, I ended up knowing the programs we used better than my teacher because of this. Now in college, I am one of 3 out of about 125 that everyone goes to for help with programs. About 50% of the stuff they ask I don't know, but I can Google it and find an answer in under a minute.

Now, for the design itself. It's important that every design decision you make, you ask "why?" If you cannot fully justify it, think of a couple alternatives, and choose the best option. Then at the very least your reason would be "I explored a few options and determined this was the best solution." Sure, some will be able to argue it, but you have a reason. Always try and push it though. For instance, why did you choose wood planks for part of your facade? Is it because it looks good or because you had a location in mind and it matches the style of that location?

Next, materiality on facades. My general rule of thumb I use is one main material, one accent material (larger amounts of glazing would count, simple windows like you have would not). When you start having more than that, it starts to look rather busy and can be distracting. But like in the last paragraph, try to have a reason for the material. Pick a location for the building, learn the style and material of the location, and design with that in mind.

Finally, it's never too early to start learning about how buildings are actually constructed. If you can, get access to books by Francis Ching. If they are available at your library, check them out. If not, they're relatively cheap ($20-$30 each iirc). Building Construction Illustrated, Architecture: Form, Space, and Order, and A Visual Dictionary of Architecture are three books I highly recommend to get started on. It will help you understand how buildings are actually put together (and provide tips like nominal construction so you aren't doing things like cutting a CMU in half so that it fits). I notice a few things (such as being able to see the outlines of your stairs from the outside) that you want to watch for so they don't show up. This can be solved by understanding where different elements stop, how they're connected to each other, etc.

So, like I said, this looks really good. Starting at 15 is awesome, I started when I was 16 and now I'm applying to some of the top grad schools in the US, so definitely keep at it! One last tip, if you haven't already, start sketching/drawing by hand. It's an invaluable skill to have and will help you immensely if you decide to study architecture. Even if it's drawing one object a day, just spend 10-15 minutes every day sketching things out. You'll be surprised how much you improve just from practice in even a month.

Personal favorite for any stage of the design process: http://www.amazon.com/Architecture-Francis-D-K-Ching/dp/0471752169/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1313740811&sr=8-3

I really, really love architecture: form, space, and order and use is as a guide quite often.

you have a good start and it's always fun to sketch by hand and figure out how space works.

I know a lot of people here have said to pick up computer programs but I would start with learning how to scale and proportion first and the best way to do that is by hand. The computer is an amazing tool and can help tremendously but there is no replacement for hand sketching.

Check out some books by Francis DK Ching, they are a really good resource. Specifically Form, Space, and Order and since you seem to like laying out space also look at Interior Design Illustrated.

These aren't the end all be all resources but they are great for getting started and also show what a really well done sketch looks like.

Good luck and keep posting those sketches!

that second one was supposed to be:

http://www.amazon.com/Architecture-Francis-D-Ching-Advisor/dp/0471752169/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290481938&sr=8-1

my bad!

These two books were heavily used at my college. They're pretty useful, specifically for architectural work. They're geared towards creating your own designs, which I would encourage you to try.

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Drawing-Francis-D-Ching/dp/0471286540
http://www.amazon.com/Architecture-Francis-D-K-Ching/dp/0471752169

If you want to learn some of the more technical aspects, particularly perspective drawing, I would recommend taking a course from a local college. It can help you to start off on the right foot. Also, try doing some copy drawings of other artists work, and incorporate elements of their style that you enjoy.

Frank Ching's Architecture: Form, Space & Order is a good primer for architectural principles. It might be a little mature for an 11 year old, but it's got a lot of interesting drawings that explain design concepts.

EDIT: it's a bit old: the back cover on the "Look Inside!" preview says "Now with a CD-ROM", haha

Architecture isn't a very textbook-y kind of field, so there aren't really many authoritative books that are universally used by everyone (other than the IBC).
Francis D. K. Ching is really the only exception to this rule as most schools seem to have incorporated at least one of his books into their curriculum. I would highly recommend the following:

Form Space and Order is a great introductory text that will introduce aspiring architects to some of the basic concepts of architecture.
Building Codes Illustrated relays code information graphically, making it easier to understand. It is not a replacement for the actual code, but it will at least give you an idea of what to look for.
Building Construction Illustrated is arguably the most useful of the three. I continue to refer back to this book even today and I'm not even in school anymore.

In addition to tamupino's suggestions, check out Form Space and Order.

I got a copy second-hand through Amazon for $5 a few years ago... Not sure why the prices are so high right now, but check back in the spring when all the architecture kids are selling their books off.

It touches a bit on passive solar design, and general forms, spaces and orders, as I am sure you can garner from the title.

I don't have too much experience with Landscape Architecture besides about 6 months interning at a firm, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Books, I honestly don't know "the best"

I did however read these 3

http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Elements-Landscape-Architectural-Design/dp/0881334782

http://www.amazon.com/Basics-Landscape-Architecture-01-Design/dp/2940411123

http://www.amazon.com/Basics-Landscape-Architecture-02-Ecological/dp/2940411441/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

They should get you started on Landscape stuff

For general architecture knowledge (if you don't get the other 3 get this one....if you do get the other 3, then get this one too)

http://www.amazon.com/Architecture-Francis-D-K-Ching/dp/0471752169/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2


Tips for the first day.

same with any job, do what needs to be done and try to look happy doing it

As you mentioned architecture, Architecture: Form, Space, and Order is something of a classic. I do not think it would be that useful to non-arch students though. I think 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School may be a good book for non-architects, to give you a good idea (very briefly) of the principles.

Try this: https://www.youtube.com/user/30by40

And this: https://www.amazon.com/Architecture-Francis-D-K-Ching/dp/0471752169

I'm taking the pre-architecture courses now, and I've recently graduated from a computer drafting program (AutoCAD and Revit with some Sketchup).

If I was going to start over again, I'd want to know how to draw. Definitely develop good line control (through contour, blind contour, and just line drawing exercises).

Model building is another important aspect. It's all about craft and getting familiar with the materials. You may end up using other materials but foamcore and basswood are the two go to materials in my classes.

For now, and my knowledge is limited, if you're going to learn any software, I'd focus more on Photoshop, Sketchup, and Rhino.

Helpful books would be Form, Space, and Order, Design Drawing and Drawing, A Creative Process all by Francis Ching.

I'd also study art and architectural history. Having a good knowledge base of different styles would help you in your own designs.

Don't look at other people's portfolios and be concerned, you are looking at work from people who have spent literally years studying and practicing a single subject, so are way more specialized than someone your age who has to take on a number of subjects and give them equal importance, not to mention its a subject that you haven't yet had the chance to try out. See it more as inspiration.

Its great that you've got some experience lined up! Very important to give it a try before you commit in case you outright hate it, university will be different from real life practice though. Before university be prepared for your work experience to feel like 'just a job' (but hopefully one that you can see yourself enjoying) after university you will have the knowledge and hopefully passion to see that job as an opportunity to create things in the world.

Don't worry about architectural knowledge before university, any prior knowledge will be useful but its a level playing field no-one will go in knowing what to expect, and having too much of a preconceived idea will probably be a bad thing. The easiest thing to do would be to just check a few blogs every now and then, just to look at things and see what you like, don't take it to seriously just see if there's any styles or designers that catch your eye. Try these:

Dezeen

DesignBoom

Architectural Review

If you really want a book to read this is probably the best 'my first architecture' book you could get its simple, but very informative.

As for drawing, it is important, you should practice whenever you can. You don't need to have picture perfect hand drawing skills but you need to learn to 'think' and 'describe' and 'observe' with your hand - its one of the key skills of an architect. Again, it doesn't have to be perfect but you need to be able to describe and understand texture and light and shadow and 3d objects in space. Sometimes a rough sketch with energy and emotion like this peter zumthor study can tell us more about the weight, feeling, texture, lightness or darkness of a space than perfect drawing, although perfect drawings do have their place as well.

Architecture has a lot in common with graphic design, the ordering principles, problem solving, composition etc. But graphic design tends to lack, both 3d dimensional work but also and importantly an emotive aspect. I would encourage you to take up art as an A-level, if thats not possible, don't worry but it would be good to find a short course where you could practice art away from the formal and practical constraints of pure graphic design. Hope that helps!