Geoff Manaugh Reconstructs Our Minds in “A Burglar’s Guide to the City”

If you’ve ever gone through a parkour phase, you’ve probably looked at a building and thought, “I can climb that.” If you’ve ever seen “Ocean’s Eleven,” you’ve probably thought about how cool breaking into a bank vault would be. Geoff Manaugh argues that humans are addicted to parkour videos, heist movies and crime novels because the people who climb buildings, break into them, or destroy them are misusing the architecture that we see around us everyday.

Geoff Manaugh is an architect and the founder of BLDGBLOG, a blog about architecture. But Manaugh has a very interesting way of looking at buildings. Rather than studying the way that they can be used effectively, he puts himself into the shoes of a burglar, and studies the way that buildings can be abused. In his book, “A Burglar’s Guide to the City,” Manaugh serves as a blueprint to spotting the weaknesses in architecture around us.

Manaugh tells the story of different bank heists, tunnel jobs, and cat burglars throughout the years. Interestingly, he brings forth the perspective of lockpicks, cat burglars, and other criminals, as well as the perspectives of people preventing criminals. He speaks with police officers, LAPD helicopter pilots, and the architects behind panic rooms. Manaugh thoroughly digs into the ways that someone could break into your home, and what kind of architecture can prevent such a crime.

Manaugh clearly considers architecture an art. He says that buildings are also structures that we create to feel safe. We create buildings to protect ourselves from burglars, yet Manaugh also helps the reader think like a burglar, and exactly what to look for as such. We are taught how to be observant, and look for that one detail that can get us from point A to point B. Readers are taught to create our own pathways through buildings. Cut open a hole in the wall, cut a hole through the ceiling, tunnel up from underneath a bank. Most importantly, we are taught how to escape and evade. Run, use the subways, traffic, and disguises to your advantage. Hide in plain sight, hide in solitude, hide in a pool cover.

Although we glorify burglars for their ability, intelligence (or lack thereof) and bravery to defy the laws of architecture, it is mentioned that burglary is one of the most emotionally disturbing crimes. It leaves the victim with a lost sense of trust, one that is hard to ever regain. Why do we praise movies like “Ocean’s Eleven”? Why are the criminals the heroes? Geoff Manaugh mentions that although burglars are a wonderful example of architectural deviants, they are primarily thieves. They should not be glorified, nor should we partake in the thievery.

What is the point of “A Burglar’s Guide to the City,” then? Is it not to train criminals on how to commit crimes?

The objective of the book is to make the reader aware of the looming threat of burglary. If someone is given enough time with your house, bank or vault, it will be broken into. In order to avoid the burglar, you have to think like the burglar. Geoff Manaugh’s book is an ode to the beautiful complexities of architecture. Believe me, I haven’t looked at a building the same way since starting the book. But at the same, it is a practical guide to understand the mind of a criminal.

Shane Hoyle, Staff Writer.