• Short introduction to architecture for the general reader and beginning student
• Well-known examples from Ancient Greece to the present day
• Explains what gives buildings meaning
• Explains what makes certain buildings special
• Illustrations of key buildings

  
This highly original and sophisticated look at architecture helps us to understand the cultural significance of the buildings that surround us. It avoids the traditional style-spotting approach in favour of giving an idea of what it is about buildings that moves us, and what it is that makes them important artistically and culturally. The book begins by looking at how architecture acquires meaning through tradition, and concludes with the exoticism of the recent avant garde. Illustrations of particular buildings help to anchor the general points with specific examples, from ancient Egypt to the present day.