Architecture: A Very Short Introduction

• 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

Readership: The general reader interested in the visual arts; architects; students of art and architecture.

Andrew Ballantyne, Professor of Architecture, University of Newcastle

"a densely fascinating guide" - Steven Poole, The Guardian Review

"an excellent introduction to architecture ... one to recommend to students, friends and family, which is quite an achievement!" - Robert Tavernor, University of Bath

"There is really no better book out there. Ballantyne is a beautiful stylist, and the book combines intellegence with a completely beguiling wruterly style." - Sunday Herald (Glasgow)

"will justify the ambition of every young and aspiring architect - but will also stimulate anyone at all curious about buildings ... Clear and jargon-less it shows how all buildings - good, bad and indifferent - are the truest indicators of the state of a society and of its culture." - Joseph Rykwert, University of Pennsylvania

1: Adding Value: how buildings become architecture
2: Architectural Heritage: how buildings tell us who we are
3: Architectural Canons: how architecture achieves greatness
Further reading