Architecture: A Very Short Introduction

by Andrew Ballantyne

• ISBN13: 9780192801791
• ISBN10: 0192801791
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-12-19
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

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 and instead gives us 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 period. Illustrations of particular buildings help to anchor the general points with specific examples, from ancient Egypt to the present day.

Author Biography

Andrew Ballantyne qualified and practised as an architect, and then moved into academic work. He has held research and teaching posts at the universities of Sheffield, Bath, and Newcastle, where he is now Professor of Architecture. He has written on architectural history and theory, and his previous books are Architecture, Landscape and Liberty and What is Architecture?.

Table of Contents

Adding Value: how buildings become architecture

Architectural Heritage: how buildings tell us who we are

Architectural Canons: how architecture achieves greatness

Further Reading

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.