PART I; KNOWING AND APPRECIATING ARCHITECTURE: Knowing when a building is just a building and when it's architecture
How to look at a building
Building your architectural vocabulary
PART II: NUTS AND BOLTS: LOOKING AT HOW ARCHITECTURE IS DESIGNED AND BUILT: How buildings are born
Just what do architects do, anyway?
A simple structure: how buildings stand up
PART III: WESTERN ARCHITECTURE: A SURVEY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT STRUCTURES: Gimme shelter: prehistoric structures and the ancient world
Acropolis now: Classical Greece and Rome
Domes, arches, and vaults, oh my: Byzantine and Medieval architecture
Beauty meets mathematics and drama: from Renaissance to Rococo
Revivals everywhere; the Classical and Gothic are new again
Here comes the industrial age: prelab is here to stay
Flying high and close to the sun: Skyscrapers!
Mother nature versus the machines: modern styles
The only constant is change: from modern purism to postmodern pluralism
PART IV: EASTERN ARCHITECTURE: A SURVEY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT STRUCTURES: China and Japan: traditions in wood
More than the Taj Mahal: architecture in India
PART V: ARRANGING THE PRESENT AND SAVING THE PAST: Understanding urban design
Historic preservation: saving the past for the future
PART VI: THE PART OF TEN: The most fascinating architects working today
Ten architectural masterpieces
Ten amazing items of trivia that'll impress all your friends!
