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Architecture touches all our lives, shaping the world we live in, yet how often do we really look at the buildings that surround us? And how well do we understand them? Exploring Architecture examines the very essence of architecture, opening buildings up to our inspection and revealing what lies behind their design.

Based on the unparalleled architectural resources of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal Institute of British Architects, Exploring Architecture provides an invaluable key to the understanding of buildings from many centuries and cultures the world over whether ordinary buildings, like blocks of flats, famous ones, like royal palaces or vernacular buildings made by local people using skills handed down through the generations. The more we understand buildings, the better we will be able to demand higher standards in our built environment and have a voice in determining our immediate surroundings.

Lavishly illustrated with 200 colour and 35 black and white photographs and drawings, Exploring Architecture covers ancient and modern architecture from across the world, in four sections which look at:

The practical uses of buildings and their responses to climate
Architecture as an art, architectural meaning and how and why architectural styles have
changed over the centuries
Materials and structures and how buildings are designed and made
The way in which buildings come together in towns and cities, creating a complex built environment.

Contents include:
Contents
Introduction
Eleanor Gawne & Michael Snodin
St Pauls Cathedral by Charles Hind
New York City by Eleanor Gawne

Building for Function by Michael Snodin
Sustainable architecture by David Lloyd Jones
Traditional & modern houses by Helen Thomas

The Art of Architectureby Michael Snodin
Buildings with meaning by Michael Snodin
Style and front doors by Tanishka Kachru

Creating Buildings by Eleanor Gawne
Spanning space by Rob Wilson
Changing tools of the design process by Neil Bingham