Architectural Styles is an incomparable guide to architectural styles across the centuries and around the world. Modeled after an architect's plein air sketchbook, the volume features hundreds of detailed drawings by esteemed architectural illustrator Robbie Polley alongside incisive and informative descriptions. This unique guidebook takes readers from Europe and the Americas to Egypt, China, and India. It covers a host of historical and contemporary...

The materials used in architecture inform our experience of buildings and spaces through the interplay of aesthetic, social and historic considerations. Both structural and decorative elements have a role to play, whether immediately visceral or only on a subliminal level. Human beings have a relationship to the materials, one that is colored by our values and expectations and not easily set aside. Continued innovations by architects at the vanguard...

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between Gothic and Gothic Revival, or how to distinguish between Baroque and Neoclassical? This guide makes extensive use of photographs to identify and explain the characteristic features of nearly 300 buildings. The result is a clear and easy-to-navigate guide to identifying the key styles of western architecture from the classical age to the present day.