The widely recognized and beautifully illustrated book Understanding Architecture is now revised and expanded in its fourth edition, vividly exploring the structure, function, history, and meaning of architecture, from prehistory to the present, in accessible and engaging ways.

Key features of the fourth edition include:

• Expanded global essays that describe the encounters and interactions, conflicts, and compromises between various global communities.
• A brand new final chapter that concerns the twenty-first century, in which Western and global architectural developments have increasingly become a broad, interconnected expression. This chapter includes sections on CAD, twenty-first-century contemporary architecture, Starchitects, modern architectural awards, architecture and energy consumption, and architecture integrating with nature.
• New sections on Frank Lloyd Wright and late twentieth-century expressionism.
• Fully revised and edited illustration, comprising over 700 images, more than half in full color, and 120 original line drawings.

Understanding Architecture remains the only text in the field that examines architecture as a cultural phenomenon as well as an artistic and technological achievement, with its clear, dual structure: The Elements of Architecture and the History and Meaning of Architecture. Comprehensive and clearly written, Understanding Architecture is both a guide to visual environmental literacy and a classic review of architecture. It is an essential book for anyone interested in our built environment and the multi-faceted historical significance embodied within it.

Pages: 654, Dimensions: 21x21cm