Architecture

From the pyramids of Ancient Egypt to the Sydney Opera House, Andrew Ballantyne explores the history and cultural significance of architecture. He provides readers with the necessary background to understand the language of architecture and its economic, social, political, and aesthetic significance. Ballantyne eloquently explores what makes a building timeless and what this illuminates about human society. The "A brief insight" series, beautifully printed and bound, offer extended essays on a substantial subject, written by specialists, but accessible to the undergraduate student or general reader, and serving as an in-depth introduction to the field's main questions and characteristics, using carefully chosen examples as illustration. In this scintillating volume, Ballantyne (U. of Newcastle, the UK) examines what are the chief meanings and qualities of architecture, surveying in broad strokes the main features of western architecture, demonstrating to the reader how to look and think about a complex and ubiquitous form. Includes a glossary and list of further reading. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)