Reading Architecture Second Edition

Anyone with an interest in buildings and the built environment would do well to purchase a copy of Owen Hopkins' book. - Monocle

This innovative and unique book is a visual guide to the buildings that surround us. Architectural features are pinpointed and labelled on images of buildings so that, unlike with other architectural dictionaries, you don't have to know the name before looking it up. Clear line drawings and extensive colour photographs illustrate each of the main building types, from forts to churches, stately homes to skyscrapers. The individual structural elements and materials common to all buildings are then explained, whether in Classical, Gothic or Modernist style. A comprehensive glossary completes the book. This revised edition includes an expanded section on modern structures and materials, as well as the latest styles and concepts from the last ten years.

A must for all lovers of architecture and those who would like to learn more

Over 11,000 copies sold in English worldwide

Covers all key building types and styles, from cathedrals to skyscrapers, Classical to contemporary.

Each building type is illustrated with extensive photographs and annotated drawings

Contains a comprehensive glossary of architectural terms

“Anyone with an interest in buildings and the built environment would do well to purchase a copy of Owen Hopkins' book.”

Monocle
It is a delight to discover Owen Hopkins's Reading Architecture: A Visual Lexicon, recently published in its second edition. Covering the entire history of architecture and its myriad styles, and written in clear prose with diagrammatic illustrations throughout, this book is essential for those wishing to distinguish between a tympanum ("in medieval architecture, the often decorated infilled space above the imposts of an arch supported by two smaller arches") and a trumeau ("the central mullion in an arched window or doorway, supporting a tympanum above two smaller arches")-as well as those just curious what the dormer windows in spires are called (those would be lucarnes). The New Criterion

Owen Hopkins is Director of the Farrell Centre at Newcastle University. Previously he was Senior Curator at Sir John Soane's Museum and before that he was Architecture Programme Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. He is the author of several books including Reading Architecture: A Visual Lexicon (2012), Architectural Styles: A Visual Guide (2014; both Laurence King), Postmodern Architecture: Less is a Bore (2020) and The Museum (2021).

Anyone with an interest in buildings and the built environment would do well to purchase a copy of Owen Hopkins' book. - Monocle This innovative and unique book is a visual guide to the buildings that surround us. Architectural features are pinpointed and labelled on images of buildings so that, unlike with other architectural dictionaries, you don't have to know the name before looking it up. Clear line drawings and extensive colour photographs illustrate each of the main building types, from forts to churches, stately homes to skyscrapers. The individual structural elements and materials common to all buildings are then explained, whether in Classical, Gothic or Modernist style. A comprehensive glossary completes the book. This revised edition includes an expanded section on modern structures and materials, as well as the latest styles and concepts from the last ten years. A must for all lovers of architecture and those who would like to learn moreOver 11,000 copies sold in English worldwideCovers all key building types and styles, from cathedrals to skyscrapers, Classical to contemporary.Each building type is illustrated with extensive photographs and annotated drawingsContains a comprehensive glossary of architectural terms

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