The Ten Most Influential Buildings in History Architecture’s Archetypes

Even the most inventive and revolutionary architects of today owe debts to the past, often to the distant past when architecture really was being invented for the first time. Architects depend on their own imaginations for personal insights and originality but their ideas may be stimulated (consciously or subliminally) by particularly powerful buildings from history. The Ten Most Influential Buildings in History: Architecture’s Archetypes identifies ten architectural archetypes that have been sources of inspiration for architects through the centuries. Each archetype is analysed through distinctive examples, following the methodology established by the author in his previous books. The variety of 'lines of enquiry’ each archetype has provoked in latter-day architectsare then explored by analysing their work to reveal ideas inspired by those earlier buildings. Archetypes have a timeless relevance. In adopting this approach, The Ten Most Influential Buildings in History is as pertinent to contemporary practice as it is to understanding buildings from antiquity, and offers insights into the bridges of influence that can operate between the two.

Introduction. Basic Elements of Architecture. Megalithic Architecture. 1. Standing Stone 2. Stone Circle 3.Dolmen 4.Hypostyle 5. Temple 6.Theatre 7.Courtyard 8.Labyrinth 9.The Vernacular 10. RuinEndword. Bibliography. Index

Simon Unwin has helped students learn to think as architects for over three decades. He is Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of Dundee, Scotland, and teaches at the Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff University, Wales. He has lived in the UK and Australia, and taught or lectured on his work in China, Israel, India, Sweden, Turkey and the United States as well as at other schools in the UK and Europe. Simon Unwin’s books are used in schools of architecture around the world, and have been translated into Arabic, Farsi, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and Korean.