How to Enjoy Architecture

Charles Holland challenges us to look beyond the day-to-day familiarity of buildings to rediscover the pleasure of experiencing architecture

Architecture is bound up with our daily lives but, for most of us, it is experienced as a blur of habit. Our reactions towards the buildings that surround us are often culturally generated, and we experience them in ways that are immediate but often mundane. How to Enjoy Architecture: A Guide for Everyone encourages us to move beyond this and, instead, really look at buildings.

Renowned architect Charles Holland talks about the buildings and architects that excite and inspire him, and the ideas and principles through which we can engage with architecture. By breaking buildings down into categories such as materials, structure, space, and use, Holland guides us through drastically different styles and building types—from the satisfying symmetry of a Queen Anne house to the thrill of a high-tech tower, or the social ideals that lie behind a housing estate. In doing so, he demonstrates how looking at, experiencing, and using architecture can bring joy in itself.