What Architecture Is

Witty, personal, and engaging, this cri de coeur from an esteemed critic takes on the age-old question of what elevates a mere building into an art form.

What is it about architecture that distinguishes it from ordinary building? Frustrated with the many cookie-cutter buildings going up around his home in downtown Philadelphia, eminent architectural historian and critic Witold Rybczynski offers an immersive meditation on the question in this extended essay, an insightful and opinionated reflection on the essential qualities of architecture both historical and modern. Hardcover, 208 pages.