This highly acclaimed book, now available for the first time in the United States in simultaneous paperback and hardcover editions, is particularly valuable for its unique approach to architectural history: The author explores structures not as separate, neatly labeled museum pieces but as part of a vital, living continuity through the ages. Beginning with the classical origins of Western architecture and coming right up to the new millennium, the book discusses every major milestone in the development of Western architecture in probing detail. Features of the revised edition include expanded chapters on Mesopotamian and Egyptian architecture, made possible by important recent archeological findings; and urban planning sections added throughout the book. The latter will be of special value to the growing numbers of readers who take an active interest in the relationship between a city’s buildings and the community residents who live and work in them.

Preface p. 6 1 Mesopotamia and Egypt p. 9 Mesopotamia p. 9 Egypt p. 13 2 The Classical Foundation: Greek, Hellenistic, Roman p. 19 The Bronze Age Heritage p. 19 The Hellenistic Background p. 41 The Rise of Rome p. 57 3 Early Christian and Byzantine p. 89 4 Carolingian and Romanesque p. 107 5 The Gothic Experiment p. 149 France p. 150 England p. 168 Germany and Central Europe, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal p. 185 Town Planning p. 207 6 Renaissance Harmony p. 211 The Birth of the Renaissance p. 211 High Renaissance p. 223 The Renaissance Outside Italy p. 251 Town Planning p. 279 7 Baroque Expansion p. 283 Italy p. 283 Baroque Outside Italy p. 314 Town Planning p. 362 8 Eighteenth-Century Classicism p. 369 The Impact of Rome p. 369 The Rise of Neo-Classicism in France p. 391 The Classical Tradition Elsewhere in Europe p. 410 The Rise of Classicism in the USA p. 424 Town Planning p. 434 9 The Nineteenth Century p. 439 France p. 439 Britain p. 459 Germany, Austria and Italy p. 477 Scandinavia, Russia and Greece p. 497 Belgium and Holland p. 509 USA p. 512 Town Planning p. 530 10 Art Nouveau p. 537 Belgium and France p. 537 Scotland and England p. 543 Germany, Austria and Italy p. 546 Spain p. 556 11 The Twentieth Century p. 565 USA Up to 1939 p. 565 Europe Up to 1939 p. 582 Modernism After 1945 p. 648 Post-Modernism p. 660 Town Planning p. 668 Architecture for the Millennium p. 670 Glossary p. 685 Further Reading p. 688 Acknowledgements p. 693 Index p. 694.

Accessible to casual and serious readers alike, this comprehensive survey ranges from 2000 BC to the 1980s and features more than 1,000 chronologically arranged photographs and drawings. Each of the 105 two-page spreads represents a specific era and includes comments on architectural details and historical events of the period.

Sir Christopher Wren - Classical Greek - Roman Empire - Byzantine - Renaissance - Mannerist - Baroque - 19th century - Modern Architecture - Filippo Brunelleschi - Baldassare Peruzzi - Paris - London.

This book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of Islamic palace architecture in Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and southern Italy, presenting all known palace buildings in ground plans, sections and individual descriptions. The author traces their evolution from the 8th to the 19th century and places them within the context of the history of Islamic culture.

"What makes a city endure and prosper? In this masterful survey of a thousand years of urban architecture, Wolfgang Braunfels identifies certain themes common to cities as different as Siena and London, Munich and Venice ... Braunfels describes scores of cities, classifying them as cathedral cities, city-states, imperial cities, maritime cities, "ideal cities" (those towns which, planned by often absent rulers for a specefic purpose, failed to develop independent lives) ... Lavishly illustrated with city plans, bird's-eye views, early renderings, and modern photographs, Urban Design in Western Europe will both delight and instruct architects, urban planners, historians, and travelers."--Page 4 of cover