First published in 1960, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age has become required reading in numerous courses on the history of modern architecture and is widely regarded as one of the definitive books on the modern movement. It has influenced a generation of students and critics interested in the formation of attitudes, themes, and forms which were characteristic of artists and architects working primarily in Europe between 1900 and 1930 under the compulsion of new technological developments in the first machine age.

This second volume of the landmark Architectural Theory anthology surveys the development of architectural theory from the Franco-Prussian war of 1871 until the end of the twentieth century. The entire two volume anthology follows the full range of architectural literature from classical times to present transformations. An ambitious anthology bringing together over 300 classic and contemporary essays that survey the key developments and trends in architecture Spans the period from 1871 to 2005, from John Ruskin and the arts and crafts movement in Great Britain through to the development of Lingang New City, and the creation of a metropolis in the East China sea Organized thematically, featuring general and section introductions and headnotes to each essay written by a renowned expert on architectural theory Places the work of "starchitects" like Koolhaas, Eisenman, and Lyn alongside the work of prominent architectural critics, offering a balanced perspective on current debates Includes many hard-to-find texts and works never previously translated into English Alongside Volume I: An Anthology from Vitruvius to 1870, creates a stunning overview of architectural theory from early antiquity to the twenty-first century

The Evolution of Designs tells the history of the many analogies that have been made, since the end of the eighteenth century, between the evolution of organisms and the human production of artefacts – especially buildings.