ABSTRACT
The introduction sets up a fundamental premise of the book: that reading architecture is something we already do, that close observation matters, and that this book will enhance this skill. It also argues that architecture is indeed legible. It then summarizes the book’s organization as divided into the four parts of: (1) Reading Between the Lines; (2) Outside-In Architecture; (3) Inside-Out Architecture; and (4) Out-and-Out Architecture. The complex interaction among the ways in which a building engages its context, addresses its performative exigencies, and operates as an autonomous aesthetic object offers a comprehensive approach to interpreting the built domain, one that unites the increasingly distinct practices of landscape, interior, and building design into a holistic appreciation of what constitutes architecture.
