Understanding Architecture

Gothic, Baroque, Classicism. Renaissance and Eclecticism. Wars, fires, revolutions and reformations. All of this can be read in the architecture of a city if you know how to look.

This book teaches how to “read” a city and truly feel its architecture, noticing details that usually go unseen. Urbanist and architect Yulian Chaplinskyi not only explains how to distinguish styles, but also weaves in politics, art and literature. He talks about Pinzel, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, explains how London’s architecture changed after the Great Fire and why Paris looks the way it does.

He also shares insights on photographing buildings — including the best angle to capture Cologne Cathedral.