What Adults Don’t Know About Architecture

Children are rarely taught much about architecture, but there are in fact few subjects more important, because the quality of the architecture around us has such an impact on our mood and well-being.

In modern times, we have built a world that is far too often ugly or charmless— and we have done so because only a very few people feel they have the right to comment on what gets built around them. This is a chance for the next generation to develop the tools to talk about architecture with confidence and passion. It tells us about what a satisfying building is, what makes a street enticing (or not), why some cities are appealing while others repel us — and how we might build in a way that will delight and inspire us.

This engaging guide is designed to help children, and their favourite adults, to understand how buildings work and how we might create a better looking world.