50 Things You Need to Know about Architecture

About the Book: 

Does planning permission give you a headache? Do you have property in a listed building or conservation areas? Have you ever heard a news report about a building and wondered, ‘what do they mean by that?’

50 Things You Need to Know About Architecture is an essential toolkit to guide the everyday reader through the murky corners of architecture and construction. In clear and simple explanations, former architect Roger Emmerson sheds light on the secrets, lies and drafting-tape behind the buildings that shelter and shape our lives.

Accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations, Emmerson aims to demystify the built environment and share his extensive knowledge with the reader. This book will enlighten anyone who would like to learn more about architecture, anyone contemplating building their own house or renovating an old property, or anyone considering a career in construction.

Reviews: 

This engaging little book gives the lowdown on 100 of Scotland's buildings, from the iconic to the simply curious. Retired architect Roger Emmerson visited every one of the structures listed, allowing them to 'tell their own' captivating stories. Small enough to fit into a bag or large pocket, this book now travels everywhere. SUNDAY POST on Scotland in 100 Buildings

I am overwhelmed by the outstanding range of your scholarship, plus your unremitting polemic...In any event, the book is an exceptional achievement by any standards… perhaps it is more than one single study, but rather a compressed work of a lifetime! KENNETH FRAMPTON, architect on Land of Stone

This densely researched and lucidly written book is an important contribution to the history of Scottish culture in general and architecture in particular. BILL HARE on Land of Stone

About the Author:

ROGER EMMERSON was born in Edinburgh. He has worked in London, Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh, running his own practice, ARCHImedia, from 1987 to 1999 while concurrently teaching architectural design at Edinburgh College of Art and as a visiting lecturer at universities in Venice, Lisbon, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Berkeley. Since 2000 he has worked extensively in architectural conservation, housing, education and the leisure industries throughout the UK, retiring from architectural practice, although not architecture, in 2016.