Tidings of Joy & Comfort: Romanticism & Realism in Architecture

An important, original book that, for the first time, describes an architecture that fully embraces both heroism (joy) and functional needs (comfort). It offers a way forward for those entering the field of architectural art, and for those who are interested in understanding how great buildings are created. It is an antidote to the mistaken conception that architecture is about styles.

Styles are, for the most part, rigid conventions that interfere with genuine design thinking. And it is also an antidote to the current era’s antagonism toward a positive, life-affirming architectural vision of rational, integrated form-and-function design. This exciting book is filled with illustrations and examples of great architecture - and shows why they are great.

And in an appendix, it provides the details of the creation of two great works and ties them in to the themes of the book.