The book summarizes many years of research into the nature of architectural creativity based on the material of the world history of architecture. Familiar, little-known and practically unknown to the intelligent reader, the material of architectural and construction activity in its cultural context is structured in the book in such a way that each time there is an ascent from the first steps of something new in architecture to its current state.

Skill, knowledge, professionalism, comprehension and doubt about meaningfulness, creativity itself and its various, sometimes polar interpretations in architecture form the subjects of in-depth consideration. The combination of detailed captions to the illustrations forms a kind of condensed summary of the contents of the book. Most of the illustrations are my own photographs. With the exception of excerpts from classical translations of ancient poets, translations of poems were also carried out by V.G. The book assumes that the reader is familiar with the basic history of artistic culture.

Published in the author's edition. Artist S.K. Churakov.ContentsIntroductionArchitecture among the elements•Earth•Water•Fire and light•Greens•Air•Crowd•TimeArchitectural ABC•Pillar - pillar - column•Wall•Beam and slab•Arch and vault•Arch•Vault•Dome•Room. Corridor. Staircase•Room•Corridor•StaircaseArchitecture as skill•The beginnings of architectural skill•Architectural miracle at Giza•Bank of skills•Difficult exchange of experience•Skill and progressArchitecture as skill•Cradle of skill•Triumph of skill•Sophistication of solutionsArchitectural knowledge•Architect of an empire•Emperor-architect•Progress architectural knowledgeArchitecture as a profession•Substitution of name•Victory over the workshop•Prodigy, gentleman and master•Pyrrhic victory of amateurs•Profession in constant crisesCreativity in architecture•Architecture of the new testament•Creation of style•Creativity as a specialty•Splitting of creativityArchitectural harmony•Three keys of composition•Egyptian formula •Measure and proportion•Heirs of Byzantium•Capture of harmony•Deceptive simplicity of scaleArchitecture as comprehension•The art of asking questions•Illusion of intelligibility•Doubts about the meaningfulness of architecture•Playing with meaning and finding meaningEmergence of style•Theme and variations•Style in maturity•Invention of style•Transplantation of style •The finale of the grand style•The client's architect•"Green architecture" (instead of a conclusion)Amsterdam•London and others•Europe without borders•Parisian boulevards•The invention of the skyscraper•The city's struggle for self-preservationConclusion