Why write a book?

My life’s journey has taken me to many places after choosing a career in architecture and this is about sharing the experience. I became more interested in the impact that architecture has on the lives of people, than how buildings go together, when studying to become an architect, I was always writing pieces about my impressions of places,  I took this forward in a Master’s degree exploring the impact of architecture on human behaviour, many pieces were not written in an academic style and were not published in the academic work although the process taught me a lot about composition. Since leaving the UK in 2010, new experiences prompted me to start recording my observations once again, and with it the feeling that i should share these impressions, on compiling the individual pieces that were written over the years, some just in note form I discovered that there is a story that spans 25 years,  and that I have travelled from, learning about architecture to practicing architecture, and have experienced architecture through living, working and visiting different cities throughout UK, France, US, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain.

Over the time span of the journey things change, from how we practice architecture, how architecture is perceived, to the cities and places that we have an impact on. The story captures the process of continual change and examines some of the forces that bring about change. It is a celebration of the efforts of leading architects, and the legacy of their work and the impact that architecture has on our everyday lives. Today there seems to be a growing notion that many outside of the architectural profession do not know what architects do, although most of us live in the built environment, we live with the legacy of the architectural process, we live with the legacy of shortsighted planning decisions, we live with the legacy of long term planning strategies. This book examines the impact that architecture has on the environment in which we live. This is about sharing knowledge and experience, most of all I want readers to take something away from it, whether is be an appreciation of how the environment that they live has been shaped, or an interest in how ongoing developments will shape their lives, to understanding that there exists a profession with the knowledge, experience and drive to make a positive contribution to their lives, and tackle some of the big problems that society is facing. Climate change. Energy security. Water security. Population growth. Rapid urbanization.

It offers a different way of looking at what most of us take for granted, what we accept as the reality of living in the built environment. This is written as a first hand account, a light hearted look at how architecture is perceived, it is written in real time meaning that some of the places experienced no longer exist, the debates over certain situations have evaporated, it shows the dynamic nature of architecture, master planning and the life of the city.

The full story is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble published by Xlibris - Do We Need ARCHITECTS?