Building theories : architecture as the art of building This book explores significant and timely topics for both the design and construction of contemporary architecture by challenging its very practice of theory. It proposes an alternative definition of architectural theory; one that is able and willing to confront the many contradictions now faced by designers architects engineers and builders who negotiate often overwhelming technological imperatives. It valorises the as yet untapped potential of thinking through building preparing the foundations for a critical return to the art of making that is architecture