Charles Holland challenges us to look beyond the day-to-day familiarity of buildings to rediscover the pleasure of experiencing architecture

Architecture is bound up with our daily lives but, for most of us, it is experienced as a blur of habit. Our reactions towards the buildings that surround us are often culturally generated, and we experience them in ways that are immediate but often mundane. How to Enjoy Architecture: A Guide for Everyone encourages us to move beyond this and, instead, really look at buildings.

Renowned architect Charles Holland talks about the buildings and architects that excite and inspire him, and the ideas and principles through which we can engage with architecture. By breaking buildings down into categories such as materials, structure, space, and use, Holland guides us through drastically different styles and building types—from the satisfying symmetry of a Queen Anne house to the thrill of a high-tech tower, or the social ideals that lie behind a housing estate. In doing so, he demonstrates how looking at, experiencing, and using architecture can bring joy in itself.

Charles Holland is an architect, writer and researcher and Professor of Architecture at the University of Creative Arts, Canterbury. Prior to setting up his current practice CHA, Charles was the founder of Ordinary Architecture and a director of FAT where he was responsible for a number of the firm’s key projects including A House for Essex, a collaboration with the artist Grayson Perry.

Described by the Guardian as ‘one of the country’s finest pop culture historians’, Travis Elborough is the author of many books, including Wish You Were Here: England on Sea, The Long-Player Goodbye, Through the Looking Glasses: The Spectacular Life of Spectacles and Atlas of Vanishing Places, winner of Edward Stanford Travel Book Award in 2020.