Quinlan Terry is acknowledged as the doyen of Classical architecture in Britain and possibly the world. His Layman’s Guide to the subject captures the knowledge he has acquired during a lifetime’s practice as an architect. Illustrated largely by his own beautiful drawings as well as photographs of buildings that he has designed, it explains both the principles on which Classical architecture is based and the ornament that enriches it.
For over two thousand years, Classicism was the dominant theme of architecture in Europe and the United States. Although it lost ground to Modernism after the Second World War, it has now undergone a renaissance, thanks to a small but growing band of architects like Terry.
As H.R.H. the Prince of Wales observes in his Preface, ‘Quinlan Terry is, without a doubt, one of the most accomplished exponents of the classical tradition of our age and is a wonderfully gifted draughtsman. This book is, in effect, a modern-day Pattern Book, and we could not have a more learned or more erudite guide.’
