The 50 most significant principles and styles in architecture, each explained in half a minute. The bestselling 30-Second series offers a new approach to learning about those subjects you feel you should really understand. Every title takes a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Each idea, no matter how complex, is explained using a mere two pages, 300 words, and one picture: all easily digested in only half a minute. 30-Second Architecture presents you with the foundations of architectural knowledge. Expert authors are challenged to define and describe both the principles upon which architects depend, and the styles with which they put those principles into practice. So, if you want to know your arch from your elevation, and your Baroque from your Brutalism, or you wish to top off your next dinner party with a stirring speech on how form follows function, this is the quickest way to build your argument.

Edward Denison is an award-winning design and planning consultant, with an expertise in packaging and sustainable design. He lives in London, UK.Jessica Glaser and Carolyn Knight run design company Bright Pink and both hold posts at the University of Wolverhampton. They are the co-authors of Diagrams and The Graphic Design Exercise Book.Loewy was established in 1929 as the first ever design agency. It has since been responsible for such iconic designs as the Coca-Cola bottle, identities for Shell, and the interiors of Concorde.Scott Witham is the founder and Creative Director of Traffic Design Consultants. He has previously worked for several of the UKAEs top design agencies.

Jonathan Glanceyis a journalist, historian and broadcaster. He was architecture and design critic of the Guardian from 1997 to 2012, and of the Independent from 1987. He writes for the Daily Telegraph and BBC World. His books include The Story of Architecture, Lost Buildings and London: Bread and Circuses. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.